Vic,
Almost afraid to answer! lolol Jet is correct...they could go to microsoft and download an updated version of media player

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;EN-US;wmp

Is there any player I could distribute right on the CD to avoid the downloading part?

No one WANTS to go online and download programs.

Or... is there another high quality (o that MPEG2 do look good) format that would be more universal in playback?

And... if the end user (as one of my friends is, in this case) has DVD installed on his laptop, shouldn't he be able to play the MPEG2 stream?? (he sez he can't)...

someday you'll be able to play computerized video the same as a VHS - knowing it'll just WORK.

ps - D1 - you sure ruffled a lot of feathers, there, but a lot of great info came out of the thread... I personally enjoyed the whole ruckus... it makes for exciting reading on quiet Friday nights.

Thanks Vic.... I guess so! As long as it made for good reading! Yes, I have included Power DVD player on CDVD's. It's a "lite" version of the player enabling many to play your CDVD. Let me know if youo need a copy of the player

Sorry Vic... I thought it was Power DVD--- it's really WinDVD with an autorun script to launch the player...it's about 5 megs in size

"No one WANTS to go online and download programs."

What....you meant everybody doesn't have always on broadband connection?

Wow...that must suck!!

:-)

Wow... I re-read your response. If your friend has a DVD player on his laptop- he should have the ability to play your MPEG2. I'm amazed he cannot...perhaps he has to update his driver- computer players are software driven and keeping the driver current is crucial to maintaining the ability to play most all the DVD formats.

My computer at work had a DVD player and PowerDVD, and yet it took me a while to figure out how to play an mpeg2 video I created with Vegas at home, and burned onto a CD.

Windows Media Player would not play it (or would not play it properly - video messed up and audio out of sync, etc...), which was frustrating because PowerDVD was installed, so I knew there was a mpeg2 codec around somewhere! But PowerDVD only seemed to play real DVDs, I could not find an option to browse folders and open an mpeg2 file with it. I finally tried dragging it from windows explorer onto the PowerDVD app, and it opened it (had to drag it onto the controls, not the player window).

Also, if your mpeg2 is interlaced, PowerDVD de-interlaces it (I guess) so it looks good on the computer screen, whereas WMP does not (assuming your even able to play it with WMP)

D1 - would greatly appreciate "lite player" -
vicmilt@bellsouth.net

It's aggravating, since on my own machine I just click and it plays in Windows Meda Player - so why can't my friends (and later clients) do the same?

When I distribute Acrobat files, I automatically include Acrobat Reader on the CD and then point the file (initially) to the CD Reader version. If the end users have Acrobat installed on their own machines, it usually takes over. That's what I'm looking for in an MPEG2 player.

Thanks for all help rendered - will report back when I get a truly working solution. D1 - yours looks hopeful.
v.

Its a license thing. The MPEG group is rather strick. They let MPEG-1 slip away and (my guess) is they didn't want the same thing to happen to later versions. The MPEG-2 codec isn't included with Microsoft's default install because duh... they won't pay the rather stiff license fee times the millions upon millions of copies of Windows they sell. Besides, if they did, they would just past it along to us consumers and Windows would cost more. It costs too much now. The point is if you have a CD and/or a DVD player, almost all come with something like PowerDVD which is pretty good. So there shouldn't be a problem. There are always trade offs. You could encode to RM or on of the Windows Media formats, but then the CD won't play off a set top. Then you have the auto play problem, choices, choices, choices...

Billy -
sounds like you are onto something that I'm just too damn lazy to figure out for myself.

I just want a reasonably high rez delivery of video files on CD ROM for playback by everyone (Windoze, not Mac), ideally with no additional installations necessary. Let's say video length under 1/2 hour. I'm a VV4 guy - so which button do I press???

;>)

v.

Hi Vic...

Have you considered making a multimedia CD? They are really pretty slick and may be exactly what you're looking for. Details are under multimedia CD in Vegas' online help.

The CD won't play off a set top, but you can make it auto play AND include a movie player installer when you burn the CD... all from within Vegas. Just tried it myself and its pretty slick. I used the newer version 9 file type WMV and uped the template to 3 MBPS. Like SPOT said in another thread the other day really very good quality. I was going to try a bigger burn at a lower bitrate but I'm fresh out of blank CD's.

OK BILLY -

That's what I was looking for (and that's what this forum is all about!).

Can't wait to try it out.

Thanx,
v.