KDVD Compatibility Checking Disks - You will find new version of KDVD sample discs here :

KDVD samples - NTSC (9.4 MB) KDVD samples - PAL (9.8 MB)

These discs allow you to verify the compatibility of your standalone player with following DVD compliant and non DVD compliant materials (the samples permit also to verify the overscan values of your display for each resolution) :

NTSC352x240352x480480x480528x480544x480704x480704x480 - long GOP (24)720x480528x480 - 16:9544x480 - 16:9704x480 - 16:9720x480 - 16:9

The samples were encoded with TMPGEnc using a MIN bitrate of 64Kbps and a MAX bitrate of 4,500Kbps. It was encoded in CQ mode at a value of 85 and using KVCD's "Notch" matrix.

Nero or VCDEasy.

If you guys used Kwag's template and are getting the audio glitches, the template is probably why. Especially if you encoded at 352x480 or some variation of x480. Some DVD players do not like mpeg1 at x480 resolution. Such as my Apex 5131, darn it. I've been using his template all the time for making mpeg1 VCD at the standard 352x240 resolution, though.

If you're not using his template, then the audio problems are coming from somewhere else, so then disregard the above.

You can also set the bitrates at or around 900..or 950 for very good qulity.. after toying with it thats what i found....

To stop a movie from becoming out of synch I use field order B it may not seem like a really important setting but for a while I just ran through the wizard and didn't change anything but the bitrate and everyone of my movies were out of synch. If you are using field order b already then try field order but test a small part first.

Another way audio can go out of synch is if the video starts before the audio track. To find out open up DVD2AVI and load the VOB files. If you see something like a warning screen at the beginning or something that normally doesn't appear when a movie first starts then cut it out. What I mean is that most DVD rips start the same you'll see a production company logo and their theme music and then the movie will start or you will just see the movie start. If there is something extra then the audio track might start playing at the first frame and knock the entire movie out of synch. Hoperfully either solution may help.

If you set force film that will definately knock the movie out of synch. I saw that on one of the guides after I used that everything I ripped was out of sync. Use field order B and don't select force film in the future.

If your DVD is FILM, as most are, and you previewed your DVD with (F5) in DVD2AVI and it said 95% FILM or more, you HAVE to set "FORCED FILM" in DVD2AVI.

If the audio is out of sync there is another problem. I process every DVD with FORCED FILM on, and I never have a movie out of sync with standard templates or with my custom template.

Please read here for more info on IVTC and "FORCED FILM".

used this guide to put a 86min movie on 80min CDRW... worked great- NBD

so then i tried a 101 min movie... 2passVBR, max 1150 for vid.... the only difference i used was changing the setting in DVD2AVI to "forced film" and 112 k/bit for audio... and the results are *incredible* (on an 80min CDRW)

*one* disc VCD!!!! picture quality is outstanding- i am now completely sold on VCD for DVD backups(vs. my A103 DVD-R)

thanks for the how to!!!

It sounds like the files are small enought to already fit on a CD. If they are already in VCD format then you can burn them with Nero or VCDEasy. The largest file size for a VCD is 800MB for an 80min CD and 740 for a 74min CD. Since yours are smaller than that then you won't need to compress them. If they have the res 352x240 for NTSC or 352x288 for PAL and they are in MPEG one then a more faster way to get them compliant is to go into TMPGEnc tools which is under the file menu. Click the Merge cut tab. Load you MPEG and browse to where you want to save it, name it, and then hit run. The file should still be small enough to fit on a CD. I use to use to use this method for stuff I captured. It's a lot quicker than encoding. If you files are over 800MB then use my encoding method. All you have to do is load the MPEG for video and sound instead of loading the D2V file and wav file like you would for a DVD rip.

