Best distribution format

[Nelson37]

I have a couple projects in the works for Infomercial or Advertising video on disk. Most will require a menu and need easy playability. These would be given away as opposed to a brochure or catalog.

VCD would seem the obvious answer and with careful editing and use of smoothers, gives decent quality, any PC can autoplay it, most DVD standalone will play it. BUT - for some projects, the quality delivered is just not good enough. Video plus SlideShow might be an alternative.

SVCD gives the quality desired, many DVD will play it, BUT PC's need extra software to handle it, and many software do not handle menus well.
Also, installing a player for the target audience is to be avoided.

I think I can park STHSDVD on the root of the CD, and set up an autorun to play it. I found a program which can make mouse-clickable menus, so I could simulate the SVCD (or VCD) menu on the PC.

So here's the question - are there any freeware or shareware players available for SVCD which are self-contained (do not require installation), handle menus, and are mouse-clickable? Or does anyone have any other suggestions? Remember, my target audience is the (somewhat upscale)average consumer, NOT the PC or Video hobbyist. This has to be non-intrusive and idiot-proof, or at least idiot-resistant, and Menu support is VERY important.

[easydvd]

If your intended audience is going to be viewing from a PC I would say that using Flash would give you the best result based on what you're looking for. I don't hink you're going to be able to do it as a cross format disc......well, maybe, but it definetly won't be an easy project

[snowmoon]

I would say a hybrid disk with...

VCD + stills and ...

Flash, or other PC video with scriptability,

That way if they pop it into a DVD player they can access the same functionality with some degridation in quality, or on their PC. VCD's can have any number of files as long as they do not overlap with the VCD structure. You could probably even include MAC support as well, but I'm not the person to ask.