VCD/SVCD to DVD questions..

[|Supreme|]

I know theres a lot of guides out there, but I just have a few questions.

1) Do you convert vcd's to DVD video.. the same way you do to SVCD's? Just change the audio samping to 48 khz right?

2) Also I have Ulead Movie Factory 2 so I got a good authoring program, but I was wondering is SVCD2MPG a good program to do all the converting? Or are there better alternatives that do all the converting/multiplexing stuff. I tried TMPGENC but it messed up with some of my files, just stopped dead during demultiplexing.

3) I see a lot of programs that say you need to apply patches to headers, you only need that if you have a certain DVD player right that doesn't play VCD/SVCD? Should you still apply that to be on the safe side? Also you do it to the first header only always, except if that doesn't work you do it to the entire file right?

4) Some programs ask you to choose a horizontal resolution, do you pick 352, 480, or 720? A lot of guides say to pick 352, but isn't 720 prettier?

Ok thats all, hope many of you experts excuse my newbiness.

[mats.hogberg]

1) Yes. More so than SVCD, since VCD video is DVD compliant. SVCD video isn't.
2) Never used it. I use DVDAuthorGUI or TDA to author.
3) The patching is mostly to make the authoring app accept the out of specs (SVCD) mpeg to be authored as DVD. Most players will swallow this, some wont.
4) If you're talking about what to patch the header with, I'd say this is only a matter of what works best for your player. The SVCD mpeg will still be 480px wide. 352 and 720 (and 704) are the valid DVD resolutions. There is no real change in resolution (but if there was, the consensus is that if you have to resize, it's better to resize down].

/Mats

[jimmalenko]

1) Simply changing the audio sampling rate shouldn't work for SVCD because the SVCD frame size is not DVD-compliant. However, VCD is, so yes, all you need to do to a VCD is resample the audio, which a few authoring softwares will do for you automatically (such as TMPGEnc DVD Author).

2) SVCD2MPG is IMO as good as any, as it just automates the processes you'll be doing manually anyway.

3) Patches to headers are more for SVCD than VCD AFAIK.

4) IMO you choose the one that is closest to your source. Monzie won't agree with me, but IMO upsizing is bad, mmmkay

Check out this sticky, which has quite a lot of information and guides regarding the process of putting VCD or SVCD onto DVD.

You might need this sticky also.


EDIT: mats beat me to it. Good to see we concur

[|Supreme|]

Thanks for the replies guys. I downloaded SVCD2MPG v.1.1 and tested it out. I made an identical svcd file with the same video but the 48khz audio, I was happy I finally got it to work, but then I played the file back, and it had this greenish color and was flickering like 2 times a second.

I'm super confused now. If I can figure out how to fix this problem, SVCD2MPG is definitely the best program i've used so far.

[|Supreme|]

the resolution of my file is 480x576 so if i patch it... it should be 480 then? and header only i think?.. Well too tired to keep thinking for tonight.. i'll hopefully work on a solution tomorrow

[mats.hogberg]

No, you should patch to 352 or 720 (the valid DVD resolutions), depending on what works best with your player - note, that this is only "a trick" to fool the authoring app. What you choose wont affect end result quality at all AFAIK. Patching a 480 wide mpeg to 480 does - nothing! Sleep well!

/Mats

[johns0]

Try patching with header only to 352 to trick the dvd authoring program for svcd and as soon as it accepts the svcd then patch it back to 480,then author and burn to dvdrw to see if your dvd player will accept it,my player and my dads plays it with no problems at all.

[mats.hogberg]

...your first try would be without patching back - My player plays it without problems (YMMV). If no luck, follow johns0's suggestion.

/Mats

[|Supreme|]

Well, I didn't burn it to DVD or anything, just opened the .mpg and it was all green color. Still puzzled by this. Maybe i'll try the 720 patch this time.

[mats.hogberg]

Does it look ok before patching?

/Mats

[|Supreme|]

yes.. in SVCD2DVD.. it patches and resamples all in one.. the end file is the one thats messed up, not the source file. Maybe I need the newer 2.0 version.. got to purchase that though, because v.1.1 seems to be a little buggy.

[ChrissyBoy]

Ignore what the mpgs look like after you first patch them. Just author your DVD. Then if you need to patch back, have a look at step 3 on here: http://www.svcd2dvd.com/Help/GettingStarted.aspx

[|Supreme|]

It seems like I have one file that has a video stream error. I've tried everything to fix it. I read somewhere else.. that you have to re-encode the video. Can somebody tell me how to re-encode a SVCD.. when i try to load the file.. in TMPGENC. it says its not suported..

[mats.hogberg]

TMPGEnc doesn't read mpeg2. But if you have PowerDVD installed (if not, d/l the trial), it can use its mpeg2 decoder to do so.
I think there's a special TMPGEnc plugin too - look under the tools section.

/Mats

[|Supreme|]

Well, I am using TMPGENC 3.0 express.. and for some reason, when I try to re-encode the file.. (because I think the file is messed up).. during encoding it stops at a certain frame.. This is really annoying, because I can watch the movie in PowerDVD just fine. Its in 480x576 and when I try to encode I keep that resolution.. :\

[mats.hogberg]

Ouch! Bad source material - Playing and encoding are 2 different things when it comes to fault tolerance! IMHO, there are better ways to spend hours trying to fix broken video files...

/Mats