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

[rip_this]

We should start sharing work, we can post the cd images to a newsgroup like alt.binaries.mpeg.videos.music that normally does not have many posts.

[bsteph2069]

Hmmm. That's a good idea! After all the files usually are not too large. Expecially is they are short music videos and the like.

Bsteph

[Nitemare]

Actually, it's a bad idea unless the videos in question are original works. I'll save "the lecture" and just politely remind everyone that the second a legal backup is "shared" it becomes an illegal copyright violation.

I love this thread and am learning a lot. I believe most of us lurkers are more interested in making our own backups than in sharing CD images.

Man! I hope I don't sound like one of those "NO WARES!" screamers. I know almost everyone knows this already so I apologize for the redundancy.

Regards!
Nitemare

[mastersmurfie]

Actually, it's a bad idea unless the videos in question are original works. I'll save "the lecture" and just politely remind everyone that the second a legal backup is "shared" it becomes an illegal copyright violation.

Nitemare...I believe that you are correct...IMO this would be no different than sharing DIVX files on a P2P network, which is why I haven't posted before when this subject has been brought up.

Does it make a difference if we have completely altered the original source? I don't think so...even though most of these files are converted from (usually) a DVD, captured mpeg, captured avi source to wav files (and ultimately to cdaudio files), it won't make a difference...someone would undoubtedly have a beef with it

To be completely honest, I'm really surprised that the people from Hasbro or Tiger haven't tried to intervene yet...we are supposedly converting their "proprietory" format to a format that everyone can (when converted properly) use.

I do not feel comfortable "sharing" the files that I have made, although I would very much like to do so...I have often thought of even adding a section of my website totally dedicated to the sharing of the files, but dismiss those thoughts when I think of the way that the RIAA handled KAZAA and such...

any thoughts?

mastersmurfie

[Nitemare]

mastersmurfie,

You're correct that format conversion is irrelevent to the sharing of files. I remember a company that sold "imported" Godzilla movies on VHS that tried to argue that they were legal because they were;

1) widescreen versions
2) presented in original Japenese dialogue w/ english subtitles
3) the original theatrical versions that hadn't had all of the anti-american sentiments removed.
4) were otherwise unavailable to the US in ANY market

They went to court and were promptly shut down. Though they were offering a completely different product it was still a copyright violation despite their claims that their VHS tapes were a completely different format. Someone owned the copyrights and licenses to release Godzilla movies in the US and this company did not. The fact that theirs were completely different was of no consequence.

I'm not surprised by the lack of intervention by Hasbro or Tiger. This thread (and others like it) will keep their product viable for much longer than it would have stood on its own. The lack of available titles alone would have killed this product by now.

They can also use us as their test market. What's available now? Episodes of Jimmy Neutron and Spongebob Squarepants. Short little episodes of poular cartoons. By reading this thread they'd discover a market for longer movies, music videos, etc. We can save them a fortune on R&D alone. They can invest in bankable licenses and avoid stuff that won't sell.

Regards,
Nitemare

[rip_this]

the lack of intervention by Hasbro or Tiger is because after the programs are aired on tv,you can record it for later use. do any of you remember the vhs battles of the 80's. movie industry lost the battle with vhs, and it will happen again with dvd in time. any ways, posting to newsgroups is untraceable if you belong to a good servers

[rip_this]

how many people will buy videonow next christmas? i think they will stop production of them for lack of interest. what would keep them alive a few more weeks is if people would share there work and create a need for this cheap video player. they are not interested in making more episodes for a bombing product. look how fast it dropped form $100 down to $35, less than half a year. if you can buy an episode this summer i will be suprised. if there is a demand for this player, they will invest in more episodes, videos etc,, otherwise, i think they will not add anymore selections than what they have, and once the warehouse that is full of these is empty, that will be it.

[rip_this]

the lack of intervention by Hasbro or Tiger is because after the programs are aired on tv,you can record it for later use. do any of you remember the vhs battles of the 80's. movie industry lost the battle with vhs, and it will happen again with dvd in time. any ways, posting to newsgroups is untraceable if you belong to a good servers

[bsteph2069]

Regarding the sharing of videos. Yeah I thought about that before I spoke, er wrote. I am not shying we should share copyrighted stuff and or movies because they are wayyyyy to big, that would be a illegal, and it would probably bring down unnescessary heat upon whoever decided to host the files and in general messup a good thing we have going.

