The Cheap Way to Burn more VCDs to a DVD with IsoBuster and TMPGEnc DVD Author

[benbryant]

The Cheap Way to Burn more VCDs to a DVD with IsoBuster and TMPGEnc DVD Author

Tools needed:

-IsoBuster
-TMPGEnc DVD Author
-TMPGEnc Plus (if needed)


Question: Why should I use this guide?

Answer: Just a few years ago, DVD burner and media were luxuriously expensive. We usually created the home made movies and backed up our DVDs so we could burn CDs with VCD format. Nowadays, DVD burner and media become less expensive. We can afford to create our own DVDs for homemade movies or back up our movie DVDs with blank DVDs. What are you going to do with your old VCDs? Well, to encode a VCD to DVD, you probably need one blank DVD for every VCD encoded DVD but the main thing is that encoding VCD to DVD, IMHO, definitely won’t improve its quality. Since VCD files use an MPEG-1 format which is very similar to the MPEG-1 allowed by DVD, most times it's a simple matter of extracting the MPEG-1 files and using them in a DVD authoring program. How about 5 or 6 VCDs to one DVD and playable in DVD player? Yeah, it logically makes sense, doesn’t it?

Question: Can I rename file extension from DAT to MPG in stead of using IsoBuster?

Answer: While simply copying the .DAT files to your hard drive and renaming to .MPG may sometimes work, this is not the proper method. The .DAT file contains more data than simple MPEG information, and the reason ISO Buster is needed to filter it out. The drawbacks of doing this include distorted video and uncooperative DVD authoring.

Note: This guide is used as a common and basic method to back up and burn your VCD or multiple VCDs to a DVD. As the sequence headers and GOP lengths of VCD are not as controlled as the ones in the DVD specification and the differences between one VCD to another. Also DVD format requires the file framerate to be DVD compatible, for example: 25 fps for PAL and 29.97 for NTSC. I can’t completely guarantee that it will work for you.

OK, let’s get ready to rumble.

For example, you have five VCDs and want to burn them into a single DVD which will be playable in most DVD players. Here is what you should do:

1- First of all, make 5 new, empty folders, for example: FirstVCD, SecondVCD… and so on in your hard drive. Load your first VCD and start the IsoBuster, select the CD/DVD drive where the disc is, locate the folder system with the red ISO logo, and expand the MPEGAV folder. There you will see a list of DAT files, some can be VCD introduction or commercials and some are main movies. Note the file sizes. The larger file sizes indicate the files for main movie. If in doubt, extract them all and preview them with your media player and just delete what you don’t want to keep. To extract the DAT files into MPG files, right-click any DAT file, select the "Extract but FILTER only M2F2 MPEG frames”, type the name as One A.MPG, for example, and select the FirstVCD folder. Be sure to include .MPG as file extension for your file’s name. Click Save when ready. Do the same steps with the rest of your DAT files you want to extract into One B.MPG, One C.MPG…So far so good, right?

2- Next, you continue with your next four VCDs by repeating the Step 1 above. Just extract them to their assigned folders accordingly, second VCD to SecondVCD folder, third VCD to ThirdVCD folder, and so on.
3- Start TMPGEnc DVD Author and press the Create new project button. Press the Add file button, trace to where you saved the “One A. MPG” file, select that file, and click Open. If the TMPGEnc DVD Author pops up an error:

“A video sequence header is necessary for every GOP in a standard DVD. The video sequence header is incorrect. A video sequence header is necessary for every GOP in a standard DVD”.

You should use the procedure “Fix Incorrect Video Sequence Header in MPG File” at the end of this guide to fix all your corrupted video sequence header MPG files before continuing the next step. Otherwise, if no error, go straight to the next part.
4- Most of MPEG-1 files come with the audio of 44.1 Hz which is not compatible with DVD. You don’t have to worry about that because the TMPGEnc DVD Author will encode it to 48 Hz if needed.
5- If you want to add chapter, click the Chapter cut edit button. Click and drag the slider on the timeline where you want to add the chapter and press the Add current frame to chapter button. A chapter point will be inserted on the timeline and a thumbnail will be shown in the Chapter list
6- Continue adding the One B.MPG, One C.MPG…one by one as needed using Step 3 to 5
7- Next, click Add new track on the left column to create the new track for your second VCD. Click the Add file, go to the SecondVCD folder and repeat from Step 3 to step 6 again
8- When you finish adding your VCDs to the TMPGEnc DVD Author, press the Menu button to edit or rename your tracks in your menu
9- Finally, press the Output button, create the DVD folder, and click the Begin output to author DVD. After that, you can burn it with your favorite burning software


How to Fix Incorrect Video Sequence Header in MPG File


When you open and load a MPG file in TMPGEnc DVD Author, suddenly it gives you an error:

“A video sequence header is necessary for every GOP in a standard DVD. The video sequence header is incorrect. A video sequence header is necessary for every GOP in a standard DVD”

Here is what you should do to fix it

1-Open up TMPGEnc Plus and go to File and select MPEG Tools

2-When the MPEG Tools dialog appears, click the "Merge andCut" tab and choose “MPEG-1 System (automatic)” or "MPEG-1 Video CD" for standard CDs

3-Click Add button to open your MPG file(s) and on the Output section, click Browse. When the Save As dialog appears, type in the name and choose a location to save the file

4-Click Save to close the Save As dialog and then click Run on the MPEG Tools dialog to complete the process


After this, you can open and add the repaired MPG file to TMPGEnc DVD Author as normal


Done.

[Zaryu]

Just like to say my appreciation for this guide; helped a newbie like me to do quick and cheap conversion of vcd to dvd.

Tmpgenc dvd author is definitely simple to use for newbies or those who hate wasting time to reencode your vcd(dat) files.

Wondered why nobody gave any comments though. Kinda think this guide by Ben is good enough for the average user.

[tigerman8u]

good guide ben. I can verify this method works as this is the same method and tools I use.

[nancyweeal]

Would like to thank benbryant for the very detailed instructions on how to copy multipe vcds to single dvd - tried it and it works!. You are the best... Thanks again

[benbryant]

Thanks for using the guide and the kind words. I now include the downloadable PDF file for any member who wants to save the guide for future usage

The Cheap Way to Burn more VCDs to a DVD with IsoBuster and TMPGEnc DVD Author.pdf

Regards