How do I make a cDVD/miniDVD?

[Xoanon]

Hello all,

All the miniDVD guides I have found all give instructions on how to make one if you are ripping from a DVD. This is not what I need.

I have a 116 min. NTSC video which I intend to capture and burn to a PAL cDVD/miniDVD (is there a difference?). However, I need to know:

1) Do I capture the film in MPEG format?
2) If so, what resolution do I need for a PAL miniDVD?
3) How do I author the miniDVD from the video file?
4) Will a miniDVD work with a 99 min. CDR or do I have to use the standard 74 variety?

Thanks a lot to anyone who can help. I'm used to making VCDs (check out my website for our cool movies we make) but haven't a clue about these miniDVDs. They sound good though.

[adam]

cDVD and mini-dvd basically mean the same thing. They are both essentially the name for a dvd authored on cdr media. Basically people started doing this by hand and calling it mini-dvd. Then when dvd-r burners first became available the software allowed you to burn a test disk on cdr and this was known as a cDVD. So now there is really no reason to do it by hand, many dvd burning software programs support cDVD.

1) you can either capture to mpeg2 or capture to avi and then convert to mpeg2. The latter will yield significantly higher quality but of course it takes longer.

2) Any pal dvd compliant resolution will do. For your purposes I recommend 352x576. As for the other settings just keep them dvd compliant as well. Check the dvdr link for more info.

3) You will need to author the movie in any dvd-r software program that supports cDVD. Simply follow the instructions, or any guides you find, as if you were authoring a dvd except tell it to burn on cdr media instead.

4) You can burn on any media you want. No matter what you do its still not going to have official hardware support so its not like there are really any set rules, even though cDVD is actually a set standard. Basically do whatever you want with the format as long as it still plays on your dvd player.

I'm curious why you would want to author a mini-dvd for a captured source. The only advantage of using a minidvd is to keep the origial quality of the dvd or to keep the functions which a dvd supports and vcds and svcds dont such as dolby digital/DTS audio, complex hot spot style menu's etc...

A svcd or xvcd at the same bitrate would have the exact same quality as the mini-dvd and would work on most dvd players. Mini-dvd really only makes sense with a dvd source, and even then it still doesnt really make much sense because hardly any dvd players support them.

[ebaldino]

Adam,

Actually, it would make sense if one wanted to be prepared to migrate one's movies "saved" on CD media to DVD-R media.

I have been making SVCDs of my Star Trek episodes collection (on VHS). I have still to find a stand-alone DVD player (family or friends) other than my own that will play SVCDs.

On the other hand, I am hoping that if I make cDVDs now, I will be able to easily convert them into DVD-R (when I buy a DVD-R burner) and actually be able to share them with family and friends more easily. I know DVD-Rs are not supported by every DVD player, but it should be _a_lot_ more portable than SVCD .... right?

Any comments?

rgds
EBaldino

[Spock]

Adam,

I am trying to create a miniDVD/cDVD so that I can burn CD-R's with SVCD quality video and DD/DTS audio. I notice in a previous post that you mention "use a dvd-r software program capable of cDVD". Which one(s) would you suggest and how do I go about doing this?

I have Pinnacle Impression Pro but I can't figure out how to do this. I have used DVD2SVCD to create the .mpv file and the .ac3 file and can get them into Pinnacle but I don't know where to go from here.

Any help you can give me on this topic would be greatly appreciated. I wish it were as easy as choosing cDVD in DVD2SVCD (maybe a future feature addition? )