4.5 GB VCD???

[rikishidsl]

Hiya.

Does anyone know if it's possible to create a 4.5GB VCD on a DVD-R???

I'm collecting TV-Series in VCD Format, that way i could put more Episodes on 1 Disc...

Is it possible? Or do you have to go through the demultiplexing reencoding etc. described in the VCD/DVD News on this Site.

I'm using Toast 5 & Cleaner 5.1, i have a G4 with Superdrive, Mac OS 9.1 & X.

Thx.

[DViant]

According to VCDHelp.com's "What is DVDRW" page it's possible to use MPEG1 and MPEG2 with low bitrate and low resolution(quality like VCD or SVCD) on a DVD so you can then store several hours video on a single layer DVD-RW.

Source: http://www.vcdhelp.com/dvd.htm

I haven't tried it myself but as soon as I get my PowerMac G4 Dual 1Ghz later today I'll test it out by burning every single Enterprise episode that I can cram into 4.7GB worth of storage space.

[rikishidsl]

Yeah, I read this too, the problem with this method is, that there seems to be no program on mac that will leave MPEG-1 Files the way they are.

Like iDVD, they all seem to convert the video data to MPEG-2, meaning you'd only get 90-120 Minutes on one DVD.

Please let me know if you find a solution!

Thx!

[jaw2957]

actually 352x240 mpeg 1 is in the dvd specs. To make the dvd completely dvd standard, just reencode the audio to a 48000hz mp2. That takes no tim at all and should be completely compatable with all players that play dvd-r's of course.

[DViant]

I'm thinking of using Toast 5's VCD option to stuff it all in. With any luck I'll be able to cram enough data so my DVD player will be able to decode it as VCD.

[AntnyMD]

I'm thinking of using Toast 5's VCD option to stuff it all in. With any luck I'll be able to cram enough data so my DVD player will be able to decode it as VCD.

Toast should reject the DVD media if you tried to burn it as a CD-ROM eXtendedArchitechture format (the format VCD uses). DVD media can only be burned in the UDF/ISO formats.

As someone said before, you can have VCD-quality video on a compliant DVD, which should extend your DVD playing time from 2 hours to more than 6. I'd go that route before attempting to make any sort of XDVD -- and making a coaster in the process.

[DViant]

Only one way to find out I guess. I hate those @ssholes from Apple Center they swindled me last night! :evil:

[DViant]

AntnyMD is correct. I tried it and it doesnt work.

Toast 5.1.2 displayed this error msg.

"CD-ROM XA or Audio tracks cannot be written to DVD"

I was able to find a local source for DVD-Rs for US$3.50/piece compared to a generic CD-R for US$0.14. The economics of just putting around 6 hrs of VCD data onto an expensive DVD-R doesn't make sense.[/b]

[AntnyMD]

I get the feeling your average Joe American still buys brand-name CD-R, and as such, is probably paying around US$.75 per CD as opposed to US$.14. If they bought your US$3.50 DVD-R's, they'd be doing slightly better putting 6 hours of VCD-quality video on a DVD.

[dvbr]

Hi,


You can capture too at 352x480 (D/2) and encode in mpeg2 with AC3 audio, and put 5 h on a DVD-R with far superior quality than VCD. And better it is DVD compliant, so it will be playable on any standalone player.

Regards

[DViant]

I get the feeling your average Joe American still buys brand-name CD-R, and as such, is probably paying around US$.75 per CD as opposed to US$.14. If they bought your US$3.50 DVD-R's, they'd be doing slightly better putting 6 hours of VCD-quality video on a DVD.

True. Good thing I don't live in the US. :)

[DViant]

Hi,


You can capture too at 352x480 (D/2) and encode in mpeg2 with AC3 audio, and put 5 h on a DVD-R with far superior quality than VCD. And better it is DVD compliant, so it will be playable on any standalone player.

Regards

You could do that but what's the point? If your source isn't DVD quality then you might as well just stick it on what it was designed for, a CD.

[duggyuk]

Hi,


You can capture too at 352x480 (D/2) and encode in mpeg2 with AC3 audio, and put 5 h on a DVD-R with far superior quality than VCD. And better it is DVD compliant, so it will be playable on any standalone player.

Regards

What bitrate would you have to use for this?, I have no clue and and use 5000 which seems a bit to much for what I do 352X576 (PAL) MP2 audio, would AC3 yeild a smaller file size for 2 channel audio?

regards

amir

[dvbr]

You could do that but what's the point? If your source isn't DVD quality then you might as well just stick it on what it was designed for, a CD.

The point is the compliance with DVD standard, you can gain quality with the same disc space as the mpeg2 is VBR, mpeg is CBR. I'm supposing that rikishidsl can capture in D/2 format.

What bitrate would you have to use for this?, I have no clue and and use 5000 which seems a bit to much for what I do 352X576 (PAL) MP2 audio, would AC3 yeild a smaller file size for 2 channel audio?

You can use 2600 if the source is not interlaced, I tested with XSVCD. Yes, AC3 with 2 channels result in smaller files.
I 've made some testing with SVCD and I'm planning to buy a DVD recorder, 'cause I got some frustated with SVCD compatibility issue in different standalone players.


Regards

[DViant]

You could do that but what's the point? If your source isn't DVD quality then you might as well just stick it on what it was designed for, a CD.

The point is the compliance with DVD standard, you can gain quality with the same disc space as the mpeg2 is VBR, mpeg is CBR. I'm supposing that rikishidsl can capture in D/2 format.

Ok. So say I download a standard MPEG1 file of a TV show (say Enterprise or Smallville) from the net and burn one on VCD and the other as DVD. Would the one on DVD be of better quality than the one on VCD?

[dvbr]

No, I said if you capture at 352x480 and encode in mpeg2 it will be better than a capture of 352x240 mpeg1 encoded.

[DViant]

Thanks for the clarification.

[rikishidsl]

Okay, okay Fellas.

Let's clear this up... Here's what I want to do:

I have TV episodes dl'd from the net that I wanna keep on as less as possible mediums in best available quality.

This is all very interesting with the reencoding to mpeg2, but is there any program on the mac that will deal with the "smaller" mpeg2 (352x240)files?

Because, i.e. iDVD will only fit 90 Minutes on one DVD-R.

What programs can you burn with? Will Toast do this?

Please help...

[dvbr]

Sorry, but I don't know much about Mac software

[DViant]

I think the only way you can do this is through iDVD. Fire it up convert your MPEG-1 to MPEG-2 and put as much footage as possible onto the cue to burn to DVD-R. Seeming MPEG-1's requires so much less data transfer then I'd assume the amount of MPEG-2 data would be drastically less than what the standard average. This in turn will allow you to burn more than 90Mins.

I might be wrong though so try at your own risk.

As for me I'll just download Super Video CDs of the TV shows I've been getting off IRC and use up all 700MB available on the CD-R

[silver356b]

Here is the deal.
You first have to author your DVD.
iDVD will force you to re-encode to MPEG-2. Don't use it.
You have to use DVD Studio Pro. Use your MPEG-1's directly, but your audio needs to be at 48K, ac3 or aiff (better use ac3 for smaller sizes).
After you have authored your 6 hour DVD, burn it with DVDSP itself or with Toast.