VCD movies to mpegs?

[7Words]

i have a couple of VCDs and they can be viewed on my computer but the file is a .DAT file.
The question: is the .DAT file basically a mpeg movie file? if so, if i made a backup using the mpeg movie format and stuck it into a standalone DVD player will it work?

thx

[JayMan]

The dat file contains basically a mpeg, but also has other data in it like error correction i beleive. Ok i'm sure i had a bookmark with a site which had dat to mpeg converter somewhere, if i find it again i'll let you know. A dvd player wouldnt' play a mpeg i wouldn't imagine.

JayMan

[JayMan]

ahuh, found that site, http://pages.prodigy.net/jagfire3/ has a lot of tools there, goto video tools and look for vcdgear, that is used to convert dat files to mpeg files, there is also stuff there to convert avi to vcd complient mpeg etc....

have fun

edit: u may wanna make sure ur dvd player will play cd-r's first, i know my brothers dvd player don't like playing them

JayMan

[This message has been edited by JayMan (edited 12-27-2000).]

[7Words]

Hey thanx jayman, that site was exactly what i was looking for.

[Barney]

I'm not a 100% sure,but I think the Sony DVD player my grandpa has plays regular VCD's.Since VCD was used to play movies on a CDI player (DVD and CDI are both invented by Philips)it's logical that it would.Why does Philips always have to invent everything?It's just another great Dutch company. http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif

Ronald

[JayMan]

hmm this i would have no idea on, i have never made a vcd from scratch. Umm yeh i have no idea. Sorry can't help ya with this one. could always try stealling them folders from a proper vcd and just change the music01.dat to your mpeg/dat's.

edit: also remember that proper vcd's have 2 tracks, the 1st track is cd-i, then second is the data track. Don't ask me what this 1st track actually does.

JayMan

[This message has been edited by JayMan (edited 12-28-2000).]

[7Words]

Hey again, i found a great site with lots of info and guides. for those who are interested.
http://www.vcdhelp.com

[7Words]

I'm looking at my VCD contents and there are other files there besides that one .DAT movie file. There's:

CDDA folder [empty]
CDI folder w/ some files
EXT folder w/ some files
MPEGAV folder contains MUSIC01.DAT (movie)
SEGMENT folder contains ITEM0001.DAT
VCD folder w/ some files

Do i need some of these extra files if i'm creating my own VCD from a converted mpeg?
i was planning on playing it on my standalone DVD.