[Help] Problems creating VCDs.

[scott274]

Um.. I tried in VirtualDub v1.7.8 but still didn't quite understand this Lagarith codec decode to lossless intermediate format. I found no option in VirtualDub to select the installed Lagarith codec. Can someone please explain in detail exactly what to do in VirtualDub.

I got MPEGSequenceMaker v0.2 but couldn't find Panasonic MPEG1 encoder. Not even a trial version.

And is that Philips VCD toolkit error due to nonVCD compliant Mpeg input or because it is rejecting video files with .mpg extension. Perhaps it accepts only extensions like .mmd etc. The Mpeg file i used in the toolkit had passed VCDEasy analysis yet rejected by Philips VideoCD Toolkit.

[DereX888]

FWIW, VCD's video bitrate ought to be 1150kbps if my memory still serves me well,
while specs of the files you've posted say 1152kbps...
it's only 2kbps over the limit, but it is enough for Philips VCD ToolKit to not accept them.
VCD specs were very strict (unlike DVD's).

You may not find Pana Encoder easily nowadays, and even if you do - I'm not sure would it work correctly on any NT-based Windows (last time I used it was on Win98, NT5 aka Win2K obviously didn't exist yet, while NT4 was still fairly new maybe at SP2 level with 0 support for almost any hardware, thus most of us didn't even consider it for our desktop machines, personally I still remember going back to 98 in a matter of just few hours after trying out NT4 for the first time because there was no drivers for any of my hardware but the LAN card).
However I repeat: Panasonic MPEG-1 Encoder was one of the best, if not THE best, encoder for VCDs in its times (think of it as CCE of 90's even though some people used to complain it was too "soft"...) and I can assure you it always created 100% VCD compliant files accepted by Philips VCD TK.

Also, there was something about incorrect reference clock on some files created by some of the early mpeg encoders (either tmpeg or bbmpeg IIRC) where you had to remultiplex them again to correct VBV, but I can't recall any details today anymore - and it is way too early in the morning for me too think anyways, it was ages ago, and I never encountered that problem myself... just google it.

Why do you insist on toying with VCDs in the year 2008, some 15+ years after its introduction to the market?

[scott274]

Thanks for your feedback Derex mate. While I wait for further help, here is the MediaInfo specs of the Mpeg file (AVSEQ01.mpg) which i tried to use in Philips VCD TK just in case.

General
Complete name : C:\Movies\TMPGenc Multiplexed Mpegs\AVSEQ01.mpg
Format : MPEG-PS
File size : 770 MiB
Duration : 1h 17mn
Overal bit rate : 1394 Kbps

Video
Format : MPEG Video
Format version : Version 1
Format settings, Matrix : Standard
Duration : 1h 17mn
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 1074 Kbps
Nominal bit rate : 1152 Kbps
Width : 352 pixels
Height : 288 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 4/3
Frame rate : 25.000 fps
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.454

Audio
Format : MPEG Audio
Format version : Version 1
Format profile : Layer 2
Duration : 1h 17mn
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 224 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 44.1 KHz
Resolution : 16 bits
Video delay : -80ms

[vcd4ever]

but couldn't find Panasonic MPEG1 encoder. Not even a trial version.

Good news, I have managed to find the trial version of the Panasonic MPEG1 Encoder that I downloaded almost 8 years ago.

"Server Offline"

vcd4ever.

[scott274]

Thanks vcd4ever for the Panasonic MPEG1 Encoder. By the way I tried your "testvcd" on a CD-R ( as reported on page 1 of this thread, post 28 ) and it played correctly on my VCD player. But you didn't comment on that. Did my report tell you anything, what could be possibly causing my VCD problems.

And i am still stuck on "step 5" of VCD creation in Philips VCD Toolkit (as stated on post 28, page 1)

Also Cornucopia mate, sorry for being such a newbie but again, I am still clueless about that Lagarith video codec in VirtualDub.

[AlanHK]

I found no option in VirtualDub to select the installed Lagarith codec. Can someone please explain in detail exactly what to do in VirtualDub.

File
Save As
-- Video mode: Full processing
-- Compression: click "Change" and you should have a choice of your installed codecs and parameters.

[vcd4ever]

Did my report tell you anything, what could be possibly causing my VCD problems.

VCD player's are very picky about the compliance and playing a VCD that's not fully VCD2.0 compliant will always cause playback problems like "jerky playback" and/or "stuttering audio" and/or "no audio".

