A videocd, or VCD, is a Video Compact Disc. It is based on MPEG technology, and used the MPEG-1 file format. The movies are usually around 1 gig on two cds. It is not a very common format in the USA, but in other contries it's more popular. VideoCDs actually have their own dedicated players, made by such common companies as Sony, Panasonic, etc. A VideoCD is made much like an audio cd that uses wav files. The wav files must be properly burned onto the cd using a program that makes audio cds. The same is true when burning a video cd. The MPEG files must be properly burned onto the cd using a program that creates videocds. If you just burn the mpegs onto the cd without actually creating a videocd, it will still work in your computer, but nothing else. Like if you were to burn wav files onto a cd, without creating an audio cd... it would still work in a computer, but not your discman.

Where can I get videocds?

Since most people that go to my site are from the USA, then most of you will either be downloading vcds, or buying them online. I do keep a pretty big and updated list of where to buy videocds, but you can do a search for videocd suppliers on yahoo or dogpile, and still get a good list of results. If you are looking to download vcds (mainly bootlegs), then you are going to want to go on IRC. For the most part there are no webpages with vcds that I know of.... they are too big. If you are just getting started with IRC, or don't know how to use it... go to http://www.mirc.com -- they have good information and a good, free, reliable program.

Where can I buy videocds?

Again, like I mentioned above... I have a pretty big and updated list of where to buy videocds, but you can do a search for videocd suppliers on yahoo or dogpile, and still get a good list of results.

Is a VCD an MPEG?

I get this one a lot, as funny as it may seem. YES! a vcd is an mpeg. But that's just like saying "Is an audiocd a wav file?" It is, in a way, but you sound really dumb asking. :)

Is a VCD like a DVD? Well, yes and no. A DVD is obviously a lot better quality. A VCD uses an MPEG-1 file format which is MPEG at 352x240 (NTSC) and a DVD uses MPEG-2 which is MPEG at 720x480. There are also a lot of differences in audio quality, etc. DVD movies take up a lot more space, obviously, which require the cds to hold more space. DVD discs can hole around 13 gigs, although there are many different types of DVD discs, etc.

What's a .dat file? A dat file is what is produced when you burn an mpeg to a videocd. It's an mpeg file, but it's not exactly the same as a MPEG-1 MPEG. You should not ever want to have a .dat file -- you should always want to convert it to an mpeg. The only reason that they exsist, is because people are too lazy to convert the file to mpeg when they rip it off a vcd. If you see one, convert it to MPEG, and never ask for one.. it just confuses people.

What's a .bin file? A bin file is a cd image file created (probably) by CDRWIN. It usually comes with a .cue file and they are both used together to burn an exact image of a cd. This saves people from downloading mpeg files and burning videocds, which take a long time to burn, because it has to convert the whole movie. They are a nice way for people to download movies, and burn them in the proper formats easily, and quickly. You can convert a .bin file to an MPEG file using a program called VCDGEAR which can be found in my tools section. To burn a .bin/.cue file, you must use CDRWIN.

How do I capture a VCD? To capture a VCD, you must have some sort of capture card on your computer. You can use a capture card that captures to AVI format (like an ATI/MATROX capture card), but I would not recommend it. In order for you to create a VCD from an AVI capture card, you must first capture in .avi .. and then convert the .avi file to an mpg. AVI files, following the mpeg-1 rules, are extremely big. Depending on what type of compression you are using, if any, they range from 400 - 2048 megabytes per half hour of footage. That's a lot of space. Also, AVI files cannot be larger than two gigabytes, or they will not work correctly. The time it takes to convert to MPEG is not as much as it used to be, with new faster computers, but it's still not very fast. A half hour clip usually takes 45-70min depending on the speed of your computer.

The best way to capture a VCD is to use a card that captures directly to MPEG-1 format. Unfortunatly these great cards have a great price. Ranging from $200-$10,000. For $200 or $300, you can pick up a dazzle or a snazzi made by dazzle multimedia. The quality of the snazzi is pretty good, and it comes with good software... the best part is the price. If you want to get a little better, you should go with a broadway, or an rt6. They cost around $500-$700 -- if you do a lot of encoding, you will notice the difference. The very high quality ones are made pretty much for companies to use for professional vcd and will not be discussed here.

How can I watch a VCD on my TV?You can watch vcds on your tv a number of different ways. The first and easiest way, is to buy a VideoCD player! There are not a whole lot of places on the internet that sell them, that I've run across. There are, however, many companies that make vcd players (such as Sony, Panasonic, Samsung, Pioneer) that you could get in touch with to find out where to buy one.

