converting video formats (For Hasbro's VideoNow) I know the

[GregSmith]

if you want to send me a file glsmith.at.alcorgrp.com i will be happy to look at it for you.

[mastersmurfie]

ok...i have just received essentially the same error when trying to burn an audio cd with Easy Audio...seems the length of the file (when going to burn) has doubled...the file size is 107MB (which was about 5 min of video) and Easy Audio says it's 20 min long...

What am I doing wrong????

[mastersmurfie]

sorry...previous post should have been 10 min of video-20 min with Easy Audio

[bde]

I've found a program that writes these wav files correctly to the cd. No errors with the time, plus, it's free.

get the app here:
burnatonce

This app also has a great function -- burn almost any cd-image format to a cd from the context menu... I love it.

[mastersmurfie]

seems like i can't send any emails right now...

[impmon2]

ok...now i'm completely confused...my version of VDub says "Version 1.5.1 (Build 15786/release May 10 2003)"??? does this mean that it's version 1.5.7??? this version supports framerate changes, and even specifically states that "Note: Changing the framerate will cause audio/video desyncronization." which is part of the problem that I am experiencing. The other one (which I now see seems to be a NERO thing) is that my NERO burning software doubles the size of the "AUDIO CD" when going to burn. I am in the process of trying "Easy Audio CD Burner" which I just D/L a trial version, as I have not tried any other burning tool, and don't have access to any others at this time...

Ignore the build, the first set of number is the version number. Yours is the 1.5.1

As for setting framerate, that was my source of confusion as well. Apparantly there are 2 different kind of framerate conversions. See the picture below:

This is from version 1.5.1


From version 1.5.7

Adjusting source framerate would cause the video to play at different speed. ie original was 30 fps, changing to 15 would cause the video to play 1/2 speed. What you want is convert framerate in the second box, that is what forces the framerate to change without changing the playback. This spefic option (red arrow pointing at it) is not present on 1.5.1 and earlier version.

Maybe there is more than one version of 1.5.1 but the one I have doesn't have Convert Framerate option. 1.5.2 does have that option

I don't know why your cap is causing problem. Try capturing in standard video setting (ie 160x120, 24 bit color) and forget conversion to grey or 80x80. I'd suggest Huffyuv or MJPEG for codec as they are excellent lossless codec and uses minimal processing power on captures.

Then run the cap through VirtualDub again, with the 80x80 reduction and greyscale. Use the vcf included with VideoThen to make sure your setting is correct. It may seems like a waste of time but until you can figure out where the problem lies, this may be the best option at this time.

@Grey- glad to see you were able to get the replacement player. I don't think taking it apart caused the problem as mine's still in pieces and still plays fine. Maybe I'm just lucky 8)

[GregSmith]

impmon - great feedback!

btw: i'm getting a strange thing - images that are sheared.

i have been recording video from the vcr to my sony digital handicam. when i copy to the pc (using firewire and dvcapture software) some of the images tend to split - as though 2 interleaved frames are pulled apart. it usually happens when there is a big difference between two frames (like when someone moves quickly from the left of the screen to the right).

i think the frame rate on the handicam is 25fps. and i know that images from tv are 30 fps interleaved. is this a frame rate issue? or is it the interleaved issue?

regardless, do you all know a solution to this?

[impmon2]

I'm not familiar with that problem. I also have a Handicam but it doesn't have the video in option (darn cheap model :P, I think it's a 130) Oh well, it does have firewire support so should I get VCR with firewire, I could record from VCR to the cam (actually VCR direct to PC with firewire card would be better ^_^)

You may have better luck asking this one in video capture section: https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=2 I tried to search DVDRHelp forum for handicam reference and got very few hits, nothing like your problem.

To get this thread "unhijacked" and back on topic, have you had any luck burning VNCD with "key" in it? It was covered a week ago and then there's been no new word since then. I would like to eliminate the need to swap discs.

