Articles - > DVD Conversion Guide

Title: DVD Conversion Guide Description: A guide that covers background information and links about converting your DVD movies to other formats, such as VCD, SVCD, MiniDVD and DivX Author/Publisher: Digital Digest Ease of use: Not Rated Page Viewed: 179352 times	Printer Friendly Version User Rating: No ratings recorded - Vote Now User Comments: Post Your Comments
Page Select: Page 1: Introduction Page 2: Choose your format Page 3: DivX MPEG-4 Page 4: VideoCD MPEG-1 Page 5: Super VideoCDs MPEG-2 Page 6: MiniDVDs MPEG-2 Page 7: More Help

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Page 4 of 7: VideoCD MPEG-1

MPEG-1(.mpg, .dat) is the predecessor to MPEG-2 used for DVDs. MPG files are a lower quality/bitrate format usually at half of the resolution of DVD VOB files. They encompass CD quality 2 channel audio, as opposed to the 5.1 channels found in some DVD VOB files. Quality depends on the encoder used, and can be quite good if done properly.

VideoCDs (VCDs) are simply MPEG-1 data (at a specific resolution/data rate - ie. VCD compliant) burned onto CDs using a special CD writing format. You don't need special CD-Rs to make a VCD (any blank CD-R will do), but you'll need a CD writer tool that supports VCD burning. The .mpg files will then appear as .dat files on the VCD. VCDs can also feature limited interaction (VCD version 2.0), and one popular use for VCDs is for Karaoke. The best thing about VCDs is that they are playable in almost all standalone DVD players (that supports CD-R or CD-R/W reading). A usual 2 hour movie will usually require 2 CDs.




STATS




Below are some useful statistics : Format : .mpg Resolution : PAL - 352x288 @ 25 FPS ; NTSC -352x240 @ 23.976 or 29.97 FPS Bitrate : 650 MB stores around 50-60 minutes Quality : VIDEO - Similar to VHS ; AUDIO - CD Quality (44kHz, stereo) Encoding time : 1-2 frames per second on a PII-350




CONVERSION PROCESS



Below are some usage guides and download links for the conversion process :




Conversion Tools

DVD2MPG	The original one step DVD to MPEG program.
Flask-MPEG	Recommended, faster and easier to use than DVD2MPG.
TMPGEnc	Tsunami MPeG Encoder is a new freeware MPEG-1/2 video and audio encoder that is currently very popular.





Guides on this site

Burning a VCD using Nero or VCDEasy	A guide on how to burn a VideoCD (VCD) compliant MPG file to a CD-R as a VideoCD using Nero Burning ROM or VCDEasy
DVD to AVI/MPG using a TV-input card	An interesting way to convert DVDs to AVI/MPEG using your tv-input card and your hardware decoder.
DVD to VCD Guide	A guide on DVD to VCD conversion using DVD2AVI and TMPGEnc
DVD to VCD using FlasKMPEG Guide	A detailed guide written by our local conversion expert, Nicky Page, on how to convert DVDs to VCDs using the freeware FlasKMPEG tool
Encoding a VCD using TMPGEnc	A guide on how to convert your movie file to a VideoCD compliant MPEG-1 file using TMPGEnc for VideoCD authoring
Revised Guide to Convert your DVD to VCD	An excellent guide in step-by-step format with all diagrams included - all in 1 Microsoft Word document !! - Thanks to Mr. D.J for this guide, and also thanks to MrPSXburner for sending it to us.
Sefy's Ultimate Newbie DVD Conversion Guide v1.6	A very complete guide to DVD to VCD conversion, convering many different tools and methods
Voici quelques conseils élémentaires pour créer un VCD ou un S-VCD	A French guide on DVD to VCD/SVCD conversion - written by <==cyberpic==>





Guides not on this site

Doom9's VCD articles	Some very easy to follow guides for DVD conversion. Also available in French, German, Portuguese, Spanish
DVD Home	French VCD guides
DVDXZONE	Downloads and guides for DVD to VCD conversion.
EncodingInfo	Guides on DVD to VCD conversion
Justin's DVD to VideoCD Conversion Guide	A guide on DVD to VCD conversion using FlasK MPEG
Techno's DVD to VCD Guide	A DVD to VCD guide using DVDx
VCDHelp's VCD guides and links	Recommended - Features guides and links to other guides on VCD burning, including instruction on making SVCD/VCD with menus.
VCDHelp.org	DVD to VCD conversion guides
VCDLAND's DVD to VCD Guide	A guide on DVD to VCD conversion using FlasK MPEG





BURNING TO CD-R



You'll need a suitable VCD burning software like Nero Burning ROM, you can download a fully working 30 day trial version here. These VCD burning tools will usually check to see if your MPEG-1 file is VCD compliant and will give you a warning if the file isn't compliant. In most cases, if you convertd the MPEG-1 file using the "Resolution" information listed in the "STATS" section above, and you shouldn't get an error, and even if you do get an error, the file may still play as a VCD, but you may encounter display problems (eg. not full screen, frame skipping, distortions ...).





HOW TO PLAYBACK MPEG-1/VCD



Below are some players for VCDs




Players

DVD Decoders Cards	Most DVD decoder cards also support MPEG-1 playback, and hence VCDs
Multimedia players	Players such as Microsoft Media Player and DivX players can support MPEG-1 playback, but you may have to manually load the .dat file from the VCD to start playback.
Software DVD Players	Most software DVD players can playback VCDs.
Standalone DVD players	Almost all standalone DVD players supports VCD playback

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Article Navigation:

Page 1: Introduction Page 2: Choose your format Page 3: DivX MPEG-4 Page 4: VideoCD MPEG-1 <-- Page 5: Super VideoCDs MPEG-2 Page 6: MiniDVDs MPEG-2 Page 7: More Help

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