My "testvcd" played perfectly in your VCD player, so the playback problems that your are having is caused by the VCD not beeing fully VCD2.0 compliant.

And i am still stuck on "step 5" of VCD creation in Philips VCD Toolkit (as stated on post 28, page 1)

The Philips VideoCD Toolkit is also very picky about the compliance and it will display "is not a valid Video,Audio, or MPEG file" when trying to import a mpeg that's not encoded according to the White Book spec (in other words, the mpeg is not fully VCD2.0 compliant).

vcd4ever.

[Midzuki]

The Philips VideoCD Toolkit is also very picky about the compliance and it will display "is not a valid Video,Audio, or MPEG file" when trying to import a mpeg that's not encoded according to the White Book spec (in other words, the mpeg is not fully VCD2.0 compliant).

vcd4ever

Too bad the damn application was NOT designed for explaining to the poor end-user
the exact reasons(s) *why* the files considered "offending" are not "1990~compliant".

[scott274]

Well it seems that panasonic mpeg1 encoder trial version won't be much usefull to me in the long run. It dosen't have 31 days limit, but it encodes only 30 secs of the video and adds a banner to the output. Still I can use it to see if the panasonic encoded video is accepted by philips toolkit.

So encoding the VCDgear unwrapped, error fixed Mpeg in Panasonic Mpeg1 Encoder selecting the option "VCD/PAL Stream (.mpg)" and keeping all the other options as default, the encoding process went without any errors.
Now used this encoded file in Philips VCD Toolkit (step 5) but still got the same error..
Video CD 2.0 Toolkit Error:
The file 'c:\Movies\... \AVSEQ01.mpg' is not a valid Video, Audio, or MPEG file.

@ AlanHK.
In VirtualDub v1.7.8, selected "Full processing mode" in video tab.
Further clicking on "compression" in video tab, a dialog box (select video compression) opens up. In that "uncompressed RGB/YCbCr" is selected as default, but there is no Lagarith option to select in the list.
Checked windows installed programs menu and Lagarith Lossless Codec 1.3.15 is listed there.
And in VirtualDub 1.7.8 under "File" tab, there is no only "Save as.." option. There is "Save as AVI..", "Save old format AVI..", "Save segmented AVI..", and "Save WAV" options only.

[DereX888]

Perhaps your problem is with Philips VCD TK? (i.e. are you running it Win98 mode on your Win2K?)
I have been using it to author VCDs from MPEG-1 files created by Panasonic encoder all the time - and I have never had non-compliancy error with'em.

Just OT question - is your Pana encoder working fine on W2K?

[scott274]

Yes.. the Panasonic encoder installed without any problems, runs allright when I open it and even the last encoding process didn't show any errors.

Ofcourse I am using the trial version of the software (provided by vcd4ever) which might be making the difference. Usually trial versions are to give an idea to the user, how the actual software would run restricted to 30 days. But this trial version has a lot more restrictions than just 30 days and may be quite different from the actual software. I have searched quite a lot on the net. Does anybody have the full Panasonic MPEG1 Encoder for me to try.

And about modes, I don't know which mode the Philips VideoCD Toolkit is running on my Windows 2000 pro. I haven't changed any modes in it.

[RabidDog]

Ha-ha Vcd's, my god, takes me back, ooh to the last century. The problem your having may be a lot simpler (but unsolvable).. I think that VCD only players have a way of recognizing pressed(commercial) as opposed to burnt media(home grown) as, you know, some people were prone to copy stuff, especially in places like india.
The specs of your player do state it will play CD-rw (as reported by you). My only advice would be to watch out for frame rates 23.9 / 25.0 and Ditch the player, sell it on Fleabay. Even svcd is a real step up from VCD.. hell, go straight to Blu-Ray profile3.1

[Midzuki]

RabidDog is right. Better get a versatile&&cheapo standalone playar and
give the officially-compliant device to an IT museum. I do not see the point of
not allowing oneself to go beyond the 352x240/288 universe.

