VCDing for first time - more than one original media type

[ShelaghC]

I'm a complete and utter newbie to this - haven't even picked up a program for the deed as of yet, but a few people have suggested Nero as a good start for me (so that's most likely what I'll use).

Currently, I have several bits of video media on my hard drive that I'd like to transfer onto a VCD. A few are RealMedia, the rest are Quicktime.

• Can Nero work with the RealMedia bits?
  Is it better to have all the bits of media in the same format?
  I've been told in the past that Quicktime is fairly easy to work with in creating VCDs - is this true?
  Is Nero indeed easy to work with for the complete and utter newbie in making VCDs?

These and other questions are currently on my half-baked mind.

I'm by no means a high-level geek, but I have a better than average proficiency with computers. Generally, once I get started, I'm good with figuring things out.

I just need the first push on the way to that start.

Thanks

Shelagh
geek-in-training

[ZippyP.]

Nero is good for burning your vcd's to disk but the quality of the mpegs that it creates is poor. Better to make your mpegs with TMPGEnc then burn with nero. Depending on the type of files that you're working with, you'll find a guide for making VCD's from them in the Guides section.

[mats.hogberg]

Can Nero work with the RealMedia bits?

Nero can decode and reencode what your system is capable of decoding.

Is it better to have all the bits of media in the same format?

Yes. If at all possible (and it always is) encode all material to VCD mpg before letting it on to Nero (if Nero is what you prefer).

I've been told in the past that Quicktime is fairly easy to work with in creating VCDs - is this true?

No. Good quality AVI or an original DVD is the best starting point.

Is Nero indeed easy to work with for the complete and utter newbie in making VCDs?

I took my first stabs at creating a VCD armed with nothing but Nero. I never succeded, and was about to give this business alltoghether. Then I read all those fab guides here at DVDRHelp, and have since then only used Nero to burn the occational dics image.

/Mats

[theDruid]

Have to agree with the others here; I'd use Nero to burn your disc(s), but I'd prepare the files with other tools first.

TINRA (This Is Not Real Anymore) is a good tool to use to convert Real files to avi. I'd use the HuffyUV codec to avoid loss of quality.

You can then use TMPGEnc to convert the avi's to MPEG-1, VCD compliant mpg's.

With the TMPGEnc MOV Plugin, TMPGEnc can take QuickTime files directly.

You may want to ensure that you have installed the QT codecs fully (i.e. don't select the minimal option when installing QT). Otherwise audio can be problematic.

TMPGEnc can be set-up to batch encode several different files.

Optionally, you could then use VCDEasy to author the VCD (it does a better job of authoring than Nero), before using Nero to burn the discs from an image.

Much of this is covered in the guides - but perhaps this is enough to give you a push in the right direction.

cheers,
mcdruid.

[iThinkYouBrokeIt]

Don't use TINRA to convert Real to AVI, then to MPEG. it takes a lot of time, and lessens the picture quality a bit.

Use EO Video to convert Real to VCD-MPEG directly. you can download a 30-day trial of it from its website. Though I do not remember what site it is. I'll get back to you on that, or you can view my profile and contact me via AIM, MSN, or Yahoo.

and as for AVI and quicktime, many times (especially with DivX) there are sound issues, so you need to extract the audio to a separate *.wav file to be able to get the job done. Quicktime can do this for quicktime movies, and VirtualDub works great for extracting the sound for .avi's.