VCD Creation

[Rheinhard]

Originally Posted by Vulkar

Poueblo yeah, there is a way. when you reencode the video reencode at a different size. It creates a black border around the image which is then obscured in place of the actual video by the sides of the tv. Like in the example picture which is encoding 334X270. Each tv is different so unfortunately you'll have to try several times to get the perfect size. You could need a size slightly larger or smaller than this example depending on your tv.

I encountered the overscan problem the very first time I created a video DVD with some fansubs... the titles were on the hairy edge of my TV (but legible), and when I sent the DVD to a friend, on his TV they were almost cut off.

In order to correct this problem we've worked out a pretty good system to automate the export and conversion of Divx fansubs to MPEG2 for building DVDs. There are some good open source software tools available which we use: ffmpeg , mpeg2enc , and y4mscaler. The last is the main component as far as resizing the video to fit it within the "TV Safe" area.

I use a Mac, and know I am going to be doing this often enough that I ponied up and got DVD Studio Pro to use for the DVD authoring. (It helps that I have a contact at Apple who can buy me the software at the employee price - half off! ) Using the included tools like A.Pack, I can create AC3 audio files of only about 40 Mb for a typical episode. This allows me to get up to about 8-9 episodes on a video DVD. This is a significant improvement over what I'd be able to do with iDVD!

[MTB{SOLO}]

Originally Posted by Vulkar

Ok, I've only done this a few times and I wasn't really satisfied with the video quality but you:
(Feel free to correct me, guys, if I forgot something or made an error here)

1. Open file in Virtual Dub. Ignore the VBR audio error message that'll pop up. Under File menu click Save .wav. This is taking the audio of the file and making it into a wav file. Ok, close virtual dub.
2. Next Open TMPGENC. A window pops up. I'm American so I use VCD NTSC Click next.
a. Enter the location of your video file and audio file you just ripped in the places provided.
b. Click next until you get to a window which looks like this:
c. Click the expert button. A new window pops up. Click the advanced tab and then make the window look like this:

(Credit to MTB{SOLO} for the image. This is taken from a thread on the old forum.)
d. Then hit ok, and click next. You get to a window to define where the file output is. Define that, hit ok, and it encodes.
3. Open VCD easy and add the mpegs you encoded to the box at the bottom labeled MPEG1 VIDEO/PICTURE/AUDIO files. I belive you can do 80minutes of video per VCD. Name your Volume Label above and define the name of the .bin file it's going to create. Uncheck simulate and check burn. Hit go!
a Note: some people may have trouble with getting VCDEasy to burn (an error will pop up about cdrdao and aspi) You can take the cd image file VCDEasy creates and use another program to burn it with also. I was particularly impressed with Nero's software. It's pretty easy to use and burn.
4. Now put the cd in your DVD player and it should run provided it's able to play VCDs. Most DVD players I've encountered are. You will notice a slight loss of quality but on your television it's nothing to be upset about. Do not however, what the VCD on your computer. It will look very bad. I think someone mentioned to me once the way television renders it's picture has a smoothing affect so the quality of VCD will look better on television due to that smoothing.
Note This is a rather basic set of instructions for VCD creation. There are other useful things you can add to VCD. For example, I usually like to put chapters in mine. Also, I've even read of people putting menus on their VCD. While that is beyond my skill level. Feel free to experiment.

Just to clarify for everyone, Vulkar, you took that image from a thread in which I was trying to help someone creat PAL vcds. If anyone were to use that with NTSC it wouldnt work at all....in fact it would have the opposite effect. For NTSC VCD use:


Which comes out looking like this:


For NTSC SVCD those numbers would be 453 X 452 and for PAL SVCD 453 X 540 would suffice.

Me gots lots more info and knowledge from a few years experience of making hundreds VCDs and SVCDs so if anyones needs any clarification or further detail on any part of the process.....me helps ~(oO~)

[Vulkar]

Oh my god! It's MTB{SOLO}! Good to see you again. Where have been, man? I haven't seen you on this forum in ages. Post some fanart, will ya?

Originally Posted by MTB{SOLO}

Just to clarify for everyone, Vulkar, you took that image from a thread in which I was trying to help someone creat PAL vcds. If anyone were to use that with NTSC it wouldnt work at all....in fact it would have the opposite effect.