The next way you could watch a VCD on your tv, is to have an addon for either you playstation or your sega saturn. A few of the places in my buy section sell the addon, as well as this place: http://welcome.to/p6

Another way, although it isn't very easy, to watch vcds on your tv is to have a computer set up with tv-out. The quality is usually pretty good, although it is not very convienent if you want to watch them at your friends house. I wouldn't recommend this way, but it works good for people that don't want to buy any extra hardware.

A DVD player is another good way to get VCDs to play on your television. A lot of the newer DVD players will support the playing of VideoCDs. Check your documentation that came with the dvd player to see if it will work. Sometimes it's hard to get a DVD player to recognize home-brewed vcds, but when they do.. they seem to work great.

How can I put my VCD to VHS?This is pretty easy. Basically you must have some sort of a VCD player, if it's you computer, then you will need tv-out. If you do not have this option, there are some pretty cheap tv-out cards on pricewatch (http://www.pricewatch.com) anywhere from $40-$100. I don't know the quality of them. Once you have TV-OUT, you plug the RCA coming from your computer/player into the VIDEO-IN on your VCR. Then you take the audio coming out of your soundcard (from a headphone jack) and run it into a wire that converts a headphone jack into a left and right RCA plug. Plug these into your VCR's Audio-IN jacks. If you only have one AUDIO-IN jack, use the left one (or the white one). Make sure that your VCR is set to record from "line" or something along those lines. Play the movie on your player/computer and hit record on your VCR! Easy!

Can I buy a VCD Player? Yes! VCD Players are the best way to play vcds! duh! There are not a whole lot of places to buy vcd players on the internet although you can contact the manufacturer of the players and ask them where to buy. Sony, Panasonic, Sharp, Pioneer. These are all companies that make videocd players that I know of.

Will my DVD player play VCDS? A lot of newer DVD players will play vcds. The best way to know -- is to check the documentation that comes with the player! I don't know all of the dvd players, and I don't know all of the ones that play vcds, so please restrain from asking me.

Where can I buy a vcd addon for my playstation? (if you have a link for this section, let me know, so I can update it)

http://welcome.to/p6

http://www.gadgetzone.com

Where can I buy a vcd addon for my sega saturn? (if you have a link for this section, let me know, so I can update it)

http://welcome.to/p6

http://www.ncsx.com

Can my audio cd player play vcds? I have heard of addons for audio cd players that will allow you to play vcds. I had gotten some links with information about it way back in the day, but I have not heard anything recently about them. If you have any info/links please email them to slinker@slinker.com -- and I'll check them out, and possibly add them to the FAQ. Thanks

Will my computer play vcds? Yes! almost any computer will play vcds, because they are based on MPEG technology. If you have a 2x CD-ROM, and a videocard with 2 mb or more of memory -- it should work fine. If you are running windows95 or higher -- get the latest version of microsoft windows media player. If you are running mac os, get the highest version of quicktime available for your OS. If you are running windows 3.1 you will have to look for some software that plays mpeg files. Try tucows.com.

What software should I use to play vcds on my computer? If you are on a mac -- use the newest version of quicktime. If you are on a windows95/98 machine, use windows media player. I have found these two to be the best software to use. There are other such as Xing's mpeg player, but they are nothing special.

Are there companies that convert vhs tapes to vcds for you? This is the only one that I've actually come into contact with:

ACME Media, Inc.
Oakbrook Terrace, IL, USA
888-321-ACME (2263)
http://www.321acme.com/

But don't expect to pay $20 -- this is a professional company that specializes in creating vcds for other companies. If you order something from them, or buy a service... make sure you mention you found them through me.

How do I convert a DVD to a VCD? Currently there are no software applications that will convert a dvd (.vob) file to an mpeg. There was some under development that would work with SCSI DVD drives -- but as far as I know it is not finished or publically available. The best way to convert it now is to buy a videocapture card and capture it as you play it... just like anything else.

Where do these bootlegged vcds come from? Most of them follow this proccess: They are cammed or stolen in the USA, sold to companies across seas (such as malaysia) which convert the tapes to vcd and sell the vcds on the street. The vcds are then put on the internet by vcd releasing groups which have access to these movies either by a contact from across seas, or by purchasing them.

Why are there releasing groups? VCD releasing groups are here to serve one purpose. Put vcds on the internet. They usually do not cam/steal/buy them. Sometimes vcd groups actually rip their own movies (such is the case with most DVDRIPS), although the best of them just get good copies from across seas and upload them.

Why do some movies look so bad? They are cammed in a theater. What do you expect? Another reason is because they are traded on vhs tapes 19 times before they are captured by a cheap capture card. VHS to VHS to VHS to VHS does not make good quality.

