DAT files - wat to do.

[badben25]

i used to have this 3cd movie [dunno vcd or svcd] that, because of popularity, had to be given to a lot friends, includin some that had bad optical drives, leading the discs to end up fully scratched. whenever i put them into my drives my pc would slow down by a great extent, sometimes causing it to stop responding. so, after building a lot of patience, i was able to complete the never-ending, nerve-racking, sometimes not-responding task of copying the video files from the discs to HDD. now lemme xplain bout the files. there was only 1 file on each disc, a .dat file. this is wat i remember. wat i dont remember is which folder on the disc the files were in and wat the files were named [because now i've renamed em as '#1', '#2' and '#3']. whenever i want to play the file, i right-click it, click on Open With, and select Windows Media Player. the file plays perfectly with no problems at all. the quality and clarity is also fine. as the files take up 1.75GB in total, i wanted to burn em back onto dvd or cd. i need to re-encode the files, as i was told by a friend, to create a video dvd. as for cd, i was thinking of creating SVCDs for better quality and clarity, but nero gives me an error [image posted below] so i was jus thinking of simply creating VCDs, but then i thought why not ask the xperienced and professional. now my problem is that i want to create SVCDs from the files, but dvd would be fine too, but have no idea where to start. i would like it if i got the answer ASAP because i seriously dont have much time for this. plz help!
P.S. i use windows 2000.


dat-svcd.jpg

[CrayonEater]

Your can just rename that to .MPG if you want to keep them on your HDD or burning them to a DVD-ROM. Play them in WMP and select Properties from the file menu to find out what they are: If they are 352x240 (or 352x288 PAL), then they are MPEG-1 VCD. Otherwise, they are probably MPEG-2. Either way, converting to SVCD won't help; there is little that can be done to improve source material. Based on the error message you got, my guess is that they're VCD (352x240) and that Nero wants your soruce in 480x480 before it'll accept it for re-encoding to MPEG-2.

You can simply re-burn the DAT (or MPG) files using Nero, selecting the VCD option. I'm sure, this time, you will make backup copies.

[badben25]

thanks a bunch, you've really made my work much easier. but, out of curiosity, i also wanted to ask wat would happen if i select the first choice [Turn Off Standard Compliance And Continue]??

looks like its going to VCD now.
thanks once again

[psx_pirate]

if you turned off standard compliance you would make a non standard vcd ..... it may or may not play in standalone dvd players (some will play it ... some won't) it will however be playable on a pc

[Bjs]

If you want to convert these to dvd , then as they are mpeg1 they need conversion to mpeg2 .

The best way to retain quality I found was to bring one vcd clip into ms movie maker (dat to mpeg using vcdgear) , and export as dv avi (3 minute's each time)

These are then converted to dv2 type ... as each one is converted , the original dv1 is deleted .

Then use vdub to open first dv2 , followed by using "append" , and load second dv2 ... append again , third dv2 ... till all part's have been included .

Audio set to full processing , check audio compression is set to (pcm) .
Video , add filter , resize ... resize to original format ... ie , if 352x288 , then resize is 352x288 .

Start frameserver

Frameserving to bbmpeg_vfw (make sure you installed vdub's handler's = run auxsetup in vdub folder)

Name avi ... you now have frameserve waiting .

Launch bbmpeg , and load this avi .
Start the encoder , then in next window , hit setting's .

Goto video stream's tab

Check mpeg2 , leave all other stuff alone .

Goto input/output file's tab

Check these two box's .

Goto general setting's tab

Uncheck both mux option's .

Let the encode begin .

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The audio should be re-encoded to ac3 using besweet .
The mv2 video stream is fine .

Author dvd with these two stream's .

Ifoedit , rejig can do these without issue's .

Use rejig to shrink title's if required ... under no circumstance's use dvdshrink ... it will stuff them .

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Dvd authorgui can also author these , but ...

The first title must be FULL d1 resolution of chosen format ... ie , for pal that's 720x576 , then add this new converted vcd title as second title .

If first title is not full d1 source , dvdauthorgui will not author .

===============

It's a bit long ... but It's the method I use to try and retain as much quality in the picture as possible ... and converting them to dvd's .

[KBeee]

Or you could drop the 3 mpeg1 files into Tmpg DVD Author and let it make you a DVD. It'll convert the audio to 48k from 44.1k, which is all the conversion that's needed.
There's a 30 day trial of DVD Author if you haven't already got it.