Wow, thank you very much for noticing that mistake. I fixed it in the original post. The sad thing is nobody seem to notice it in all the time since it's been here. I must confess at the time I didn't feel like making my own screenshots, probably laziness or something, and I recalled how great the previous VCD threads were on the old forum and how plentiful the very helpful screenshots were so I quickly scoured the forum for screenshots and took the first one I found without much thought. Not too bright. Anyway, thanks again for correcting me.

Originally Posted by MTB{SOLO}

Me gots lots more info and knowledge from a few years experience of making hundreds VCDs and SVCDs so if anyones needs any clarification or further detail on any part of the process.....me helps ~(oO~)

Yeah, those old threads on the old forum with you helping people were very helpful to me in both making VCDs and motivating me to make my first VCD back in the day.

Edit: I gave you a +reputation even though you have it disabled.

[MTB{SOLO}]

Just thought Ild make a more detailed guide with lotsa pictures in case anyone ish interested in using my process for making NTSC or PAL standard VCDs ~(oO) ~(><) Pssst Ill do one for SVCD if anyone likes……I know there are guides out there already but like this one, ish the process I like to use ~(^ ^) I think you can get the best possible quality for standard VCD/SVCD this way ~(@_@~) Teeeheehee sorry if I annoy anyone =P

(~>_<)~ Disclaimer ~(oO~) I wont pretend to take credit for all the information in the following simple guide as Ive learned much of the process from other guides myself and a helluvalot through trial and error. I wont pretend to be perfect either, so if’n there be some mistakes or a more efficient process for certain steps, anyone please feel free to speak up or correct ma ~(^ ^~)

Free Software ya may want ta grab beforehand~(oO~):

VirtualDub

TMPGEnc

Let’s Begin (using FullMetal Alchemist 01 [keep anbu] as my example):

Extracting the audio (for the best possible quality):
-Open your video file in VirtualDub
-Click on “Audio” and “Full processing mode”
-Click on ”Audio” and ”Conversion”
-I set it like so: 44100hz, 16bit



-Click on”File” and ”Save WAV”
This WAV is going to be used as the audio source in TMPGEnc and will resolve any issues TMPGEnc has with variable bitrate audio ~(^_^)~ woohoo…..and in my opinion gives you the best possible quality audio in the final VCD (note: the wav file will be aprox 10 megs per minute)

Next:

-Download the TIbrO NTSC.mcf (right click "save target as") (Ive modified it for PAL users also: TIbrO PAL.mcf (right click "save target as") ) and save it into the ”Template” folder in the main TMPGEnc folder
-Open TMPGEnc and cancel out if that little Project Wizard
-Click the ”Load” button (bottom right) and open the TIbrO NTSC.mcf (or TibrO PAL.mcf)
-Click the ”Browse” button for ”Video source” and select your video
-Click the ”Browse” button for ”Audio source” and select the WAV file we just created
-Click the ”Setting” button (bottom right) and go the ”Advanced” tab
-Check off and then double click ”Source range”
-Slide the cursor all the way to the right and click ”Set end frame” like so:



***Extra Step***Custom Video Arrange Method: You dunn have to if you dunn wanna ~(oO)
This step creates a black band around your finished vcd ensuring the subtitles wont be cut off when viewing on your television ~(oO) I dunn wanna explain CRT screen sizes so just trust me on this one ~(>_<~)

-While still under the ”Advanced” tab, click the dropdown menu next to ”Video arrange Method:” and choose ”Center (custom size)”
-Set the ”pixels” at ”334 X 224” for NTSC and ”334 X 270” for PAL

NTSC Example:


PAL Example:


***Extra Step***Custom Color Correction: If you should run into a video that’s too dark or too faded or whatnot, this’ll help. My knowledge is rather limited when it comes to the specifics of these filters but I can tell ya what I know from experience ~(oO)

-While under the ”Advanced” tab, check off then double click ”Custom color correction”
-Click the ”Add” button at the bottom left and a new filter pops up
-We’ll just keep the ”Type” as ”RGB” as that’s the only one Ive dealt with
-Click the dropdown menu for ”Mode” to select the desired correction (Ill choose ”Brightness” as my example).
-Check off ”Always synchronize value” (bottom middle) just to make setting the 3 difft values for ”Brightness” easier
-Set the values to either a positive or negative number as desired (my example is at +15)
-You can add another filter simply by clicking the ”Add” button again
-You can see the effectiveness of the filters you’ve added by checking and unchecking ”Enable filter” on the right
-When it’s the way you want it, click ”OK”

Example:



-Finally click ”OK” at the very bottom of the ”Advanced” tab
-Now we can click the ”Start” button to begin encoding….here are samples of the finished product:
FMA NTSC Sample (right click "save target as")

FMA PAL Sample (right click "save target as")

And a few samples of what TMPGEnc in action (NTSC then PAL):

[Vulkar]

wow. good work. I wonder if one of the mods could move MTB{SOLO}'s post to the top of this thread or maybe move it to it's own thread and sticky it.

