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CONVERSION GUIDES -> Convert VCD to DVD

This is actually very easy to do, and takes only a few steps. Because VCD files use an MPEG-1 format very
similar to the MPEG-1 allowed by DVD, most times it's a simple matter of extracting the MPEG-1 files and using
them in a DVD authoring program.

However, please note this simple method requires cooperation with your DVD player as the sequence headers
and GOP lengths of VCD are not as controlled as the ones in the DVD specification. And these MPEG-1 video
nuances can vary from VCD to VCD, especially on homemade ones. This guide will require a DVD'RW and a test
to see how well your player accepts the DVD made from VCD source. If you cannot simply transfer the files, an
re-encode of the footage may be required.

Why convert VCD to DVD? Before DVD burners were available or popular, most people wanted to convert
DVD to VCD, often resulting in several discs per movie. With DVD burners on the rise, people find themselves
wanting to reduce the amount of discs they have. Easy answer: a DVD can hold several VCDs.

This guide may not support CVD, SVCD or XVCD. Feel free to try anyway.

File extraction methods

Extracting the files is easy, given that you have the right software.

Extract with ISO Buster. Since ISO Buster is freeware, the is my software of choice. You can download it
here.

- Insert your VCD, open the program, and select the CD/DVD drive where the disc is.
- Locate the folder system with the red ISO logo.
- Change to the MPEGAV folder under it.
- Select the DAT file you want to convert. A VCD houses the MPEG video/audio files in .DAT format in the
MPEGAV folder. Different VCD creation software uses different file names for the MPEG-1 VCD video files. In the
example, MUSICXX.DAT is the naming structure.

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- Right-click on the .DAT file that holds the MPEG video and select "Extract But Filter Only M2F2 PEG Frames".

- Select a new filename and location on your hard drive to store the file. Be sure to give it a VIDEO.MPG name,
with .MPG being the extension, not .DAT as the extension.

Note: You may have several MPEG videos on the same disc. Extract them one by one. The disc shown in the
example has 5 .DAT files, the first one is the VCD intro, the second one is the menu, and the last three are the
actual VCD video files I want to get. Note the file sizes. This normally helps you determine which files are the
ones you want.

Continue doing this until you have all the video files.

The disc in the example also has a weak form of homemade anti-copy, shown by the blank tracks 02-06. This is

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why CD-based copy protection is futile, as software like CloneCD and ISO Buster merely ignore it.

Do not skip ISO Buster and merely copy and rename the DAT files! While simply copying the .DAT files
to your hard drive and renaming to .MPG may sometimes work, this is not the proper method. The .DAT file
contains more data than simple MPEG information, and the reason ISO Buster is needed to filter it out.
Drawbacks of doing this include distorted video and uncooperative DVD authoring.

Author a new DVD

This authoring guide is very basic, and uses TMPGEnc DVD Author. Full authoring guides can be found under the
AUTHOR & BURN section of this site.

1. Open TMPGEnc DVD Author and Create A New Project. Notice the FIVE tabs at the top of the page,
START, SOURCE, MENU, OUTPUT, OPTIONS. Go to the SOURCE tab and add a file to the first track.

Click on ADD FILLE and select the video file. A new window will pop up.

Note: If you receive a warning about non-compliant video (GOP errors, incorrect GOP length, invalid header,
etc.) tell TMPGEnc DVD Author to ignore this and process the file anyway. This is expected from some VCD files.

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This is where you can read the information about the VIDEO and AUDIO contained in the file. As shown here, the
video is true MPEG-1 352x480 29.97 NTSC 1150k. The audio is 44.1hz, which is NOT supported by DVD, but as
shown by the last option, the audio will be RE-ENCODED to 48hz as needed.

Chapters. If you want to add chapter, click on the CHAPTER/CUT/EDIT button:

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Drag the slider and click ADD CURRENT FRAME where you want chapters. Little tick marks will appear on the
timeline where the chapter are, and a thumbnail will be shown in the far right window. This page also allows you
to cut out unwanted footage.

This is the time to test your DVD from VCD on a DVD- RW disc! Go to
MENU and select any menu, the quickly go to OUTPUT and let it make a DVD
folder on your hard drive. If you have Windows XP, and are using the newest
version of TMPGEnc DVD Author, go ahead and use the built-in burning utility.
Otherwise, burn in your normal DVD-Video burning program. See the
AUTHOR & BURN section of this site for BURNING guides. If it works, go back
to TMPGEnc DVD Author and keep working. If it fails, you will need to
re-encode the VCD files to a true DVD-approved video/audio format.

Add all video to project. Continue adding the MPEG-1 video files as needed, repeating this method. I prefer
to make a new track for every episode of VCD. Under the DISPLAY MENU SETTINGS, I also prefer to select
"ONLY MAIN MENU" as that will only show the opening menu and the track menus, not chapters.

Make menus and burn. This is all covered in the authoring and burning guides on this site. The easiest thing to
do is select a menu template and customize it with your own graphics. Burn with either TMPGEnc DVD Author (if
using Windows XP) or your favorite DVD-Video burning software.

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