SuperVideoCD from the Camcorder

This is a method of putting high quality, interlaced MPEG2 video onto a standard CD disc primalary for playback on a TV set. Whilst it can be played on a computer, the interlaced nature makes it less suitable for this medium than other compressed video formats such as QuickTime or Windows Media Video (Mpeg 4). More information on the technical details and history of SuperVideoCD can be found here. This page details my method for creating SuperVideoCDs from video produced from DV footage taken using a Sony camcorder and transferred to the computer using a standard firewire card (ADS Pyro) when working with Windows 98SE and the limitations this imposes on the videographer. Using any operating system with the FAT 32 file system (Windows 95, 98, ME) means files cannot be larger than 4 gigabytes in size and so various workarounds have to be employed to make the join invisible.

Software

Whilst most many other sites detail methods of creating SuperVideoCDs using expensive software costing hundreds of pounds the method I outline below uses a combination of freeware, shareware and commercial software all of which are available as demo's so one can try this method without it costing anything to start with. Once you have perfected the technique registering the software will only cost a few pounds and will remove the watermarks from the video.

MediaStudioPro 6.0VE - This video editor is often bundled with standard firewire cards such as the ADS Pyro card, which sell for around 80 pounds in the UK. If you have a firewire card in your PC but no software a demo version is available from the Ulead website. Alternatively the Video Studio 5 is available as a 14-day trial from the same site and is considerably cheaper if you are buying the software separately.

Mainconcept DV codec - needed to make the top quality MPEG2 files, more details later. A watermarked demo is available so you can try before you buy. Incidentally don't make the same mistake I did, I thought that buying the mainactor video editor would get me the codec for 'free', well it did, but it does not work outside it's own editor. If you want to use the codec with other programmes (and you do!) them you have to buy the stand alone one.

AVI_IO by Marcus Zingg - a small capture utility that produces a sequential AVIs in a seamless manner allowing SuperVideoCDs to be made with no visible joins when the video is played back. A demo is available allowing 27 minutes to be captured in one go, once it is registered many hours can be captured, limited only by space on the hard drive (Not suitable for Windows ME or XP).

Avisynth - a freeware scripting utility to join files together to feed into the MPEG encoder.

TMPEnc MPEG Encoder - An encoder for creating your SuperVideoCD compliant MPEG2 file. This impressive encoder is now available as a free demo for 14 days.

SuperVideoCD burning software - Nero 5.5 Fully functioning demo is available that lasts one month. An alternative if you are using a DVD player that will not read Nero created SuperVideoCDs (Warfdale and Samsung to name just two), is WinOnCD 3.8 which can be bought off the web for around 45 pounds. Unfortunately the website is in German only, the help files for the program are also German only, however the program and menu's do install in English and it is easy to use.

Once you have a copy of all the software you are ready to start.

Step 1. Capture, edit and create your home video.

I use Media Studio Pro 6.0 VE for this, there are some excellent tutorials available here. Make sure you have a good 30 seconds black lead in and lead out at either end on your project, make's life much easier later on. Once you have finished your masterpiece you can create a new AVI file if your project is less than 18 minutes long. This can be then exported back to your DV camcorder so long as it is DV in enabled. If your project is over 18 minutes long then you will have to print back from the timeline to your camcorder, which requires more disc space and a properly configured PC, see www.johnpr98.com for details, a lot of useful information here on configuring your PC for optimum playback. At the end of this process you will have a finished, master tape of your project that for SuperVideoCD purposes discussed here can be up to 43 minutes long. I know many people do not like the idea of saving their master copy onto tape but since a standard one-hour high8 tape holds 13Gb of DV video it is still currently the best and cheapest method of storing video. It also has the advantage that it is easy to run off a VHS copy of your project for friends and family who are not quite at the cutting edge of technology! Just connect the camcorder to the VHS deck, hit play on the camcorder; record on the video you've got a copy (used to be so simple didn't it?).

Step 2. Capture video for making SuperVideoCD.

Since you already have your project on your hard drive as avi files you would think you could just feed them straight into an MPEG encoder wouldn't you? Unfortunately it's not that simple. MediaStudioPro includes an MPEG encoder but the quality is frankly terrible, and its not even SuperVideoCD or DVD compatible (the recently released MediaStudioPro 6.5 is much improved, although I still prefer TMPEnc. myself). Feed the AVI into another MPEG encoder then? Well, MediaStudioPro produces type 1 AVI files that our encoder may or not read (it prefers type 2), and in any case cannot be longer than 18 mins. Try joining several MPEGs and you will end up with blips in the soundtrack and/or the picture. Not Good. You could try joining the type 1 AVIs using the avisynth script described on the page 'Quality Concerns' but the image quality will suffer so best not to try really.