[scott274]

Buying a new player is not an option for me at the moment. Still my VCD player is not all that bad. It could play some of the earlier created VCD by me in Nero 6 and the testvcd (VCD cue-bin image) created by vcd4ever authored in Plilips VideoCD Toolkit. I just have 7-8 movies on my harddisk which i want to convert to VCDs and free up some space at the same time. Having worked for so long on this problem, lets try a little more before giving up. Any help would be appreciated guys

Ok on topic, I have made some progress in decoding to a lossless intermediate format. For some reason the installed Lagarith video codec wouldn't show on the list of video compressors in VirtualDub. So I tried to use Huffyuv codec 2.1.1 instead and it showed up. Selecting "Full processing mode" under video and audio tabs in virtualdub and selecting "Huffyuv 2.1.1" under "compression" in video tab (Keeping internal Huffyuv settings as default), selected "Save as AVI" for the VCDgear unwrapped TMPGenc multiplexed Mpeg file (AVSEQ01.mpg).
The decode started but suddenly stopped in between after decoding some 2.25 GB with error..
VirtualDub Error:
Error decoding MPEG audio frame 32238 (14:02): incomplete frame.

Apart from the error, just one more question. Since I can't find the Panasonic MPEG1 Encoder commercial version, what do you think about Cinemacraft Encoder. Heard quite a lot about it. Is it as good as Panasonic encoder. Also heard a lot about Mainconcept MPEG Encoder. Which one would be recommanded.

[Nelson37]

The testVCD works, so the player and media are OK.

Your previous attempts produced success, so your methods were OK.

You have some files which do not work, and you seem to be focusing on finding a different method or determining the compatibility of your player. Wrong angle of attack, these items are demonstrated OK.

The problem would appear to be corrupted files. This may not be fixable.

Tests to do - Current file failed at 14 minutes. OK, cut off the first 10-12 minutes, process and author that. My bet would be it will work just fine. When there is audio missing in the original file, there will be audio missing in the authored file. No amount of changing the authoring methods will magically replace the missing audio.

The demux/remux operations are most likely simply eliminating the corruption by removing or ignoring it, this will result in the audio going out of synch. Surprise, surprise.

Try demuxing the file, and saving an AVI of just the video portion with Vdub. Try loading the original muxed file, and saving just the WAV. If you cannot save a valid WAV for the entire file, you are in a world of hurt. You will need to save something like 0:00 to 14:01, then 14:02 to the end, then generate 1 second silent WAV, and stitch the three back together. Might need to start at 14:03 and use 2 seconds of silence.

Doesn't actually have to be silence, you could hum or play the bagpipes. Invalid or corrupt audio will produce stuttering playback, damn near every time.

[scott274]

Well i read about this problem in google and one person suggested the following workaround for this problem. What do you think, will it cause audio sync problem etc.

---
1. Take the MPG file and open it with TMPGEnc Xpress 4

I am sure there are a number of other programs that will let you demultiplex the stream, but in this case we need one that will turn the audio stream into a wav file, and fix/overlook the busted mp2 frame.

2. Work through TMPGEnc Xpress and when you go to Set Output, choose the Wave Output profile at the end of the template list, instead of one of the movie formats as you would otherwise.

3. TMPGEnc Xpress will save the MPG audio track as a wav file and seems to know how to handle the frame errors that are making VirtualDub choke.

4. Now use the wav file as usual with VirtualDub i.e:
a. Open VirtualDub
b. Open the MPG file with the broken audio track
c. Choose Audio - Wav Audio ... and load the wav file you just created
d. Set video compression properties and audio compression properties, and create your avi file.

I can't imagine how getting the audio track this way is going to give you audio that is any worse than what VirtualDub would have given if it had done a direct MP2 to MP3 conversion.
---

Now I followed his steps and the incomplete frame error did not show up. But unfortunately another problem cropped up. Earlier i used to get that incomplete frame error after about 2.5 gb were decoded in virtualdub but now the decoding process stops after 3.9 gb with error..
Virtualdub Error:
Out of file space: Files cannot exceed 4 gigabytes on a FAT32 partition.

This error comes up even though I have 14 GB more harddisk space. Now what to do for this.. and ofcourse your thoughts on that workaround trick to the incomplete frame error.

[Nelson37]

Space is NOT the issue, the error is just what it says. Files over 4Gb are not allowed on a FAT partition, the only solution for this is to reformat to NTFS.

However, this may not be necessary. Once you have an audio file which has compensated for the error, just demux the original video, re-encode the WAV to MPG audio, then remux the original video with the newly repaired and re-encoded audio.

Depending on how large (in seconds, or fractions thereof) the original error is, and exactly how the prog corrects this, you may be fine or may still suffer synch problems. If the bad frames are simply dropped, and they have significant duration, synch will be lost. Only wat to fix this is to either cut a matching duration of video, at the exact same spot, or to insert a similar matching duration of audio, again at the exact same spot.