[mastersmurfie]

Thanks impmon2!! for the above info... the version of VDub that I use is actually a VDub "mod" which will accept mpeg files as well as avi's...(it's been so long since I actually used it, that I forgot what it was exactly... and I was taking the "Video source rate" adjustment to correspond with "Step 8" in GregSmith's guide with VideoThen. So, I d/l ver 1.5.7 and it works perfectly!! Thanks again!!

couple more questions though...

first...for tomoki, the VDub versions that you tested-did any like mpeg as the source video? if so, did any have the "frame rate" conversion? (I can't seem to find the virtualdub mod files anywhere any longer...I like to capture in mpeg-2, and the convert if I "need" to...)

second...I still have the same issues with the "size" of the file with my burning software...I cannot burn more than 11 minutes of original video...it still doubles the size (timewise) of the original file, and I know next to nothing (actually nothing... )about "ccd" files and how to change them...

Again...thanks to GregSmith for this wonderful VideoThen tool! Once I am able to work out all my bugs, just maybe I can give the daughter the perfect XMAS present: Home movies of ME!!!...

[mastersmurfie]

@tomoki

nevermind...just used the "tool search" on this very site (duh), and found "virtualdubmod 1.5.4.1" which seems to have MPEG abilities...I will try this...

[impmon2]

Not to mention DVDRhelp forum automatically adds link to posts that contain keywords. Maybe you've noticed words like Virtualdub, Tmpgenc and more are hyperlinks? I'll have to see but I don't think any versions of Virtualdub takes MPEG straight up.

[geekstud]

I had the same problems as mastersmurfie with file sizes. I got around this by using ultraiso (free demo) to make an audio image file, for some reason it would keep the correct file size and the image could then be burned with nero, whereas if I just used nero to make an audio cd, it would take a 20 min file and tell me there is a 40min file

[tomoki]

^_^

bumping this thread before it gets lost in the past.

Still waiting to see if the next version are ready soon.

FWIW I've noticed this past week VideoNow player seems to be selling out everywhere. Kmart and Walmart are both frequently out of the player and Walmart often has no single disc available either.

Meijer has VideoNow player but they are out of all the video discs. Looks like VideoNow could be a bit more popular than we thought. I wouldn't be surprised if on Dec. 26th there are quite a lot of new posts on DVDR forum and elsewhere asking how to burn VideoNow CDs.

[mastersmurfie]

don't know if this is relevant or not...(has to be...) but I just right clicked on one of the files created by VideoThen and chose properties...this is what I get:

Bit Rate 2822kbps
Audio sample size 16 bit
Channels 2 (stereo)
Audio sample rate 44 kHz
Audio format PCM

this info comes from the WAV file that is created by videothen...which would almost explain (to me) the doubled size when burning with nero...(this says that the audio is double what I 'thought' I saved it as)

any thoughts?

[GregSmith]

everything looks normal to me, but i dont know what "Bit Rate 2822kbps" means

[NightWing]

Side item...

Looks like the unit will be in the Black Friday items on sales. Have seen it as low as 29 dollars in one ad!

[impmon2]

I saw them as well. Target had a sale on VideoNow player (choice of silver, blue, or RED! for $35 even. They were all out when I got there about an hour after they opened this morning. They were handing out rainchecks like they were (both literal and firgative) made of paper.

Another area of interest is check Sam's Club. They have a package deal for just under $60: VideoNow (silver or blue) plus headphone plus carry case plus 4 regular VN CDs. That's probably close to $100 in retail price separately. Other club warehouse may have them or similiar package.

[mastersmurfie]

SUCCESS!!!

