WHat's a VCD?

Alfred Okocha · November 19th, 2004, 10:28 AM

The client had, for some reason, without checking the first draft VCD, sent it out to a client of his..
This client hadn't been able to watch it.. Apparently he'd opened the folder of the VCD trying to go through the content that way..

Is there a way to "auto run" the VCD once inserted in a computer? (That probably depends on the settings of each computer too, right?)

What would play a VCD on a PC?? Anybody used to both platforms? Real player, Windows media player.. what else? Or are these the most common ones?

How do you avoid this problem? Attach a "read me" instruction? My client now asked for an "idiotproof" way of distribuiting the promo material..

Thanks.

Les Wilson · November 19th, 2004, 09:10 PM

DVD is probably the best choice. Plays on DVD players and just about all modern computers. If you know it's going to be played on a computer then you can create a CDROM with an MPEG.

It is possible with Toast to create an autostart CD for PAC and PC but it is tantamount to duplicating your content because autostart is different on each system. Read the manual.

You cannot put a read me on a VCD, SVCD, or DVD. Only on the label or jewel case.

Alfred Okocha · November 20th, 2004, 05:00 AM

Hi Ernest!

I'd agree with you there that DVD would be the best.. The client wanted a CD format though to be able to make more copies by himself.. (What do you tink about that anyway.. Should I lock the CD or DVD to protect my work and charge for each additional CD he wants?)

The second best opption would be a MPEG then.. Yes you are probably right, not as nice.. but can't really go wrong..

I get really big pixelation when I transfer to MPEG for some reason.. doesn't look good at all.. Can anybody tip me with some good settings for a successful MPEG? (I use FCP4 and have compressor and QTpro)

Thank you guys.. this thread turned awfully long I really appreciate your patience!

Les Wilson · November 20th, 2004, 05:28 AM

You get pixelation when you blow up a picture or a video too much. An MPEG-1 video has a frame size of 320x240. When you play it on a TV it is blown up 4 times larger (640x480). If you play it on a computer it is even worse depending on the resolution of your monitor.

If you know that playback is on a computer, then you can create a video in MPEG-2 which is what DVD uses. You can create MPEG-2 with FCP. MPEG-2 frame size is 4 times the size of MPEG-1. DOn't mess with customizing the MPEG settings. Use standard settings to ensure compatibility.

One thing to know is that MPEG-2 stores the audio in a separate file so you can have alternate audio tracks (eg for languages). But since you are creating a data CD, you can provide a README that gives idiot proof instructions on what file to open. Of course you should test your readme on a few idiots first. :-)

Alfred Okocha · November 22nd, 2004, 04:32 PM

Hi all , thanks for your help so far! I've just created a QT movie file of 600+mb that'll fit on CD..

My question is.. (maybe it should be put in the PC forum..) how common is it for people to have QT installed? (I asume that only QT reads QT files?)
Does most home computers have this aplication?

Thanks!

Mark Sloan · November 22nd, 2004, 05:06 PM

Last I checked PCs did not come with QuickTime preinstalled, but I'd guess it is close to 40% based on various polls and studies for people that download or view video online. If the person views lots of online video then they most likely will have it or be willing to download it. A lot of major corporation sites provide quicktime material...

The bigger question becomes HOW you encoded the video. If you used a newer codec like Sorenson 3, then your viewers must have QT 5 or later I believe. So you have to take that into consideration... MPEG4 requires QT5 I believe too... You can always include the installer with your CD too to overcome these issues... A lot of web sites are converting their QT movies to flash because Flash has close to 90% penetration and comes preinstalled on almost every new computer.

Les Wilson · November 22nd, 2004, 05:33 PM

Flash is installed nearly everywhere thanks to it's small painless download plus the fact that the animation technology is used everywhere on the web. However, Flash is not suitable for all video needs so others are required.

Some stats I saw published in September by independent consultants showed QT installed on 58% of all computers while WMP was around 53% and Real around the same (remember, a computer can have more than one player installed so the numbers don't have to add up to (100%).

Not only is QT the most commonly installed media player, with the Macintosh at less than 10% of the computers out there, it seems that QT is therefore installed on more Windows computers than there are Macs.

MPEG4 is the ISO standard for Web video. As a compression technology, it can be created to range from low quality for the web on up to high quality for delivery on CDROM. If created using one of the ISMA presets (as done by the QT Pro player), the files can be played by a number of free players (including QuickTime 6). Unfortunately, WMP does not and that is one of the reasons they were fined 600 million and change by the EU.

By publishing your video in QuickTime, you are promoting innovation and diversity in the computing space which is good for everyone.

