avi2vcd Frequently Asked Questions - Version 1.3.11

Contents:

     Question 0 - Where can I find, or do you have freeware software that converts .mpg
                  to avi?

     Question 1 - What is avi2vcd?

     Question 2 - OK, I have encoded my files, how do I get a VideoCD out of it?

     Question 3 - I made a VideoCD, but my DVD player cannot play it.

     Question 4 - I get a "FATAL ERROR: Could not retrieve video frame xxxx" error".

     Question 5 - The encoder will not encode the avi I have.

     Question 6 - What's a codec?

     Question 7 - Where do I get a codec?

     Question 8 - Why is avi2vcd so slow?

     Question 9 - How do I encode a video with compressed audio?

     Question 10 - My audio/video "lipsync" is bad after encoding to mpeg.

     Question 11 - When I encode a video of 10 frames per second, the mpeg player I use
                   claims the frame rate of the resulting mpeg is 23.976FPS, but the video
                   still looks jerky?

     Question 12 - When I encode a video the resulting mpeg is larger than the source?

     Question 13 - When I encode an avi file that uses the Cinepak (or other) codec,
                   the resulting mpeg is very "blocky".

     Question 14 - When I encode a screen capture sequence, or a computer generated
                   animation, the resulting mpeg is not very clear.

     Question 15 - When I play back the resulting mpeg, the video occasionally freezes,
                   while the audio continues.

     Question 16 - The programs encodes my avi, but the sound is garbled, what can I do?

     Question 17 - avi2vcd will not encode the video from my mjpeg capture card?

     Question 18 - After encoding, the mpeg video is inverted, what can I do?

     Question 19 - I cannot seem to encode videos captured from my DV Camcorder?

     Question 20 - Adaptec's Easy VideoCD Creator says the mpeg produced by avi2vcd
                   is not "Whitebook" compliant?

     Question 21 - The VideoCD creation program I use "Brand X", does not accept the 
                   output of avi2vcd. What can I do?

     Question 22 - What future enchancements are planned for avi2vcd?


Answers:

Question 0 - Where can I find, or do you have freeware software that converts .mpg
             to avi?

        I do not have any software that converts mpg to avi, nor can I recommend any.
        If you are looking for any other software other than what is on
        www.mnsi.net/~jschlic1, I suggest you begin you search at www.mpeg.org.
	You might also try using VirtualDub which has a link on the web site.

Question 1 - What is avi2vcd?

	avi2vcd is a Windows based program to encode avi files to VideoCD compliant
        mpeg files for burning to VideoCD. The resulting VideoCD can be played on
        VideoCD players, and many DVD players.

Question 2 - OK, I have encoded my files, how do I get a VideoCD out of it?

        Avi2vcd is just the file encoder. You will still need a CD recording
        application which can create all the required structures required for
        a VideoCD, as well as write the mpeg files to individual tracks on the
        VideoCD. There are several such packages out there such as NTI CD Maker,
        the full (Deluxe) version of EZ CD Creator 4.0 or later, InstantVideo, Nero, etc.
        YOU CAN'T JUST BURN THE MPEG TO A CD AND EXPECT IT TO PLAY IN A DVD PLAYER!

Question 3 - I made a VideoCD, but my DVD player cannot play it.

        Not all DVD players can play VideoCDs. Some DVD players that can play
        commercially stamped "silver" VideoCD's cannot play VideoCD's on CD-R. You
        need to try both CD-R and CD-RW media. I have found that even different
        brands of CD-RW get different results. My own DVD player cannot play
        Video CD's recorded on CD-R, but it can play VideoCD's recorded on
        SOME (not all) brands of CD-RW.

Question 4 - I get a "FATAL ERROR: Could not retrieve video frame xxxx" error".

        If the frame number is 0, then you either do not have a properly installed
        codec for the compression method this video uses, or the codec in question
        is not accessible from DirectShow, and cannot be used with avi2vcd ver 1.3.
        You might also need to upgrade the version of DirectX installed on your
        system.

