Menus In VCDEasy

[Mike2K17x]

It said in the guide that to make a main menu in VCDeasy its best convert a picture(jpg., bmp., etc.) to mpg and use that. I can do that, but the mpg qualtiy comes out looking horrible. Any suggestions?

[markums2k]

Hmmmm, I followed the steps and got a crystal-clear menu image. I started with a 704x480 BMP and converted using the guide. I can't get to VCDEasy for about 4 more hours... so I can't give you the settings I used. It looked great though. I'd never made 704x480 menus for my VCDs before... I'll never go back to Nero now.

Now that I think about it, I left out one or two steps/options simply because I thought they were unneccessary... that may have made all the difference.

[Mike2K17x]

I did everything, followed all the steps, had a great menu setup, and then I relized that I needed to enable the CDRDAO. So I did, and then restarted the program, and it said I had a problem with my ASPI drivers. In the guide it had some to download, and I downloaded them, and nothing happened. It still said the same thing. Now what should I do?

[markums2k]

Going over the guide... I made sure to use "High" instead of "Low". Did 0% TV cropping. No resize options. Don't think I applied Aspect Ratio correction. Quality went well over 100kb... maybe over 200kb (I was going all out!).

What part of the quality didn't you like? Was the image blurred? Loss of color? Blocky?

I don't normally work with BMPs, but I did in this case just because it was recommended. Did you go with a different format?

[markums2k]

Well, that last post is moot, I guess.

Are you running Windows XP? I run XP and didn't bother to search for the ASAPI drivers or whatever it wants. I just hit GO in VCDEasy, it spits out a bin file, then I choose Burn Image in Nero and select the corresponding CUE file. Nero burns the VCD and it works in every player I have.

Some people say Nero doesn't properly burn these files, but I've had nothing but success.

[Mike2K17x]

The image is blurry, and blocky. I used a bmp, and then a jpg file, and they both looked the same. Thats not my realy problem right now though. Did you ever have any problems with your ASPI drivers? Check out what I wrote above.

[Mike2K17x]

Ohh so you save the bin and then burn the bin as an image file using Nero?

[markums2k]

Well, in Nero, I go to File>Burn Image... at this point, it won't display CUE files, so you have to change the options to View All Files. I've never tried burning the BIN file, I've always selected the CUE file. That's the process though.

[Mike2K17x]

Ok thanks. With that out of the way, what do you use to make the pictures for your main menu?

[markums2k]

I use Photoshop 6.0 for all my non-vector imaging needs. I used to get all my fonts at that Fony Guy site... but they've gone pay, so screw them!

[Mike2K17x]

is photoshop free?

[markums2k]

Not legally. Actually, you might be able to find older versions of Photoshop packaged with computer art magazines. Photoshop isn't essential though... I just like it. You can pick up a Limited version for $50-$100 I'd imagine. If you're just gonna make menus though, you might be able to find something at CNET for free or trial.

[Mike2K17x]

All I could find on my computer was Paint so thats what I used.

[markums2k]

Errr, Paint is pretty bad. No matter how much effort and time you put into it, it will never have the crisp, polished look that the other apps achieve effortlessly.

Here's a link to the Photoshop demo on CNET.

http://download.com.com/3000-2192-4824970.html

Read the user reviews to learn more about it and the alternatives. You'll see Paint Shop Pro mentioned several times.

[ya_jai]

How about any other image softwares that com OEM with your computer? Any others will do, even thou not as good and professional as photoshop. I think you should have some such as photo delux, picture it, photo suit etc. etc. etc.

[Executioner]

If your having an ASPI problem, do a search for "Force ASPI", and install that version of ASPI. There have been problems with the lastest version 4.71 with VCDEasy, so I would stick with 4.60 with XP, Win2k, or Win9x.

[esmerelda1983]

when i load vcdeasy it has in the bottom right corner
aspi seems valid: no
but i have burned many cd(mostly re-writable) without any problems

sometimes i get a blue screen from windows when i start and the cdrdao doesnt load and i cant burn, but i just reset my computer and it works.
1) what is aspi and what does it do?
2) if it works how it is should i still try and fix it?

i just never worried about it because it works fine, maybe it will work 4 mike without the downloaded aspi drivers?

[Mike2K17x]

Thanks for the demo of Photoshop. I downloaded all the ASPI drivers and it let me chose a drive to burn, but it didn't burn, so I just took the bin/cue file and burned it as an image with nero. It turned out ok, but there was a problem with the menu, the menu didn't play forever like I set it to, the intro would play, and then the main menu would play for 6 seconds, and then a part of the intro would play, and back to the main menu, and that loops instead of just the main menu. I don't know what I did wrong, but I know I need a new type of intro, what did you all use?

[Mike2K17x]

Why is it that Nero can hold MUCH MORE clips and space than VCDEasy?

[p_l]

Here's a question: When I take a BIN/CUE file VCDEasy makes with chapters and burn it with Nero (File>Burn Image), the resulting VCD plays fine on my stand-alone, but I get an error in Windows Media Player if I try to open the .DAT. Why is that?

When I just take the same MPEG source file I used and make a straight VCD with it in Nero, it works on both my stand-alone and in WMP, but of course I don't have the original chapters anymore, just one big movie.

[keithsebastian]

Use any image editor for making menus. Here are the details for PAL.

Make a 704x528 pic with 2% allowance at the edges.

Now cut/copy/paste to a new 768x576 pic (black background)and center align it and save as bitmap.

Open the bitmap and resize it to 704x576.

Use this pic in Philips VCD 2.0 Toolkit (available free) to create menu.
U should get a *.mms file. Rename to *.mpg.

Use it with VCDEasy.

email me for more info. ( and menu samples )



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