Why do some movies look so dark? The dark ones are usually the telesyncs. They are usually dark, because the camera they used to camm the movie did not have good backlighting on it. Most telesyncs are darker than the original movie. Get used to it if you like bootlegs.

What is the "Z or THX or AC3 or Globe" in the corner mean? The Z, THX, AC3, and Globe symbols are from the groups who actually buy the vhs tapes and encode them to vcd. I believe this is done to distinquish one release from another. The THX and AC3 is done to dupe people into buying the movies because dumb people will think that's what the audio quality is. Just ignore them, you don't even notice them after a while.

Why is there a counter on my movie? Counters are usually on movies that are still in the process of being made -- such as workprints. They are on there because it will help the film editors determine what scenes should be where etc. I think. There are also some small counters on screener releases, but I'm not sure why those are there. Maybe just to bug you.

Why is my movie missing an audio track? You are probably watching a telesync if you are missing an audio track. Newer sound systems such as DTS have multiple channels of audio. (left, right, back right, back center, etc). When they telesync a movie, they get the audio from an alternate source. It's my guess that they don't include all the channels on a telesync, and that's why you don't actually hear all the sounds in some movies. It might also be that you are watching a workprint version of the movie, where they might not have decided what sounds/music they are going to include at that particular point in the film. Or, perhaps, the sounds or music have not been created yet!

What are screeners? Check my Movie Catagories Section.

What are telesyncs? Check my Movie Catagories Section.

What are telecines? Check my Movie Catagories Section.

What are workprints? Check my Movie Catagories Section.

How do you get movies before they are released in the theater? Most of these are workprints, or ocassional promotional copies. They are made for advanced screening purposes to see how audiences react to the movies so they can make last minute changes, or to see how they will market the movie. Sometimes you will see workprints before they hit the theater because somebody who is working on the movie, or has access to the movie during production stole a copy.

Why is the audio so bad/hollow? When the audio is hollow sounding on a vcd, it is because it was cammed in a theater using the microphone on the cammera, and not an alternate source. Since most theaters are big and open, it gives you that nice hollow effect. These are usually pretty bad, and most people don't keep them.

Where can I download a bootlegged movie? Bootlegged movies reside on FTP sites for the most part. I've never actually run accross a bootlegged movie on a web site. If you are interested in getting bootlegged movies -- then you should check out IRC if you havn't already. IRC is the main hanging place to the bootlegged vcd community. If you don't know how to use IRC, or don't know what it is, then check out

http://www.mirc.com

Why don't you have links to bootlegged movies? Duh! Bootlegged movies are illegal, and any website that has vcds on it is pretty lame. Don't bother asking me for sites, I will completely ignore it!

Help! My mpeg file won't burn to a vcd! If your mpeg file won't burn to a vcd, because it says that it does not follow the whitebook standard, or does not have a specific video/audio bit-rate -- then you will probably have to re-encode it. The mpeg that you are trying to burn does not meet all of the standards of an MPEG-1 movie file. It's like trying to burn a wav file to an audio cd, but your wav file is mono or something like that.

Help! My vcd burning program says my mpegs not correct! If your mpeg file won't burn to a vcd, because it says that it does not follow the whitebook standard, or does not have a specific video/audio bit-rate -- then you will probably have to re-encode it. The mpeg that you are trying to burn does not meet all of the standards of an MPEG-1 movie file. It's like trying to burn a wav file to an audio cd, but your wav file is mono or something like that.

Help! My dvd player won't recognize my vcd! If your dvd player won't recognize a vcd, then either: 1) your DVD player doesn't play vcds 2) you didn't burn a true vcd 3) Your dvd player doesn't read cd-r's 4) the type of vcd you burned is not compatible with your dvd player. The best way to make sure your dvd player can play vcds that you burn, is to burn on a good blank -- such as a kodac gold, To create the vcd using winoncd or videopack4, and to close the session when you create it. I've seen dvd players that won't read vcds, because the session was not closed, or finished.

Help! My vcd player won't recognize my vcd! If your vcd player won't recognize a vcd, then either: 1) It's broken 2) you didn't burn a true vcd 3) Your vcd player doesn't read cd-r's 4) the type of vcd you burned is not compatible with your vcd player. The best way to make sure your vcd player can play the vcds that you burn, is to burn on a good blank -- such as a kodac gold, To create the vcd using winoncd or videopack4, and to close the session when you create it. I've seen vcd players that won't read vcds, because the session was not closed, or finished.

