S/VCD to DVD problem... don't know if ffmpegX is to blame?

[leaded]

First step is to copy the AVSEQ01.MPG file from the SVCD's MPEG2 folder to the hard drive. Problem is, when I drag and drop, or copy and paste, I get the following from the Finder...

The operation cannot be completed because some data cannot be read or written. (Error code -36).

I figured it might have something to do with Finder just being anal or something, so I loaded ffmpegX, went to the Tools tab, opened the file via the Browse button, and click s/vcd>dvd, and I got the following from the information button from the Progress viewer...

mpgtx: AT EOF - please stop me!
mpgtx: AT EOF - please stop me!
mpgtx: AT EOF - please stop me!
mpgtx: AT EOF - please stop me!
Skipped -2 zeroes at start of file
mpgtx: AT EOF - please stop me!
mmm, this file does not start with a pack, offset: -2
use the desperate_mode switch as the first option -X to search for a header in the whole file!
if you want to force the operation. May yield to an endless loop if no valid header is found!
mpgtx: AT EOF - please stop me!
Does not even begin with a 00 00 01 xx sequence!
mpgtx: AT EOF - please stop me!
mpgtx: AT EOF - please stop me!
mpgtx: AT EOF - please stop me!
/Volumes/GONE60_1/MPEG2/AVSEQ01.MPG is not a valid mpeg file

By the way, I am a paid, registered member, so the s/vcd>dvd option is in fact availible.

...you should use VCDGearX to extract the mpeg2 file from the svcd else it will not work. //peace

[leaded]

VCDGearX just spins the progress icon and nothing happens...

[Case]

First make a disc image file from the SVCD, e.g. with Toast. Then extract the mpeg out of that with VCDGear (or Gumby or vcdtoolsX).

[leaded]

There just must be something wrong with these discs. I guess however I burned them on Windows way back when wasn't the right way.

Gumby won't accept the file on the SVCD tab, but it will on the 3rd one, but then it freezes. vcdtoolsX appears only to be able to convert .bin files, but I have an MPG file.

I would give up, but I can play the disc in VLC, and on my DVD player.

[iLifeMan]

VCDGearX just spins the progress icon and nothing happens...

VCDGearX isn't going to correctly extract from a Mode 2 Form 2 disk. You need a tool built with the i/o routines to read a VCD/SVCD/CDDA disk. Try the very nice freeware tool, VCD Copy X (get it at Version Tracker). It will extract the file from the CD onto your hard disk, with a .DAT extension. Change that to .MPG and you'll be good to go for the conversion.

[Case]

Gumby won't accept the file on the SVCD tab, but it will on the 3rd one, but then it freezes. vcdtoolsX appears only to be able to convert .bin files, but I have an MPG file.

That is why I said to create a disc image first. Don't mount the image, just use the image file as input. For vcdtoolsX, you may have to rename the file from ".toast" to ".bin". The other tools do not require renaming.

[leaded]

I finally got a working .MPG file! It doesn't play in Quicktime, but it does it VLC. Here's what I did...

VCD Copy X to convert the SVCD to a .DAT file.
Gumby to convert the .DAT file into a .MPG (MPEG-2) file.

Now I can add these together and make a DVD!

Thanks for all the help... this is something I've never tried before. I haven't even done anything with (S)VCDs in over a year. But, yeah, thanks!

[leaded]

By the way, how do I make the SVCD in an image? I opened Toast and chose a data disc, clicked Add, double-clicked the SVCD, File -> Save As Disc Image, chose a save location, and received the following error...

The file "AVSEQ01.MPG" could not be accessed. (Data fork, -36)

Is there another way to capture a CD to an image?

[Case]

By the way, how do I make the SVCD in an image?

Assuming Toast version 6, select the Copy tab. In the options panel on the left (*), select CD/DVD Copy. The main window should now be "Read From: Built-in DVD-RW/CD-RW" or some other description of the optical drive that the SVCD is in. Then from the menu bar: File > Save as Disc Image.
(*) the options panel can be hidden and shown by pressing this icon, in case you're wondering where to look.

[leaded]

Awesome! Thanks!

I just converted two VCDs to DVD using Toast and ffmpegX. My DVD player kept trying to read it tho, so I guess my DVD player is not dvd-vcd compatible. I don't have too many S/VCDs so I'm just going to rip the MPEGs and use ffmpegX to convert to lo-rate DVDs.

I learned a lot from everyone's help! Thanks!