I have finally been able to burn wavs created by VideoThen to mini cdr. For whatever reason, my computer seems to think that the resulting wav is double the bitrate of what it should be...(my system says that the files are: Bitrate 2822kbps, where the files ripped from the sample VNCD are Bitrate 1411kbps). To get around this, I first had to burn an AUDIOCD with NERO to a CDRW. Then, "rip" that audio cd to a mini cdr. For some reason, when I rip it, and then burn a second time, it's at the "correct" bitrate. Now, after going through a 25 pack of 3.25" cdrs, and having only 5 that "work", it's off to the old drawing board again. Gotta figure out how to make the burned cdrs "bootable" for my daughter...(she wouldn't like the mini screwdriver that I have sticking out of the VideoNow player... )

[PACMAN2323]

ok i tryed looking for the same size disc to back up my nephews disc so he dont scratch them up , well no luck there.. so wha i did .. is i wen to my grand parents home he has aband saw i made a template of the size of hte disc and started to cut up a regular cdr wich didnt take buta few seconds.. the barley sanded the sides witch was not badly needed .. then cam home and copya diska nd put it in and it worked out great no probs.. .. im glade it worked...i also bcakd up the disc wiht nero .. i made a image file of each show that i bought. and save it on dvd incase he scratches the disc up . witch he prob wil lol..


i liekto find out if there astarge place on line incase he scratches it wehn where out on a trip traveling .. liketo be able to retrieve them and burn them ifi need to .. i have prob about 30 discs already for back up .. anyone knwo good places to dowlnlaod them or save them online for keep sake .... good luck ...

also hope someone explains how to make a home one easy on here wonce they lerned hwo to make them ... merry xmass

rundmc2323@wmconnect.com if u need help on disc like i made i can help drop me alone ..

[katchar]

can anyone tell me how they got the program to work in there computer ,i have windows xp have downloaded the program files videothen 1b and the jar files and the java script jre file . i have tried to open the program with my command prompt but it comes up with errors .can anyone help, i'm new to this program. thank you[/b]

[GregSmith]

there is a videothen.bat file which will need editing. you have to run the java program - or have it in your path.

if this continues to be a problem i will write more explicit directions. the original directions were written for hackers who have some experience in these things (like how to run a java program).

this is not a consumer-friendly program

[katchar]

i guess i still don't understand, but any help you give me will be appreciated[/b]

[bsteph2069]

Regarding getting help to use Video Then and Viertual Dub.

1. Within the VIDEOTHEN1b.ZIP there is a file called
VIDEOTHEN.DOC. Read that file. It has stepwise directions which should sort out your problems.

The only problem I had was finding a JAVA.EXE file. I believe you can download this from Sun Micro systems. From what I have heard you DONT need the developers engine.

I followed the direction once I got the JAVA.EXE program and things worked like a charm.

Best of luck.



Regarding making a copy of the load disk on the net. Try getting a yahoo account. Also to make a copy of the load disk what I did to allow me to use the disk in my computer was to.

1. place the disk basically ecactly where it should be such that the computer should read it.

2. Place tape around the disk. NOT ON THE DISK. To stop the cd from sliding around and not getting "caught" by the cd drive. Close the drive then copy the disk.


I have NERO Ver. 5.5.6.4. It works fine. Maybe it is what you are doing when you attempt to burn AUDIO disks. I'll also try to make a bootable video disk. I'll try to let you know how it worked out.

And thandkyou all for this forum and help AND GREG SMITH for your fine video now program and the creator of Virtual Dub which greatly simplifies resizing and audio and greyscale issues.

Bsteph2069

[lordsmurf]

This is a cool little project. If those players ever make the clearnace stores (Big Lots, etc) than I may take this up too.

[luther]

I just thought I would thank everyone for their input especially Greg Smith.

This is how I got this to work:

1. I used VirtualDup 1.5.3 with the .cfg file included in videothen1b.zip file (thank you Greg Smith) to make 3 old format AVIs files using the videothen.doc instructions. This was an episode of Pokemon.
2. I used videothen to render the image via the instructions in VideoThen.doc and created 3 .wav files.
3. This is where I had trouble. I do not have media player 8.0 so I used CDRwin to make an .iso of each .wav file. I then created a cue sheet like this with notepad

FILE "C:\POKEMON\POKEMON1.ISO" BINARY
TRACK 01 AUDIO
FLAGS DCP
INDEX 01 00:00:00
FILE "C:\POKEMON\POKEMON2.ISO" BINARY
TRACK 02 AUDIO
FLAGS DCP
INDEX 01 00:00:00
FILE "C:\POKEMON\POKEMON3.ISO" BINARY
TRACK 03 AUDIO
FLAGS DCP
INDEX 01 00:00:00
and used CDRwin to create the disk.

