Converting to VCD with FlaskMPEG using bbMPEG
You will need only the FlaskMPEG program for this guide
VCD MPEG1 Specs
Resolution : PAL - 352x288 @ 25 FPS ; NTSC -352x240 @ 23.976 or 29.97 FPS
Bitrate : 1150 Kbps
Audio : 224 kbit/sec bit-rate
First read the guide on ripping and rip the DVD to your computer.
Converting to Mpeg
After you have ripped the movie you'll need to convert it to Mpeg1. The following instructions will show you how to do this.
Start Flask Mpeg and go to File and choose "Open Media".
Then go to the folder where you saved your VOB, IFO, and BUP files and select the IFO file that belongs to the main movie. If you just ripped the main movie, then this should be easy because there should only be one IFO file. But if you ripped the entired DVD then you'll have to open the correct IFO file for the main movie. For example, if the first movie file is called VTS_01_0.VOB, then the IFO file to select would be VTS_01_0.IF0. So lets say the first movie file was VTS_03_0.VOB, then the IFO file you would select would be VTS_03_0.IF0. If you still don't get it, try all of them until you get the one that gives you the longest playing time. This may sound confusing right now but I'm sure you'll figure it out. After selecting the IFO file, the screen shown below will pop up.
Select the DVD title to encode. Sometimes there will be more than one to pick from so if that happens, choose the one with the longest playing time. It is also a good idea to take note of the playing time for later. Next choose the audio track. In some cases there will be more than one that says English. So choose one and encode a small part of the movie to see if it is in English.
If you want subtitiles then you can choose one but you will not be able to turn them off if you choose subtitles.
Now press the 'Flask this DVD!' button.
Setting up Flask MPEG
Global Project Options
Select Global Project Options from the Options tab in Flask
Video Tab
Frame Size: For NTSC set it to 352 x 240 or 352 x 288 for PAL.
Time Base: North American movies are NTSC so choose 29.97 fps. All PAL movies (European) should be set at 25 fps. For NTSC movies, you could also choose 23.97 fps (encapsulated film rate) which is the frame rate you would see when you go to a movie theatre. Most DVD movies are encoded in 23.97 fps so using this frame rate also results in a movie with a smoother animation. But if your movie is encoded in 29.97 fps, then use 29.97 fps.
Set everything else as shown in the picture above.
Note: Do not check the Deinterlace button in the Video Structure section because it will decode the movie really slow.
Audio Tab
Audio Mode: Select 'Decode Audio'
Audio sampling rate parameters: You must select 44100 Hz to be compatible with VCD standards.
Post Processing Tab
Resizing Quality Options: Select HQ Bicubic Filtering
Letterbox, Croping and Aspect Options: Check all the boxes.
Files Tab
Choose where you want to save you output file.
General Tab
Compiling Time: This part is IMPORTANT. This where you tell how long the movie is. This is why I said to take note of the movie length.
So lets say your movie was 107 long and its a NTSC movie. First you determine how long the movie is in seconds. So you would take 107 minutes and multiply that by 60 seconds (i.e. 107 x 60 = 6420 seconds). So now you know the movie is 6420 seconds long. Now you have to figure out how many frames there are in the movie. NTSC is 30 fps (or 23.97 fps for NTSC encapsulated film) and PAL is 25 fps. In this case, the movies is being encoded in 23.97 fps so you would take 6420 and multiply it by 24 fps (i.e. 6420 x 24 = 154080 frames). So you would enter 154080 for the compiling time.
Search size: Enter 30000 for this and it should work fine.
Now you are done setting up Flask, so if you want to use bbMPEG as your encoder, keep reading. If you want to use another encoder, then you'll have to read the guide for the encoder you want to use.
Select BBMPEG Plug-In
From the "Options" tab in Flask, go to "Select Output Format and choose the bbMPEG encoder.
Start Conversion!
From the FlaskMPEG control panel, press the 'Flask it!' button and the BBMPEG window should pop up as shown below.
Go to the Settings menu by clicking on the 'Settings' button.and the menu shown below should pop up.
Click on the 'Video Stream Settings' tab.
A. Select VideoCD
B. If your movie is NTSC then change it to 29.97 fps or 23.97 fps for smoother animation if your DVD movie was encoded in 23.97 fps.
Next go the the "Video Stream Settings" tab.
Here you want to make sure that the bit rate is set to 224 Kbps because this is the audio specification for VCD.
That's it! Just hit the start button and the conversion should take about 10 to 14 hours. So just do it at night before you go to bed and it should be done when you wake up the next morning!
Then use Nero Burn to burn it onto a CD but you'll have to use the help section in the Nero Burn program to learn how to make a VCD disc. But there's one last thing to do before you do any burning. You first have to cut the movie into two parts so that it will fit onto two CD's. To do this click here to learn how to cut and join mpeg videos.