VCD on DVD

[Thargok]

I know that this can be done with DVDSP and a little bit of tweaking, but has anybody got it to work with ffmpegX or Sizzle? (an early version of Sizzle didn't work on Apples DVD player which tried to decode it as MPEG-2 and resulted in a sync issue)

Or would authoring a large VCD Image and buring it onto a DVD with Toast work?

Just wondering because I have a lot (I mean a lot ~100) of VCDs and this would solve my "Which spindel/case has that VCD" blues.

I should be able to get 6-11 VCDs on a DVD disc and that would help a lot of I could play it on DVD players.

(and yes I know the quality isn't that great, but changing it isn't going to make it any better)

Apparently Sizzle can make VCDs work however very few DVD players accept them. Once I have handled my cash flow problem and buy more DVD-Rs I will see what Toast will do if I drop a DVD worth of VCDs into it and author a VCD on a DVD disc.

[sdm]

I've got it to work using ffmpegX. But the process is painful.
This is how it can be done.. but I'd like a quicker way if anyone knows..

1. Use VCD Copy X 1.1 to copy the DAT files to my hard drive

2. Use VCD Gear X 1.0 to convert the DAT files to MPGs
my mpegs are mpeg-1 NTSC video. 320x240 or 351x240 at 29.97fps
audio is mpeg-1, layer 2(mp2) with bitrate = 224kbit/s and sampling frequency = 44.1 khz

3. Use BBDemux to demultiplex the mpeg into separate video (m1v) and audio - but don't bother with the audio

4. Use ffmpegX to make an mp2 but re-sample the sampling frequency from 44.1 khz to 48khz.
-Set the preset to 'low bitrate DVD' but change the Video Codec to "passthrough(ffmpeg)" and UNcheck the encode video box.
UNcheck the Author as DVD box in the tools tab.

5. now you should have an m1v file and an mp2 file.
Use MPEGinfo to see that the audio is at 48khz (this is important)

6a. You could use Sizzle from here to author a dvd disc image

or

6b. Use ffmeg X to re-multiplex them back into a new mpeg. Be sure to choose "Mux as... DVD"

The resulting mpg won't play in quicktime but it will in VLC- check for sync issues or freezing - sorry those might not be the correct terms.

7. If its good, use MissingMpegTools to Author your DVD folders

8. Burn the AUDIO_TS and VIDEO_TS files to DVD in Toast.

I've also tried to get ffmpeg to make the new mpeg in one step - using passthrough(ffmpeg) video codec, with encode video on. This is faster by far, but the resulting mpg is not correct (I forget why right now).

If someone can give me a faster way, I'd be pleased to know. Thanks

[Thargok]

Did the changes in framerate affect the outcome?

[Thargok]

MUST THE AUDIO BE 48k?! I tried it with 44 and it was fine...but now when I make an image with sizzle the a/v sync stays but the video has pausing glitches so the a/v stays in sync. It is quite nasty.

[sdm]

I believe that yes, audio sampling freqency must be at 48 Khz.
Thats the most important thing.

The framerate doesn't change.

Someone out there knows more than me, I'm surprised noone else comments.

[ZeroSix]

Even though you can drag more than 800 MB onto toast on the VCD window, it will not burn onto DVD-R. This can be explained very easily -- VCD is actually a CDROM-XA format -- ie, multiple sessions. A DVD-R can only be in a few formats -- UDF, HFS, ISO... Noting that XA is not one of them.

This can be summed up using the same point that one cannot burn multiple sessions onto a DVD-R.

Your best bet for moving a lot of VCDs to DVD-R is to use, although frusterating, DVDSP.

I have had much success with this myself. And you really dont HAVE to create menus, although it is a nice feature.

Very simply, you perform the following:

1) Make sure that your source video is NTSC, 29.97 fps @ 352x240 resolution. This is imperative. If your video is NOT at the right resolution, you can simply edit the headers of the file to make DVDSP """THINK""" it is, without any adverse effects. If your frame rate is off, then you have a problem. The best solution i have found for fixing incorrect frame rates involves a very lengthy process, but it is very effective. It requires Toast, Quicktime 6 and Mencoder.

a) Open the terminal. Type mencoder -ovc lavc -oac pcm /path/to/your/messed/up/framerate.mpg -o /path/to/output/file.AVI -- this is important to make it an AVI. What this syntax will do is transcode your MPEG to a .AVI file with PCM audio. We use PCM because it is just very fast and requires no additional work to get quicktime to play it. Once this process is finished, open the resulting .AVI in quicktime and export using the toast VCD component. Toast VCD component is the only mpeg-1 codec / software i have used for mac that can turn a 5 fps or 15 fps movie into 29.97 without any loss in sync. Snazzy. Alternatively, you can use Quicktime MPEG2 export and just lower the bit rate for the same effect, but the audio will output to PCM which will eat up a lot of space unless converted to another format [MP2, AC-3, etc] so it really is better to use Toast VCD. If you must do multiple files and have Final Cut Express or Pro, you can open FCE, go to FILE and select NEW BIN and then drag all your .AVI files to the new bin. Select all, and click FILE --> EXPORT. So now you have corrected any and all problematic MPEGs and are ready to go to step 2.