Alfred Okocha · November 25th, 2004, 09:23 AM

Hi, I do understand if you think I'm getting tiresome.. I start to think it myself too. =(

When trying to burn a CD with a QT. mov file (using toast 6) everything goes fine.. veryfing et.c no problem. When I try to play it, it plays back with a lot of video freezing and audio jumps until it catches up, then plays alright for some 10 secs then it starts again. What's happening? The file size is 620mb and I have made two tries on two different CDs (one SONY and one TDK) with the exact same result..

I decided to give the client both a VCD and a QT file for him to chose what he prefers.. The VCD is fine..

Any ideas?

Thanks.

(It's almost the effect you get when your computer is too slow too play something back.. I'm on a 1.25 iMac so it shouldn't be a problem, should it?)

Les Wilson · November 25th, 2004, 09:41 AM

The speed at which your CD drive can transfer data to your CPU is probably the problem. You've likely created a .MOV that has a higher data rate (i.e. bytes per second) than can be transferred from CDROM in realtime. Just because it fits on a CDROM doesn't mean it can be played from CDROM. Copy it to your hard disk. If it plays fine, then you've proven my point. If it doesn't, then you've made a video that you don't have the horsepower to play.

CDROM drive read speeds are specified in terms like 4x, 8x, etc. "X" is 150Kbytes per second. Of course, these are theoretical ratings. Reality is less than theoretical and of course, other factors such as system buss and OS come into play. You can do a simple experiment to determine what your real CDROM drive speed is:
1) Create a file exactly 2 megabytes in size
2) burn it on a CDROM
3) With nothing else going in your system, copy the file to your hard drive and time it
4) Calculate how many bytes per second your system can transfer by dividing the total bytes by the number of seconds it took to copy

Alfred Okocha · November 25th, 2004, 12:32 PM

Hmm, " Just because it fits on a CDROM doesn't mean it can be played from CDROM."
How about that.. I didn't even know that that could happen.. I'm sure you are right Erenst (again) so I guess I'll try to do it right this time! (no more .mov files.. MPEGs.. I get it)

Thanks.

Les Wilson · November 25th, 2004, 12:45 PM

You can produce .MOV files. Just watch the data rate so it will work from CDROM. If I had to guess, I'd guess nothing more than 700-800K bytes per second.

November 19th, 2004, 10:28 AM	#16
Alfred Okocha Major Player Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: London Posts: 427	feedback.. The client had, for some reason, without checking the first draft VCD, sent it out to a client of his.. This client hadn't been able to watch it.. Apparently he'd opened the folder of the VCD trying to go through the content that way.. Is there a way to "auto run" the VCD once inserted in a computer? (That probably depends on the settings of each computer too, right?) What would play a VCD on a PC?? Anybody used to both platforms? Real player, Windows media player.. what else? Or are these the most common ones? How do you avoid this problem? Attach a "read me" instruction? My client now asked for an "idiotproof" way of distribuiting the promo material.. Thanks.

November 19th, 2004, 09:10 PM	#17
Les Wilson Inner Circle Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Boca Raton, FL Posts: 3,014	DVD is probably the best choice. Plays on DVD players and just about all modern computers. If you know it's going to be played on a computer then you can create a CDROM with an MPEG. It is possible with Toast to create an autostart CD for PAC and PC but it is tantamount to duplicating your content because autostart is different on each system. Read the manual. You cannot put a read me on a VCD, SVCD, or DVD. Only on the label or jewel case.

November 20th, 2004, 05:00 AM	#18
Alfred Okocha Major Player Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: London Posts: 427	Hi Ernest! I'd agree with you there that DVD would be the best.. The client wanted a CD format though to be able to make more copies by himself.. (What do you tink about that anyway.. Should I lock the CD or DVD to protect my work and charge for each additional CD he wants?) The second best opption would be a MPEG then.. Yes you are probably right, not as nice.. but can't really go wrong.. I get really big pixelation when I transfer to MPEG for some reason.. doesn't look good at all.. Can anybody tip me with some good settings for a successful MPEG? (I use FCP4 and have compressor and QTpro) Thank you guys.. this thread turned awfully long I really appreciate your patience!

November 20th, 2004, 05:28 AM	#19
Les Wilson Inner Circle Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Boca Raton, FL Posts: 3,014	You get pixelation when you blow up a picture or a video too much. An MPEG-1 video has a frame size of 320x240. When you play it on a TV it is blown up 4 times larger (640x480). If you play it on a computer it is even worse depending on the resolution of your monitor. If you know that playback is on a computer, then you can create a video in MPEG-2 which is what DVD uses. You can create MPEG-2 with FCP. MPEG-2 frame size is 4 times the size of MPEG-1. DOn't mess with customizing the MPEG settings. Use standard settings to ensure compatibility. One thing to know is that MPEG-2 stores the audio in a separate file so you can have alternate audio tracks (eg for languages). But since you are creating a data CD, you can provide a README that gives idiot proof instructions on what file to open. Of course you should test your readme on a few idiots first. :-)

November 22nd, 2004, 04:32 PM	#20
Alfred Okocha Major Player Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: London Posts: 427	Hi all , thanks for your help so far! I've just created a QT movie file of 600+mb that'll fit on CD.. My question is.. (maybe it should be put in the PC forum..) how common is it for people to have QT installed? (I asume that only QT reads QT files?) Does most home computers have this aplication? Thanks!

