VCD Format

tontontonton
Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited January 2014
I don't understand why Apple doesn't incorporate VCD format into iDVD and iPhoto. It would be a simple task of exporting the movie/slideshow as an MPEG 2 and adding the correct directory structure, then allowing you to choose your CD-R as the target drive.



Every DVD player can play VCDs, so this would be a welcome feat4re for short films and slide shows.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 14
    der kopfder kopf Posts: 2,275member
    I agree.
  • Reply 2 of 14
    chuckerchucker Posts: 5,089member
    Actually, VCD is MPEG1, whereas SVCD is MPEG2.
  • Reply 3 of 14
    escherescher Posts: 1,811member
    [quote]Originally posted by tonton:

    <strong>I don't understand why Apple doesn't incorporate VCD format into iDVD and iPhoto... this would be a welcome feat4re for short films and slide shows.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    I wholeheartedly agree, tonton! My hunch is that Apple wants to push its users to buy pricier, high-margin SuperDrives contained in expensive new Macs. If you ask me, that's another Apple rip-off. If I buy a new 12-inch PowerBook, I'd much rather have a 24x CR-RW and burn an occasional VCD to play on a friend's (or my own) DVD player than shell out for a slow SuperDrive that I will barely use.



    Do I understand correctly that you can burn VCDs with Toast? Can you do that based on a clip created in iMovie?



    Escher
  • Reply 4 of 14
    macserverxmacserverx Posts: 217member
    Taking an iMovie into Toast is no sweat. I had to download an update to get it working properly in Mac OS X, but it works pretty good. A plug-in comes with Toast for direct export to Toast VCD with options. NTSC or PAL, resizing, and ecoding quality, and it has an option to automatically launch Toast when encoding is complete.
  • Reply 5 of 14
    addisonaddison Posts: 1,185member
    It is not truy that every DVD player can place VCD's have a look at the latest Harmon Karadon machines...NO VCD SUPPORT!



    I think that the cost of DVD-R's is falling so fast that there is little point, in making VCD's.
  • Reply 6 of 14
    robmaurizirobmaurizi Posts: 11member
    Another reason may be Apple's relationship with the movie industry.. I've seen considerably more movies available on VCD & SVCD than have on DVDR. Hence, Apple doesn't want their customers to sour their relationship with one of their largest markets.



    I think said relationship may have a bit to do with iDVD's lack of support for external burners (although that's considerably more Apple's doing than hollywood).



    $.02

    -Rob
  • Reply 7 of 14
    gordygordy Posts: 1,004member
    Apple doesn't support VCD because, in comparison, VCD is crap vs. DVD, QuickTime, etc. There are apps out there to satisfy the VCD need: VCDTools, Toast, EyeTV, etc., why should Apple have to go there?
  • Reply 8 of 14
    gardenofearthlydelightsgardenofearthlydelights Posts: 963member
    I personally think it's more of a resources issue. A resource/benefit analysis of VCDs probably wouldn't justify the effort at this point, with so many other issues to worry about, like keeping iMovie from crashing so often.



    Personally, I use SVCDs all the time. There are tools out there to do this. It's a bit messy, but it's getting better.
  • Reply 9 of 14
    mightymomightymo Posts: 30member
    [quote]Originally posted by tonton:

    <strong>I don't understand why Apple doesn't incorporate VCD format into iDVD and iPhoto. It would be a simple task of exporting the movie/slideshow as an MPEG 2 and adding the correct directory structure, then allowing you to choose your CD-R as the target drive.



    Every DVD player can play VCDs, so this would be a welcome feat4re for short films and slide shows.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    ---&gt; You can buy DVD-R's for under $1 (ca. 1 Euro) allowing you to work with 4.7GB. Your CD-R's will cost approximately $0.50 (ca. 0.50 Euro) and will allow you only one sixth the space (700MB)



    Why on earth would you pick VCD?!?
  • Reply 10 of 14
    mrbilldatamrbilldata Posts: 489member
    [quote]Originally posted by MightyMo:

    <strong>



    ---&gt; You can buy DVD-R's for under $1 (ca. 1 Euro) allowing you to work with 4.7GB. Your CD-R's will cost approximately $0.50 (ca. 0.50 Euro) and will allow you only one sixth the space (700MB)



    Why on earth would you pick VCD?!?</strong><hr></blockquote>



    That isn't a fair comparison.



    A 1x or 2x DVD holds more but I can burn 6 CD-R disks in less time. Oh and I buy 80min CD-R disks for $0.10 or less.
  • Reply 11 of 14
    mightymomightymo Posts: 30member
    [quote]Originally posted by MrBillData:

    <strong>



    That isn't a fair comparison.



    A 1x or 2x DVD holds more but I can burn 6 CD-R disks in less time. Oh and I buy 80min CD-R disks for $0.10 or less.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    The highest "safe" speed to burn at is 8x (1.2MB/s) on a CD-R. I've also gotten much more paranoid with the 'ultra-cheap' CD-Rs that you mention, because they are much more prone to fail (layer peels)



    When I archive digipics for example, I never burn higher than 4x and I always CRC the medium to make sure the burn succeeded.



    The Microboards people say it quite nicely:



    "Does faster writing speed reduce CD-R quality? If you are using professional quality CD-R media in a professional writer, there will be less of a chance of degradation and failure. In truth, the faster you burn a disc; the quality of the copy is lessened from the original. However, this will be noticed more with poor media than professional media. In regards to audio recording, the main question is, ?will I hear an audible difference?? The answer to that is probably not, assuming your media and writer are professional quality."

    <a href="http://www.microboards.com/current/resources/qa_media.htm"; target="_blank">http://www.microboards.com/current/resources/qa_media.htm</a>;



    Have any of you had problems with cheapo CD-R's?
  • Reply 12 of 14
    mrbilldatamrbilldata Posts: 489member
    [quote]Originally posted by MightyMo:

    <strong>...

    Have any of you had problems with cheapo CD-R's?</strong><hr></blockquote>



    I don't consider Sony or TDK as cheap brand disks.

    In fact right now I can get a Sony spindle of 50 for free(mail in rebate).



    I have made hundreds of CD-R disks and have not had even one complaint. I can't remember the last time I burned something at only 8x speed.

    SONY, PIONEER, etc do not make 52x,48x, and 40x write speeds just for show.



    Floppies stayed around during the entire IOMEGA media, Super disk era. Just recently has the floppy been killed off. Likewise the CD will live on until there is a replacement that is 100 or more times bigger. The DVD is merely a bump like the 128Mb media that now fills many a shelf.
  • Reply 13 of 14
    chuckerchucker Posts: 5,089member
    [quote]Originally posted by gordy:

    <strong>Apple doesn't support VCD because, in comparison, VCD is crap vs. DVD, QuickTime, etc.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Uh-huh.



    Care to explain howso?



    QuickTime is a container format. DVD-Video is a medium with MPEG-2 as format. VCD is similar, but uses MPEG-1. Now tell me how VCD is crap, and what it has to do with QuickTime.
  • Reply 14 of 14
    gordygordy Posts: 1,004member
    Simple. While QuickTime is a container, it has codecs that far exceed MPEG 1 (Sorenson, etc.). As far as MPEG1 vs. MPEG2, c'mon, they're similar in what regard? Their name? What else? If you think that they're comparable then buy Toast and have fun.



    I use the VCD format extensively (EyeTV & Toast) and it's cool, but I do not think it's acceptable for anything other than recording TV shows for watching at my own leisure.
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