I use 900 bitrate i also have a mobo with ddr its a 266 and i have 384ddr ram, and a 64mb ddr radion.....I have set the bitrate to 900 and every thing esle like the guide says.. I fit 13 ghosts on one cd palyed it for my roommate and he could not tell it was a rip.. and i also fit neverending story on one cd same thing... they were both done it about 1 hour and 40 mins but again i dont have a store bought computer i bild my own... with the best well the best i can aford.....if u have any more qustens email me....

Just tired your method with Bones (92Min) my first attemp was to set the Bit based on BitCal which was approx 966, this is from a DVD, the resulting file was just over 940MB, tired it again, this time set the Bit rate to fit just under 80 min CD using TMPGEnc to do the cal for me, set it for about 95% of the CD, again the file came out abouut the same just over 940BM, so why so big? Setting Audiop on both at 128 . Am I missing something?

Have you tried Bones with my template but at CQ=74 to see what file size you get?.

kwag

Kwag,

Yes, and as always your template does a great job.....came out to be about 600MB or, just trying out some other things to see how they work, including this method..............about the only thing I had to do with yours on some DVD's was to set it for 352x240 and the size came great, sometimes if I increase the CQ to anything above say 70/72 it came out to big for one disk set at 352x480

Has anyone had problems with the movements being very pixelated after the single CD conversion is done? This is also evident when running the mpeg on the computer before burning so I know it's not a burning speed issue. I like this tip but can't live with the squares. Please help!

How low did you set the bitrate? Usually the only times a movie wil become pixalated for me is when there is very fast motion and this also happens when I use the standard VCD template that comes with TMPGEnc. The lowest I set the bitrate to is 900. Another thing that will make a movie become very pixalated is if the res is high. I only guarantee my method to work for the res 352x240 or 352x288 not 480x480 or above that's why I don't use this when making SVCDs. Every movie I have made with lower bitrates comes out looking great.

You can put an 800MB MPEG on an 80min CD. It is because you are burning in mode 2 so you could have made the sound quality as high as 224 or raised the bitrate.

I don't have a lot of experience with converting AVI. I think that if you want to convert them you whould use virtualdaub along with TMPGEnc. There is a good guide here for converting DIVX http://www.vcdhelp.com/divxtovcd.htm

I use to have problems with fast forwarding and rewinding. This was when I was using downloaded templates that were preformated. After testing I eliminated many of the problems to make the MPEGs more compliant. The reason why the VCDs had FF and RW problems was because they were MPEG2 files instead of MPEG1. After making my own template using MPEG1 I never get video problems in my DVD player. Even if you set the bitrate low. You don't have to stop at 900 for your bitrate. I have fit movies over 2 hours on one CD. So I have recently gone to 800 and the quality was still great. I could not tell the difference. If you have an extra long movie then set the bitrate low. You can probably go to 600 if you want to.

The input aspect ratio in the template needs to be changed, depending on your source if it's 16:9 or 4:3, etc.

If your movie is under 90 minutes, you can increase the audio to 192Khz and the CQ to about 80. That should provide excelent quality.

kwag

DO you have the vfapi plugin installed if not download from TMPGEnc's website. Unzip it in the same folder as TMPG. double click on it and it will install. Once installed go to option---environmental settings---vfapi plug-in. Make sure everything is checked including wave file reader. Sorry I took so long to help you. You had me stumped. Hopefilly this helps.

If you use 2 pass VBR then the movie won't start encode until after the filter is applied. It takes a little longer then using CBR but if you computer is fast enough then use it instead of CBR.

Without using the wizard. Click on the settings button. It is next to the load and save buttons. The window that pops up is called the \mpeg settings window. There are six different tabs. Click on the fourth tab which is "quantize matrix". The will be two grids and 4 check boxes at the bottom. Whether you are using a locked or unlocked template you should be able to check or uncheck any of the boxes. The 2nd check box is labeled "Use floating point DCT". Uncheck it if it is checked.

