What is VCDEasy ?

VCDEasy (Freeware) allows you to play your videos (from DV camcorder, DivX, DVD,...) and your pictures (from digital camera, scanner,...) on most of the home DVD Players. How ? VCDEasy allows you to build easily VideoCDs (VCD/SVCD)! All you need to do is to provide VCDEasy with MPEG files compliant with the VideoCD specifications (see below). 'Novice' users can simply select (VideoCD ready) MPEG files and click the 'go' button, while 'advanced' users can configure/use almost all aspects of the VideoCD specifications (PlayBack Control based interactivity, Chapters, Menus support, CD-i support...).

VCDEasy runs under Windows 9x/Me/NT4/2000 and XP. If you have troubles when launching VCDEasy, there is a big chance that it comes form your ASPI layer (in this case, take a look at How to install/check the ASPI drivers)

Here are some Screen Shots.

VCD stands for "Video Compact Disc". It is a CD (same media as an Audio CD) that can contain up to 80 minutes video (PAL or NTSC, with Audio CD sound quality), or 1980 pictures, or a mix of video and pictures. It is also possible to use menus and chapters, similiar to DVDs, on a VCD and also simple photo album/slide shows. VCDs use a compression standard called MPEG1 to store the video and audio. The quality of a VCD is about the same as VHS tape based movies.

A VCD can be played on:

Almost all standalone DVD Players
Standalone VCD Players (very common in ASIA)
Playstations with VCD-addon (Playstation 2 does NOT support VCDs)
Sega Saturn with VCD-addon
Dreamcast with VCD-addon
And of course on all computers with a CD-ROM or DVD-ROMs drive, and with a software VCD/MPEG player.

Hystorically, the VCD is born before the DVD and has been mainly only a success in ASIA. The VCD now comes back strongly because it is an easy and affordable way to make DVD like discs at home! (Thanks to the fact that most standalone DVD players can play VCDs)

Read VCDHelp's "What's VCD?"

SVCD stands for "Super VideoCD". A SVCD is very similiar to a VCD, it has the capacity to hold about 35-60 minutes on 74/80 min CDs of very good quality full-motion video along with up to 2 stereo audio tracks and also 4 selectable subtitles. SVCDs use a compression standard called MPEG2 to store the video and audio.

A SVCD can be played on:

Many standalone DVD Players
All computers with a CD-ROM or DVD-ROMs drive, and with a software VCD/MPEG player.

Read VCDHelp's "What's SVCD?"

VCDEasy, architecture.

VCDEasy's core function is VideoCD authoring (with Movies and Picture) which leads to the generation of a GNU VCDImager compliant XML file describing the VideoCD:

This corresponds to the VCDEasy "minimal" distribution

To ease you the VideoCD creation, VCDEasy is also a Graphical User Interface ("GUI") to some (optional) powerful and free command line tools:

GNU VCDImager: Takes the XML file (VideoCD description) and generate a CD Image file, ready to be burnt to CD-R/CD-RW. GNU VCDImager can also be used by VCDEasy to analyse MPEG files, rip existing VideoCDs,...

CDRDAO: Free burning application. Its integration into VCDEasy has been done only to ease VideoCD creations. CDRDAO does not work will all the CD writers. You can use others burning application to burn the GNU VCDImager generated CD Image files (See the "How to Burn" guides). CDRDAO is also used to provide you useful tools.

MJPEG Tools: Currently, the MJPEG Tools are used to create MPEG Stills (MPEG pictures) from normal pictures... If you want to create PhotoVCD, or have pictures for menus,...

The VCDEasy "full" distribution contains also these extra tool. This distribution is recommended for the big majority of the users.