Problem on ripping old film VCD to PC

[satimis]

Hi all,

I'm now ripping my old film VCDs to PC as MP4 format. I can do it;
Either by:
Media display software

Or by:
running commands on Terminal

But the result is not stable. Some converted MP4 files are not so clear/good compared to their original VCD run on DVD Write4, but not all. I couldn't find out the cause of the problem.

Could you please advise where to check to solve this problem

Thanks in advance

Regards

[Sharc]

What comes spontaneously into my mind, from long time ago:
http://www.vcdgear.com/

[satimis]

What comes spontaneously into my mind, from long time ago:
http://www.vcdgear.com/

Hi,

Thanks for your advice.

VIDGear:
batch process .dat files to .mpg using VCDGear
https://geek.digit.in/community/threads/batch-process-dat-files-to-mpg-using-vcdgear.524/

It sounds similar to "vcdimager" which I'm now running on Ubuntu 22.04 desktop (Linux)

Steps performed by me:-
1. Copy files from VCD to PC first;
1.1 Install vcdimager
1.2 Insert the VCD into the drive. It does not need to be mounted.
1.3 Open on Terminal and navigate to the folder on your PC where you want the files from the VCD.
1.4 Run vcdxrip -vpC
Files of VCD will be copied to the folder including converting .dat to .mpg automatically.

2. Convert .mpg to .mp4, run;

$ ffmpeg -i file.mpg" -acodec copy -vcodec copy -f mp4 file.mp4

Actually I have no problem converting and copying VCD to PC. My only problem is the conversion NOT stable. Sometimes the converted .mp4 is good another times bad. All VCDs can be played on DVD Writer without problem, picture being clear and stable.

Regards

[Sharc]

What comes spontaneously into my mind, from long time ago:
http://www.vcdgear.com/

Hi,

Thanks for your advice.

VIDGear:
batch process .dat files to .mpg using VCDGear
https://geek.digit.in/community/threads/batch-process-dat-files-to-mpg-using-vcdgear.524/

It sounds similar to "vcdimager" which I'm now running on Ubuntu 22.04 desktop (Linux)

Steps performed by me:-
1. Copy files from VCD to PC first;
1.1 Install vcdimager
1.2 Insert the VCD into the drive. It does not need to be mounted.
1.3 Open on Terminal and navigate to the folder on your PC where you want the files from the VCD.
1.4 Run vcdxrip -vpC
Files of VCD will be copied to the folder including converting .dat to .mpg automatically.

2. Convert .mpg to .mp4, run;

$ ffmpeg -i file.mpg" -acodec copy -vcodec copy -f mp4 file.mp4

Actually I have no problem converting and copying VCD to PC. My only problem is the conversion NOT stable. Sometimes the converted .mp4 is good another times bad. All VCDs can be played on DVD Writer without problem, picture being clear and stable.

Regards

Not sure whether ffmpeg supports remuxing of mpeg2 into .mp4 container in copy mode .....
Try with reencoding to h264.

[satimis]

[QUOTE=Sharc;2732108][QUOTE=satimis;2732101]

- snip -

Not sure whether ffmpeg supports remuxing of mpeg2 into .mp4 container in copy mode .....
Try with reencoding to h264.

Thanks for your advice.

Could you please advise how to re-encode a video to H.264 video ?

Whether following command can work ?

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v libx264 -b:v 2600k -pass 2 -b:a 128k output.mp4

Thanks

Regards

[Sharc]

Maybe, but you should adjust your input file.

Otherwise try

ffmpeg -i your.mpg -c:a aac -c:v libx264 -preset slow -crf 20 out.mp4

[satimis]

Maybe, but you should adjust your input file.

Otherwise try

ffmpeg -i your.mpg -c:a aac -c:v libx264 -preset slow -crf 20 out.mp4

Thanks

Have tested another VCD and ran your suggested command;

$ ffmpeg -i avseq01.mpg -c:a aac -c:v libx264 -preset slow -crf 20 bird.mp4

The output bird.mp4 seems quite clear. I'll keep on testing other VCDs and come back another time if any new thing discovered.

Meanwhile what will be the use of other data?

_abstract.txt  _cdi_avseq01.dat  _cdi_cdi_vcd.cfg  videocd.xml
avseq01.mpg    _cdi_cdi_all.rtf  _cdi_nmenus.rtf
_bibliogr.txt  _cdi_cdi_bum.dat  _cdi_pmenus.rtf
_cdi_cdi_vcd.app  _copyrght.txt

Thanks

Regards

[Sharc]

The output bird.mp4 seems quite clear. I'll keep on testing other VCDs and come back another time if any new thing discovered.

