Having capacity issues on a VCD

[ssoltz]

I am working on a project which I've decided to deliver on VCD.

The client's needs are:
1. The individual videos contained on the disc must be copyable and the disc aas a whole must be copyable
2. The video files may be used by their clients in PowerPoint presentations
3. It shold be viewable on as many devices as possible.

VCD seemed like the answer. I did my first VCD and also made a seperate ISO folder that had the MPEG-1s in normal format (so, the VCD has each file twice, once in .dat once in .mpg). Unfortunately, they need to add another video to the disc and I am at 790 MB now.

What can I do?

I know that there is a .dat to .mpg converter out there. Can I create a batch that will run from the CD copying a file or a number of files from the disc, then converting them to MPEG-1? This way I would only need the .dat files on the disc.

I need something easy to use because the level of the people using this disc it should be assumed are only partially computer literate.

Even easier for me would be if I could use a lower bitrate than the 1150 Kbs rate that is standard for VCDs. If I lower this rate will I have compatibility issues?

Any ideas anyone may have on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

[Craig Tucker]

A dat file will play ok in media player if you just rename the extension to mpg. In fact you can force media player to play dat files, but if we are talking about the simpest option for computer illiterate people just tell them to copy the dat file to the hard drive and rename the extension.

Basically by having the dat and mpg file on the disc you are wasting space. It is the same file with the header modified.

Lowering below 1150 means that it is no longer a VCD but an XVCD. This may cause problems with some DVD players that would otherwise play VCD.

[FulciLives]

Well since CD-R discs are rather cheap why don't you use 2 CD-R discs one in true VCD format and the other with just the MPEG file copied to it as a data disc. You could include both discs in a single 2-CD jewel case or even a single 2-disc DVD type case.

Label the VCD something like VIDEO and the other disc as BACK-UP or something like that.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[ssoltz]

Gentlemen,

Thank you for the replies. They were both good suggestions. I will offer them both up to my client and see where she wants to go.

Thanks again,

[RabidDog]

If you are doing this professionally then you have access to a dvd burner.. why not offer that as an option? 4.3Gb of space as opposed to 700mb. Also dont rule out larger capacity CDR 650mb and 700mb are common but 790mb(90 mins) and 870mb(99 mins) are also easily purchased.

[Gazorgan]

Most office computers have a CDROM drive but not a DVDROM drive. It's a compatibility issue for using VCD.

[FulciLives]

Not to mention that CD-R sizes over the "standard" 80-min 700MB size seem to be either made poorly and/or have compatability issues with many CD/DVD drives.

Since this is a project that will span many different systems with different hardware etc. I don't think you want anything that would throw off compatability.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[ssoltz]

Hi Guys,

Yes, the last two replies are exactly right. I normally do produce DVDs for this client but since this one requires MPEG-1 and compatibility (especially in an office environment), I have decided that VCD is definitely the way to go.

Thanks again,

[adam]

Actually the VCD standard lists 1150kbits as the "max" supported bitrate. As long as its still encoded in CBR there shouldn't be any compatibility problems with using lower bitrates.

If hardware support isn't necessary then consider making an mpeg1 (mini)DVD. It will be an otherwise DVD compliant disk but you can just burn it on cd media. This will give you the full functionality of DVDs but it will still be playable on any pc, though not on most hardware players. I have done this in the past when making what I call Virtual Resume's. I include Media Player Classic on the disk and write an autorun script. You can also use mpeg2 and store the Elucard mpeg2 plugin on disk itself and load it via Media Player Classic. It will play on any pc regardless of whether they have an mpeg2 codec installed or not.

It autoloads on all pcs and works great. I could upload a sample disk image of one of these disks for you to download if you want. If I remove the music its probably only like 20 MBs.

[vcdforme]

Hi,
If you want maximum compatibily among PC's then simply put
the files on an ISO cdr as mpg's.
Most computers will not recognize a VCD unless they've been
configured to recognize VCD's.

If you must put 2 files on the disc then adjust your bitrate
accordingly.

note:
If you're looking for maximum compatiblilty among standalone
DVD players, then VCD is even more compatible/standardized
than DVD-r. But if you're just going among PC's, straight MPG
is the way to go.

Good luck.