Hate to be a pain,

How do I make SVCD in VV3 - I have made VCD however when I do there are no options?

Pick MC MPEG-2 as save file type as and the SVCD template. You can click the custom button if you want to change options, but I suggest you try creating one with the defaults first.

Just because this is somewhat related, I figured I'd ask people here wiser than I about VCD. I just tried creating a VCD for the first time, and now that I've discovered that my Plexwriter and Vegas don't get along, I simply rendered out to an MPEG1 file (505mb) using Vegas's VCD template and figured I could burn a VCD in Nero.

Nero (5.5.8.2), however, informs me that the file does not conform to VCD standards, which have the video at some ridiculously low res like 320x240, whereas my file from Vegas is 720x480. Nero allows me to check "disregard standards," but I have no convenient way of checking the resultant disc in a set-top DVD player (for instance) -- does anyone know offhand if, by ignoring the standards, I'm safe?

Thanks in advance of your reply,

- jim

vitamin D: This is precisely why many people are moving to SVCD. The VCD standards are ridiculously low ;) But, if you don't conform to the VCD standards, then you're not making a VCD.

Thanks Chien.

Hmm...my default topic line still reads "MAC VS PC" -- I think someone wants me to argue with them :)

- jim

If you rendered using MPEG-1 and the VCD template, you should be getting 352x240 which is VCD compliant, as are the bitrates used. Vegas scales your DV sources to VCD sizes. I've used Nero to burn these files with no problem.
///d@

Hmmm well I tryed making SVCD - PAL last night, less that impressive at this stage. In pal the resolution is 480x576 making it higher than wider - this resulted in a significant distortion of the video image. It played OK on my home theatre DVD it just looked like crap.

Why is SVCD higher than wider when every other format is wider than higher?

I would love to have my work on CD rather than VHS tape, however I don’t want to kill the quality completely as VCD does.

> I would love to have my work on CD rather than VHS tape,
> however I don’t want to kill the quality completely as
> VCD does.


Depending on the length of your clip, and whether or not your player supports it, you may want to look into miniDVD or cDVD. (it's the same thing)

That's where you burn DVD video and structure onto a CD instead of a DVD. The drawbacks are that:
a) CD will only hold about 18 minutes of DVD video.
b) very few set-top DVD players will play miniDVD because of the high spin rate required to keep the data rate up

You can check for compatible set-top players at vcdhelp.com. Otherwise, they should play in computer DVD players just fine.

I'm not sure which authoring apps will let you make miniDVD. I know Ulead DVD Movie Factory does, but it may be too limited in its menu creation abilities for your tastes. I'm not sure about some of the more full featured ones, you'd have to check the specs on your DVD authoring app of choice.


- vin