[JAppi]

Originally Posted by flammie

Actually, I meant I was off topic.

Yea, what you are describing is overscan, which is a definitely a problem with old, cheap, analog tvs. CRT monitors also have that issue, but we can adjust the width and height of the image. I would expect digital tvs not to have the overscan problem (hence my question).

Well, as far as I know, if your digital tv is a CRT it will still have overscan. This problem does not exist on other types of TVs, such as LCD or Projection. I could be wrong. Anyone wanna correct me on this issue?

[Love Witch]

Could someone tell me the settings for a Widescreen (16:9) SVCD?

[MTB{SOLO}]

Im almost finished making an SVCD guide like the VCD guide I posted above. Ill address the 16:9 aspect ratio for both NTSC and PAL and do my best to post it by tomorrow ~[@_@~] =P

[powersurge]

Great guide! I too was on the hunt to learn how to get some of my favorite fansubs onto VCD so that I could watch them on my home theater. Simple directions easy to use burned it and watched it! I can't wait for your guide on burning in the widescreen ratio!

I am wondering though my current TV fills the unused space when I am watching 4:3 content with these odd colored grey/purpleish bars rather than black like one might expect and I was wondering if in your next guide on widescreen VCD burning are you going to put directions on adding screen fill (black) or stretching? Or is SVCD just higher res? (newbie tryin to learn here watch out! *big yellow sign*)

Either way great guide on the basics it was a great kick start! Now if only Chrno Crusade would come to the states and I could just buy a nice high quality DVD rather than trying to burn my own fansubs hehe.

[MTB{SOLO}]

(~^ ^)~ Like the VCD guide posted earlier, I decided to make an SVCD guide with lotsa sample pictures for anyone wanting to give NTSC or PAL SVCD a try (I stick with NTSC and PAL standard SVCD to ensure playability in most standalone dvd players). Again I try to make the best quality SVCDs possible but if anyone knows better methods, software, or settings please speak up ~(>_<~) This guide targets 2 episodes of anime per CD-R

~(><)~ Disclaimer ~(><)~ …..blah blah blah blah……..bleh. good, we’re at an understanding ~(oO~)

Software ya may want to grab before we start:

VirtualDub

TMPGEnc (TMPGEncFree only supports mpeg2 SVCD/DVD as a 30 day trial….should you like making SVCDs or DVDs you may want to purchase TMPGEncPlus or heaven forbid use a cracked version…..not that anyone would ever do that….cause we’re all ethical people here, right? Good! ~(><~)

http://www.tomzavodny.cz/program/bit...ideoCalcEN.zip (a bitrate calculator….Im sure there are lots out there but I use this one in my examples)

(~^^~) Let’s Start (~^^~) again Ill be using Full Metal Alchemist – 01 [keep anbu] in my example:

**Copied & Pasted** from my VCD guide as this step is exactly the same.
Extracting the audio (for the best possible quality):
-Open your video file in VirtualDub
-Click on “Audio” and “Full processing mode”
-Click on ”Audio” and ”Conversion”
-I set it like so: 44100hz, 16bit



-Click on”File” and ”Save WAV”
This WAV is going to be used as the audio source in TMPGEnc and will resolve any issues TMPGEnc has with variable bitrate audio ~(^_^)~ woohoo…..and in my opinion gives you the best possible quality audio in the final SVCD (note: the wav file will be aprox 10 megs per minute)