The whole "Vdub - save as AVI - re-encode process" is probably not necessary. No need to overcomplicate the process, no matter how popular this may be. So far, you have only Isolated and Identified ONE problem, a bad audio file. So only fix ONE problem, the bad audio.

[DereX888]

Yes.. the Panasonic encoder installed without any problems, runs allright when I open it and even the last encoding process didn't show any errors.

Ofcourse I am using the trial version of the software (provided by vcd4ever) which might be making the difference. Usually trial versions are to give an idea to the user, how the actual software would run restricted to 30 days. But this trial version has a lot more restrictions than just 30 days and may be quite different from the actual software. I have searched quite a lot on the net. Does anybody have the full Panasonic MPEG1 Encoder for me to try.

And about modes, I don't know which mode the Philips VideoCD Toolkit is running on my Windows 2000 pro. I haven't changed any modes in it.

If (that's a big if) I'll find it on my old uncatalogged discs from last century I may give it to you, as I don't think I'll ever use it again to make any VCDs


Since you appear to have no problems with VCD TK and PanaEnc running on W2K, I guess you don't need it - but I'll explain "modes" anyways:

Windows 2000 since SP2 (IIRC) already had "compatibility layer" which is basically same thing as Compatibility Mode in Windows XP.
However it works a little difefrent than on WinXP.
To use it you have to create shortcut to program's exe, then right-click on it and select Compatibility tab (i.e. "run in Windows 95 layer"), that's all. But it is not enabled in W2K by default, so if you don't have Compatibility tab - you need to add it first. You can use my old simple link to enable it - attached at the bottom of this post (I have it on all my windows 2000 installation discs added, its just link to regsrv32 telling it what to do - use it like any other silent installer when creating your own updated W2K discs).
Or you can hit start->run and type:

regsvr32.exe %systemroot%\apppatch\slayerui.dll

Its not bullet-proof and there are no guarantees old soft will work that way, but sometimes it does - and it helped me on quite few old progs that otherwise didn't work properly or at all without enabling older Windows mode.

The whole "Vdub - save as AVI - re-encode process" is probably not necessary. No need to overcomplicate the process, no matter how popular this may be. So far, you have only Isolated and Identified ONE problem, a bad audio file. So only fix ONE problem, the bad audio.

Exactly


EnableCompatibilityLayer-W2KSP2+.rar

[scott274]

If (that's a big if) I'll find it on my old uncatalogged discs from last century I may give it to you, as I don't think I'll ever use it again to make any VCDs

Thanks Derex mate that will be very nice of you. Been working on this VCD problem for a very long time and might as well try some last few things before giving up. And thanks again for that compatibility patch. I remember using this trick for an abandonware game sometime back. Will definately try it on Philips Toolkit as it will after all be for the better.

@ Nelson..
Re-Encoded the WAV audio file from TMPGenc into MP2 audio (VCD compliant 224 bitrate, 44100 Hz audio) with FFMpegGUI Beta Build 3c.
Demultiplexed the original Mpeg file (770 mb) in TMPGenc and then Remultiplexed the .M1V file with the above .MP2 file in TMPgenc with format "MPEG-1 System Stream (Video-CD)"
Now if you noticed my earlier posts, I used to get an error at the end of this remultiplexing process..
Error Dialog Box :
Invalid MPEG audio stream.
OK
But this time this error did not show up.

Now originally Cornucopia advised, decode to a lossless intermediate format (Lagarith, HuffYUV, etc), checking for discontinuity in the output (both audio and video, and making sure durations match) and then do a clean encode with that file to MPEG1 to be authored in VCDEasy.
But ever since i successfully played the Philips VCD Toolkit authored "testvcd" on my player and since my file is already in MPEG 1 format (although Mediainfo specs says 1152 kbps bitrate), might as well try this new improved Mpeg file in the Toolkit.
But Philips Toolkit (compatibility enabled - Windows 95 Layer) still rejects the Mpeg file with the same error..
Video CD 2.0 Toolkit Error:
The file 'c:\Movies\... \AVSEQ01.mpg' is not a valid Video, Audio, or MPEG file.

