Backing up family home movies to VCD......SEE HERE

[SladeZero]

Hey there,

***THIS INFO IS NOT INTENDED TO HELP AID PIRATING ***

I finally got a capture card so I could back-up my videos from my
wedding and other family events. Well, at first I wasn't sure
about how to do the CAPTURING, COMPRESSION, and BURNING
of video. Well, I would now like to say that for $64 off of
NEWEGG.COM I received a LEADTECH WIN TV2000 XP TV TUNER
card (FREE SHIPPING I MIGHT ADD ).
This card has coaxial, s-video, and even composite video
capture possibilities. Anyway, I used 3 FREE SHARWARE programs
to do my back-ups.

1) CAPTURING -> Virtual Dub
2) COMPRESSION -> TMPGEnc
3) BURNING -> VCDEASY

This may sound difficult but it reason is not.The longest part is
just capturing the video. OF COURSE there is a slight catch to
this technique. The BRAND and QUALITY of MEDIA DOES DETERMINE
whether your DVD-player will be able to read it assuming it is
VCD compatible. Even some of older players that have VCD
capabilities like my SONY DVC-S360 are very particular about what
kind of MEDIA you use.
I used MEMOREX CD-RW 4X multi speed that come in the GREEN
labeled boxes or spindles. They work great .

Quick Tips:
1) CD-RW's are usually better quality and overall
better for doing VCD's because they have MULTIPLE layers.
Generally, the more silver or REFLECTIVE they are the better they
do.

2) 4 GB is the max for capturing AVI on a single HDD since windows has
a limiting factor with its FAT32 file structure. Of course this can be solved by additional changes.

3) Just make sure when capturing video you check to see what kind
of VCD you want PAL or NTSC. (Different video standards for TV).
NTSC 352 X 240 ............PAL 352 X 288

Basically an overview of the 3 programs (This is not to say other progs won't work)
This is just what I have used and I really like it.

1) Virtual Dub is capturing software that allows you to pick the
format you want to capture at IE: 352X240 (NTSC VCD format)
You are still capturing an AVI you are just picking the size and quality
you want out of it. The American form of VCDs use NTSC with
29.97 FPS quality. The amount of frames you have determines how
good it will look.

2) TMPGEnc: is simply a compression agent used to convert video
files to a different format. All you need to do is install the new
codec and it will have it listed for you to compress it to. Generally,
HUFFYUV is an excellent codec to use but it uses alot of space.
I had 4 GB (Due to Windows FAT32 limitation factor) that was
changed to 278MB after conversion from AVI to MPEG1.

3) VCDEASY: is exactly what it says. It specifically takes care of and
allows you to customize your burn of VCDs. I will say in order to
use this you will need to update your ASPI drivers and also make
sure your CDRDAO is working. I like this program because it
really CHECKS to make sure that your software and hardware
are working right before it will let you burn anything.

If you do not know what any of this stuff is try this webpage.
It gives step by step (WITH PICTURES) of how to do each of
these. Just look to the left margin of the main page under
CAPTURE, CONVERT, AUTHOR (Also known as burning)

BTW- All 3 pieces of software plus the Video Card all work with
my OS (WIN XP PRO).

VCDHELP.COM

If you have questions please ask. This is really cool to have
family events on a CD instead of VHS or 8mm camcorder tapes.

Hope this helps.
SladeZero

 

[Furor]

Nice little article, i'm sure it will help people new to this(and there have been quite a few lately)
Another tool that is pretty popular to capture is AVI_IO and if you want the best quality TV on your computer, you need DScaler edit: Dscaler site appears to be down now, here's an alternate link

 

[SladeZero]

Hey there,

Here's some more info. Thanks for the link on the AVI IO. This is info will give some clues as to WHY or How your
VCDs are not working or Why some do.

Definitions

CDRDAO (Compact Disk Recording Data At Once) - This just means it copies all the data without pauses between the tracks
ASPI - (Advanced SCSI Programming Interface) - This is basically how your CD Device functions.
You usually have to have a driver that tells your system how the CD device should work.
The ASPI driver is used on SCSI and ATAPI (The more common type of device)

Problems with Making VCDs

1) There is a limitation factor with the FAT32 file structor in windows. It can be solved 1 of 3 ways that I know of.
A) Use AVI IO which does not have the prob when catpuring devices
B) You can Setup the capture software to capture several different files since the prob is isolated to one 4GB file. You can do this by
just going into the setup of the program and telling the size of each file and to do it period.
C) Or you can switch your file structure to NTFS.

2) VCD does not play on DVD Player. It could be several things
A) When you capture the AVI file you need to make sure the format you are capturing it in is correct.
DVD players are made to read at a certain format NTSC 352 X 240 (N. American and Japanese Format) or
PAL 352 X 288 (Europe and other countries format)
B) Your CD-R MEDIA is not compatible. It is possible to get CD-Rs that are not compatible. Basically the more REFLECTIVE it is
the better it will do. Only a few CD-R brand have been known to work such as PRINCO which is hard to find but you can still get them.
CD-RWs are usually the best. USUALLY CD-RW any brand it ok. I say that sparingly. CD-RWs have different layers like a DVD which
make them better for doing VCDs.
C) Your burn speed could be too high. Even with the best CD devices the faster you write the more likely you are to get a VCD that
won't read. Usually anything above 4X is too high. It may take longer but usually works the best.
D) You software is configured incorrectly or not installed. Make sure you have the latest CDRDAO library with your CD-Burning
package which I believe is 1.1.5. Correct me if I am wrong. Your ASPI drivers can make a difference if they are up to date.
Adaptec.com has the newest ASPI drivers.

General Capturing Knowledge

1) Format for NTSC 352 x 240 is the size of the picture and should be done at 29.97 FPS. If you need to capture audio capturing it
at CD-Quality is usually the best. Any higher and only the trained ear will hear the difference. Pal uses 352 x 288 with 25 FPS.

2) For encoding to formats such as MPEG1,2,3,4 or MOV you need to have the CODEC installed on your comp.

Software that can be used for Capturing, Compressing, or Burning
I am not saying that these are the only ones. It's just that these are the ones that I have either used or have
read about being used to make VCDs

1) Capturing - Virtual Dub, AVI IO, Adobe Premiere, WIN Fast TV....etc....etc...
2) Compressing - TMPGEnc....only have this one since it can convert basically to any format you need
COOL huh
3) Burning - VCDEasy, Nero (Newer versions), or Roxio Easy-CD-Creator.


***Even if the DVD player you have is VCD compatible if it is an older on then you may still need to tweak your software and media to
make it compatible. ***

I know this is long. I do think it is worth it to learn. I picked this up pretty quickly and I was backing up my family memories onto
CD. Gotta love it. I hope this has been as beneficial to you as it has been for me.

Let me know if there is any info you think you need or might need.

SladeZero