The DVD format is (mostly) a superset of the existing VCD and SVCD standards. This allows us convert VCD and SVCD to DVD without reencoding the video.

Background

Technically, the higher SVCD resolutions (720×480 for NTSC, 720×576 for PAL) aren’t supported according to the DVD spec. VCD and low-res SVCD (352×240 NTSC, 352×288 PAL) should work fine. But most DVD players will play them just fine. The only issue is that DVD audio must have a sample rate of 48k.

So, all we have to do is resample and reencode the VCD or SVCD audio track, remultiplex the video, and we’re all set.

Software

As always, I’m using Debian sarge.

You’ll need the following packages installed:

• sox
• mpg321
• toolame
• mjpegtools or transcode (for mplex or tcmplex)
• dvdauthor

Converting the Audio

$ vcdxrip -c somedisc.cue
$ mpgtx -d avseq01.mpg
$ mpg321 -w 44k.wav chunk-0.mp2
$ sox 44k.wav -r 48k.wav
$ toolame -b 224 48k.wav
$ mplex -f 8 -o DVD.mpg 48k.mp2 chunk-0.m2v

If you’re using tcmplex, the command is:

$ tcmplex -m d -i chunk-0.m2v -p 48k..mp2 -o DVD.mpg

That’s it. DVD.mpg now has the mostly DVD-compliant stream, which can be mastered in the usual way.

If your player doesn’t play this correctly, you can reencode it. my previous guide should work fine.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 16th, 2005 at 10:15 pm and is filed under Film & DVD, Linux, Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.