Converting SVCD to VCD

[Cooly-O]

These I fed into TMGEnc using a PAL VCD template. I set (in advanced settings) Video arrange method at Center (custom size) >> 352x320. This corrected the wrong aspect ratio. Then I split the resultant mpg in 2 using mpeg tools again, and burned to 2 VCDs using Nero.

Nero still shows the resutant files as 352 x 288 even though you I used the Video arrange method at 352x320???? Shouldn't Nero be showing something different than the PAL setting since we corrected for the PAL AR??? Do we tell Nero to use PAL or NTSC???

@banjazzer: you can put them directly into TMPGEnc - I find that method preferable to DVD2AVI

I didn't find this to be the case. I had to use DVD2AVI. I have the MPEG-2 codec for TMPGENc but still needed DVD2AVI for no failures. Yes I did use VCDGear to fix the errors.

BTW, If compliancy isn't an issue, should we always convert to XVCD (as oppossed to compliant VCD) and take advantage of the extra quality and remaining disk space on the CD-R??

Also, In the "Newbie how to burn a movie to a single CD-R" guide, they have some talk about sometimes successfully burning (at a fast speed) with Nero but only to have video problems. They say to burn at a slower speed. Do I now have to be paranoid about successfully burning at my CD writer's fastest speed of 16x????

[Cooly-O]

These I fed into TMGEnc using a PAL VCD template. I set (in advanced settings) Video arrange method at Center (custom size) >> 352x320. This corrected the wrong aspect ratio. Then I split the resultant mpg in 2 using mpeg tools again, and burned to 2 VCDs using Nero.

Nero still shows the resutant files as 352 x 288 even though you I used the Video arrange method at 352x320???? Shouldn't Nero be showing something different than the PAL setting since we corrected for the PAL AR??? Do we tell Nero to use PAL or NTSC???

@banjazzer: you can put them directly into TMPGEnc - I find that method preferable to DVD2AVI

I didn't find this to be the case. I had to use DVD2AVI. I have the MPEG-2 codec for TMPGENc but still needed DVD2AVI for no failures. Yes I did use VCDGear to fix the errors.

BTW, If compliancy isn't an issue, should we always convert to XVCD (as oppossed to compliant VCD) and take advantage of the extra quality and remaining disk space on the CD-R??

Also, In the "Newbie how to burn a movie to a single CD-R" guide, they have some talk about sometimes successfully burning (at a fast speed) with Nero but only to have video problems. They say to burn at a slower speed. Do I now have to be paranoid about successfully burning at my CD writer's fastest speed of 16x????

[Cooly-O]

These I fed into TMGEnc using a PAL VCD template. I set (in advanced settings) Video arrange method at Center (custom size) >> 352x320. This corrected the wrong aspect ratio. Then I split the resultant mpg in 2 using mpeg tools again, and burned to 2 VCDs using Nero.

Nero still shows the resutant files as 352 x 288 even though you I used the Video arrange method at 352x320???? Shouldn't Nero be showing something different than the PAL setting since we corrected for the PAL AR??? Do we tell Nero to use PAL or NTSC???

@banjazzer: you can put them directly into TMPGEnc - I find that method preferable to DVD2AVI

I didn't find this to be the case. I had to use DVD2AVI. I have the MPEG-2 codec for TMPGENc but still needed DVD2AVI for no failures. Yes I did use VCDGear to fix the errors.

BTW, If compliancy isn't an issue, should we always convert to XVCD (as oppossed to compliant VCD) and take advantage of the extra quality and remaining disk space on the CD-R??

Also, In the "Newbie how to burn a movie to a single CD-R" guide, they have some talk about sometimes successfully burning (at a fast speed) with Nero but only to have video problems. They say to burn at a slower speed. Do I now have to be paranoid about successfully burning at my CD writer's fastest speed of 16x????

[banjazzer]

The video arrange method setting is to adjust the aspect ratio with this particular movie. However, we are still producing a PAL VCD-compliant mpg which will be 352x288 as shown by Nero. It doesn't matter whether you select PAL or NTSC in Nero - it takes the mpg as it finds it. The PAL/NTSC setting is for when you use Nero's internal encoder (not recommended).

As to burning speeds, this really depends on the media and the individual DVD player. Some players are more fussy than others - it's a question of suck it and see! I always use 8X. I find faster than this doesn't in practice actually burn much faster because of the limitations of my system. In fact it would be interesting to know how many 16x burns would be successful without using buffer underrun protection. 8)

[Cooly-O]

The video arrange method setting is to adjust the aspect ratio with this particular movie. However, we are still producing a PAL VCD-compliant mpg which will be 352x288 as shown by Nero. It doesn't matter whether you select PAL or NTSC in Nero - it takes the mpg as it finds it. The PAL/NTSC setting is for when you use Nero's internal encoder (not recommended).

That explains it, Thanks much!!!

In fact it would be interesting to know how many 16x burns would be successful without using buffer underrun protection. 8)

Nero is the only burning software that I've used that can successfully burn my HP9700i burner at 16x on my system. Ulead products and EasyCDcreator only can handle 8x on my system. So maybe the safest bet is to only burn at a speed that all burner software can handle (even if Nero says "successfull").