2) Demux every file. a great program for this [i love you Bile] is MPEGPowerTool. The only downside to this program is that is does not support drag and drop. You can batch add every MPEG file, select DEMUX and let it run. Alternatively, you can use FFMPEG or BBDemux [which is GREAT for problematic MPEGs, might i add...] to demux your files. This will result in two files with the same file name as your original, except with different extensions: .m1v for the video, and .mp2 for the audio! Getting there!

3) You must MUST MUST make every .MP2 [audio] file 48kHz. This can be time consuming, even on a good G4. on my SP 800, it took about 5 hours to reencode 7 hours worth of audio to 48kHz. So you will have to wait. The best program for doing this is, again, I love you Bile, MPEGPowerTool. Batch add every .MP2 file select "RE-ENCODE MP2" and make certain that it is set to 48Khz. DO NOT IGNORE THIS NOTE! Make for sure-fire certain that your output directory is NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT the same as your source directory. Doing this will cause cataclysmic results and force you to go back to the beginning of step 2. So make sure that your output directory is different. Click on ENCODE and grab a bag of popcorn, because watching the terminal re-encode MP2 files is ALMOST as fun as watching paint dry.

4) So now you have all your .MP2 files with the standard 48kHz ranking. Good for you. And now you have all your compliant .m1v files as well. go ahead and get rid of your source MPEGs and source .MP2 files. Nah, dont delete them JUST IN CASE, but put them in a different folder and move them a good 50 or 60 levels in the heirarchy of your disk. that way they are there if you need them, but out of your way in case you dont. Select all the compliant files and drag them to the DVDSP asset window. Not one should be rejected. If any of them are, please stop reading this and go back to your game of Ikaruga or Mario Party. You can;'t handle this type of thing so stop fooling yourself.

For this next part, i will walk you through making a DVD without menus. Want menus? Read the manual. buy photoshop or corel and get working!

After they have all been accepted, figure out exactly how many tracks you are using. And create that many tracks in DVDSP by way of the ADD TRACK button. Name them all accordingly.

Drag the .m1v file and the correct .MP2 file to the little window of the track in DVDSP. both should be accepted. Do this for each and every movie on an individual basis. Once finished, you need to tell the Disc what to do and when.

Set the startup action of the disc to the first track you want to be played.

Click on the first track you want played, and find the JUMP WHEN FINISHED menu on the property viewer. Set the JUMP WHEN FINISHED to the next track you want played. Then click on that track's icon, and find JUMP WHEN FINISHED and set it to the NEXT track you want played. Do this unitl you have come to the last track and either leave the JUMP WHEN FINISHED undefined or do whatever you want. You can set the number of seconds between tracks too, so this is cool.

When you are all done, I recommend Building the Disc from the FILE menu and NOT formatting the disc. Use Toast for that. The whole DVD burning part of DVDSP just plain sucks.

You want to preview your video? Tough snot, Jackie. DVDSP will correctly play the .MP2 audio of the files, but cannot properly draw the video. Just make for damn sure that you got everything in the right place before you build. It's not that hard.

Now once and awhile, you MIGHT have a just plain faulty MPEG file and you will get errors when building. Here is how to oevercome that issue:

Remember the source files you moved into the treacherous chasms of your hard drive? We need the .mpg file... Yeah the orginal. Load it into ffmpegX and use the FAST MPEG-1 PRESET. Use high quality, blah blah blah, and uncheck the box to encode the audio. this saves time, as we already have a fully working audio stream. Click on ENCODE and the terminal pops up, barfs a bunch of crap at you about your file, and a short while later -- POOF! A fresh error free MPEG file... well SORT OF!

We didnt encode the audio, right? Great! But the file is still an MPEG file without audio and needs to be demuxed. Redundant, right? Good thing all of us programmers we educated at the School of the Redundancy School, right? Whether a shortcoming or a perfectly logical scenerio, whatever. Just DEMUX it.

You now have the .m1v file, right? Drag in onto DVDSP. Great! What? Really? Wrong aspect ratio? Weird! ffmpeg makes the aspect ratio 1:1! We need 4:3! How to overcome this? EASY. Too easy. thank Ross for this one... This is HOT stuff.

If your video is at 29.97 fps and the aspect ratio or resolution is wrong, this works as well!!!

Get HExEdit from HERE! and open the .m1v file. On the VERY VERY VERY first line [ the one with all 0's], this is what it SHOULD look like:





If it is any different, change the FIRST TWO COLUMNS ONLY to:

00 00 01 B3 16 00 F0 C4

[again, on line 0's] leaving the rest untouched. Save it.

Drag it to DVDSP. Did it work? Good.

now you can finish your project with ease. Does this sound too hard? It really isnt provided your files are all compliant to begin with. If they are not, and you have these steps committed to memory, it's not hard either. I put two full seasons of one of my favorite TV shows from VCD to DVD-R having to use all these steps because of faulty files, complete with menus, Jacket art, and a disc label, completely finished in roughly 4 hours of my undivided time. Although much more time was spent doing processes that didnt involve me being in front of the machine.

So there you have it... My 2¢ on putting MPEG-1 files onto DVD.

I hope you found this helpful. Please feel free to correct me and add to this at any time.

Have a nice day.