Next
I used tips from http://dvd-hq.info/Compression.html on tuning the ”Video”, ”GOP structure”, and ”Quantize matrix” settings in TMPGEnc for quality purposes so you know Im not just pulling settings out of my ass (~>.<~)…..or maybe I am *\[@-@*\] and made the following templates:
-Download the MTB SVCD NTSC.mcf (Ive also modified it for PAL users: MTB SVCD PAL.mcf) – and save it into the ”Template” folder in the main TMPGEnc folder
-Open TMPGEnc and cancel out of the Project Wizard if you havnt disabled it already ~(oO)
-Click the ”Load” button (bottom right) and open the ”MTB SVCD NTSC.mcf” (or the ”MTB SVCD PAL.mcf”
-Click the ”Browse” button for ”Video source” and select your video
-Click the ”Browse” button for ”Audio source” and select the WAV file we just created
-Click the ”Setting” button (bottom right) and go to the ”Video” tab
-The only thing you have to do here is enter the Bitrate
-Always leave the ”Rate control mode” as ”2-pass VBR(VBR)” and click the ”Setting” button next to it

-Calculate the Bitrate
-Jot down the length of the video (in my case FMA 01 is 24minutes and 09 seconds). Since Im going to be putting 2 episodes per disc, Ill need to know the length of Full Metal Alchemist – 02 as well (lo and behold it’s 24min and 09secs as well)
-so my total video time is 48mins 08secs…..wow =o wasn’t that hard?
-Open our Video Calculator and
-#1 enter 48mins and 08secs
-#2 check off ”SVCD / XSVCD”
-#3 make sure you have the proper length of cd-r you plan on using
-#5 the bitrate is calculated for you (FMA comes out to 2038)


-Back in TMPGEnc enter the bitrate as the ”Average bitrate:” only and click ”Ok”



-Now go to the ”Advanced” tab
-Check off and then double click ”Source range”
-Slide the cursor all the way to the right and click ”Set end frame” like so:



***Extra Step***Custom Video Arrange Method: You dunn have to if you dunn wanna ~(oO)
This step creates a black band around your finished svcd ensuring the subtitles wont be cut off when viewing on your television ~(oO) blah blah blah bleh bleh bleh CRT screen sizes blah blah blah blah ~(>_<~)

-While still under the ”Advanced” tab, click the dropdown menu next to ”Video arrange Method:” and choose ”Center (custom size)”
-Set the ”pixels” at ”453 X 445” for NTSC and ”453 X 535” for PAL

NTSC Example:


PAL Example:


***Copied and Pasted from my VCD Guide as its exactly the same***:
***Extra Step***Custom Color Correction: If you should run into a video that’s too dark or too faded or whatnot, this’ll help. My knowledge is rather limited when it comes to the specifics of these filters but I can tell ya what I know from experience ~(oO)

-While under the ”Advanced” tab, check off then double click ”Custom color correction”
-Click the ”Add” button at the bottom left and a new filter pops up
-Click the dropdown menu for ”Mode” to select the desired correction (Ill choose ”Brightness” as my example).
-Check off ”Always synchronize value” (bottom middle) just to make setting the 3 difft values for ”Brightness” easier
-Set the values to either a positive or negative number as desired (my example is at +15)
-You can add another filter simply by clicking the ”Add” button again
-You can see the effectiveness of the filters you’ve added by checking and unchecking ”Enable filter” on the right
-When it’s the way you want it, click ”OK”

Example:


-Now click ”Ok” at the bottom of the ”Advanced” tab
-And click the ”Start” button on the top left of TMPGEnc to begin encoding
-Remember this is a 2Pass encode so when TMPGEnc is started it will first say ”Analyzing” ……that’s the first pass
-The second pass starts at the 50% mark and will look normal ~(>_<~)

Here are some sample SVCDs from Full Metal Alchemist:

FMA NTSC SVCD (right click and save target as)

FMA PAL SVCD (right click and save target as)

***My apologies for the moment Love Witch as I havnt quite got around to addressing 16:9 aspect ratio just yet. I wanted to create some samples first and that will take a lil' bit. Plus my webspace seems to be acting up and Im having a hard time uploading to it. Ill whip up a quick explanation tomorrow when my brain is less tired.....hopefully ~(@_@~)

***And Im sorry powersurge Im not understanding that problem of yours with the TV filling the unused space with colored bars I would require a better explanation if I were to be of any help there.....thats nothing Ive ever heard of or experienced when watching VCDs or SVCDs on my TV through my DVD player. It also brings up a question: Why are you seeing unused space on your VCDs? If the black band created using the Custom Video Arrange Method is visable on your television screen, I would think that it wouldnt even be necessary. Maybe try skipping that step and sticking with the default Video Arrange Method. Creating the black band is necessary for those of us who have problems with our televisions cutting subtitles off. Of course I could be misunderstanding the problem altogether......Ill just wait for you to elaborate ^_^

Originally posted by Vulkar
wow. good work. I wonder if one of the mods could move MTB{SOLO}'s post to the top of this thread or maybe move it to it's own thread and sticky it.