You can use this for a a downloaded movie. Just skip the ripping and frame serving steps. You should still make you own template beacuse if you want to ever use this method again then you won't have to keep changing the settings each time. For the sound of you avi file I think you have to extract that with virtualdub because after you are done encoding the movie it might not have any sound. I personally don't have experience with converting downloaded movie only DVDs and captured files. There are other guides at VCDhelp that show you how to convert AVI to MPEG under the convert section. Just follow there steps up until the point you have to use TMPGEnc. If the file is alreeady under 800MB then you won't need to compress it at all. All you have to do is load the standard VCD template that comes with TMPGEnc. If not start following the steps for creating your own template.

If you check out the guides for conerting an AVi file into an MPEG then you can properly load it into TMPGEnc. As for the template you shouldn't have to change any settings tha's why I said load the standard template. The newly converted file should be under 800MB. What I meant by the file being small enough to fit on an 80min CD I was talking about the mode you burn in. Mode 1 allows you to burn data at the capacity of the CD(650MB for a 74min CD and 700MB for a 80min CD). In mode 2 you can burn by the time listed on the CD instead of the space allowing you to put on more data(74min CD=740MB, 80min CD=800MB). I don't know what program you use to burn but the two programs I use to burn VCDs are VCDEasy and Nero. Both of those programs allow you to burn in mode 2 for VCDs. That is why an 800MB movie can fit on an 80min CD instead of putting 700MB of data on it. It does not matter how long the movie actually is because I have fit movies as long as 2 hours on a standard 80min CD

If you were wondering how to convert AVI then here is VCDHelp's guide for converting it: http://www.vcdhelp.com/divxtovcd.htm. It involves using Vitualdub and TMPGEnc. You will need to use Virtualdub first before moving on to TMPGEnc for the least amount of errors.

You use Disc-at-Once when burning in Nero.

Start with the standard VCD template from your region then load the unlock template like I mentioned in my guide. From the settings you had had it sounded like you were making a DVD. The sound should be at 44100 not 48000khz. The res should be 352x240 or352x288 depending on where you are at. This will already be preset in the preinstallled templlate. The only thing you will change is the bitrate, VBV buffer rate, stream type and audio bitrate. All this can be done just by clicking on the settings tab. You will need to use the bitrate calculator provided by VCDHelp. I have provided a link on the guide. Go to the bitrate calculator. First set it to XVCD so you only get one #. Then type in the length of the movie in min. Next configure it to the amount of CDs you want to use and the length like 1 80min CD. The generated number will be the bitrate that you will type into the bitrate section of TMPGEnc. If you think that the # is too low the set the audio to 128 in the calculator. This will raise the video bitrate number. Once you are happy with the results then you can use the two numbers for your settings in TMPGEnc. For rate control I always use CBR instead of VBR. My reason is because I get playback problems and it takes so much longer to encode. Type it the video bitrate in TMPGEnc. Set the vbv buffer to 0. Under the advanced tab set up your movie the way originally did. Under the audio tab set the audio bitrate to 128 if that is what you set it to in the calculator. Then click the system tab MPEG-1 VideoCD(non-standard). And click OK. Hopefully you already had the video and sound files already loaded so that you are ready to go. For the illustrations or any further details on setting this up please refer to my original guide.

I just made my first one CD VCD from a Divx;-) file using TMPGEnc. It was about 95 minutes long and I used a CBR of about 930, I think. But I think it looks just as good as any of the 2 CD VCDs I have made. Again, thanks for this guide! I didn't even know that you could change the bit rate on a VCD. I thought that it had to be set at 1150 in order to be read by a standalone DVD player.

But now that I've gotten over the initial euphoria of being able to fit an entire movie onto one CD-R, I've a couple of questions to ask so that I may be able to maximize the quality of future videos I may encode.

First of all, could you possibly give a more in-depth explanation of what the interlaced setting does as opposed to the non-interlaced setting. In your guide, you state that you use interlaced with field B first. This is what I used but I have no idea what this means. Does this setting affect the quality of the resulting VCD? Or should I not worry about it as long as my movies don't flicker? I mostly convert Divx;-) movies to VCD. What is the best setting for this purpose?

