Copy a VCD?

I'm not exactly sure where to post this question but here goes: I need to copy a home movie on VCD for a friend. I got the VCD to play on my iBook using QT but I don't know how to copy it.

I downloaded VCD Copy X but could only copy the MPEGAV.dat file and not all of the other folders and the .dat file is not sufficient to copy the home movie.

It's not worth it to buy any software (e.g. Toast) for this project but I would like to help her out.

Am I missing the obvious here? Is there a simpler way to copy the movie on to my iBook's HD and then burn a DVD of it? (Is there also a way to make her a VCD copy of it - it's for a family member abroad who may not have a DVD player)?

Posted on Sep 7, 2005 2:42 AM

Reply
3 replies

Sep 8, 2005 12:19 PM in response to Lennart Thelander

LT and NH

If I follow NH's directions,
after clicking "Save" button, I get this error message in a Disk Utility Progess pop-up box: "Unable to create 'VCDCopyLaniSL05.cdr' - Input/output error." (Note: when I went into Disk Utility, I clicked on what I later learned is the "disc session" (the indented CD Icon titled "694.4 MB Untitled 0") instead of the whole Disc Icon (titled "797.4 MB MatshitaDVD-R UJ-845E)

When I first tried LT's directions, I couldn't get it to work but as I wrote it out and duplicated it in this reply, it worked (and I detailed the steps so far at the end of this post) ..but before burning the DVD, I have 2 more questions (couldn't figure it out on Apple's support pages):

1. This home movie is actually on 3 VCDs - Can I copy all 3 on to a single DVD and if yes, How?

2. My friend needs another copy to send to family in a country where they at best can play VCDs. Can I make a copy (I guess I'll have to use 3 CDs) in VCD format and if yes, can I use any CD media (e.g. CD-R) and will the size be sufficient? (even though the MPEGAV.dat says data size is 795.4, in disk utility, the session CD icon had capacity at something like 695.x MB whereas the complete Disk was listed as 795.4 MB)

Original VCD Info:
ISO 9660 File System
Capacity: 62 KB (this didn't make sense to me)

Movie info (from QT playing MPEGAV.dat from original VCD):
Format: MPEG 1 Muxed 320
Source: /Volumes/TOX-VCD/MPEGAV/MUSIC01.DAT
Data size: 795.41 MB

FYI: If I follow LT's directions above according to How to copy previously-burned DVD-R video discs, the following happens:

1. I select the "disk" not just the session. For Max OS X 10.4 and Later, I go to File and choose New and Image from "?" - "Disk Image From (Select a Device)" is not in bold so can't be chosen as an option. The bolded options are "Blank Disk Image" and "Disk Image from Folder".

2. If I choose Disk Image from Folder and click on the CD icon in the upper sidebar, all the VCD's folders (CDDA, CDI, EXT, MPEGAV, SEGMENT, and VCD are listed in the first column). At the bottom I can choose "IMAGE"

3. then I get the New Image From Folder box and Save As "COPYVCD", on "Desktop", Image Format "DVD/CD Master", and Encryption "None"

4. It copied and converted and I ejected the original VCD. There appeared in the disk listing (and on the desktop) a diskimage icon titled "TOX-VCD.cdr" (I'm not sure why it didn't save under my name "COPYVCD"

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Copy a VCD?

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