Autostart a cd or vcd on a pc made on a Mac?

[dsf]

I need to get my QtPro .mov movie (about 10 minutes long) to automatically open and play upon insertion into a Windows pc so that users don't have to do anything except put the disc into their computers to play it. Can I create this cd on my G4 Dual 10.2.3 Mac? Can it be done in Toast 6? Would this be a VCD or can it be done on a regular cd? Any thoughts are greatly appreciated.
Thanx,
Don

[AntnyMD]

You will need to add an autorun.inf file to your VCD structure. Toast will not let you add any files to VCD other than video, so Toast is not an option. I don't recall any Mac freeware, shareware options that allow this kind of flexibility ... There may have been updates recently.

The thing is if you add an autorun.inf file to your VCD, you'll have to tell it which software to launch on the PC in order to play the VCD, and there is little or no chance of you knowing the exact configuration of each PC user's setup.

Some commercially produced VCDs included software called Sony Videopress, which along with an autorun file, played back the VCD on PCs using the Videopress software. I know this used to work on Windows 98, but I don't know if this software is compatible with XP/2000. I found an old copy of it laying around my place and I authored a VCD with Videopress. I popped it into my work computer and it did not autorun. I don't know if this was the fault of Windows 2000, burning the disc on a Mac, or my authoring it wrong. I'd had success in the past.

[dsf]

Ant,
Thanks for this thoughtful reply which brings me to two questions:
1) Could I make the QT video on the Mac, put it onto my pc, then, make it an autoplay cd if I had a cd burner attached to the pc? Or, would the issue of telling the playback pc which program to use still be there? I think most pc's have WMV so would that app be a likely choice? (In short, to autoplay on a pc does it need to be created on a pc?)(This would mean using Cleaner to make the Qt .mov file into a WMV file first, right?)
2) With Toast 6 can I put maybe two or three 100mg .mov movies on a Mac VCD where there would be a menu of which to select? What about still pictures on a VCD with Toast 6?

I am in a spending mood, you see...!
Thanx v. much,
Don

[AntnyMD]

Ant,
Thanks for this thoughtful reply which brings me to two questions:
1) Could I make the QT video on the Mac, put it onto my pc, then, make it an autoplay cd

Converting your QuickTime video to MPEG-1 would make it the most universal for playback on the PC, and will retain playback capability in the Mac OS. You'd burn these MPEG-1 videos as a straight data CD, preferaby with compatibility in both Mac/Windows. On it, you can drop a text file called AUTORUN.INF, with simple instructions to force it to start up, call Windows Media Player (better to make it call version 6.4 -- all the versions after that are just clunky, sludgy software). There will be no menu. If you have multiple MPEG videos you're screwed (the autorun file will only handle a pointer to one file, if I recall correctly). Furthermore, if the PC user turned off switch to allow discs to automatically start playing, theres no amount of autorun.inf files that will change that. When I had a PC, and now on my PowerBook, I've turned off AutoPlay features. I don't always want to do something with a disc when I insert it -- sometimes I just want it to sit there and be quiet.

if I had a cd burner attached to the pc?

This doesnt matter.

2) With Toast 6 can I put maybe two or three 100mg .mov movies on a Mac VCD where there would be a menu of which to select?

Again, I wouldnt go the VCD route as the kind of disc you ultimately aim to create would be problematic on a PC without also distributing the proper software ... which you could do, if you could author a VCD on a Mac that allowed you to add additional files to the VCD file structure. When I want to author VCDs that take full advantage of the VCD2.0 spec, I use VirtualPC and the free version of VCDEasy to make image files that I bring back into OS X Panther to burn.

What about still pictures on a VCD with Toast 6?

The one thing I will always praise Toast 6 for is it's excellent ability to create VCD 2.0 standard photo slideshows with menu and numeric pad selection from the remote. I was astonished on how good this facility was, given how utterly disappointed I was in the rest of Toast 6. Photo slideshows work like this:

Drop a bunch of individual files onto the Toast 6 VCD window, and it will create a disc that cycles through each photo, and with amazing clarity (provided your source photos are high resolution). However, drop a series of FOLDERS containing photos you've organized, say by subject, and Toast 6 creates a Menu with highlight buttons named after each folder (names can be altered in the Toast window), with remote control button selection and almost smart navigation. Once you select a folder of photos to display, each photo displays in alpha order, and once the folder is done, it returns to the menu pointed at the next folder its ready to display.

Again, this disc won't autorun on a PC -- but pop it into a settop DVD player with VCD capability, and enjoy your photos in way that was utterly pain-free to make.

