SVCD won't play on DVD Drives

[LGO]

Hi,

Rank newbie here when it comes to burning DVDs/SVCDs/VCDs. I'm using a P4 2.8, 1 gig RAM, have acres of hard disk space on separate HDs, ATI AIW 9000 video board with 128 megs RAM, and have a OPTORITE DVD RW DD0405 drive. I'm using VS 8.01 with the first patch and the GDI patch installed. Never could get the Daylight Savings Time patch to recognize VS 8 so I blew it off.

Last night I wanted to test out VS 8's ability to make SVCDs so I made a short test slide show of still images with background music. After finishing it, I went to SHARE-->CREATE DISK and used the SVCD template. Since I only had that short video, the menu only had one chapter. I went through the process of making the menu (background, titles, etc.) and outputted it to the disk and to the hard disk. The menu was the only thing I changed. Everything burned fine. Well, I didn't get any error messages.

The finished disk has four folder on it named . . .

EXT
MPEG2
SEGMENT
SVCD

I have three DVD drives that I can test it on - the OPTORITE drive on the computer and two stand alone hooked up to TVs. When I tried the SVCD in all three, NONE of them could read the disk. NOT ONE! Using the OPTORITE drive, I can go into the CD using Windows Explorer and play the video file fine, but fergettaboutit with the stand alone drives.

Any idea what I might be doing wrong?

Appreciate any suggestions and I'll be glad to provide any info I neglected to above.

LGO

[THoff]

Few standalone players recognize SVCDs, but many will recognize VCDs. Your best bet is to consult the database at VideoHelp.com.

What program did you use on your PC to try to play the SVCD? Programs such as PowerDVD should be able to do that, but Windows Media Player will also only recognize VCDs, I belive.

[DVDDoug]

...have a OPTORITE DVD RW DD0405 drive.

OK, you have a DVD writer, so why not make a DVD? DVD-R is the most compatible format and it will work on most stand-alone players.

[LGO]

Torsten (sp?),

Thanks for the heads-up about SVCDs. I tried it tonight making VCDs as you suggested. I even tried it at reduced writing speed (vs. at "max") with no success. The coaster collection is becoming impressive.

DVDDoug, I also tried making a DVD as you suggested and - Shock! - succeeded in that!! HOWEVER, not only did that create another problem (which I'll post in a separate thread), but that medium is not an option for this project's delivery. BTW, I burned a DVD+ disk using the 4x speed and it worked like a champ. Plays on all my old stand alone DVD players - except they all experience the same problem. See new thread. (Samsung DVD player is 5 years old, the other - cheapy brand - is less than a year).

Any ideas on how I can burn a VCD that can be read by stand alone DVD players?

My Optoline DVD drive should be able to burn CDs, eh?

LGO (Wanting a beer on every new coaster)

[LGO]

Success!!!

I was able to burn a VCD that I could play on one of my stand alone DVD players! Damn, it was driving me crazy(ier?)!

Previously when I burned SVCD or VCD, I was going from a project to the CREATE CD option, and then adding two other VS8 PROJECTS (not video files, the VSP project files). Nothing ever worked.

This time I output all projects to the VCD file format and then started a new project. Added nothing to the timeline and went straight to CREATE CD. There I added the three VCD videos I previously outputted, burned the VCD disk, and - voila! - it played on my good DVD player! It still won't play on the other one, but I'll take any victory right now.

Why this method worked I don't know. I'd love to hear some possible ideas from others about this, but if no one has any at least I have a viable work around.

Thanks again for the help,

LGO

[bulls9999]

I also tried a VCD in my standalone TV DVD player and it didn't work. Then I looked at the instructions (I think you're supposed to do that the other way around)....anyway, the DVD instructs said it would play various DVD formats, audio CD's, MP3's, but NOT VCD/SVCD !!!

-Bulls9999

[THoff]

You could also burn a DVD project onto CD media. You'll get about 15 to 20 minutes of video onto one disk, depending on the project settings. Many standalone DVD players will handle those disks, as will any computer equipped with a DVD player program.

UVS 8 even had the option to include Ulead's DVD Player on the disk, which meant that you could burn such a disk and give it to someone who only had a CD-ROM drive, and not need additional software to view the video. Alas, Ulead eliminated this feature in UVS 9.

[GeorgeW]

You could also burn a DVD project onto CD media. You'll get about 15 to 20 minutes of video onto one disk, depending on the project settings. Many standalone DVD players will handle those disks, as will any computer equipped with a DVD player program.

I agree that you can burn a DVD project onto CD-R (called miniDVD or cDVD). However, I believe a majority of standalone dvd players WILL NOT be able to read or play them properly.

[bulls9999]

Did you mean with a CD-burner or DVD burner? Thanks. I don't have a DVD burner yet....is there a certain brand/model that I should look for that is 'all-encompassing'? ...i.e., does everything? Thanks in advance.

-Bulls9999

[THoff]

It doesn't matter whether you use a DVD burner or a CD burner to burn a DVD project onto CD media -- UVS doesn't care, and the only thing that matters is how the data on the disk is organized, and whether the player supports CD media.

Please see my earlier post with the link to VideoHelp's database, and see if your standalone player will play such a disk. Generally, if a player supports VCD or SVCD disks, it will also handle MiniDVDs.

[kebrinton]

I think I've read that Plextor is the favored brand, and of course now you'd want DVD+/-R or dual-mode.

Wish I had one of these...