There is something else I tried. Instead of Re-multiplexing the .m1v & .mp2 files in TMPGenc, I used a program called "VCDMUX" in the Philips VCD Toolkit folder. The resultant file was a "AVSEQ01.mmd" which was accepted by the Philips Toolkit (assets manager, step 5, post 28 page 1 of this thread). But the only problem was an error during the Remuxing process and the resultant file was an incomplete 767mb video file.
Error:
C:\MOVIES\AVSEQ01.M1V: read past end of file
Fatal error.
received error 1 in exit()

[Nelson37]

The Philips program is supposed to make compatible VCD. BUT, if you are succesful in producing results with it, you will be one of very few who have done so. If you do it a second time, you will be part of an even smaller group. Talk about arcane, unfriendly interfaces, Holy Crap! Also gives new definition to the word "picky".

Check the durations of both audio and video, IIRC the error from Philips indictes duration mismatch.

Simplify life. Try taking the new muxed file, and running it through VCDImager, which I think is included in VCDEasy. Then burn the image. Recommend do not use any burning program to create a VCD, VCDImager does that. Just simply burn the image file.

I am reasonably certain that the new audio process has not "fixed" the audio file, just eliminated the problem areas by cutting them out. De-synch will result, but at least the end result should play smoothly.

[DereX888]

I have quickly read this thread again and I noticed that you don't know WHERE is the problem.
Thats the first you should have done - find out where the problem is (is it video stream, audio stream, non-compliancy, wrong multiplexing, wrong authoring or just bad burn - not many more problem areas are left there).
What I'll do in your case is I'd just re-encode both audio and video streams of this erroneous file, because your video stream is certainly NOT vcd-compliant as is with its 1152kbps datarate (it should have been 1150kbps as I tol;d you at the very begining - I guess there is some padding there added for some reasons by someone/something) *and* probably your audio does not match video (since VCDMUX "can't read past end of file" - either one of the stream does not match the other, me thinks - perhaps audio stream has errors too).
Those are at least 2 separate problems you already have there.
If Im correct, you'll never be able to fix them with just remultiplexing streams.

So, you have to find out *where* is the error first.
I say start it all over, and do it like you were creating brand new VCD disc from scratch.
Because so far, for now, we all are just trying to help you with "this or that and maybe the other things" like children in the darkness.
VCD isn't complicated, but making it still consist of using data streams, multiplexing, authoring and burning - where one can have/make errors at every part of the process, so start all over from scratch, and post your results.

Your step-by-step:
#1 Create correct VCD-compliant audio stream
#2 Create correct VCD-compliant video stream
#3 Multiplex audio & video
#4 Author VCD
#5 Burn disc

Since its easiest and also faster to do than toying with video, I suggested to do your audio stream first,
which doing so will make sure it really is 100% correct and compliant.

Use i.e. GoldWave (free trial 30-days) or even Nero's Wave Editor (part of every Nero) to decompress MP2 stream to uncompressed WAVE, compare its length with the length of your video, fix it if neccessary and compress it back to MPEG-1 Layer II @224kbps, stereo, CBR ofcoz.
Use this newly created MP2 file only from now on
(At this point you'll know for sure that the audio stream you'll use is *correct* and certainly 100% error-free).
Multiplex it again with video and author and test.
If you still get errorsat #3 - you (and we) will know that there is problem within video stream, and we'll go from there.

[scott274]

Derex mate, this has been one long thread with many good board members giving bits & bytes of advice here and there. But inspite of all this, I have still tried to be systematic and detailed in my approach to my VCD problems and following suggestions. OK lets go by your step-by-step procedure.

#1 Create correct VCD-compliant audio stream
Actually I think i have performed this step. Only instead of Goldwave or Nero's Wave Editor, i used TMPGenc to extract to uncompressed wave audio and then compressed it back to VCD compliant audio stream with FFMpegGUI Beta Build 3c.
Results & Errors: Remuxing the above MP2 file with the unchanged M1V file (produced with TMPGenc) in Philips Toolkit VCDMUX program gave the following error..
C:\MOVIES\AVSEQ01.M1V: read past end of file
Fatal error.
received error 1 in exit()
So I dropped VCDMUX for now and remuxed the m1v & mp2 files in TMPGenc to mpeg file to be used for the next step.