November 22nd, 2004, 05:06 PM	#21
Mark Sloan Major Player Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Venice, CA Posts: 346	Last I checked PCs did not come with QuickTime preinstalled, but I'd guess it is close to 40% based on various polls and studies for people that download or view video online. If the person views lots of online video then they most likely will have it or be willing to download it. A lot of major corporation sites provide quicktime material... The bigger question becomes HOW you encoded the video. If you used a newer codec like Sorenson 3, then your viewers must have QT 5 or later I believe. So you have to take that into consideration... MPEG4 requires QT5 I believe too... You can always include the installer with your CD too to overcome these issues... A lot of web sites are converting their QT movies to flash because Flash has close to 90% penetration and comes preinstalled on almost every new computer.

November 22nd, 2004, 05:33 PM	#22
Les Wilson Inner Circle Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Boca Raton, FL Posts: 3,014	Flash is installed nearly everywhere thanks to it's small painless download plus the fact that the animation technology is used everywhere on the web. However, Flash is not suitable for all video needs so others are required. Some stats I saw published in September by independent consultants showed QT installed on 58% of all computers while WMP was around 53% and Real around the same (remember, a computer can have more than one player installed so the numbers don't have to add up to (100%). Not only is QT the most commonly installed media player, with the Macintosh at less than 10% of the computers out there, it seems that QT is therefore installed on more Windows computers than there are Macs. MPEG4 is the ISO standard for Web video. As a compression technology, it can be created to range from low quality for the web on up to high quality for delivery on CDROM. If created using one of the ISMA presets (as done by the QT Pro player), the files can be played by a number of free players (including QuickTime 6). Unfortunately, WMP does not and that is one of the reasons they were fined 600 million and change by the EU. By publishing your video in QuickTime, you are promoting innovation and diversity in the computing space which is good for everyone.

November 25th, 2004, 09:23 AM	#23
Alfred Okocha Major Player Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: London Posts: 427	Hi, I do understand if you think I'm getting tiresome.. I start to think it myself too. =( When trying to burn a CD with a QT. mov file (using toast 6) everything goes fine.. veryfing et.c no problem. When I try to play it, it plays back with a lot of video freezing and audio jumps until it catches up, then plays alright for some 10 secs then it starts again. What's happening? The file size is 620mb and I have made two tries on two different CDs (one SONY and one TDK) with the exact same result.. I decided to give the client both a VCD and a QT file for him to chose what he prefers.. The VCD is fine.. Any ideas? Thanks. (It's almost the effect you get when your computer is too slow too play something back.. I'm on a 1.25 iMac so it shouldn't be a problem, should it?)

November 25th, 2004, 09:41 AM	#24
Les Wilson Inner Circle Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Boca Raton, FL Posts: 3,014	The speed at which your CD drive can transfer data to your CPU is probably the problem. You've likely created a .MOV that has a higher data rate (i.e. bytes per second) than can be transferred from CDROM in realtime. Just because it fits on a CDROM doesn't mean it can be played from CDROM. Copy it to your hard disk. If it plays fine, then you've proven my point. If it doesn't, then you've made a video that you don't have the horsepower to play. CDROM drive read speeds are specified in terms like 4x, 8x, etc. "X" is 150Kbytes per second. Of course, these are theoretical ratings. Reality is less than theoretical and of course, other factors such as system buss and OS come into play. You can do a simple experiment to determine what your real CDROM drive speed is: 1) Create a file exactly 2 megabytes in size 2) burn it on a CDROM 3) With nothing else going in your system, copy the file to your hard drive and time it 4) Calculate how many bytes per second your system can transfer by dividing the total bytes by the number of seconds it took to copy

November 25th, 2004, 12:32 PM	#25
Alfred Okocha Major Player Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: London Posts: 427	Hmm, " Just because it fits on a CDROM doesn't mean it can be played from CDROM." How about that.. I didn't even know that that could happen.. I'm sure you are right Erenst (again) so I guess I'll try to do it right this time! (no more .mov files.. MPEGs.. I get it) Thanks.

November 25th, 2004, 12:45 PM	#26
Les Wilson Inner Circle Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Boca Raton, FL Posts: 3,014	You can produce .MOV files. Just watch the data rate so it will work from CDROM. If I had to guess, I'd guess nothing more than 700-800K bytes per second.