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General discussion

Burning DVD files onto CD

Sep 11, 2005 7:33AM PDT

I've run into a small problem with burning on my laptop. I recorded video on my Sony Handycam DVD camcorder, and wanted to make multiple copies of it. So I recorded all of the video onto 2 DVDs through my DVD Recorder for my TV. I then went and transfered the files from the 2 DVDs onto my laptop, and found out, that in fact my laptop only burns CDs. Is there a way to put those video files onto a CD and play them on a DVD player? Please help!

Discussion is locked

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Burning DVD to CD
Sep 11, 2005 8:06AM PDT

The answer to your question is No. First, have you looked at the storage capacity of a CD? It's 800 MB. A DVD is just under 8GB. That's about 8000 times the storage. Second, CD's are for data, not MPEG2 compressed movies. It's a different format all together. You could use a progam to re-rip the movies off your DVDs, then your movies will be converted into data, then that could then be saved to about 100 CDs for each hour of movie. Actually, the best and correct option would be to get that footage into your computer first, then make a DVD. For this you would need to get an external DVD burner for your computer and buy video editing software...but this would only work if you had a Firewire card on you computer to allow you to import DV footage.

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Thanks
Sep 11, 2005 8:12AM PDT

Okay, thanks a lot for helping me. Greatly appreciated!

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Correct but wrong
Sep 12, 2005 3:33AM PDT

Usually DVD movies are 8gigs howevever most Burnable DVDs are 4gigs, granted there are the new dual layer ones but they are still farely recent and not very many burners or video cameras support them. Also DVDs are not MPEG2 compressed, they are MPEG4 (Pretty sure)

"Second CD's are for data" pretty sure that is a given ... either it is a 0 or 1, laser reflects back or doesn't ... but you can burn video to CDs and it will run in most DVD players they are called VCDs (Video CDs) Before DVDs came around ... didn't really catch on as it didn't offer much improvement over VHS and often times you needed 2 CDs for a complete movie. (Not even close to a 100 ***?)

I don't see why he would need an external DVD burner ... an interal one is cheaper and should be faster ...

Dan Filice (Not trying to be mean but before you start giving advice, take some ... get your facts straight)

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Correct but Wrong
Sep 12, 2005 6:01AM PDT

Tylerpestell,

I know you're not trying to be mean in correcting some of my mistakes. But first, commercial DVDs are MPEG2. I'm not "pretty sure," I am absolutely sure. I work in the DVD biz. MPEG4 is the latest compression method that Quicktime is using. I stand corrected on the VCD issue. Yes, one can burn movies to a CD, but these are typically smaller Quicktimes, AVI or WMP files. The question was in regards to a movie from a DVD. This is way over the physical limits of a CD. And sorry about the incorrect stated storage capacity of a DVD that I stated. Yes, I was thinking about a dual-layered DVD that I use on my computer. 4.7gigs is the standard single-side disc. But, dual-layer burners are rapidly replacing the single-layer units. Still, a single-layer DVD is a huge amount of data. Trying to separate that onto CDs would be virtually impossible. Also, the only reason I suggested an external burner was because I thought it would be simpler...plug and play rather than replacing an internal drive. A litle more expensive for the convenience. Apologies accepted.

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DVDtoVCD
Sep 12, 2005 8:52PM PDT
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I am not completely clear to your question...
Sep 11, 2005 4:10PM PDT

"Is there a way to put those video files onto a CD and play them on a DVD player?"

"DVD player" is in you laptop? If that is a dvd drive then you should be able to play the dvd disc, Or how did you "transferred the files from the 2 dvd to your laptop"?

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Try a demo of...
Sep 12, 2005 3:42AM PDT

Ulead DVD Movie Factory can use said DVD as source content and create... VCD as well as SVCD. Mind you that the space and time isn't as much as DVD, but the demo is free for you to try at ulead.com

Bob

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Similar - but not identical - question about video cd's
Sep 12, 2005 8:28AM PDT

I've got various clips & shorts in mpg and avi format on my computer, and I want to share / show them to some of my less-technically inclined family members.

I have a CD burner but not a DVD burner. Can I burn avi / mpg to a CD and play it in a typical home DVD player? The DVD player in question is supposed to be able to play CDs as well as DVDs, but I was under the impression that video on a CD is not the same format as music on a CD, so would it play?

Also, any advice on what I would likely need to copy my 8mm home video tapes to my computer?

thx,

John

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Similar - but not identical
Sep 12, 2005 9:35AM PDT

MuleheadJoe,

I've only seen tabletop DVD players that can play VCDs. I haven't seen one yet that plays AVI or MPEG movies like Quicktime, although that would be a nice option. But, check with each DVD player specs. I might be missing something and new players might play these formats.

As far as 8mm into your computer, I can't comment on how a PC would take this in, as I use a Mac. But it's probably similar. If your computer is setup for video input and editing, you probably have Firewire input. If so, then borrow a digital camera (mini-DV) that has "analog pass-through", as this will convert the analog signal to DV. Or, if you have a lot of material, get your hands on one of the many analog-to-digital converters that will do the same.

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Try the demo as Robert suggested.
Sep 12, 2005 5:42PM PDT

Don't just burn the .avi/mpg as data file, most standalone player will not support that. You need to create vcd with the video clips. Most dvd player will play vcd.