The next thing I think I will try is to use 2-pass VBR instead of a CBR. I was wondering if this will in any way affect the compatibility of the resulting VCD in relation to standalone DVD players. Will non-standard VBR VCDs play in any standalone DVD player that supports VCD 2.0 playback? And is it worth the extra time spent in encoding? Is there a noticeable difference? Unfortunately, I don't have a very fast computer so it takes me about 10 hours to encode a 100 minute movie in high quality mode with TMPGEnc using a CBR. I am using an AMD K6(2) 450 overclocked to 500Mhz.

Also, you mention lowering the audio quality as a way to improve video quality on a longer movie when making a one CD VCD. How much space is actually freed up by lowering the audio bit rate from 224 to 192 or 128 even?

Finally, I've noticed that the total length of a movie seems to be misrepresented by my standalone DVD player. Is this normal for a one CD VCD? Actually, I'm not sure if the correct time is represented on any of the regular 2 cd VCDs I've made either. I have an Apex AD-1500. Not that it's really any big deal but have you heard anything about this issue?

Thank you in advance for any response you may be able to offer on any of my questions

It's been a while since I posted here. I've just been so busy with school and all but I have about 3 week left before summer vacation. Since I've written these two guides I've failed to tell everyone about myself. I am a 21 year old female college student and I just got into this whole video thing about a year ago. It just took me a couple of months to really get the hang of DVD ripping and squeezing as much as I could on an 80min CD. Today I just fit 113min on an 80min CD. I am trying to fit so much video on 80min CDs because I am running out of 99min CDs and they are very expensive and hard to find. Why am I saying this? After doing so many DVD rips I found that setting the bitrate lower still doesn't affect video quality. If you set the bitrate extremely low then you might see a difference. I will try to answer as many of your questions as I can and give you some pointers.

Tip #1:Try to use CDRWs if you are unsure how the finished movie will turn out.You don't even have to buy several. I always use on the same CDRW. Erasing after each use. It saves a lot of coasters.

Tip #2:Test. Test. Test. To save a lot of headaches test small pieces of the movie before encoding the entire thing. Burn samples to CDRWs if you have to and try them on your standalone. I can't give a whole lot of performance issues about DVD players. I can only tell you about experiences I have had on my APEX AD1500. It plays everything I make including SVCDs. I cannot guarantee that the VCD will work in every model DVD player. Ask around hopefully someone has the same model DVD player as you and can tell what playback was like for them.

Tip #3:Specs on you VCDs are totally up to you. Here is a break down of each thing that you are changing.

1. Interlace/Non-Interlace:This setting is the video type of the particular DVD. After ripping many DVDs I have seen that most are Non-Interlaced. What I have read is that setting the movie to Interlace will smooth the edges. But on a VCD you can't see the edges as well because of the lower res. However on an SVCD you can. When I did set the movie to Interlace on an SVCD to smooth the edges it would cause the video to be very jumpy and unwatchable. As for VCDs leave it does not matter so leave it at Non-Interlace.

2. Field Order:After I started to get good at ripping movies I paid less and attention to the guides I learned from. When stopped double checking with the guides every VCD I made came out out of synch. I couldn't figure out what the problem was. I tried inserting silence and editing the audio track to make it longer or shorter but it never worked. Finally I searched the posts and someone said they always used Field Order B. I set everything to that and never got another out of synch problem again.