Help! My audio and video are desynched! This usually happens right when you capture the movie. If it is -- there is no real way to fix it. Get in touch with the maker of your capture card and complain. There are a lot of problems with Dazzle having unsynched video/audio -- but dazzle created a fix with the newest driver update. If your mpeg became unsynched because of using ifilmedit, or any other mpeg editing tool -- you might want to get in touch with the software developer telling them what you did for it to become desynched. As far as I know, there is no way to fixed a de-synched mpeg without converting it to AVI, and opening it up with premiere.

Help! My mpeg won't play at all! If you downloaded an MPEG, and it won't play at all -- then there isn't a whole lot I can do for you. Most of the time, people will have problems with MPEGs not playing, though, when they convert it to mpeg with vcdgear. If you converted your bin/cue file to mpeg with vcdgear, and the mpeg won't play with an updated version of windows media player -- try getting a different version of vcdgear, or try using the "-fix" switch when you convert it. You may also try using -raw2dat, instead of -cue2mpg I have heard that works good as well. Other than that, you might try opening it up with X-ing, and re-encoding it, but that's about all.

Help! My rar files won't extract! First make sure you have all the rar files! This is a common/stupid mistake! After that, use sfv32 (found on my site) to check and make sure that the rar files are not corrupted, or fail crc check. In order for you to use sfv on your rar files, you must have the ".sfv" file that came with the original rars. If some of your files FAIL, then delete them and re-download them, don't bother trying to fix 'em. If it still won't extract, make sure you have enough room on your hard drive. People don't take time to look sometimes.

Help! CDRWIN won't burn my .cue/.bin! The most common mistake. Open up the .cue file with notepad, or any other text viewer (DOS EDIT), and look at the first line. It should look something like:

FILE "D:\EVIL\RELEASES\EVILTS.BIN" BINARY

First take off the path, and then, get rid of the quotes. The first line should look more like this:

FILE EVILTS.BIN BINARY

If it's not burning after that, make sure that your burner is supported by CDRWIN.

Help! Videopack4 says it burns my vcd fine, but only half is there! Since videopack4 does not go through the whole mpeg and check it for errors, it assumes the mpeg file is ok when you start to create the vcd. If the mpeg does in fact have an error, it will stop in the middle of recording... it it sometimes does not report that anything was wrong. If you vcd is only half there, it means that you have an error in your mpeg right at that point. Your best bet is to use vcdgear on the mpeg with the "-fix" switch.. or to actually re-encode the whole mpeg with Xing's Mpeg Encoder.

How do I burn a dat file?First of all, if you have a .dat file -- convert it to mpg. You should never want/have/need a .dat file! They are useless! They exsist only because people are lazy/lame. Convert it to an mpeg, and burn the mpeg to a vcd.

How do I burn a bin file? A bin file, is a cd-image. (Read about bin files). They come with a cue file, and you use CDRWIN to burn them. if you burn the bin/cue file after you download them with CDRWIN -- your resulting cd should be a proper vcd. If, for some reason, you can't get CDRWIN to work, convert the bin/cue files to an mpeg using vcdgear. Then burn the mpegs to a proper vcd like you would normally.

How do I burn a mpg file using videopack4? Videopack4 is tied with winoncd for the best vcd creating program out there. They were both made by the same company too. CeQuadrat. If you are setting up videopack4 for the first time -- make sure that you install the correct drivers for your specific burner, this is a must! (http://www.cequadrat.com/support/driver.html) After it's installed, here is what you do to create a videocd.

You should have a top, and a bottom section of the program. The top part shows a windows explorer view of your computer. go and find the mpeg file you want to burn, on your computer. When you have found it, simply click and drag it to the bottom half of the screen. If you wish to burn more than one mpeg, go and find the next, and drag that one to the bottom as well. When all the mpegs are at the bottom, in the correct order, click the record button. It should look like a red dot. It will ask you to verify it, and insert media if needed. Click the ok button -- and let it work it's magic. Thats all.

How do I burn a mpg file using cdrwin? You dont. CDRWIN is used for burning cue/bin files only. (in the vcd scene that is).

How do I burn a mpg file using winoncd? Winoncd (v3.6 or higher) is tied with videopack4 to be the best vcd creating program out there. To burn a vcd using winoncd simply start the program. Apon startup, a small wizard will come up asking what type of cd you wish to burn. There should be a whole section for videocds. Pick videocd 2.0 -- or an equivlent. After you pick that template, you should have 2 sections of the program. The upper section is a windows explorer view of your computer, and the lower section is a tree structure of how you're going to burn your cd. Find the mpeg files that you want to burn on the top part of the program... after you have found them, simply click and drag them to the lower part of the program, and add them to the bottom of the tree. After you have added all the mpegs you wish to burn, click the big record button -- and then let it do it's work.

