Making a SVCD disk step by step

wvg wrote on 8/27/2001, 11:03 PM
Finally arrived at the end of my journey and achieved my goal of creating a good quality video playable off a set-top DVD player. It does involve multiple steps and additional software, but in my opinion worth the effort because there is a very noticable difference between standard VCD quality using mpeg-1 and
so-called Super VCD or SVCD which uses mpeg-2.

The following steps are just one way to go about such a project for those interested in creating better quality CD's and don't yet want to move up to acquiring a DVD burner. Most say SVCD quality falls somewhere between VHS and DVD. In any case it is superior to plain VCD.

Additional software required:
Nero version 5.0 or later
TMPGENC High Quality Encoder

PRELIMINARY STEPS

Do all your editing in Video Factory and ideally render to a lossless file type like AVI. If you are using Windows 98SE and your video is anything but short watch that you don't exceed the 4GB file limit. If your video is larger as mine was, instead render your final using the DVD 720x480, 8300 Kbps, MPEG-2 template.

BEGIN CONVERSION

1. Start TMPGEnc. Locate the browse button at the
lower right and select the final file you created
in Video Factory.

2. Click the load button and select the SuperVideo
CD NTSC MCF option. Click Open.

3. You should see SuperVideo CD NTSC MPEG-2 480x480
29.97 FPS CQ6S Layer-2 under the video preview. If
you do, you've picked the correct option. If, not
try again.

4. Click on the start button at the upper left.

It makes sense to use a different file name so you don't pick the wrong one in the later steps.

This application has a preview window and the display will be very choppy but it don't hurt the output. Because of the initial 480x480 size the image will look distorted. Don't worry about it, your DVD player automatically changes it back to the correct aspect ratio. Note: You should make a second render from VF using normal methods if you also want a copy to play off your computer.

Start up Nero

1. Click on the 1st icon on the Tool Bar which should
bring up New Compilation.

2. Scroll down until you see Super Video CD. The
default should be ISO 9660. If not, change to it.

3. Click on new (upper right) locate the file you just
created in TMPGEnc.

4. Drag the file from the right window pane to the
lower left window pane. ONLY this file. As soon as
you do Nero with either flag it saying it isn't the
correct format which means you made an error in
selecting the format in TMPGEns. Otherwise it will
immediate start to scan the file. Don't interupt it!

5. Once Nero is done checking to see if the file is
suitable for SVCD select the burn option from the
Tool Bar, then pick the disc-at-once option.
Click on Write and sit back while Nero burns the CD.

If everything goes well you'll have a high quality video that plays on many set-top DVD players.

Nero: http://www.nero.com/
TMPGEns: http://www.tmpgenc.com/





Comments

SonyNateM wrote on 8/28/2001, 8:32 AM
Thanks from everyone for the detailed tips! I'm sure people will find it useful.

I will add one small note:

AVI is not necessarily a "lossless" file format. It all depends on the codec you choose to compress the video/audio stored in the file. An AVI file can be lossless if you render your final file without any compression on the audio/video (uncompressed). Virtually any compression codec you choose to compress the video in the file with will be lossy, and will lower the quality of your output.

Hope this helps.
wvg wrote on 8/28/2001, 9:12 AM
Thanks for info about AVI. The $64 dollar question is the AVI codec that comes with VF which says it is uncompressed really lossless or is itlossy?

Just curious.

I was also curious about the origins of the word "lossy" and according to my Webster's it only goes back to circa 1946:

lossy
causing attenuation or dissipation of electrical energy
discdude wrote on 8/28/2001, 10:28 AM
The uncompressed setting is indeed lossless, since nothing is compressed. It also eats up HD space like nothing else.

If you are looking lossless *compression*, try Huffyuv at:

http://www.math.berkeley.edu/~benrg/huffyuv.html

Since it's compression ratio is in the 2:1 - 3:1 range, it still eats up HD space (especially compared to MPEG-2) but its better than nothing.

I've seen other lossless codecs, PicVideo Lossless JPEG is one, but they aren't free like Huffyuv.
steveh wrote on 8/29/2001, 8:46 AM
Thanks for the step by step instructions. Following them I was able to create a very sharp svcd that played flawlessly on my Apex DVD player. Now I just need to experiment with the menu feature.
Thanks again - the quality was much better than vcd...
SonyNateM wrote on 8/29/2001, 9:54 AM
Not sure of its origins. My guess would be that it was just an assumed opposite to the term "lossless". Dictionary.com gives the following definition of "lossy".

lossy

[algorithm] A term describing a data compression algorithm which actually reduces the amount of information in the data, rather than just the number of bits used to represent that information. The lost information is usually removed because it is subjectively less important to the quality of the data (usually an image or sound) or because it can be recovered reasonably by interpolation from the remaining data.

MPEG and JPEG are examples of lossy compression techniques.

Opposite: lossless.

(1995-03-29)

Source: The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2001 Denis Howe
RonC wrote on 8/29/2001, 10:45 PM
You can also make an SVCD through VF 2.0. Simply generate a MPEG file with an SVCD compliant setting (i.e 480 x 480 mpeg2 at 2500 bps or so) and save it to a mpeg file. The generated mpeg file is NOT SVCD compliant yet! Use TMPGE tools to re-multiplex the files. The new file will be compliant. Burn away! The method seems to work well.

Ron
buzert wrote on 8/30/2001, 1:27 PM
You said render your final using the DVD 720x480, 8300 Kbps, MPEG-2 template.
When i do this TMPGE says cant open file or unsuported.
Am i dong somthing wrong here?
mike10670 wrote on 9/11/2001, 1:48 AM
When I do the 480 x 480 in VF, the output video is looking elongated? Is this normal? Will it look normal when viewed on a DVD player?
steveh wrote on 9/11/2001, 9:48 AM
Yes, the dvd player will automagically stretch it to 720x480...