3. Aspect Ratio:DVDs are either 16:9(widescreen) or 4:3(full screen). This setting is very important for the resize of the movie. I didn't go into much detail on this because it involves going into the more advanced settings and most movies don't need to be specially set. Here is a breakdown of scenerios. The easiest to set is 4:3. All you have to is select 4:3. 16:9 is a little more complicated. There are a few ways to set this one up. If you want to preserve the widescreen aspect ration select 16:9. Then go to the Advanced tab and under Video Arrange Method select Full Screen(Keep Aspect Ratio). This will keep the borders in the movie and leave it at widescreen. The second way to set it up and my personal preference is by removing borders. To do this set the video source at widescreen. Next click on the advanced tab and set the video arrange to Full Screen. Please note when forcing a movie into full screen you will get a narrowing effect. I don't mind because I prefer no borders in movies and I don't own a widescreen TV so it looks kind of weird to have widescreen screen on a small TV.

4. Rate Control Mode:I personally allways use CBR. It's totally up to you which one you use. My reason is because I am always busy and can't use the others because they take much more time and give me more problems. CBR has the quickest encoding time. VBR is recommended by others if you want to set the bitrate very very low. I have tried using VBR many times in the past but have found that there are many playback problems. Here's a recent I had. I enconded a movie with the CBR set around 900 and when it was done the movie looked blurry at times. I decided to try VBR. and let my computer run all night. The movie took about 7 hours to encode and when it was done I tried to test it before it before I burned it. Every time I tried to skim through it the movie would freeze up. And the worst part was the movie looked exactly like it did when I encoded it in CBR. My point is some movies turn out excellent and others turn out not so great. You'll discover that in the future if you have not already. I think that if I had problems scanning through the movie on my PC then I would probably have the same problem on my DVD player.

5. Bitrate:The bitrate is what affects the size of the movie. It's how many bits of the movie are transferred per second. It's kind of hard to explain. The higher the res the higher the bitrate. I guess it's because better viedo quality requires more data to be transfered at a time. The reason why you sometimes see lots of squares in a high motion sequence is because that part required a lot more data tranfer then was actually given. The reason why it is OK to set the bitrate lower is because when the bitrate is at the standard (1150) it still is not enough for that particular scene. I remember mentioning earlier that 900 is the safest stop point but 800 seems to also be OK.

6. Audio Bitrate:This setting will also effect the size. If you have listened to a lot of MP3s in the past you kind of know what the lowest bitrate is to go sound wise. Audio quality starts getting terrible at 96 I think. Hopefully you won't get that deperate. You only have to change the audio bitrate if you have an extremely long movie. Then the video bitrate number won't have to be as low. If you are working with a standard 90min movie then you can still keep it at 224 and the video at 1000. The lowest for sound that I go is 128 but it's totally up to you.

Tip #4:Burning:I cover a little of this at the end of this guide and the second part. I don't have a lot of suggestions for brands to use. I pick CDRs based on the price and not the brand. I am a poor student so I can't afford Sony's or Imitation's and the other popular brands. What I mean is I usually don't burn on name brand media. I use generics. I found that they have the most space for overburning. You can push them to the limit. Brand wise I think there is no good or bad one. As for speed. I try to burn at the fastest that is supported for the media. Since I burn a lot with VCDEasy I always burn at 16x because if I burned at the max it would be too fast for the media and not all of my media is fast enough for my drive. The only time I need to burn slower then that is when I used 90 and 99min CDs. The would say that they could burn at 16x but when I burned at that speed they would be unwatchable. So I ended up burning at a slower speed.

Tip #5Playback:This starts to get a little sketchy for me like I mentioned earlier. I can only cover playback on my PC and my APEX AD1500. PC playback is OK but since the res is at 1024x768 on my monitor the movies tend to loojk really blurry but they still playback great. I can rewind and fast forward and the sound is in stereo with no problems.

Hopefully these tips help everyone.

ust ripped 193 Min Apocalypse Now Remux DVD to 1 disc VCD

burnt it stuck it in my stand alone dvd player & away it goes

Quality cenes with not a lot of movement SuperbLots of movent scenes a bit fuzzy around the edges

This was just a test & im amazed at how it came out 3hrs 13min film on an 8o min cdr?????