Thanks but me no think they pay attention ~(oO)

[powersurge]

My tv (toshiba 51h83) displays the unused space on 4:3 content as a purpleish grey color over the normal black filler and there is no way to change the color(techies over at hometheaterforum.com seem to think this is because the grey color is easier on burn in than black). I have some 4:3 content DVD's that display the filler as black and I wanted to figure out a way to create vcd's that display the filler as black rather than letting the TV deal with it. Can you run the file through the above mentioned program set it to 16:9 size centered? Would this just stretch the frame or can you add filler in around the centered frame?

[<xellos>]

how do we go about actually burning the vcd? because i cant seem to find the proper way to do it?

[MTB{SOLO}]

Originally Posted by CloudStrife

how do we go about actually burning the vcd? because i cant seem to find the proper way to do it?

Well I was planning on including Burning in my VCD and SVCD guides but the problem is, the only software I have any experience with VCDEasy is no longer available as FreeWare Im still using VCDEasy V.1.1.3 which is an old freeware version. But the only version now is VCDEasy V.2.0.1 which is a trial version only.

You could check out the VCDEasy Guides that will take you through setting up and using the Trial Version or you could check out the DVDRHelp Tools Page and search for alternate burn methods. Im sure someone out there knows how else to burn other than VCDEasy.........hopefully.

Originally Posted by powersurge

My tv (toshiba 51h83) displays the unused space on 4:3 content as a purpleish grey color over the normal black filler and there is no way to change the color(techies over at hometheaterforum.com seem to think this is because the grey color is easier on burn in than black). I have some 4:3 content DVD's that display the filler as black and I wanted to figure out a way to create vcd's that display the filler as black rather than letting the TV deal with it. Can you run the file through the above mentioned program set it to 16:9 size centered? Would this just stretch the frame or can you add filler in around the centered frame?

That problem seems way outta my league ~(@_@~) and Im still not clear on how you're seeing filler on 4:3 dvds and vcds...........of course I dont know what kinda tv that toshiba is either.......me sorry ~@-@~

[<xellos>]

now id like to know, if i have a dvd-burner, is it possible to burn MPEGs off my comp onto it? like a vcd but like 7 times as much space?

cause that would make a lot more sense, we'd be able to fit a 26 episode series on one dvd

[Love Witch]

Another question besides the one obout the settings (of SVCD PAL 16:9 )
How much is approximately cut of if you don't adjust the resolution?

[Za Paper]

Originally Posted by JAppi

Well, as far as I know, if your digital tv is a CRT it will still have overscan. This problem does not exist on other types of TVs, such as LCD or Projection. I could be wrong. Anyone wanna correct me on this issue?

I have both a projection tv and a lcd projector and there is still overscan when I use my dvd player. If I hook my comp directly to the lcd projector using vga input, it acts just like a normal monitor. No overscan. It would be nice if fansubbers considered overscan when placing their subs but you cant have everything.

[MTB{SOLO}]

Major apologies to Love Witch and anyone else who is waiting for an explanation on 16:9 aspect ratio source to VCD/SVCD. I have been super busy and have hardly had time to check online let alone put together an addition to my VCD/SVCD guides. Im hoping Ill have some time this weekend to throw something together and post it. So if you dont see anything by this fri. sat. or sunday its ok to believe Ive died from exhaustion ~(oO~)

[Love Witch]

Originally Posted by MTB{SOLO}

Major apologies to Love Witch and anyone else who is waiting for an explanation on 16:9 aspect ratio source to VCD/SVCD. I have been super busy and have hardly had time to check online let alone put together an addition to my VCD/SVCD guides. Im hoping Ill have some time this weekend to throw something together and post it. So if you dont see anything by this fri. sat. or sunday its ok to believe Ive died from exhaustion ~(oO~)

We are already so happy that there is somebody who can and wants to help us? We should thank you, you absolutely don't need to apologize!

[<xellos>]

yeah, we love you MTB{SOLO}

[Hsiehinator]

i got a place to get the free verioson of VCD easy after i finished following a wonderful guide so i might as well contribute somtin
http://www.digital-digest.com/dvd/do...s/vcdeasy.html