SVCD Software - Page 5

Ok..what software I will need ?

The most useful software for SVCD authoring is:

SVCD Hardware Encoders : (With them you are going to encode Mpeg-2 from .Avi files..)
- MPEG MovieMaker 200
- MPEG Profiler

SVCD Software Encoders

- BB Mpeg (its very very slow. Its takes about 6 hours to encode a 3 minute SVCD music video on a Pentium 200MMX.)

SVCD supports (352x288, 352x576 and 480x576) for PAL. and (352x240, 352x480, 480x480) for NTSC. But the SVCD option in bbMpeg supports only 480x576 for PAL and 480x480 for NTSC (for now).

There are 2 main reasons most MPEG-2 software encoders are not SVCD compliant:

1. SVCD requires a pack size of 2324 bytes (the same as VCD). DVD requires a pack size of 2048 bytes. Most MPEG-2 software encoders fixed the pack size at 2048 bytes. But they allow you to change the pack size in MPEG-1 (2048 bytes default and 2324 bytes for VCD) but not in MPEG-2.
2. The video stream must have User Data Scan Info to be SVCD compliant. User Data Scan Info is not required for DVD.

Ligos has released profiles for LSX Mpeg v3.0 supporting SVCD Video. We didn't test them yet to see if they are accepted from any SVCD Authoring program.

Other Tools

Philips has released several SVCD Authoring Tools which will make you create SVCD CDs (they only run into NT4..)

Philips Super VideoCD Designer

"..To create a SuperVCD disc you first need to design a disc using SVCD Designer. SVCD Designer enables you to create a Disc Definition Script (DDS) which contains the information to generate the required SuperVCD files.."

Philips Super VideoCD Toolset

".. The SVCD Authoring Toolset will then use the DDS and the required assets such as audio and video to create the SuperVCD disc.."

Philips Super VideoCD Verifier

"..The SVCD Verifier is a verification tool to support the generation of data, compliant with both MPEG-2 and SVCD standards. The verifier performs syntax checks as well as semantic and dynamic checks. The tool generates a report with all detected violations of the standards. Additionally, the input stream can be analysed and its contents on all specified levels can be logged in a clear and concise way.."

EnReach I-Author for SuperVCD

"..I-Author for SuperVCD is powerful authoring software. It fully supports SVCD 1.0 specification and is backward compatible with VCD 3.0, VCD 2.0, and VCD 1.1 formats. Especially designed for Windows 95, I-Author Deluxe for SuperVCD is

• Easy-to use wizards for disc creation
• Point-and-click graphical user interface (GUI)
• Supports nearly all MPEG-2 encoding systems and CD-R/CD-RW drives.."

What about CDR Software?

Nero by Ahead is the only software which can make an SuperVCD CD from a SuperVCD Mpeg encoded file. However it doesn't support advance options (like menus and subtitles..)

EnReach I-Author for SuperVCD saves file into .cif format (Adaptec's Ez CD Creator).