Meanwhile what will be the use of other data?

_abstract.txt  _cdi_avseq01.dat  _cdi_cdi_vcd.cfg  videocd.xml
avseq01.mpg    _cdi_cdi_all.rtf  _cdi_nmenus.rtf
_bibliogr.txt  _cdi_cdi_bum.dat  _cdi_pmenus.rtf
_cdi_cdi_vcd.app  _copyrght.txt

Don't know. VCD has its specific folder and files structure. These files might have been created by the authoring tool and/or by your decoding/ripping tools.

[satimis]

The output bird.mp4 seems quite clear. I'll keep on testing other VCDs and come back another time if any new thing discovered.

Meanwhile what will be the use of other data?

_abstract.txt  _cdi_avseq01.dat  _cdi_cdi_vcd.cfg  videocd.xml
avseq01.mpg    _cdi_cdi_all.rtf  _cdi_nmenus.rtf
_bibliogr.txt  _cdi_cdi_bum.dat  _cdi_pmenus.rtf
_cdi_cdi_vcd.app  _copyrght.txt

Don't know. VCD has its specific folder and files structure. These files might have been created by the authoring tool and/or by your decoding/ripping tools.

Hi,

Thanks for your reply.

Besides, if running;

vcdxrip -vpC

it extracts several .mpg files;

avseq01.mpg
avseq01.mpg
avseq01.mpg
etc

Join them with "cat" command first;

$ cat avseq01.mpg avseq02.mpg avseq013.mpg >> avseq-complete.mpg

before running "ffmpeg" for conversion.

Regards

[Sharc]

Yes, the .mpg are the video files of course.

[satimis]

Hi Sharc,

In one case I encountered following problem extracting with "vcdxrip -vpC"

++ WARN: encountered non-form2 sector -- leaving loop
++ WARN: encountered non-form2 sector -- leaving loop                       
++ WARN: encountered non-form2 sector -- leaving loop                       
++ WARN: encountered non-form2 sector -- leaving loop                       
++ WARN: encountered non-form2 sector -- leaving loop                       
++ WARN: encountered non-form2 sector -- leaving loop   
.....

All avseq.mpg files are 0 bytes.

How to fix the problem? Thanks

[Cornucopia]

Corrupted/scratched disc?

Copy protection?

All mpeg "tracks" should be in Mode2form2 sectors. And the mpeg menuitems and stills, which are part of the filesystem track1, should be mode2form1 sectors. Those errors are telling you it is encountering non mode2 sectors. Perhaps it is attempting to rip beyond the actual media start/end boundaries.

Perhaps try a different vcd/mode2-aware ripper/extractor ? Or different disc copies?

Re: those other files - look at "What is VCD" at the top. It explains all those files. Basically, NONE of them are pertinent to your task.


Scott

[satimis]

Corrupted/scratched disc?

Copy protection?

All mpeg "tracks" should be in Mode2form2 sectors. And the mpeg menuitems and stills, which are part of the filesystem track1, should be mode2form1 sectors. Those errors are telling you it is encountering non mode2 sectors. Perhaps it is attempting to rip beyond the actual media start/end boundaries.

Perhaps try a different vcd/mode2-aware ripper/extractor ? Or different disc copies?

Re: those other files - look at "What is VCD" at the top. It explains all those files. Basically, NONE of them are pertinent to your task.


Scott

Hi Scott.

It is not corrupted nor a scratched disc. The vcd can be played on DVD writer without problem. Also I can convert it to MP4 file on VLC Media player.

Regards

[satimis]

Corrupted/scratched disc?

Copy protection?

All mpeg "tracks" should be in Mode2form2 sectors. And the mpeg menuitems and stills, which are part of the filesystem track1, should be mode2form1 sectors. Those errors are telling you it is encountering non mode2 sectors. Perhaps it is attempting to rip beyond the actual media start/end boundaries.

Perhaps try a different vcd/mode2-aware ripper/extractor ? Or different disc copies?

Re: those other files - look at "What is VCD" at the top. It explains all those files. Basically, NONE of them are pertinent to your task.


Scott

Hi Scott.

It is not corrupted nor a scratched disc. The vcd can be played on DVD writer without problem. Also I can convert it to MP4 file on VLC Media player and save the MP4 file on PC.

Regards