#2 Create correct VCD-compliant video stream
I guess to make the video stream VCD compliant, the only thing that can be done is re-encoding the Mpeg file from your step 1. For this, I was hoping to use Panasonic MPEG1 Encoder (commercial version). But guess nobody has a copy for it and even you didn't say if you had any luck with yours. Anyways for now, I used Mainconcept MPEG Encoder trial version and saved the new re-encoded VCD compliant Mpeg file for the next step.
Results & Errors: No errors during encoding (Only a slight problem involving windows media player playing the Mpeg file after a long time)

#3 Multiplex audio & video
Demuxed the Mpeg File (769 MB) from above step two in TMPGenc and then Remuxed the M1V & MP2 files in Philips Toolkit VCDMUX program to a .MMD file (AVSEQ01.mmd, 766 MB). wonder were those 3 MBs were lost, any ideas.
Results & Errors: No errors during the remuxing process. The .mmd file played correctly on my PC from start to end.

#4 Author VCD
Although Nelson suggested VCDImager, I am still thinking of giving Philips VideoCD Toolkit (compatibility enabled - Windows 95 Layer) a try in this authoring step using vcd4ever tutorial (Download link below).
Opened a new project, named and saved it. In the Assets manager, imported the AVSEQ01.mmd file from above step successfully without any errors. Then closed the Assets manager.
Now I am having a slight difficulty following the next steps in the tutorial (mainly Menu Editor step and dragging what & how to Volume manager). You see the screenshots used in the tutorial seems to be from an earlier version of Philips Toolkit than the latest version in videohelp site tools section. Can someone please explain these steps in the tutorial in details.

#5 Burn disc
As I did the "testvcd" (cue-bin VCD image), i am planning to use Nero 6 (40x speed) to burn the the VCD Image from Philips VCD Toolkit.

Philips VCD Toolkit simple VCD Tutorial.

http://rapidshare.com/files/124652079/Philips_VCD_Toolkit_simple_vcd_tutorial.rar

[scott274]

Sorry for the double post. Due to Internet Connection problem.

[DereX888]

But guess nobody has a copy for it and even you didn't say if you had any luck with yours.

I didn't have time to dig for it yet. I know it is somewhere in my large bin in the basement... however this bin is really full of uncatalogged discs, probably 1000 discs there, if not more (I bet there are at least 500 of those stupid AOL discs from the past ). I promise to at least *try* to find it during the weekend.

Anyways, seems like you covered all steps, so... back to square one I guess?
I'm out of ideas, however somehow I can't believe *all* mpeg encoders (that you have tried so far) are producing bad or non-compliant VCD files. Maybe really the problem is with Philips VCD TK itself or just your copy of it (hopefully you didn't get it of off some p2p).
And still, even if you will succed with authoring perfectly-compliant VCD1.0 or 2.0 - your standalone VCD player may still NOT read it at all.

Why do you want to make menus with VCD TK? It is painfully user unfriendly AFAIR; when I ditched VCD standalone player and switched to dvd player around 1998 or 1999, I ditched VCD TK as well and started creating maybe less-compliant VCD2.0 with menus - but the easiest possible way, using i.e. Adaptec's VCD Creator and others that appeared on the market later (IIRC: VCDEasy was my last favorite authoring tool I used on my last VCDs and SVCDs). Use VCD TK to make simple VCD1.2 (without menus). Just get it working first, leave menus for later.

[Nelson37]

I would really strongly recommend ditching the Philips software, I think all the talk about non-standard VCD was a red herring. The audio file has been the issue all along, or at least the only consistent one.

If you really wish to use a very old piece of software, which SFAIK less than 3 people EVER posted about using, and which perhaps ONE person still here is familiar with, that's your choice but at this stage, I think being all alone without support when you haven't got basic functionality is a bad idea. Plus that prog sucks worse than just about any app I have ever used, with the possible exception of Microsoft BOB.

Sinmalarly, ignore menus, chapters, any other complications until you get a working disk. A disk with just video and audio has a limited number of things to go wrong, a disk with menus, chapters, etc. just Multiplies the possible issues.

I used VCDImager not for authoring per se, but just to create the image. Using this caused FF and RW to work correctly. Don't know why and don't care, other apps did NOT work, it DID. Every time, without fail.

[vcd4ever]

I am still thinking of giving Philips VideoCD Toolkit (compatibility enabled - Windows 95 Layer) a try in this authoring step using vcd4ever tutorial.

The tutorial that you downloaded from me was the only working tutorial that I was able to find back in 2001 when i decided to download and try the Philips VideoCD Toolkit.

