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How do I burn a VCD?
If you are looking for an alternative to burning video on a DVD, one of the easiest and most affordable forms of media, you can choose to burn is called a VCD (Video Compact Disc). While DVD's is a great way to store large files, especially video and sound, VCD's, while smaller in size can easily store video as well.
A VCD stands for Video Compact Disc and while it is the same media as a compact disc, the only difference is that it includes both video and audio files. Most CD's only include audio files. VCD's offer the same amount of storage space as CD's, usually about 650 to 700 MB's of space. Depending on the storage space, a VCD can store up to 74 minutes (650 MB) or 80 minutes (700 MB).
Advantages of VCD's
VCD's usually use the format of MPEG-1 to record video and audio to a compact disk. One of the advantages is that practically all computers are able to view VCD's using their CD player and in addition, all DVD players are also compatible with VCD disks. DVD on the other hand are sometimes not always compatible with one another. For instance, there are DVD+R and DVD-R media. There is also DVD RAM. Certain DVD players only play one type of DVD media, making the other types incompatible. Another great advantage is that CD's are usually always less expensive than DVD media. You can usually find CD's for less than $.25 and many are around the $.10 mark.
Disadvantages of VCD
While VCD's are on the whole more compatible than DVD and cost less, the trade off is that VCD picture and sound quality are usually inferior to that of DVD. The reason that video and sound quality are in most cases inferior is due to the amount of storage space. If you are looking to record a video file that is larger than 650 -700 MB's, you must first compress it. Compressing it reduces the resolution of the video, usually from a DVD's normal resolution of 720 X 480 to a VCD resolution of 352 X 240. It should be noted that in most cases audio files will play normally and will not experience any loss of quality, except in the cases of specialized sound formats such as surround sound. You should be able to enjoy full stereo sound at normal CD quality bit rates on a VCD.
Burning a VCD
It is extremely easy to create a VCD; you just need a CD burner/player, CD burning software and the ability to encode your video or multimedia file into a VCD compliant format which is MPEG-1. MPEG-1 is the format of choice for VCD's. It is a great format to view video at extremely low bit rates. Since it is non-propriety it is very similar to MP3 files. It should be noted that normal DVD files are recorded using MPEG-2 and while this format offers excellent video and audio quality, the size of the files are extremely large and usually require much more powerful encoders, decoders and processing power.
Encode Your Video File
In order to burn your VCD, you first must have a video file that it is already encoded in MPEG-1 format. Let's say you took your digital camcorder to your son's baseball game and wanted to record the highlights onto a VCD, first transfer the video media to your hard drive. Once the video is accessible via your computer, you can now encode it into the MPEG-1 format.
Usually, you will need an encoding program. The good news is that there are many free and low cost products that make encoding a video file into MPEG-1 complete with high quality stereo sound. Usually, you will first open up this encoding software, follow the prompts and select which format, you would like (many encoding software can encode not only in MPEG-1, but also MPEG-2, DIVX, AVI, etc.). From this point, the encoding software will quickly and efficiently encode the original video file into a ready to burn MPEG-1 file.
Burn Your VCD
Now that you have your MPEG-1 file, you can easily use your normal CD burning software to burn your VCD. Just pop in a blank, recordable CD into your CD Recordable drive, open up your CD burning application and follow the prompts. From start to finish, changing a normal video file into a completed VCD usually take only a few minutes.
Viewing YOUR VCD
Your VCD is viewable in practically all computer drives, as well as the vast majority of DVD drives. Please note that from time to time some DVD players are finicky with VCD's, just as they are with recordable DVD's. Sometimes it might take a few tries to play on a specific DVD player, or you might want to try different brand of media.
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