how to make a DVD in a CD media?

[drslump]

Hi,

Recently my parents bought a DVD player. They have a lot of small videos and I'll like to copy some of them in DVD format. The problem is that I don't own a DVD-recorder so I thought to copy them in CDs.
I guess I'll be able to fit around 15 minutes of video in a CD which will be just fine.

Is there any program to create a CD which could be played in a DVD?

I know I can create VCDs easily but I'll like the extra quality of the DVD.

I can get DVDMaestro if it's of any help.

cheers, Ivan

edit: What's the current price of a DVD writer for the PC? Do they create DVDs playable in any player?

[Ribbit]

I guess you could create a UDF filesystem with VOBs on it etc. - essentially a DVD on a CD, but I'd guess that at least some players aren't anticipating that to be on a CD and get confused.

DVD writers currently cost about £200 here. DVD-R and DVD+R should be playable in any DVD player. DVD-RW and DVD+RW should also be playable in any DVD player, but some will mistake them for dual-layer DVDs and need a firmware upgrade.

Disclaimer: I neither own nor have any experience with DVD equipment.

[Guru]

You can convert them to videocds!

[Gurm]

No no no.

What you want to do is create an SVCD. That stands for Super VCD. Making a "CD that has DVD files on it" never ever works - mainly because most players just aren't set up to deal with that. They want either a VCD (or SVCD) or a DVD. Period.

Now, that said - an SVCD looks like a VCD, mostly the same structure, but it has MPEG2 encoded video on it. Not quite DVD resolution... 480x480, which is a LOT better than 352x227 or whatever the hell VCD is. It's certainly good enough to watch on your TV.

TMPGEnc is the program you want to encode with. Nero will burn 'em. That's it. Simple enough, once you've worked out how to use TMPGEnc.

Ask in the desktop video forum if you want more/better info.

A good place to start:

http://www.vcdhelp.com

or

http://www.doom9.org

- Gurm

[Guru]

SVCD was what I meant! Sorry!

[dZeus]

Ribbit, the main problem with DVD on CDR (miniDVD ??) is, that even if the player recognizes the discs, they often can only play back the CDRs at 2x, limiting the total bitrate to about 2700 Kbps (which thus is the max bitrate for SVCD). Quite unusable for full-res. MPEG2 (it's barely enough for SVCD).

[drslump]

thanks you all for the replies,

I'll try the SVCD, 480x480 should be more than ok!

However is it possible to create menus in SVCD format? I was thinking to put some info about the videos and some photos related to the video in the CD.

I'm thinking about buying a DVD burner if as ribbit said are about £200. That brings a couple more questions.
Do I need to have SCSI to use them or just plain IDE?
Whats the price of compatible media (DVD disks) to be able to play them in most players?
Shall I wait some months to buy since prices might drop?
Is it possible to backup commercial DVD films with a home DVD burner without reencoding?

PS: should I post this in the video forums even if it's not Matrox related?

cheers a lot,
Ivan

[Gurm]

Most DVD burners are IDE. The media you need is largely dependent on the players... there are four formats:

DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW

I honestly get them all mixed up, one of them works on almost all DVD players, one works on almost none, the other two are mixed. Check your DVD player's capabilities at VCD Help (I provided the link before).

DVD-R media is around $5/ea. at this point. (That'd be err 3 pounds or some such...)

- Gurm

[William]

Mini DVD is good for 18 minutes on a CD; WinOnCD6 is what I use to make them. However; unless you really want DVD quality; VCD or SVCD is a better option.

[Ribbit]

Originally posted by drslump
thanks you all for the replies,

I'll try the SVCD, 480x480 should be more than ok!

However is it possible to create menus in SVCD format? I was thinking to put some info about the videos and some photos related to the video in the CD.

I think with (S)VCD there is some kind of selection/chapter mechanism. I doubt it's as powerful as full-blown DVD menus. (I don't have any experience with VCD/SVCD either. Why the hell am I even posting here? )

I'm thinking about buying a DVD burner if as ribbit said are about £200. That brings a couple more questions.
Do I need to have SCSI to use them or just plain IDE?

All the DVD burners I'm aware of are IDE. I'm not aware of any SCSI DVD burners or plans to introduce them (and I've done some looking).

Whats the price of compatible media (DVD disks) to be able to play them in most players?

Dunno. Make sure you get the right type for your burner though ( DVD-R(W) vs. DVD+R(W) ). http://arstechnica.com/reviews/02q3/...-dvra04-1.html has some more info about this issue somewhere, and no doubt someone else will give you an even better link. Also see my little warning above about rewritables.

Shall I wait some months to buy since prices might drop?

I think there's just been a fairly big price drop, so no. (Anyone got a more concrete answer?)

Is it possible to backup commercial DVD films with a home DVD burner without reencoding?

Technically yes, but you need to know what you are doing, and it still requires some manipulation of the data. And the original movie has to fit within a single side/single layer 4.7GB disc. In other words, the 'simple' answer is no.

PS: should I post this in the video forums even if it's not Matrox related?

cheers a lot,
Ivan

[Gurm]

Shall I wait some months to buy since prices might drop?

I think there's just been a fairly big price drop, so no. (Anyone got a more concrete answer?)

You're right. Prices just dropped from $500 for a multi-medium DVD burner to about $250. That's a huge drop, I don't see them coming down to the $150 range anytime soon.

Is it possible to backup commercial DVD films with a home DVD burner without reencoding?

Technically yes, but you need to know what you are doing, and it still requires some manipulation of the data. And the original movie has to fit within a single side/single layer 4.7GB disc. In other words, the 'simple' answer is no.

Yes and no. You can rip it with any of a dozen tools that remove the CSS protection and just dump VOB files onto your drive. HOWEVER, unless the movie is well under 90 minutes long, you won't be able to fit it all back onto a single layer of a DVD unless you cut stuff. Your limit is 4.7GB, which isn't enough for all the stuff on your average DVD nowadays.

That said, I personally don't see the need for multiple languages, multiple versions of a soundtrack, multiple camera angles, multiple video formats, etc. - if I were ripping I'd want the widescreen video track, the DD5.1 or DTS audio track, and that's about it. If you want the commentaries, deleted scenes, extras, and whatnot... buy the DVD.

- Gurm

[drslump]

thanks,

now everything seems much clear

I just need to find the propper type of burner : DVD-R or DVD+R
in the mean time I'll experiment with the SVCD format

thanks again,
Ivan