Newbie Getting Things Straight

[rrunolfson]

I have just begun burning VCD's. I have successfully encoded all of my source video with TEMPGEnc. I am using Easy CD Creator - Platinum to burn my mpeg files to disk. I followed all of the instructions on the "Author" page, but I am unable to play the VCD's on any machine. I have already checked the compatibility list and the machines I have tested are listed as compatible with VCD.

What I wanted to get straight is, am I botching up this whole thing by using a 32x CDR/CDRW drive and CD-R media? Or do I actually need to buy DVD-R media and a DVD-R drive? I think I am really close to figuring this thing out, but I am stuck on where to check next.

This is a GREAT site!! Thanks to everyone for posting/organizing such helpful information in a way that makes sense...

[Big_Jit]

CD/CD-RW is the type of media you wand for VCD's

When you burn the disc you have to burn as a VCD and try burning @ 4x. i know that 4x is slow but it can aviod some playback problems. Maybe you should use vcdeasy to burn your vcd's. It works great and it's got a lot of settings!...

[mmitchell_houston]

Agreed. Use CDR media, or CDRW. Test various speeds, and I'm partial to the Ulead DVD Movie Factory. It can be found as cheap as $29 in CompUSA, and there is a free 30-day fully functional download available from www.ulead.com

Also, play with the speeds. I've had good luck up to 20X with good media, but have also had to go with 8x on cheaper media. Burn the same VCD twice with different settings (and mark them on the disk -- trust me about this one) and see what you get.

[cmacleo]

Personally I believe thwe problem is purely media related. I and my friends have often had problems where one brand of CD-R does not work properly in our DVD player. Normal fix is to try another brand of CD-R/RW

[rrunolfson]

Thank you all for your replies.... I have solved the problem, and did so by switching to Nero. On my very first burn with Nero, instead of Easy CD Creator Platinum, I was successful!

The media I used was standard, bulk spool of Imation 700MB/80Min CD-R.

I still couldn't get it to play on my standalone DVD player (Panasonic C220D), but it worked nicely on my DVD drive in my computer using WinDVD4. So, I am thinking that my standalone just isn't good enough to accept VCD even though it IS on the compatibility list and the owners manual talks extensively about support for VCD 1 & 2!! Any thoughts in this area would be welcome.

A little background on this player first. I even get sporadic playback problems (e.g. not being able to read the disc) when I rent DVD movies. This leads me to believe that the player itself has some core problems, rather than the media I am using. However, if any of you with more experience have some insight that would be great!!

[mmitchell_houston]

You should go to the DVD Player list and input your comments on this player. This is exactly the sort of info that is useful in that list. The list has definitely influenced my purchasing decisions.