So, check you are happy with your project on your master tape in your camcorder, take a deep breath, recheck you are happy with your master tape, then delete all your project files from your hard drive. Gone. That should free up 10 to 20 Gb!

Right. Now make sure you have the AVI_IO capture utility and mainconcept DV codec installed. Start your camcorder playing first, (remember that 30 second lead in? this gives you the time for the next bit! If necessary just rewind the tape) then start AVI_IO and capture your project back to your hard drive. When your project finishes playing you will have a series of 2048mb files on your hard drive named D:\avi_io\capture.00.avi D:\avi_io\capture.01.avi D:\avi_io\capture.02.avi for example. The demo version of AVI_IO will stop after 3 files, the full registered version will go on up to 100 files. These are sequential Mainconcept DV type 2 AVIs suitable for turning into a high quality MPEG2. SuperVideoCD uses an audio frequency of 44.1khz whereas Digital Video is either 32khz or 48khz. Personally I have had no problems feeding 48khz AVIs straight into the encoder but some people have reported audio distortion. If this affects you then use this solution.

Next make sure you have avisynth 0.3 installed just as it says on the page (unpack the archive, move avisynth.dll to the windows\system directory and double-click the install.reg file). Now its time to do some thinking, avisynth has no simple graphic user interface, you have to write files but its not difficult when you get used to it.

So, open up notepad and type (or copy and paste from here!)

AVISource("d:\avi_io\capture.00.avi") + AVISource("d:\avi_io\capture.01.avi") + AVISource("d:\avi_io\capture.02.avi")

Then save this as project1.avs for example, ignoring the windows nag screen that warns that changing the file extension may result in an unstable file.

Step 3. Encoding your Video.

The encoder I currently use is TMPEnc., which by happy coincidence is avialable as an uncrippled demo for 14 days. Download the encoder, then click on the browse button next to the video source window and find your project1.avs file. Click on the load button and select the SuperVideoCD configuration file which gives reasonable results or download my modified version here. This gives me better quality, prevents the data rate going too high, and gives me 43 minutes on an 80 min CDR. More details of my changes made to the configuration file are given on the SuperVideoCD from the TV page . If you want a longer run time just lower the video bit rate slightly, (2100kbs will allow 48 mins on a 80min CD) but accept the quality will begin to drop. Next press the configure button, Under the advanced tab you can double click on the source frame range and set up the exact start and end point. Best leave everything else alone at the moment! Then press Encode, go away and do something more interesting, my AMD 700 takes about seven and a half hours for a 43 minute encode on the highest quality setting (very slow) but this varies depending on the complexity of the video. When it finishes you will have a MPEG2 file of around 770mb. Don't worry that this is bigger than the 700mb stated capacity of your 80 min CDR discs, SuperVideoCDs use a different file structure to normal CD ROMs and can hold approximately 15% more data than their nominal capacity.

In most cases this MPEG2 file can be fed straight into the CD burning software. However, if after testing your player has problems fast forwarding or rewinding your SuperVideoCD try using this technique to correct it.

Step 4. Burning Your SuperVideoCD.

Using Nero This CD burning software is available in demo form and will probably be your first one to try. If you are using something like a Pioneer 525 or Phillips 711 DVD player to play your finished disc then it will be fine. Scroll down the window on the left, select SuperVideoCD, click new and drag your newly created MPEG file into the blank window. Nero will analyse the file to check it is compliant and then you can burn your SuperVideoCD.

Using WinOnCD3.8 This has to be purchased from the German website and will probably not be your first choice, but it does has the advantage that it produces a disc which plays on a variety of budget DVD players including Samsung and Warfdale machines. Choose video, SuperVideoCD, drag your MPEG into the lower window, come down to disc and press burn.

Step 5. Finished! Play your disc.

Your disc can be played on any modern multimedia computer using a software DVD player such as WinDVD, or using a hardware card such as the Sigma Hollywood plus. The software that comes with this card is based on an older non-standard, version of the SVCD disc structure, so it is necessary to play the disc back in file mode. An alternative is to use Eugene's DVD player, a freeware player for the Hollywood plus cards that properly supports the SuperVideoCD standard. These cards can playback via the PC monitor or out to a TV set. A television is by far the best way to view these discs since it is designed to play interlaced video, although I do like WinDVD since it allows me to play my discs from the CD ROM drive of a celeron 433Mhz laptop when away from home. The WinDVD software automatically deinterlaces the video on the fly, and produces a very acceptable result. Alternatively you can play your discs on a standalone DVD player to the television. Not all DVD players will read CDR or CDRW discs, and not all DVD players support the SuperVideoCD standard. Those that do include the several Pioneer, Philips, and Samsung models. Also many of the cheaper, no name, budget models from China do as well. If you are planning to buy one check out www.vcdhelp.com to make sure.