VCD software and burning problems

[Neisse]

I have literally been trying to make a usable VCD for almost 18 months, off and on. Capturing is covered (finally found something that works, and works with WDM drivers). However, everything else is giving me problems.

The ONE VCD I managed to burn, the menus didn't display, the chapters didn't work, and the audio was so badly out of sync it gave me a headache after watching it only a few seconds. I have been using Virtual VCR to capture (works, keeping it), VirtualDub to edit, TMPGEnc to encode, and Nero 5.5.1.0 to burn the disc. What I want to know is:

Is there a free (or cheap) software package that will do everything I need, is easy to use (filters and all that crap confuse me), and won't lock up my machine (ie: not alpha-stage crap). Or, if not a single suite, at least as few tools as possible that will do the job.

I'm disabled (on Social Security), therefore by definition, also perpetually broke. $500 all the bells and whistles commercial software is out of the question.

For the record, I've tried the following in addition to the above:
Ulead Media Studio
Adobe Premiere
VCD Easy (when it was free)
These sucked. Either locked up the computer, was too confusing to use, or both.

Also.... My capture card is able to capture directly to MPEG-1. Is it possible to capture directly to MPEG-1, edit the MPEG, and create and burn the VCD from this format? I realise video quality will suffer a little, but perhaps it will solve some of the problems I've been having? Let me know what you think...

[Solarjetman]

Well, for a decent all in one package that is cheap, I like Pinnacle Studio (about $100 retail). It has a few flaws, but it is straight-forward. Ulead Video Studio is a good starter pakage too. However you said you didn't like Media Studio so that is probably not for you.

I think Pinnacle will mail you a demo CD. I don't think they have a downloadable demo. Look into that.

EDIT: here is a little online interactive FLASH tour of the program, it shows the interface and how you do things. you can watch it and see what you think.

http://www.pinnaclesys.com/WebVideo/studioversion8/flashtour/uk/Studio8vt.html

[Neisse]

Is there anything else? I am looking for Freeware, especially. I don't mind using multiple tools, as long as they are useable and don't make the computer lock up.

I'd prefer not to buy anything unless as a last resort...

[Vejita-sama]

What you want to do has been done several times by several people, so it's fairly safe to assume that there's a problem at your end. First you said you are capturing (I assume from a VHS source). What settings are you using to capture? If it's VHS your source is interlaced and VCDs (MPEG1) do not support interlaced video. So unless you're capturing at 352x240 that could be a problem.

Are you capturing at 29.97fps or 30fps? It really should be 29.97fps. Are you using a codec? If so which one and what settings?

What/why are you loading your captures in VDub? Editing? Filters? If so which ones and what settings?

When you frameserve to TMPGenc (or save avi and load it) what template and/or settings are you using. Audio sync problems are normally due to either using the wrong frame rate or using a VBR audio source (which shouldn't be a problem when you capture, but could be).

Once you have the MPEG file, if you play in WMP is it in sync? Or is only the final VCD out of sync?

Get an older (freeware) verison of VCDEasy (there are several out there). And author from that. I assume you used VCD 2.0?

Basically there are a lot of variables and settings here, but myself and others have done the above several times without incident so it can be done. Just give us all the details and we'll see what we can recommend to help.

[Neisse]

Yes, you are correct. Capturing from VHS source. Using Virtual VCR, size is nonstandard, as suggested by something I read online. Don't remember the settings (on a different computer), but it was twice as big in the vertical as standard. This is to compensate for what, I don't remember, but was fixed later by some filter.

Loaded in VirtualDub to edit, then frameserve to TMPGEnc for encoding. Just used the standard VCD 2.0 template, mostly defaults. Nero was used for authoring, no errors reported during the process.

The MPG that TMPGEnc created was fine. Edits were flawless, the screen size was correct, and the audio was in sync. The interlace filter worked, too.

So, I suppose my problem was with Nero somewhere. Either that, or TMPGEnc encoded the file so that Nero didn't like it too much, and changed things so much that when it was played back, the audio was messed up.

I guess I am looking for a new authoring program, then... I didn't care much for the lack of options in chapters and menus in Nero, anyway. Any suggestions??

[Vejita-sama]

The thing is you listed the programs you used but not the settings. It's really the settings that we need to know. The final resolution and framerate of your MPEG file for example.

And yes nero sucks for authoring, it's a burning program (and IMHO not all that great at that either ). The best VCD authoring program is VCDImager, but as this is a command line program most poeople use a GUI with it. VCDEasy and TSCV are popular GUIs for VCDImager. TSCV is no longer supported and not all that intuitive but it's pretty powerful. VCDEasy can do the similar job just stick to an older freeware verison.

Bottom line if the MPEG played fine in WMP then the problem is with the authoring/burning.