VCD and SCVD source file question... :-)

[MagmaManno]

Recently, I did two tests...as follows:

1) From Windows Movie Maker I made some clips...with Nero i made a VCD...works great...resolution...OK

2) From Widows Movie Maker...I saved a clip as a "DV-AVI"...HUGE file...then used Nero and burnt a SVCD (after pruchasing the appropriate plug-in, of course)...works great...resolution...WOW, what a difference from VCD's

Now, the question...

Can you burn an SVCD from any source file? Does that make sense? I use a JVC Mini-DV camcorder and download it via Firewire...but when you encode to a SVCD, what is recommended as your "source" file to give you the same great resolution on your SVCD?

I hope that makes sense...let me know...thanks.

Magma

P.S. I also have Adobe Premiere 6.0. Should I use that to capture? If so, what settings should I use to capture...?

[Big_Jit]

I think that if you did a little more reading on this site then you'd find the answer to your question.

SVCD's Standard Resolution is 480 x 480(576 for PAL) and can be near DVD Quality. Your source file doesn't have to be any particular type of avi. But the quality will depend on the capture (e.g. Resolution, framerate, Compression Codec, etc. ...). VCD resolution is 352 x 240(288 for PAL). The higher the resolution you capture at the higher the quality...

What resolution are you capturing at?

Take a look at the topics on the left side of the screen...

[TeeeRex]

Magma,

DV-AVI from Windows Movie Maker is uncompressed AVI at 25fps - 720x576 (ie DVD Resolution). DV footage is captured by the camera at 50fps - the export to the PC lowers the fps by 50% but keeps the resolution.

Anyhow - the capture should be excellent quality in it's raw AVI but as you have already tried -converting it to MPG can give different results. You say that the NeroMPEG2 plugin gives you good results - try encoding the AVI with TMPGenc and the results will be far superior to the Nero plugin. My experience with the NeroPlugin is bad quality.

Remember even SVCD resolution is lower than DVD/DV so don't expect DVD quality (but you can get pretty close 'visually' if you set the right parameters in TMPGenc). You can still get excellent results with a VCD if your source file is good - experiment with the standard templates first ..

Use the guides if you are unsure on how to do this..

Premier will export to the same uncompressed AVI format if you like -movie maker is easier to use though if you just want to export.

The golden rule is this - if your source file is of a decent quality & resolution (ie DVD Rip,Good DivX or DV) then your encoded file should look good. If you try to encode an old VHS tape, an already encoded VCD or worse onto SVCD then you are wasting your time and CD's !

TeeeRex