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ACP VCD to KVCD Guide 1.
2 x VCD to 1 Disk KVCD.
First take the 2 files and put them in a folder to work on:
If you have AVSEQ01.DAT files on ready cut video CD's simply copy them individually into the folder and rename them to .mpg files.
Now we need to join them into a single file, you can use many tools for this purpose.
I am going to use VCDCutter here but Tmpgenc's MPEG tools also has a good MPEG join tool.
1. Open VCDCutter and choose Open Movies on the File Menu.
You need to select multiple files in REVERSE order in VCDCutter, so be sure to SHIFT or CTRL click the LAST file first followed by the FIRST file.
Ensure as above the files are listed in the correct order in the "File name" box! and hit open.
2. Join the files using the "Join Clips..." option on the Edit menu.
You will be prompted to choose a file name for the joined MPEG file:
Choose a suitable filename and hit save. VCDCutter will then join the file and you will be ready to start re-encoding.
Above you see the source files along with the new Joined file. Make sure the joined file plays correctly! this is very important as if the originals were encoded with variable bit-rate or contained some MPEG errors the joined file may not play correctly!
Also now when you play the joined film make a note of the total running time! you want to check this against the finished movie when you have done the entire encoding process.
3. Get the information on the file. You need to know the source file's resolution and frame rate.
Use Windows Media Player 6.4 to get this information.
As above, right click on the movie as it plays, here the resolution is 352 x 240 which is NTSC standard VCD, PAL will be 352 x 288.
Go to the Advanced tab on the properties box:
Then click MPEG Video Decoder and hit the Properties button, you get the following:
From this you need to confirm the Frame Rate is either 25.0 for PAL or 29.97 for NTSC.
You could use a utility like the GSPOT info tool to get the movie properties too.
4. Make a basic AVIsyth Script to allow ACP to open the MPEG file.
Use notepad to save the following text as a .avs file:
DirectShowSource("C:\MYFOLDER\MYFILE.MPG")
#crop(left,top,right, bottom)
#Crop(0, 0, -0, -0)
#BicubicResize(clip clip int target_width, int target_height, float b, float c)
BicubicResize( 352, 240, 1/3, 1/3)
OK note here you must change the MYFOLDER and MYFILE to the correct names of the ones you are working on!
Also you MUST! match the 352, 240 part of the resize line to your file! if you are re-encoding a PAL movie you have to change it to 352, 288.
for example my finished script appears like this:
Now, don't worry about the lines beginning with # this makes them a comment line. The crop command I leave in as it can be useful to remove noise from the edges of a source file. The resize command is ESSENTIAL with ACP as this prevents the Aspect Ratio from being distorted.
When you are finished save the file with a .AVS extension.
For the lazier among you here are the ready made .avs files for you to download!
OK, people may tell you the script has no filter etc. BUT the aim of this guide was to start people off and get the basics done.
You should be able to do a 2x VCD to 1 disk KVCD conversion quickly and easily with this guide. Visit the AVIsynth website and also the KVCD.net AVIsynth forum for more information on advanced scripting if you so wish.
5. Make sure the .avs file plays correctly in Media player!
Simply open the .avs file you made and play it and skip through. This is important!! if you get an avisynth error you would otherwise waste alot of time encoding the error message instead of your movies picture!
6. Run ACP and open your .avs file:
Browse to your .avs and hit open.
After a brief pause your .avs file will appear in the avi file box.
Now check the Custom AVS tab:
Make sure the "Has this script resize commands" box is checked!! this maintains the aspect ratio of the movie, without this sometimes the re-encoded film will be distorted.
Next, check your Video Settings:
For NTSC movies I always encode at 23.976 Frames per second as you get a little higher image quality than at 29.97 Fps.
Also set the Max frames per gop to 18 and ensure the resolution matches your source film (352 x 240 for NTSC and 352 x 288 for PAL!)
Check the detect scene change box and all is ready.
Now check your Audio settings:
If the movie gets much longer than 90 minutes I recommend to drop the audio bit-rate down to 112 unless the sound quality is of utmost importance, say in the case of a musical video. Higher audio bit-rate leaves LESS space for the video! you have to choose which is more important.
Finally check the general ACP settings tab:
These are the settings I usually use, they should be the same really as most of this can be left at default.
Note the "use tmpeg for audio and mux" check box, if your system crashes during audio encoding or mux, you could try this which will use tmpgenc to do those steps too.
Now Simply go back to the main VCD tab as above, check your OUTPUT SIZE setting and hit start.
I recommend 790mb as the size setting here to avoid getting an output file too large for an 80 minute CD.
Sit back and after a while ACP will produce a finished KVCD file for you.
Thanks very much to Delaosa for writing ACP! it's a superb program and produces excellent results.