Newbie frustrated on burning VCD

[stratman17]

I'm using ULEAD 4.0 to capture and edit video from my camera and am using Nero 5.5 to burn the VCD. I am looking for the best quality VCD I can get. After reading many post's on this sight I see that for best results, you need to create your MPG files with the best video data rate possable. My issue is this. I can create successful VCD's rendering my video with mpg1 format and using ntsvcd as my media type, but the quality is terrible. I suspect this is due to the standard video data rate only being 1123 KBPS. Is this the best quality I'm going to get? If I render my video as mpg1 and bump the video data rate to 6 or 8000, it plays great on the computer, but I cannot create a VCD from that format, I get an invalid format error. What do I do? Am I doing something wrong when trying to burn? As you can see. I'm new at this....

[FranckV]

NTSC VCDs are limited to 1150 KBPS (video + audio) so bumping the bitrate up makes them not standard.

For better quality make SVCDs, the max bitrate is about 2723 kbps (video + audio), the image size is 480 x 480 (instead of 320 x 240), the format is mpeg2 which is better than mpeg1 as it can have variable bitrates (use more bits for complex pictures and less for simple pictures).

You can read a lot about the above on this forum.

[Rigo]

is very important the resolution that you capture the movie from your camera,in my case,I used a while ago the panasonic encoder,to convert the avi file to mpeg,but the quality was not that good,,,few days ago I capture with my mirodc30+ at 320x240 I save the avi file,then I open that file with Tmpg and convert it to mpeg,and then I burn the cd with vcdEasy,and the quality is very good,I think the ideal resolution for this type of proyect is the 320x240 resolution when you capture,then is crucial to convert with a good mpeg encoder,wich I think aveybody aggre that Tmpge is the best for this job..I learn all this tips in this forum.
Ypou should write your configuration when you capture,so other people here can also help with some more tips.
good luck.

[stratman17]

You guys are great! Thanks for the advice. I'll try going SVCD and check my capture settings! I'll let you know how it go's.

Mike

[FranckV]

If you make an SVCD, make sure you capture with a vertical resolution of 480. In fact, even for a VCD you want to capture with avertical resolution of 480 to get both fields and then deinterlace and resize down.

[Scooby111]

Also remember that if you plan on playing it in a dvd player, more than likely SVCD won't work. You best bet then is to still use SVCD but when you get done ripping it, convert the header to VCD. Then you get SVCD quality with VCD compatibility. This can be done using TPMGEnc......

[FranckV]

You can check the SVCD compatibility by looking at the DVD player list on this site.

Scooby111 :How do you rewrite the header using TPMGEnc ?

Are you suggesting that you can create a Mpg2 480x480 VBR, then change the header to Mpg1 352 x 240 CBR?

[Scooby111]

Maybe I shouldn't say "rewrite the headers"....

Open TMPGEnc and click on "File-MPEG Tools".

In the box that pop's up select "MPEG1 - Video CD" in the Type box.

For the input file select your MPEG file.

Now check the Type again becuase if your source is a SVCD MPEG it will switch on you. Just switch it back to "MPEG1 - Video CD".

Now type in a different filename for the output and hit OK.

Ignore any errors about buffer overflow.....

You now have an SVCD MPEG that your DVD player will recognize as a VCD.

I had to do this because my Sony won't play SVCD's.... I can't remember exactly where I found this info... Digital Digest (Maybe)....

Hope this helps...

Scoob....

[mikk]

In the Players section <-- on the left, read the stuff about the sony dvp s525d. i wrote a big thing explaining what u can do with sony players.

[FranckV]

I just did what you said and ignored the packet size error.

When looking at the new file using bitrate viewer, still reports as follows:
Stream type: MPEG-2 MP@ML VBR
Resolution: 480*480
Aspect ratio: 4:3 Generic
Framerate: 29.97
Nom. bitrate: 2498000 Bit/Sec
VBV buffer size: 112
Constrained param. flag: No
Chroma format: 4:2:0
DCT precision: 10
Pic. structure: Frame
Field topfirst: Yes
DCT type: Field
Quantscale: Nonlinear
Scan type: Alternate
Frame type: Interlaced

Now, I assume you would burn this using the Nero VCD template wouldn't you ?

[Scooby111]

Yes. Just burn it as a normal VCD. You may have to choose "Non-Standard" after Nero reads in the file. But it will work in your DVD player if it supports VCD's.