        If the frame number is higher than 0:

	MOst likely either your video is corrupted (the video frame in question
        is "damaged") or the codec has a bug. Try not using your computer for
        any other purpose while encoding, and disable any screen savers and try
        again.

Question 5 - The encoder will not encode the avi I have.

        avi2vcd will encode avi files that fit the following limitations:

        Audio: if present, must be 8 or 16 bit, sample rate of 
               8, 11.025, 12, 16, 22.05, 24, 32, 44.1, or 48 KHz uncompressed PCM only!

        Video: The parameter requirements are:

                          Horzontal width <= 768
                          Vertical height <= 576
                          Frames per second >= 1
                          Colour depth: 8, 16, 24, or 32 bits

        The video codec used must be compatible with DirectShow.

	Note that for best quality, there are preferred values which will not require
        avi2vcd to resize or resample the input to match VideoCD specifications. The
        ideal values are (depending on target format):

                    NTSC:
                          Horzontal width: 352
                          Vertical height: 240
                          Frames per second: 29.97
                          Colour depth: 24 or 32 bits

                    PAL:
                          Horzontal width: 352
                          Vertical height: 288
                          Frames per second: 25
                          Colour depth: 24 or 32 bits

                    FILM:
                          Horzontal width: 352
                          Vertical height: 240
                          Frames per second: 23.976
                          Colour depth: 24 or 32 bits

                    AUDIO (NTSC, PAL, or FILM):
                          44.1KHz, 16 bit, mono or stereo


        If you don't know what the parameters of the video file you have are, in
        explorer, right click on the file once, then left click. Select 'Properties',
        then select the tab 'Details' or 'Summary', depending on the version of
        Windows.

Question 6 - What's a codec?

        Codec stands for "COpressor/DECompressor". Every compressed video file uses
        a codec to decompress the individual frames for playback. There are a great
        many codecs. Some come with Windows, others must be downloaded and installed
        before you can play back the video. Some codecs are not compatible with DirectX,
        which is what avi2vcd uses to decode the video frames, in which case you will
        not be able to encode the video using avi2vcd. Try getting the latest version
        of the codec, it might work with avi2vcd.

Question 7 - Where do I get a codec?

        There are a lot of codecs, and as many places to get them as there are codecs.
        If you downloaded a video from the web, and you don't have the codec it requires,
        check the website for information on where to get the codec.

Question 8 - Why is avi2vcd so slow?

        Depending on your computer system, you may experience anywhere from 1 to 4 frames
        encoded per second. Some systems will be slower, some faster. This means it might
        easily take from 7 to 30 hours to encode 1 hour of video to mpeg. Mpeg encoding
        is a computationally intensive, and slow, process. The characteristics of the video
        also have an effect. If your video is 720x480, for example, avi2vcd needs to resize
        each frame to 352x240 (or 352x288 for PAL), which adds to the time required. Some
        codecs are also notoriously slow during frame extraction.

Question 9 - How do I encode a video with compressed audio?

	Use the utility "decompress" which is included in the zip file with avi2vcd.
        Decompress will copy your video to a new file with uncompressed audio.
        Avi2vcd should be able to encode this new avi. Decompress SHOULD be able
        to convert any file that mediaplayer can play. If you can't play the file
        with media player, than neither decompress nor avi2vcd will be able
        to use that avi.

Question 10 - My audio/video "lipsync" is bad after encoding to mpeg.

        If the lipsync was ok in the source avi (you can play it back with mediaplayer,
        and the sound and video are syncronized) then your avi probably has compressed
        audio. Some forms of audio compression (notably MPEG Layer-3) CAN result in
        a loss of audio/video sync, even when you have used "decompress". I have no
        solution for this at this time. Don't use compressed audio if you can avoid it!

Question 11 - When I encode a video of 12 frames per second, the mpeg player I use
             claims the frame rate of the resulting mpeg is 23.976FPS, but the video
             still looks jerky?

