Is it possible, given one has the software, to burn a CDR that will play in a DVD player?
Granted, one would have limited space for data, can this be done.
I’d love to dump the home movies into the computer, edit them in something like Premeir and then dump them onto a CDR and mail to family members to play in their DVD boxes.
What’s the scoop on this?
This is called miniDVD. If your DVD player supports it, it can be done, but as you said, the playing time will be severely limited. A better option would be to use a VCD or SVCD. These have a full 80minute playtime on an 80minute CD, and are generally supported by DVD players. You can find more information at vcdhelp.com.
Yeah, definitely go VCD or SVCD. This is also the best way to back up DVD movies if you don’t have a DVD burner.
Not all older DVD players will play the VCD format so make sure yours (or other family members) does before spending time burning a VCD. Most newer DVD players will play DVD\CD\VCD\Windows Media\MP3s etc.
Yes, use vcd.
However, if you attempt to copy a dvd down to cdrom, sometimes you have to include dvd checks, this lets the player know its a dvd in there.
Wow, some actually play Windows Media now? Sweet! I don’t suppose there are any that you can actually load new codecs into, is there?
Well, Apex’s are well known for having easily hacked and otherwise updatable firmware. It’ll depend on your particular player, and firmware hacking is a little bit dicey, as a screw-up will make it unusable. That’s why Apex is popular as a way to make a cheap region-free DVD player–if you screw up, you’re only out 60 bucks.
No, you can’t load codecs into a DVD player.
Some DVD players play Windows Media audio files (.WMA), but AFAIK, none play Windows Media video files (.WMV, *.ASF and some *.MPGs). I’ve never heard about any plans being made to allow DVD players to supoprt these formats. In the near future, however, new DVD players will support the wildly popular Divx codec, thanks to a chip released in April by Texas Instruments.
I’d recommend SVCD over VCD if your player supports it, not only because the quality is better, but because you have more options. For example, if you have a 40 minute movie and convert it to VCD, it will take up only half the disc. You could take that same movie and convert it to SVCD with high VBR settings to make a 40 minute, 800MB movie with very high picture quality.
I do not recommend mini-DVD, as the vast majority of consumer DVD players cannot read a CD fast enough to pull all the data off it in the appopriate amount of time. Plus, even if your player supported it, it wouldn’t be very fun to jump off the couch and change discs every ten minutes.
Note that another plus of VCD, is people you share the movie with who don’t own DVDs but have really decent PCs can watch them on their PCs (and TVs if they have a PC->TV connection).