.... dvd to svcd - questions?

[imacaroon]

Hi - first time poster here and I am sorry if this has been answered but I have done a search AND looked around elsewhere. I have a couple of DVD's for the kids and I know they will get scratched beyond repair so want to do a back up but instead of creating a DVD back up, I want to make them SVCD's.

1) I thought I would use MTR but am unsure if I can then go on to use ffmpegX - can I and how? Or am I better just using OSeX as per the guide I downloaded (from somewhere) using OSeX, ffmpegX and MMB (or Toast)?

2) I don't want any subtitle options, different languages, menus etc - just the guts - how can I have this?

3) Last year I made an SVCD of a home movie I had exported from iMovie and when it came to burning I couldn't use MMB because of my Pioneer DVD-RW104 superdrive not being supported (there was no apparent fix - looked at Sourceforge etc) and couldn't afford Toast. I can't remember how I ended up burning and DIDN'T take any notes either - grrrrrr. Any help on this one?

I'm a bit of a newbie to all of this but want to get it sorted. I like to know how the process works, what I am going to start off with and end up with at each step but I suppose I just want to get these first two done before it is too late - my DVD thingy seems to be very sensitive to scratches on the media placed into it and I have a rotten head cold at the moment so ....

I would just be so appreciative of some guidance - HELP

[bilestyle]

forty-two is a good free solution to straight dvd->svcd... ripping first and then running through ffmpegX is a much more aggravating less often successful process.

[imacaroon]

Thanks bilestyle. I'll be onto it and see how it goes - at least today I don't feel like I have a head full of ... yellowish-green stuff

[galactica]

This one I wrote using 42 MPPlus

[imacaroon]

OK. So I'm sitting here waiting for 42 to d/l on a 56k ... ho hum... and was just wondering - Do I have the option here of just having the straight movie with none of the trimmings? With 42 or 42MPPlus?

I think when I made my last SVCD I burnt it using Disc Burner, a little freeware burner which has gotten some flak for using the same icon as Apples burner. I don't think I can do Toast at the moment so hopefully that was it.

BTW, I am running 10.2.6 on iMac G4 800 or 10.3 on iBook G4 933 - will I notice a difference in the process on one pute or the other?

Thanks everyone.

[galactica]

42 is free [still?!]
42 MPPlus is shareware - and has a few more bells and whistles

suggest trying 42 first, if you like then consider MPPlus

[imacaroon]

OK. I plugged the DVD into my iMac, got it playing with VLC for a bit (not sure if that was necessary but ...) quit VLC, dragged the DVD image to the well and set it up according to Tutorial/info I had found, waited for a good few hours until it had finished (it thanked me for the fish!!) and went and had a look at the result ...

... the result is a 20KB folder with a biles.mp2, biles.mpv and a folder called FINDING_NEMO-BurnWhatsInHere.

What did I do. Or more to the point what DIDN'T I do?

PS. I'm on PAL if this makes a difference.

[bilestyle]

so you ran the script called build 42 support? u gotta run that b4 all the utils 42 needs to run will function properly.... im assuming the burn whats in here folder is empty?

[imacaroon]

Yes - ran the build first as per installation instructions and Yes - the folder was empty.

But - I might uninstall and reinstall because I think that something wasn't set up properly somewhere as when I first went to set up the DVD while in 42, I got script errors. I quit 42, relauched and it was ok but maybe something got confused. When I repaired permissions after install, ther were a few repairs that had to be made - didn't take any note so maybe ... second time lucky!

Cheers.

[imacaroon]

Latest Report

Nah! No go - it's not working here. Same thing again. What next?

[imacaroon]

Now I'm not trying to BUMP this or anything but ...

.... I have done a bit of fiddling and now have three files Xferring into my folder; mpg.avi, mpg.idx and mpg.sub. Is this what is meant to be happening? I'm not sure about the mpg.sub - sounds like I have subtitles when I didn't want them and didn't choose them. Should I stop now (at 1020MB) and try again or just let it run through? If I let it run through, can I remove them later - like prior to burning?

Any HELP very much appreciated

[thoughton]

Regarding your previous problem (which you seem to have solved now), it was probably because you weren't online when you ran "42 support". The manual is very vague about it (as a matter of fact I dont think it mentions it at all), but the support script downloads stuff which it then installs. For modem users who have "connect automatically" turned off the script appears to have worked when it didn't. This took me months to figure out :P

[thoughton]

PS Let it run through before doing anything Forty-two's (1.5.2 and 1.6.2, I never used VX or MP) DVD>SVCD output is fantastic quality, I used to use it all the time.

PPS Firestarter is very good for burning bin/cue SVCD files.

[imacaroon]

THANK YOU THOUGHTON -

I am now going to follow up on your suggestion because after 42 finished Xferring, those files became biles again as per my previous attempts. I was using a different DVD just in case it had something to do with the first DVD.

I am now going back to work ...

[imacaroon]

PS Firestarter doesn't work with my burner either

[imacaroon]

THOUGHTON - you got it baby - you ROCK. I currently have 9hrs and 32mins of video encoding/transcoding. I can view a sample, things are happening the way the manual says they should and wow ...

Thank you!!

[thoughton]

Glad to hear it seems to be working! Forty-two is an awesome program, I especially like the way 1.5.2 can transcode directly from disk (great when you have limited HD space)