        The VideoCD standard allows for frame rates of 23.976, 25, and 29.97.
        The non-standard frame rate videos are resampled to a standard frame
        rate by simple frame replication. Hence, for a 12FPS source video, each
        source frame is converted to 2 frames in the resulting mpeg. The video is
        still jerky as a result. There are still only 12 "different" frames in each
        second in this case.

Question 12 - When I encode a video the resulting mpeg is larger than the source?

        The resulting mpeg will always be 176400 bytes x # of seconds in source
        video. This is a result of the VideoCD standard.

Question 13 - When I encode an avi file that uses the Cinepak (or other) codec,
              the resulting mpeg is very "blocky".

        The encoded mpeg can be no better than the original source file for video
        quality, in fact it is usually significantly worse. This applies to all
        codecs. To obtain maximum quality, you must use a high quality original
        video that is only slightly compressed, or not compressed at all. Simply
        encoding miscellaneous avi's you may have lying around will probably not
        work very well. The encoder is paricularily sensitive to noise, if the
        source avi has visible noise in the picture (as from VHS video tape),
        it will not encode well.

Question 14 - When I encode a screen capture sequence, or a computer generated
              animation, the resulting mpeg is not very clear.

        Mpeg was intended to compress real world video images, not artificial
        computer generated images.

Question 15 - When I play back the resulting mpeg, the video occasionally freezes,
              while the audio continues.

	Try turning your screen saver off completely before starting the encode.
	Many users have reported this solves the problem for them, though I have
	never experienced it myself.

Question 16 - The programs encodes my avi, but the sound is garbled, what can I do?

        Please send me a copy of the .log file that avi2vcd generated when you
        tried to encode the video. The most likely cause is that your video uses
        compressed audio. Avi2vcd can only handle uncompressed audio. If you
        insist on encoding a video with compressed audio, then use decompress.exe
        which is included in the zip file with avi2vcd.

Question 17 - avi2vcd will not encode the video from my mjpeg capture card?

        Some mjpeg capture cards use a hardware based codec which is not compatible
        with the DirectShow component of DirectX. Some software mjpeg codecs are also
        not compatible with DirectX. You should first make sure you have the latest 
        version of the codec. If that still does not work, then the only other thing
        I can suggest is to contact the manufacturer and request a DirectShow
        compatible version of your codec. Also make sure you have the latest version
        of DirectX installed on your system.

Question 18 - After encoding, the mpeg video is inverted, what can I do?

        Most inverted video is automatically corrected by avi2vcd. If your's is not,
        select the "Invert Video" check box before encoding.

Question 19 - I cannot seem to encode videos captured from my DV Camcorder.

        See the the "DV_readme.txt" file included with avi2vcd.

Question 20 - Adaptec's Easy VideoCD Creator says the mpeg produced by avi2vcd
              is not "Whitebook" compliant?

        Start up VideoCD creator, go to Help - > About. What does the dialog box
        say next to "MCI Mpeg Video Driver:"? If it says something other than
        "DirectShow" or "ActiveMovie", for example "QI Cinemaster DVD", than that's
        probably the problem. Easy VideoCD Creator uses the default MCI MPEG driver
        to determine the source mpegs characteristics. Many DVD software players
        replace the DirectShow MCI Driver with their own, which may not properly
        identify the mpeg file characteristics to Easy VideoCD Creator. All I can
        suggest is that you remove whatever software installed the new MCI driver
        and try again. You should also request a fix from the manufacturer of the
        software which caused the problem.

Question 21 - The VideoCD creation program I use "Brand X", does not accept the 
              output of avi2vcd. What can I do?

        Make sure you are using the latest version of the program. If that still
        does not work, send me an email with the name, version, and a web location
        where I can download an evaluation copy of the program in question. I will
        attempt to resolve this for the next version. If an evaluation version is not
        available, I will contact the software company and see if they are willing
        to help.

Question 22 - What future enchancements are planned for avi2vcd?

        Several enchancements which I hope to add to avi2vcd over time are (note
        that this list does not imply any priority order):

                - more input file formats

                - multiple avi's to multiple mpeg's (batch processing)

                - multiple input avi's to a single mpeg

                - a command line option for batch processing

                - user access to advanced options