But what about TV shows. Those are in general free and it is safe I think to share provided they are taped and not bought via a video store.

I was thinking of the Simpsons or even the ocasional music video I have stashed, not to mention tv episodes of 24, Americas home videos ect. Actually a 30 min episode is too long in my opinion so I would suffest a 5 min video. That's big enough!


Bsteph

[Principal Skinner]

If anyones interested in free films and old television shows you can try

"LikeTelevision" google it if you want or here's the direct link

http://tesla.liketelevision.com/

Lot's of cool old Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, and classic stuff from the 50's, 60's, 70's...

Must be free to copy and use...

8)

[bsteph2069]

Thanks for the link.

There are some real gemg there. Especially Refer Madness!!!


For what it's worth. Actually the downloads are not exactly free they charge $9.00 for some downloads and $12.00 for membership.

( I think. )

But yeah that is basically what I was thinking of.

Bsteph

[GregSmith]

i think the reason hasbro/tiger have not intervened is simply this - it was a one-shot device. they only intended it to be released for a single christmas season. look at the prices of portable dvd players - down to about $170 retail. (http://www.circuitcity.com/detail.jsp?c=1&b=g&qp=0&bookmark=bookmark_0&oid=59602&catoid=-12541). And thats full color. There simply isnt much of a market for a tiny black&white low-res hacked-up video player.

of course, the money was never in the player, it was in the video disks. from the outset the disks were over priced. the proprietary format meant that you had to buy the disks from hasbro in order to have anything to watch. so, once you bought a videonow you had to pay the piper to get more video.

finally i dont think hasbro is very interested in a small group of people who have figured out how to convert regular titles to their format. the fact is, the burning process is far too complex for the average parent to be bothered with. it is far easier for most parents to trip down to toys-r-us and drop $7-$15 for a new disk (that is, if the child is still interested in the toy now that christmas is over)

btw: my daughter still watches videonow, using videothen created disks, and uses the swap technique. she is 12 and has requested more disks. how is the popularity with your kids?

[Principal Skinner]

I use the Videothen prog about once a week, GregSmith. I've converted about a half dozen titles for my two sons, who think the VideoNow player is great. And it is on long trips. Ahhhhh, blessed silence as I drive.
I agree that the titles make up probably the bulk the of the revenue for this device.
Thanks for making it possible.

Principal Skinner

[bigpun638]

Rendered file with video then and it produced a 111mb file.What size should the output file be.Also can you burn the wva file with nero

[bsteph2069]

Im not sure how large the resulting wav should be. But I'm gonn step out on a limb and ask if it's a 10 min. long.wav? If so that could be about right. If not then well maybe something is wrong.

Yes you can burn a wav file with NERO just make sure that NERO is setup to burn an AUDIO CD and that it is selected to BURN AT ONCE.

NOTE: There is a consistency of NERO to DOUBLE the SIZE of video then WAVE files prior to burning. What is currently being done is to burn a RW disk with NERO. THEN extract the wavs from the resulting RW cd and then burn a final version. Remember to pad the rest of the RW with wav files to cause the cd length to be greater than 30min ( 32 min is fine )

Good luck let us know how it turned out.

Bsteph

[dausone]

Alright... I have been following this thread from the beginning and want to thanks all those who contributed. I finally purchased my own video now player and succesfully made my first vncd using vnconvert... no gaps, full 20 minutes of video... something like 23 chapters (yikes)

1st question:
is there any way I can I place my chapters anywhere I want and limit the number of them?

2nd question:
there is a very small pause between chapters.. is this normal?

sorry for the lame ass questions.. hopefully some of the vncd masters can help me out here. Thanks.

[mastersmurfie]

Alright... I have been following this thread from the beginning and want to thanks all those who contributed. I finally purchased my own video now player and succesfully made my first vncd using vnconvert... no gaps, full 20 minutes of video... something like 23 chapters (yikes)

1st question:
is there any way I can I place my chapters anywhere I want and limit the number of them?

2nd question:
there is a very small pause between chapters.. is this normal?

sorry for the lame ass questions.. hopefully some of the vncd masters can help me out here. Thanks.

Hi dausone...I'm not sure where your problems stem from, but I'll try to add my 2 cents worth. (I still haven't been able to get VNConvert to work correctly for me, but have read the documentation many times...)

1st question:
is there any way I can I place my chapters anywhere I want and limit the number of them?