How do I burn a mpg file using easy cd creator? Easy CD Creator is a pretty good program for creating vcds, although I would recommend videpack4 or winoncd. To use easy cd creator, you must first run the correct program. Videocd creator. When you open up videocd creator, it will start a wizard. Close the dumb wizard by clicking canel, it only makes things harder. Click the insert key on your keyboard to insert a new mpeg into the project. Find the mpeg using the little browser it gives you, and then double click on the file. It should add a thumbnail of the mpeg on the left side of the program. The thumbnail might be purple. If you plan on adding more mpegs to the project, go ahead and add them now. After you found all your mpegs, and there are thumbnails representing all of them on the left side, click and drag each of them (in the order you want them burned) to the right side of the program. Every time you drag a new one over, it opens up a stupid window that shows you a bunch of junk... just click next, next, finish. After all of the mpegs are added to the right side of the program, click the create cd from layout option under the VideoCD Pull down menu. It should then ask you if you want to restrict the usage of your harddrive -- I always pick no, but you can do whatever you want. Then it will come up with a dialog box asking you to create the CD. Do it. That's all.

How do I burn a mpg file larger than 650 mb? ok, now we get to the good stuff. A vcd is burned in mode2, like an audiocd. It doesn't matter how big the mpeg file is, because the only thing that is important is the playing time. 74 minutes for a regular cd. As long as your MPEG-1 mpeg file does not play longer than 74 minutes, it should fit on a cd. I usually keep my mpegs no longer than 70 minutes, because the vcd creation program usually uses some of that extra space for different things on the cd. So don't bitch that you have a 700 meg file, and you don't know how to burn it! it's probably still only 70 minutes or something. TRY IT FIRST!

How do I get my dvd player to play vcds? As long as a videocd is created properly, it should work on any DVD player that supports videocds. Keep in mind that not all dvd players will recognize home made cds -- so that could be the problem. If you make a vcd, and your dvd player isn't recognizing it, then go to my help section for that. If you still can't get it working -- you can go to my message board, or possibly email me.

How do I check to see if my mpeg is in the correct vcd format? The easiest way is to try to burn it. If it works, then your mpeg is correct. Other than that, you can open the mpeg file up with ifilmedit -- right click on the thumbnail -- go to properties, and at the bottom it should say if it's vcd ready. Yes or No.

How do I take a screenshot of an mpeg? I have found the best way to make a screenshot of an mpeg file, is to use adobe premiere v5.0. Open the mpeg up with premiere, add a new movie. Double click the movie, scroll through it till you find the place you want -- then go to file --> export frame... it will create a .bmp still frame, and it looks very good. Then you can use another program, like photoshop to convert it to a .jpg or what not. Xing mpeg player also have a screenshot option, although I don't know how well it works.

Why is Mpg1 here? I'm basically here, because there are not very many good vcd scene pages. I plan to be the best, with the most information. It also gives me an excuse to have a good webpage! I like creating/updating webpages!, but basically I'm here for the VCD community that exsists on the internet. It's fun!

Does Mpg1 provide movies? No. Please don't ask. I won't sell movies, or provide you with links, or places to get movies. Try IRC.

Does Mpg1 sell movies? No. Another dumb question. I don't sell movies.

Does Mpg1 download movies? Suprisingly enough, I don't download that many movies. I prefer to watch them in the theater where they were meant to be seen. If I do download a movie, it's probably because I "sortof" want to see it, and I don't want to waste my time going to the theater. I download the movies I wouldn't normally go to see in the theater because they are too crappy.

Is what's on Mpg1 legal? As far as I know, I'm breaking no laws. If you think I am -- let me know, and I'll do my best to change my ways. I'm not here to get into trouble.

What are .asf files? .asf files are probably microsoft mpeg-4 movie files. The format was created by microsoft for streaming audio and video on the internet. I am very impressed with their new codec, it seems to work very well. The quality is very impressive for how big the movie files are.

How can I convert .asf files to vcds (mpegs)? There are no programs that I know of -- yet, that will allow an .asf be converted into anything else. Since I'm not always up to speed with these new formats, I really don't know. If I'm wrong, let me know, and I'll update the FAQ.

What are .viv files? .viv files are VIVO files. Another format created for streaming media on the internet. I heard they are owned by REAL, but I'm not entirely sure. The files are small, but they are crappy. I'd avoid these.

What are .rm files? .rm files are Real Video files... yet another streaming format for the internet. I've seen some fairly decent real video files, but I usually only get these if it's for a cartoon, or something along those lines.