on some video cds i own, when you pop them in your PC they will have addtional files with the names of "abstract", text or bibilographic. When you click on them it can give you info about the movie or vcds in general,etc. I want to know how i can add these type of things to my vcds. So far the only program i have that seems to allow it to some extent is the NTI cd maker pro. The problem is the NTI will only allow about 8 characters and thats it. Can someone help me out? i would love to add a ton of info about some of thie films i do. thanks oR even any folder in genral, some vcds i have even have a built in player for the PC.

-- Doug (mazinz@aol.com), June 03, 2000

Answers

I have been doing this on certain important VCDs I create. In Easy CD Creator 3.01d for example, the first thing you do is to create a text file in Windows Notepad. You may create up to three text files because there are fields for three of them. Each text file should be named with the 8.3 convention, and you can name them as you wish, provided that the first character is _. For example, a text file can be named _Info.txt. In the VCD layout, without using the wizard, on the top toolbar click on disc and choose VCD layout. You can then choose what to call the to-be-created VCD, and this is where you find the fields for the text files you made earlier. You simply point/path to where the prepared text files in your HDD are. These three fields have equal significance despite Easy CD calling them Bibliography, Abstract, Content. So you can name the files anyway you want so long as the conventions above are followed. You click OK and proceed with VCD creation. If successful afterwards you see these text files in the root directory of your created VCD. I took these steps off the online help of Easy CD itself. I do not know how long each text file can be because I make short ones (<1k) just to provide a brief info about each VCD regarding date of creation, encoder settings used, etc. I see some people make successful VCDs of their camcorder tapes and it's a pity that, despite these facilities, they do not even bother to put in unique volume names for their creations, relying instead on the stupid default random series of letters and numbers the authoring software comes up with, let alone text files for basic info. Cheers.

-- EMartinez (epmartinez@yahoo.com), June 04, 2000.

thanks for the info, crappy NTI does not have this option fully going, which was why i couldnt do it. So i -author and adaptec it is

-- Doug (mazinz@aol.com), June 05, 2000.

Sorry, question here. Is this text data what fills the Copyright, Rating, Author, etc. information panel on the expanded Media Player window when playing a VCD movie? Is this also how to get similar information to appear in the "properties" window?

Thanks.

-- Frank Marshall (new_wave@one.net.au), June 07, 2000.