Using VirtualDub, just make your clips whatever size that you want...this will dictate your "chapter points". (each "clip" will be a chapter point, if I've read correctly...)

2nd question:
there is a very small pause between chapters.. is this normal?

With any of the burning methods, make sure that you have no "PREGAP" between the clips...

Here, I have a shot of burnatonce, which is what I have used to burn the initial disc:



notice, there is no "Pause" in the tracks, and the "2sec pause" is unchecked...

Hope this is helpful...

PS...there are no "lame ass questions" except those that aren't asked

Just a thought...

mastersmurfie

[dausone]

Thanks for the feedback mastersmurfie... in VirtualDub I made one long video track (20 mins worth) but when I convert with vnconvert it makes the tracks for me. Maybe its a setting I am overlooking with vnconvert? And I burned the vncd using CDRWIN... I will double check my settings and try using Nero and see if anything changes... oh yeah and by the way, the pauses are like half a second and I thought I noticed those pauses on the sponge bob sampler disc as well? Thanks again for your help on this.

And now the final question... #3
On the Sponge Bob sampler disc... there is a main menu that seems to pause until you press the next button... anyone figure out how to include this pause on their own vncd's?

[Tazmania8332]

Hi.

I have figured out a way to use RealOne Player to burn the vncd.

Use Virtual Dub and then Videothen to make the Wav files. (Also, cut a 10 sec. track off of your first track to be first. This way you can use the buttons on the videonow player.)(Make a an extra track that is about 10-20 sec. long.(this tra will be the very last track.))

Then go to Realone Player to burn an audio cd. Select the tracks you made and add them in the order you want them. (Dont's forget the 10 sec. beginning track and the extra track.) Now burn the disc.

Now use Clonecd to burn to an empty folder with only 1 file in it (CCD2VNCD). Doubleclick on the .ccd file when Clonecd is finish copying the disc. (A black dos window should appear)

When the dos windows disappears, write the .ccd file u just made to a disc with clonecd.

NOW THE HARD PART... pop it in your videonow and enjoy some movies

[cubbleyum]

There is a new videonow maker to add to the mix. However the thing is it costs money $19.95

www.mystuffnow.com

Its really not a bad program. I have purchased it myself to try it out. I really like it and its easy.

[katchar]

what kind of media does everybody use and where can i get the best deal from on mini cdr

[cubbleyum]

I use Maxell 210mb 24minute mini cdrs.

They can be overburned to 26minutes and 30secs or 233mb data

Memorex Colored mini cdrs don't work well in the videonow player from my experience.

[mastersmurfie]

I use TDK 24 min 210MB discs from Best Buy. 25-pack always $9.99.

(till they run out...seems like I'm the only one buying them from my local store...)

[mastersmurfie]

Whatever this videonow maker is:

www.mystuffnow.com

I can't get it to work. If I do get it to d/l, I'll try it out. (don't know if I wanna pay for it though...I can do the same thing myself for free...)

mastersmurfie

[mastersmurfie]

ok...sorry...just got it to d/l...gonna go play with it for a bit...

mastersmurfie

[dausone]

Im geting my media from Fry's Electronics.. General Quality brand - 25 pack for 10.00. The best buy deal sounds great too. I have downloaded MyStuffNow... and didnt seem to get the Windows Media encoder to work. For those that arent familiar with how this new prog works it creates a vncd using wma files... bleh... but I havent been successful.

[cubbleyum]

Does anyone know if the free vnc convertor tools are going to be updated. I would really like to see a faster version of vnc convert. This vnc convert produces the best results and quality for me.

[katchar]

cubbleyum what settings do you use in windows media encoder . where it wants to know what settings to render. i have used different ones and they all seem to work. also where is the best place to buy mini cdr

thank you for sharing the program i bought the full version and so far it works great

[mastersmurfie]

I had thought about this before...converting MP3s to cds...however, seems you can only get about 5 or 6 songs max on one vncd due to time constraints (my cdrs are only 24 minutes max-average song is approx 4 minutes long...and I cant overburn)

...seems same thing with MyStuffNow,...maybe I'm doing something wrong???

best deal I've found on mini cdrs is BestBuy-25 pack TDK 24min 210MB for $9.99...

[prybar]

Mystuffnow uses WM codec, because everyone has the encoder/decoder installed on their windows machines, therefore eliminating the need for a virtual-dub type program (or so i reason). I'm gonna stick with vnconvert and all the rest of the great apps you guys developed.

Thanks

pry