Identifying a silver VCD

[Shizuka]

Hi,

I bought a couple of silver VCDs from a dealer on eBay and have played them on my DVD player and my PC, but found an incompatibility issue with my Mac laptop. (I'd like to be able to play them on the laptop, because I could take the VCDs with me when I travel...) There are several options I can pursue to solve the problem, but I need to know the exact type of disc I have before I move forward. The dealer insists it is a standard disc, but that the bit rate is higher than normal.

However, upon inspection, I noticed that the disc did not contain a file with the mpg extension, but instead had a .dat file in the MPEGAN folder.

Basically, what I am wondering is what components the different formats have on their discs and is it possible that I have SVCDs instead of VCDs or maybe even some other file type? I have tried searching this website and others for the answer to my problem, but I have not been able to find that information.

Thanks!

Shizuka

[dcsos]

MPG is converted to .dat in both VCD and SVCD formats
in order to play a .dat in other than a VCD or SVCD player, you must RIP the file to the harddrive...
this converts it back to .mpg

[Shizuka]

I'm trying to play it in my software VCD player. I have MacVCD by Mireth, but Mireth's software won't recognize anything but VCD (I'm not 100% sure about VCD 2.0 on their software...) I'm not interested in ripping the VCDs...just playing them on the laptop from the VCD drive if some one could tell me what file type they really are.

Thanks!

Shizuka

[tgpo]

Have you tried using vlc to watch them?

[Shizuka]

No, what is vlc? Where do I find it?

Shizuka

[jacknjt]

just open the .dat file with windows media player. it should be able to play the VCD. If it's a SVCD then u need the mpeg2 codec for your wmp. u can find the codec under tools section.

[Shizuka]

Actually, it plays just fine under Windows. The trouble is, my portable is a Mac, hence the questions. I'm reasonably sure I could figure out what I need to do to the player software, if I only knew exactly what type of disc I have.

Shizuka

[dcsos]

It must be a SVCD, because I have the MIRETH program and it plays standard VCD's on my mac (300MHZ PowerPC) fine under OS9.0
I've never tried a SVCD tho', so this may be what you've got!

[Shizuka]

That's what I thought was possible, the SVCD, I mean. What happens when I try to play it is this:

I put it in the drive and it loads up on my desktop. The Mireth software does not auto-start, like it does on my home-made VCDs, so I start it up myself. As soon as the Mireth software starts, it shows the rotating status ball icon, that tells me the program is busy. It can stay that way for days if I let it, but the movie never starts and the software will not quit normally or respond in any way--even to "force quit." So, I force a restart and pop the disk out as soon as I hear the startup sound.

Mireth's website has instructions on how to play SVCD. You need to buy some software from Apple, atleast in OS X. Not sure what you do with 9. I might try that, but before I dump more money in the VCD software, I wanted to be sure it wasn't CVD or other.

Is it possible that a standard size movie would fit on only two SVCDs? I have not experience with those, I'm afraid. The quality, however, is better than the playback results I get when I make VCDs at home--not jerky and very like playing a video tape (not DVD quality because the results are little grainy, like you get with tape, instead of crystal clear digital looking picture.)

Thanks!

Shizuka

[mats.hogberg]

Aren't there any software DVD players for Mac? Most Windoze DVD players support VCD and SVCD as well.

/Mats

[dcsos]

No the only DVD player on MAC comes with the operating system..
And in earlier versions, will play nothing but a DVD disc (no cDVD, no VCD, etc...)
This player can sometimes be updated to play advanced thingslike VOB's but It still wouldn't ever be able to play the DAT file if the disc didn't startby itself, and it won't update unless you have the latest G4.

But Now, MAC owners can fork out $120.00 to play MPEG-2 in Quick Time Pro
Quick Time Pro is $39 and an additional MPG 2 plug in cost me $20..If I wanted to do it for OSX as well as 9, another $60 is needed.
However, the Quick Time Pro player doesn't play AC3 with Mpeg-2 (No Commercial DVD's will play)and it won't play Divx orMPEG-4 uless its Apples variety of MPEG-4

Quick Time Pro is the only MPEG 2 solution for playback on a mac without spending huge sums on DVD studio Pro or a Hardware based solution (Sonic's Fusion, Creator or similar )
Some freeware stuff is developing..LOOK HEREhttp://www.wormintheapple.gr/macdvd/download.html
but last I looked, the free player had no sound!

You might have to RIP the file to the hard drive temporarily to see what format the DAT was in.. I think they tell you how to rip a VCD on MAC somewhere on this site....As drag and drop may or may not work...and If you can rag and drop..be sure to remane it to .MPG...If its MPG one, Quick Time will play without pro....

[Shizuka]

Thank you. So, probably the best thing is to rip the cd and make a new VCD that the computer can read? I had not realized that the upgrades Mireth mentioned on their site were so expensive!

Thanks!

Shizuka

[Shizuka]

I want to say "Thank you." After I ripped and remade the cd, it works fine. And I don't have to spend $60 on Quicktime plugins.

Thanks!

Shizuka

[tgpo]

Try this program VLC

[EddyH]

Wouldn't it be easier just to put it back in the PC or DVD drive and see what it says?
Big clues like seeing what the DVD standalone or player software says on loan (both mine say 'VCD' 'SVCD' 'DVD' etc), or just checking out the resolution...
If you just copy the .dat file to hard disk (no 'ripping' needed) and rename it to .mpg it may yet work.