[dsf]

Ant,
Now I think I am starting to understand this all a little better - am getting there. But, if you'll indulge me...
1) How do I turn the Qt .mov movie into an MPEG-1 file? Cleaner 5? I see that in my Final Cut 3 in 10.2.3 I can export to MPEG-4, but that's not 1. ...2) Where can I get a copy of AUTORUN.INF, and how do I set it up on my Mac for use on a Mac-burned cd for a pc?
3) Given what you said about the problems with having a few movies on one VCD, to have just one video play on a compact disc for Macs and pc's should I make a data cd (Toast makes this, right?) with the one MPEG-1 on it and include the autorun file pointing to WMV 6.4? What about Mac users in this configuration - they would have to double-click the MPEG-1 file to get QuickTime to open it, right?
Thanks for all your help in this,
Don

[AntnyMD]

Ant,
Now I think I am starting to understand this all a little better - am getting there. But, if you'll indulge me...
1) How do I turn the Qt .mov movie into an MPEG-1 file? Cleaner 5? I see that in my Final Cut 3 in 10.2.3 I can export to MPEG-4, but that's not 1. ...

In QuickTime, there should be an Export to Toast VCD option, if you have Toast installed. Otherwise you can use ffmpegX to make an MPEG-1 file from a .mov. If you already have Cleaner, use that, as you may already be familiar with using it to convert video.

2) Where can I get a copy of AUTORUN.INF, and how do I set it up on my Mac for use on a Mac-burned cd for a pc?

This is just a simple text file that you write yourself, name it autorun, and make sure the extension is .inf. I forget the sequence of the commands needed to make it call a piece of PC software to play the mpeg video. I would do a search throughout the forum on "autorun.inf" and do your research.

3) Given what you said about the problems with having a few movies on one VCD, to have just one video play on a compact disc for Macs and pc's should I make a data cd (Toast makes this, right?) with the one MPEG-1 on it and include the autorun file pointing to WMV 6.4? What about Mac users in this configuration - they would have to double-click the MPEG-1 file to get QuickTime to open it, right?
Thanks for all your help in this,
Don

It's only a problem in that on a data disc with an autorun file, I think it will only open the specified software and play one file. You can have as many files on the disc as you want. I would suggest you label the CD with a 2 or 3 bullet points telling the people how to use the disc. If all else fails, write a readme.txt file and have your users read it.

For Mac users the disc will mount on the desktop whether or not the CD is burned as a PC data disc or a Mac/PC hybrid data disc. Mac users have been around the block enough to know we need to double-click to browse the disc and then double-click the files we want to view. It's only the PC users that need the help.

I'm sitting here writing this thinking of more complex ways you can approach this, but really, you should keep it simple. What exactly are you trying to accomplish in your final product, anyway? At first you mentioned a VCD (which is a specially formatted compact disc with audio and video designed to be viewed on a television primarily), and then you mentioned a photo CD, which can be approached a number of different ways.

[dsf]

[ What exactly are you trying to accomplish in your final product, anyway? At first you mentioned a VCD (which is a specially formatted compact disc with audio and video designed to be viewed on a television primarily), and then you mentioned a photo CD, which can be approached a number of different ways..]
Thanx again, Ant.
What I am trying to do is make this video I am editing about new ways reading-challenged kids are learning to read, maybe a 10 minute project, in Final Cut Pro, and get it into the hands of school district administrators. I make movies in FCP. I have been asked to do this project by the guy who owns the software company for the reading materials. He hired someone last year to make a video for him and he sent out 30 copies and was told by all 30 that they never put it into their vcr's. Now, he wants to try this approach cause he knows they all use computers, mostly pc's, in their school district offices. I am a major Mac guy, so I need to learn how to get this movie from Final Cut onto a cd which will be stinkin' easy for these pc-challenged administrators to use. I am instructed to make it so that when they put the disc into their pc's it'll open up and play right off the bat. That's why I have been asking you for rather specific instructions on how to do this.
You have given me a lot of insight already, for which I am very grateful, and I am looking for all the details I can get on making this project work.
Thanks again, Ant,
Don[/quote]

[AntnyMD]

How did he come up with that logic? More people use televisions than use computers. It's not the fact the VCR and videocassette were unappealing to them -- they just don't want to watch his video! Putting it on a CD isn't going to make a difference.

However, my recommendation is you make a data CD containing one MPEG file, and use an autorun.inf file to force the MPEG to play upon disc insertion. I can't help you with ways to make the user put the CD in the computer.

Also, read this thread and its associated links about how to make your autorun.inf file. https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=192096&highlight=autorun+inf