Toast vs. forty-two VCD creation

[gzhawk]

Has anyone else had this problem:

I have previously used QuickTime to export a movie to VCD using Toast's VCD export plugin. This has produced VCDs that play very nicely on my DVD player.

I recently discovered forty-two and I love its simplicity. However, the VCDs I produce from my DVDs do not not play well on my DVD player. They play smoothly for 3 seconds with no audio, and then play extremely choppily with intermittent sound. I tried creating the VCD with different bitrates, with the same results.

I then tried exporting my DVD to a DivX format using forty-two. I converted the ac3 audio to mp3, and did an "Add Scaled" to the DivX video. I then exported to VCD using the Toast plugin again. This works, although it takes much longer and does not produce the best picture.

Is there some setting I can change in forty-two, or another program I can use to produce better results? Thanks for your help![/u]

[Jeffersonian]

Maybe you could use DTOX and set your size to 700MB. You should probably split your movie too. I don't know if it will shrink the resolution, though. It would look pretty crappy if it left it at DVD video res, but shrunk it to 700 megs. Just a thought, anyway.

[sickdimension]

What is Toast's VCD Export Plug-in and where can i get it?

[Jeffersonian]

Buy Toast.

[gzhawk]

By the way, I have done these tests on only one chapter of a DVD, and also on different DVDs with the same results.

[jmusd]

I am having the same problem. VCD Movies I make from toast's quicktime export and ffmpeg are accepted by toast (VCD option) and play great on my DVD player. However, VCD movies made through forty-two are not accepted by toast (VCD option) after extracting the mpg from the bin, so I burn the bin using MMB. These play very choppy with audio in and out, and eventually won't play at all. I am not sure what the problem is? We should let Kai know because I really like the simplicity and quality of forty-two.

[galactica]

VCD playback error can be from many things
1. source problems (forty two output files)
2. burning problems (incorrect burning methods)
3. dvd problems (players with specific qualifications for vcd playback)

NOTE:
The vcd results from forty two are not to be burned using toast. Since they are in an image format (.bin/.cue) with embedded mpeg1 files.
These .bin files SHOULD be burned as a VCD with MMB or FIRESTARTER.

1. To rule out Source Problems
Before burning however, verify playback of .bin files using VIDEO LAN. Just open videolan, open file and choose the .bin. If playback is fine in video lan there is nothing wrong with the .bin/.cue files *(thus forty-two is not the error)

2. To rule out burning problems
Purchase a pack of 700 MB CD-RW disks. ALWAYS burn a test to these disk to ensure proper burning method that is necessary for yoru dvd player. This way you can try several methods and not waste lots of cd-r's
My player for example will not play toast burned VCD's. I have to use MMB or FIRESTARTER. I suggest if you pass step 1 with no problems to use MMB and burn the .bin files with that program under the VIDEO setting.

3. To rule out player problems
The only way to do this is to try step 2 with several burnign methods. Other method is to ensure your dvd player can actually play VCD's and if it has bitrate limitations (which can hinder playback if your over the limit)
Use this link to check the specs of your player https://www.videohelp.com/dvdplayers.php
Type in the model number and look for the vcd settings.
Example: APEX 5131 can handle VCD's up to 5000k/sec (XVCD)
Last known way is to try the vcd on another standalone player OR to put the burned disk into your mac and let video lan play the vcd (Apple-D to choose the disk, click on VCD then push play)


IF playback is fine in your computer but not on your dvd player then your dvd player is to blame

these are just a few suggestions.

One last final attempt (if all else fails) is to extract the MPEG files from the .bin (with vcdtoolsX) and reimage them as VCD 1.0 (older vcd method) using VCDTOOLSX) This ensures that the vcd is of a lower standard which nearly ALL dvd players can play.