With all other methods the size of the file would double when attempting to layout the disc.

My drive does not use the DAO-RAW writing method thus I was unable to get this disc to boot, but it works great when using the "key disc".

I will attemp to create a bootable disc, I am getting a Liteon ldw-411s drive for Christmas. Does anyone know if it supports DAO-RAW?

I was not able to use CloneCD as Pootle described, does anyone know how to fool CDRwin when writing the VTOC (volume table of contents) as Pootle did with CloneCD?

Thanks

Luther

[katchar]

hi i hate to sound stupid but i think i have theright java file , j2re-1_4_2_02-windows-i586-p-iftw and i downloaded this file java1. now if these are not the right file can someone send me a link. and tell me what file i need. now if i have the right file do i put the file in the same folder as the videothen file. do i use my command prompt to open the file. what do i put in for the command? do i name each folder in succession until i getv to the last file or is there something else i need to do. i looked on the net to see if i could find any instructions on how to use java. i know from the years of reading from this site that there are alot of knowledeable people who are very willing to help you. But for me i feel real stupid because i can't get this. I just think i am missing something , any help is appreciated.[/b]

[luther]

katchar,

You will notice that Greg Smith included the file videothen.bat with his program VideoThen1b. You should be able to click on this file and VideoThen will open if you have the Java program installed. The file you downloaded j2re-1_4_2_02-windows-i586-p-iftw is a program. Install this program and VideoThen should work for you.

Luther

[katchar]

hi thank you luther for all your help i installed the java 2 jre program and double clicked the ms dos batch file and it flashed open for a second and said there is an internal error. do i need to direct the java file to a certain folder like the same folder as the videothen folder or is it ok where it is at. how do i direct the java file in the path of the video then program for it to open

[GregSmith]

katchar - you have to edit the .bat file and change the cd command to point to your videothen directory.

cd c:\videothen

for example.

also the java.exe must be in your PATH and the CLASSPATH environment variable must point to the jre directory. you can change the PATH variable (and add CLASSPATH) by going to ControlPanel->System->Advanced->EnvironmentVariables

this is admittedly very sketchy. i'm currently moving between states and am using a library computer to leave this msg. so i'm not able to do a respectable job of writing docs.

cheers

[luther]

PACMAN2323,

I burned the above mentioned episode of Pokemon on a 700MB CD with the following Cue Sheet (This is the same cue sheet I used above except I added the VideoNow logo from the Key Disc and added a 9 min postgap to make the disc over 29 minutes long.)

FILE "C:\POKEMON\VIDEONOWLOGO.ISO" BINARY
TRACK 01 AUDIO
FLAGS DCP
INDEX 01 00:00:00
FILE "C:\MY DOCUMENTS\PINNACLE STUDIO\CAPTURED VIDEO\POKEMON\POKEMON1.ISO" BINARY
TRACK 02 AUDIO
FLAGS DCP
INDEX 01 00:00:00
FILE "C:\MY DOCUMENTS\PINNACLE STUDIO\CAPTURED VIDEO\POKEMON\POKEMON2.ISO" BINARY
TRACK 03 AUDIO
FLAGS DCP
INDEX 01 00:00:00
FILE "C:\MY DOCUMENTS\PINNACLE STUDIO\CAPTURED VIDEO\POKEMON\POKEMON3.ISO" BINARY
TRACK 04 AUDIO
FLAGS DCP
INDEX 01 00:00:00
POSTGAP 09:00:00


After I burned the image to the disc, I cut the 700MB CD to the size of the Key Disc with a scroll saw (I don't have a band saw). It booted perfectly. The total time on this disc was 29:22:74.

NOTE: The disc was pretty much useless after I cut it. The label flaked badly along the line where I cut it. However even though the disc was damaged, it booted every single time .

PACMAN2323 which disc did you use?

Thanks

Luther