You see the screenshots used in the tutorial seems to be from an earlier version of Philips Toolkit than the latest version in videohelp site tools section.

The screenshots used in the tutorial are from the MAC version of Philips VideoCD Toolkit.

Can someone please explain these steps in the tutorial in details.

I have authored a VCD with a simple menu in Philips VideoCD Toolkit and this zip file
"Server Offline"
contains the project file and assets used for this VCD.

vcd4ever.

[vcd4ever]

Can someone please explain these steps in the tutorial in details.

I have authored a VCD with a simple menu in Philips VideoCD Toolkit and this zip file
"http://vcd4ever.dynip.com:2222/sample/testvcd_with_simple_menu.zip" contains the project file and assets used for this VCD.

The saved project file with all it's assets looks like this when opened in Philips VideoCD Toolkit.



And I was thinking that this would be more helpfull than a step by step tutorial on how to use menus in Philips VideoCD Toolkit, but scott274 doesn't seems to be around here anymore, he still hasn't posted anything since 20080624.

vcd4ever.

[DereX888]

And I was thinking that this would be more helpfull than a step by step tutorial on how to use menus in Philips VideoCD Toolkit, but scott274 doesn't seems to be around here anymore, he still hasn't posted anything since 20080624.

vcd4ever.

Well, even though OP is not here, thanks for the screencap!
I haven't seen it for years, and I must admit I have really forgot how crude and "Win3.1-ish" Philips toolkit was.
<shrugs>
scott274 - ditch it! Just move on to, and put your VCDs on a standard DVD-Video (just as they are, all you need is to convert 44.1->48k sound)

[jman98]

vcd4ever - Why don't you just put your files on some free file sharing service as they might be useful to others?

DereX888 - Scott274 is in India and says he can't afford a DVD player, so I guess we should take him at his word. Yes, that would be the best solution for sure as DVD players don't fuss so much about homemade VCD and he would also have the option of making DVDs instead.

[scott274]

Can someone please explain these steps in the tutorial in details.

I have authored a VCD with a simple menu in Philips VideoCD Toolkit and this zip file
"Server Offline"
contains the project file and assets used for this VCD.

vcd4ever.

Can you post it again please vcd4ever. Use a free service like rapidshare so you won't have to go to the trouble of deleting it later. They do that anyway in case of no downloads on the file in 90 days.

And I was thinking that this would be more helpfull than a step by step tutorial on how to use menus in Philips VideoCD Toolkit, but scott274 doesn't seems to be around here anymore, he still hasn't posted anything since 20080624.

vcd4ever.

Actually after nelson said that very few people knew how to author a VCD in Philips toolkit to come to my aid and that I should use VCDImager instead, I had nothing more to report here but wait for any more possible help on that Philips toolkit (especially on where i was stuck in the toolkit tutorial). Was also waiting for that panasonic encoder from buddy Derex.

@ vcd4ever:
Here is my progress in authoring in Philips VideoCD Toolkit.

1. Opened the toolkit,
File -> New

2. Named the project "VideoCD.PJR" and clicked OK.

3. Clicked Tools -> Assets
Then imported the file "AVSEQ01.MMD" by clicking on "Add". No errors here.

4. Clicked Tools -> Menu Editor
For Menu ID, used name "LOOP_Menu".
Clicked Video button and selected the "AVSEQ01.MMD" file.
Clicked Audio button and again selected "AVSEQ01.MMD" file.
In Menu option, set "Loop" to 0 and then clicked "Create" and closed the editor.
Here is the screencap for this step..
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k292/abs724/Screencaps/MenuEditor7-3-2008-124932AM.jpg
Dragged the "LOOP_MENU" in Menus box to the volume entry field in Volume Manager box.

5. Clicked Tools -> Event Editor.
For Event ID, used name "AVSEQ01"
Dragged the "AVSEQ01.MMD" from Assets box to the Asset field in Event Editor Box and clicked create and then closed the editor.
Here is the screencap for this step..
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k292/abs724/Screencaps/EventEditor7-3-2008-125721AM.jpg
From here, didn't drag "AVSEQ01" in Events box to anywhere on Volume Manager box.

6.Clicked Tools -> Tracks
This displayed the Tracks box. Here is the screencap just before pressing, Project -> Build.
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k292/abs724/Screencaps/ToolkitFinal17-3-2008-11146AM.jpg

Oopsie.. Something feels wrong.. I think i have done something wrong to proceed further. What now!!