Do not use the VV encoder to render to VCD. Render as AVI with as little compression as possible (best without compression, if you have the disk space), and then use another encoder to make the MPG file (TMPGEnc, Procoder - both with high quality settings).
The process will be simplified once we're able to use a frameserver from VV.

1.7Mbps is as low as I'd go to still see the fine non-interlaced quality of XVCD with Tsunami MPEG Enc. 2.5Mbps is luxury but you'll get about 40 minutes on at 1.7Mbps.

SVCD and cdDVD/miniDVD are three other options, with almost the same player compatibility problems as the DVD burnt counterparts.

VHS and S-VHS never had these hoops to jump through (within region)!

I played around with Divx a while ago and got some pretty nice video with relatively small files. Are there any DVD players that will play Divx files off of CD?

There are very few players who can play DivX movies, but theey have their limits. Look here for the "Kiss" players

www.dvdrhelp.com

Is this for playback on TV or computer?

On TV...
I saved as AVI uncompressed (352x240) looks good
now, I'm converting with Tmpenc and procoder, and still not getting a good looking MPEG.
I've "copied" dvd's with DVDx (DVD Copy) onto VCD with great results, how come I can't get the same looking effects????

Please help!!

What settings with the Encoders??

VCD is a low-quality format because of the low resolution and the low bitrate. DVD is much better, of course. Using an expensive tool like ProCoder probably help, IMHO. Based on our testing, we feel that the MainConcept encoder provides better quality output than ProCoder, and the MC encoder is faster. I'd suggest switching from VCD to DVD. For the cost of ProCoder you could buy two or three DVD burners.

MainConcept Tech Support

"how come I can't get the same looking effects????" - Good question. I'm interested . .

If it god quality (like DVD), Cable TV, or VHS (worst case)?

If it good quality (like DVD), Cable TV, or VHS (worst case)?

Source: I've created it with amazing bmp files, photoshop files, and jpegs. Plus I've used the fonts for text from VV.
I've transformed it to AVI, and it looks amazing.
Now, I want to burn it as a vcd, and the mpegs look terrible.
what settings should I use?
thanks!

scully;

I've had good luck with SVCD's (more technically, CVD's - (ChinaVideoDiscs) - check vcdhelp.com). Will your player play SVCD's or XSVCD's? I've had good luck with the following settings, using the MC encoder (I use a mid-range Pioneer DVD player and my tv is *only* 27", and haven't even tried them on a widescreen or HD tv, so mileage may vary...):

use most of the default NTSC SVCD settings with the following changes:

Res=352x480 (the std. 480x480 works well also, but is not DVD-compliant)
CBR=2,300 - 2,500 (file size no issue to me - my vids are less than 30 mins. I don't want to bore my audience :), and the VBR setting seemed to cause a "pulsating" problem, which has since been repaired by MC)
DC=10
"Write Sequence display extension"=checked
Audio Sampling rate=44.1KHz or 48KHz seems to make little or no difference, but 48KHz is DVD-compliant
"Video Rendering Quality" = Best
"Video Quality" (under Video tab) = High

You may want to read these older threads, as well, for some good info:

http://www.sonicfoundry.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?MessageID=103889&Replies=17&Page=4
http://www.sonicfoundry.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?ForumID=4&MessageID=112539

Also, rather than rendering to a small frame, uncompresed avi, I save the avi as a DV-AVI (720x480), start a new project, and drop this new DV-AVI onto the timeline, and THEN use the MC encoder settings described above.

I'm very happy with the results (FAR better than VHS, since that's what I am comparing it to, and they (SVCD's)work in other family members DVD players, as well.

I've stopped using jpg's, and use png's and bmp's for reasons described above, as well.

Good Luck

Frenchy

Agreed...JPEG is a highly compressed format which doesn't lend itself well to being recompressed with a highly compressed format such as MPEG.

In general, VCD is a low-quality format with only a fraction of DVD's resolution and bitrate -- so VCD won't compete with DVD in terms of quality. Our encoder can do a great job with VCD within the limitations of the format. If going to DVD isn't an option, you might want to consider other options as mentioned above. SVCD is a "standard" format which offers higher quality than VCD. Other formats like xSVCD aren't standard, but might work depending on your player.

Mark

MainConcept does a decent job with VCD output. Assuming you are feeding the MC encoder with decent quality source to produce the VCD output, you need to ensure also that your display source is configured and optimized for viewing. This includes using s-video connection or better from your DVD player to your TV monitor instead of using the composit connection and the TV monitor's brightness, contrast, etc... setttings are properly adjusted for optimal viewing.

-Veasna