Cequadrat Win on CD 3.7 Power Edition offers a function to create a photo album on a Video CD. Because that is what I wanted to do for a long time I tried it at once. I added the pictures to the album, named everything and afterwards told the programm to burn the CD. The finished CD works fine on my PC (a html based browseable photoalbum is part of the new CD), but won't show anything on my Pioneer DV 525 or on a friend's CDi Player. Both of them recognize the CD as a Video CD or as a CDi, but that's all. I took a look at the disc in the Explorer and found all the typical folders (CDi/VCD/Segment/MPEGAV). THe files for the PC were saved in the folder html. I think the reason that the cd won't work on the other players is that the *.dat files are saved in the segment dir and not in the mpegav. Please tell me if I'm right. And if I'm right please tell me how to solve my problem, because I have absolutely no idea how to tell the programm to make it right.

thanks

-- Salix Ulfaran (salix1@gmx.de), January 15, 2000

Answers

Hello Salix

The "Photo Album" you created in WinOnCD 3.7 Power Edition is meant for PC playback. As you have found out, the photos are placed with hyperlinks to a html document.

To playback in a desktop vcd, you should use the Video CD Extended Editor. This is available in WinOnCD 3.6 and 3.7 Power Editions as well as Video Pack 4.0.

When you insert the node, right-click your mouse, select play item and select Slideshow if it is not already selected.

Right-click your mouse again and select the play item and select Properties. A dialog box will appear and you can add your images from the Add button. You can specify a specific duration between each image or let the software divide the image to the duration of an audio track which you can add in.

More tips: The images must be 704x576 or 352x288 if you intend to output as a PAL VCD. For NTSC, your image must be 704x480 or 352x240. If your images are sizes other than those mentioned, the software will stretch or squeeze your image to fit into those sizes.

Regards NT

-- NT (i1x@nightmail.com), January 15, 2000.

Thanks for your tip, but it doesn't work either. When I followed all the steps from your description, I created a CD with one single video track that contained a "diashow". I managed to find this file in the segment directory of the disc. It was playable on the PC but didn't show anything on my DVD Player or on the Ci Player.... The same goes for the CD created with the "album editor". There are (this time each pic becomes a clip) several files in the segment dir that should be watchable on a DVD Player - as far as I can trust the manual...

-- Salix Ulfaran (salix1@gmx.de), January 15, 2000.

I had the same problem with my Pioneer DV-525, but i solved it :-) It seems that this DVD-Player accepts only VCDs with at least one video- track. So create your photo album with winoncd and finally add a video track to the project. Just drag & drop a short mpeg-file (a few seconds long) into the track view and burn the vcd. Now it should work on your DVD-Player.

-- Walter Wego (WalterWego@wego.8m.com), January 15, 2000.

Hi Salix Sorry to hear that the VCD still won't play in your Pioneer DVD.

I have used this method and it plays on my Panasonic VCD desktop. I didn't realise that VCDs have such a diverse effect on DVD players.

Regards NT

-- NT (i1x@nightmail.com), January 16, 2000.

I've tried the same thing as you 've mentioned & it play back on my pc only & not the VCD Player. BTW, is it possible to add sound to the Photo Album using WINON 3.7?

-- JD (jade.one@usa.net), January 16, 2000.

Okie dokie.

Here's the lowdown on all the confusion with WinOnCD 3.7 Power Edition.

Boy I was really misled here. When I bought the software, I was told that PHOTO ALBUM is similar to PHOTO RELAY (a feature in Easy CD Creator) that is playable only in PCs.

I have just made a CD with this feature and PHOTO ALBUM DOES PLAYBACK ON THE VCD DESKTOP. No mpeg video tracks required. The sad thing is that it does not allow an audio to be added. - html style (minus the next/previous button) on your TV, VCD remote used to scroll, - in the PC browser, the next/previous buttons can be used, - small thumbnails of your images autogenerated by the software in a menu page for both TV and PC, - autorun.inf file included in the root directory to launch your browser when you insert the CD into your PC.

Just some info on my player. Panasonic SL-VP55 which runs on the AC adapter or 6pcs AA batteries.

As for making this work in DVD players, I don't have any idea as I don't own a DVD player. If I get to test out the discs at a friend's DVD player, I will post the results in this newsgroup.

Regards, NT

-- NT (i1x@nightmail.com), January 17, 2000.

WERE YOU ABLE TO PLAY A VCD MOVIE ON YOUR FRIENDS DVD PLAYER, BECAUSE I CAN MAKE A VCD ON 3 DIFFERENT TYPES OF CD'S AND ONLY ONE BEING PRIME PERIPHERALS WILL PLAY ON MY DVD PLAYER. I'VE COMPARED THE CD'S WITH A PROGRAM AND THERE THE SAME. HOPE IT HELPS, ERIC

-- ERIC KOCZUR (ERICKCZR@EARTHLINK.NET), March 17, 2001.