VideoCDs on Mini CDs & More on Editing

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Does anyone know if it is possible to put a VideoCD on a MiniCD (120 Meg pocket size CD)? If the format can be put on, does anyone know if most DVD/CDROM players will pick them up?

I'm currently trying to find someplace that will sell me a few (like 5) to give it a test, but haven't found anyplace that will not sell them in less then 100 packs... so I'm asking here. :)

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I also have another question related to an earlier one I asked about editing encoded VCDs (http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=003kOY). Many thanks for the answer HazyMind!

HazyMind mentioned that there are several programs that it is possible to edit an encoded disk and that many programs will allow you to read the .mpg straight in.

My new question is -- do these programs allow you to save the .mpg file without re-encoding it? If the programs require the re-encoding I am figuring the quality is going to be pretty poor. We still might have a problem with "bootlegs", but they will be really bad quality if this is the case.

Thanks again!!

Nick

-- Nicholas Pappas (nick@rightstep.org), September 05, 2000

Answers

Yes, you can encode VCD on any sized disk assuming you obey the spase restrictions. A 120MB disk should hold ~13 minutes or 130MB of vcd data.

ifilmedit, m1 and others can read and write a disk without re- encoding. Most are bound to cuts only on I frame boundaries ( less than a seconad between most iframes ).

Happy encoding

-- eric (eric@nospam.snowmoon.com), September 05, 2000.


Last year I created VCDs using 3" CD-Rs so it's possible (if indeed we're talking about the same thing). But I do recall a 3" CD-R holds more than 120MB of data you say it does (actually 200MB or something). It's also possible to re-edit an encoded VCD by first extracting the *.dat files back to *.mpg by using a utility like VCDGear. Some apps even accept the *.dat files directly. MPEG is a distribution format, though, and editing it can be unwieldy; for example, you can only cut at I-frames. Depending on the application and its encoder/plug-in, your clips may or may not be re-encoded. Ulead Video Studio which uses Ligos LSX encoder re-encodes the MPEGs you put in the timeline giving a stuttering effect during playback of the MPEG portions (none in the original AVI parts) if the whole is rendered back to MPEG-1. VCDCutter, on the other hand, which can cut and join MPEG clips, does not re-encode them but merely joins/cuts the clips so that correct timing is maintained and no MPEG violations occur compared with having done so with DOS append "add" commands. If editing must be done with frame accuracy you can opened the MPEG clip in, say, VirtualDub and choose to save/export it to a conventional AVI format. VirtualDub renders the B and P back into I-frames and so you can open the now AVI file in a video editor and proceed.

-- Mehmet Tekdemir (turk690@yahoo.com), September 09, 2000.

You can find some 120MB blank CDs at www.conrad.com

-- Pierre-Alain (pa_wichert@hotmail.com), May 08, 2001.

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