Procoder MPEG1_VCD_NTSC.mpg

[AlanHK]

The bin file contains all of the necessary information directly related to the movie proper. Look at it this way: The original mpg file is the movie, from which the bin and cue files are generated. The bin file contains all of the information present in the mpg file. Hence, it could be used in place of the mpg file to generate the cue file.

A VCD can have several features and menus. So in general it's more complicated than just a direct translation of one single MPEG.

[Midzuki]

VCDImager Authoring Guide Series @:

http://download.videohelp.com/vitualis/index.htm

I learned a lot from it

[disturbed1]

Again, strictly speaking, a cue file is not necessary. It is definitely a convenience, however, which is why it evolved, and which is why most burning software makes use of it.

If the burning software knows it is to burn a VCD, then it knows it is to burn a Mode 2 disc, with the correct pregaps. The bin file contains all of the necessary information directly related to the movie proper. Look at it this way: The original mpg file is the movie, from which the bin and cue files are generated. The bin file contains all of the information present in the mpg file. Hence, it could be used in place of the mpg file to generate the cue file.

Not going to stretch my epenis over an old VCD format, but you should learn a thing or 2 about a thing or 2 . The bin file doesn't contain the information about the actual image, it's a raw dump of info. If this was a plain iso9660 format, then yes you can simply burn the bin file. A regular ISO image only stores 2048 sectors, with the extra 304 used for error correction, a (S)VCD uses all 2352 sectors. If you where to just burn the bin file you can expect the (S)VCD to not start at the exact beginning, and end before the actual playing time (A 70 minute movie becomes 66 minutes). This is a well documented problem with older versions of Nero (pre 5.5), which were quilty of doing exactly what you decribe as being perfectly ok to do, ignoring the cue file and only burning the bin. Programs like VCDGear, binchunker, and ISOBuster have options for you to chose the bin mode so that it can handle the correct format.

[tomlee59]

AlanHK -- Yes, you're absolutely right, of course. If the structure is more complicated than just a movie, the cue sheet is needed. Thanks!

Disturbed1 -- I definitely have more larnin' to do, but perhaps I'm not alone in that need. In the case of a simple movie, if the burning app knows in advance it's to create a VCD (burn in Mode 2 -- as explicitly stated), then the bin file has all of the information needed, in principle. A Mode 2 disc backs off on the amount of error correction to allow 2336 bytes of user data in the 2352-byte sectors (not 2352 sectors). A normal (mode 1) disc has 2048 user bytes per 2352-byte sector, allowing much more error correction. Instructing the burning app to use Mode 2 avoids the Nero problem you describe.

[aedipuss]

tomlee the problem becomes not a lot of apps can burn mode2/FORM2. it's different from a standard mode2 burn. NOT 2336 but 2332 bytes/block.

[tomlee59]

I thought that the optional 4-byte EDC code is used in VCDs (making it 2336bytes/sector), but apparently not. Do you happen to know what they use that extra space for?

[aedipuss]

just to mess with burning apps if it's not burned correctly they lose the ability to seek - no ff rw or correct chapters and often the audio goes out of sync.

crap it's been so long i got the numbers wrong it's 2324 data and the extra 8 bytes were reserved for interactive data, called a subheader and an optional 4 byte edc.

The different Modes that can exist on CD :

Audio (2352 bytes / block User Data, 2352 Bytes / block Raw data)
Mode 1 (2048 bytes / block User Data, 2352 Bytes / block Raw data)
Mode 2 (2336 bytes / block User Data, 2352 Bytes / block Raw data)
Mode 2 Form 1 (2048 bytes / block User Data, 2352 Bytes / block Raw data)
Mode 2 Form 2 (2324 bytes / block User Data, 2352 Bytes / block Raw data)

[tomlee59]

Thanks, aedipuss. I appreciate the information!

[disturbed1]

Thanks, aedipuss. I appreciate the information!

Same here.

It's been so long since I've even made a VCD, I may just have to break out my Philips VCD Toolkit, and a bottle of aspirin.

[lordsmurf]

I could have sworn that VCDEasy 1.1.5.2 (last free one) came with CDRAO or something in the package. It already burned.

[aedipuss]

smurf - vcdeasy 1.1.5.2 does come with cdrdao for burning. free and never expires.

[disturbed1]

Without mediaplayer, VCDEasy won't even install.

[aedipuss]

i think the last version without media player integration was 1.1.2 it can still be found in weird little places like this.

http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:Lt_VwWg7IaAJ:www.hpartsch.de/Downloads/site10.htm+VCDEasy+1.1.2+download&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=48&gl=us

[AlanHK]

smurf - vcdeasy 1.1.5.2 does come with cdrdao for burning. free and never expires.

I never got CDRDAO to work. It was simpler just to write to cue/bin and use Fireburner than wrestle with it.

[Midzuki]

AlanHK wrote:

I never got CDRDAO to work.

Me either --- even after installing the required "ASPI layer" and
making sure the command-line contained no errors
OTOH, cdrecord has never given me any problems

[aedipuss]

vcdeasy is a gui for cdrdao, you don't have to use it yourself.

[AlanHK]

vcdeasy is a gui for cdrdao, you don't have to use it yourself.

I know. But it didn't work.
It was a few years ago, but I think it was just that it was written for old versions of Windows and old CD burners. So rather than burn coasters trying to work out if it was possible to make it work, I just used a more recent burning app, Fireburner.

[aedipuss]

hehe - then to be fair vcdeasy is up to version 3.1.0 and works with current drives. the free version is about 5 years old now.