Turning iMovies into Video CDs 

Just like iMovie made it easy to create and edit digital video, Toast 5 Titanium makes it easy to share those movies with family and friends. 

Toast 5 Titanium automatically converts video streams into Video CDs that are playable on Macintosh and Windows computer systems as well as most home DVD video players. This makes it easy to share your precious memories with Video CDs.

Installing the Toast iMovie Plugins 
The Toast 5 Titanium installer automatically installs all the files needed to convert iMovies into Video CDs. If any of the following instructions do not work, manually reinstall the Video CD components. The file "Toast Video CD Export" adds an "Export to Toast Video CD" menu item to iMovie's QuickTime export options. To install it, copy the file "Toast Video CD Export" into the iMovie:Resources:Plugins folder. The file "Toast Video CD Support" allows Toast to automatically convert QuickTime files into Video CDs. To install it, copy the file "Toast Video CD Support" into the Extensions folder. Note: iMovie 2.0.1 or later is required.

Using Toast to turn iMovies into Video CDs 
There are two ways to turn iMovies into Video CDs. The first way is accessed from within iMovie. After you have finished your iMovie creation, follow this four-step procedure:
1. Select "Export Movie" from the "File" menu
2. Select QuickTime from the "Export to" menu
3. Select "Toast Video CD" from the "formats" menu
(Note: Use NTSC for the United States and PAL for Europe)
4. Press "Export"
The second method is to select the "Video CD" format in Toast and then simply drag and drop any QuickTime movie onto the Toast Window. Toast 5 Titanium will do the rest. Its that easy. 

Note: Toast 5 Titanium can encode most but not all QuickTime files. If you receive an error stating "The file is not in a supported format" it is most likely a file with compressed video and/or audio in one track. Toast 5 Titanium will not be able to convert this type of QuickTime file to Video CD.

More Information about Video CDs

The Video CD specification (which was developed long before DVD) uses standard audio CD technology for recording and playback of video and audio at a visual quality almost as good as VHS tape. The original intent was to use the large volume of existing CD-ROM technology, both players and CD mastering facilities, to create an inexpensive alternative to videotape recorders, although for playback only. Video CD players never achieved significant popularity in Europe or North America due to the already widespread use of VCRs, but they did become quite popular in China, a vast market that was not yet saturated with VCRs. 

Video CDs can be adapted to most of the same uses as videotape: storing and sharing favorite television programs, family videos, weddings, sporting events, etc. A Video CD player can move rapidly from track to track, much faster than videotape, which must be fast-forwarded or rewound. It can also be controlled by computer program when played on a computer. This makes Video CDs ideal for information kiosks, computer-based training, and other uses for which tape would be impractical. Business presentations on Video CD can easily be mailed to or left with a prospective client.

Video CD Disc Structure

A Video CD disc is physically identical to an audio CD, and has a similar capacity of about 70 minutes of video. It contains several tracks: The first track is a standard ISO 9660 data track containing files which tell the Video CD player how to locate and play the other tracks on the disc. It may also store still pictures, playlists, and menus. The menus allow the user to select from various tracks or "scenes" to play; playlists can present the various tracks in different orders.

The other tracks on the disc are one or more audio/video tracks, which may be followed by one or more standard CD-DA (Red Book) audio tracks. The audio/video tracks use MPEG-1 compression. MPEG-1 compresses the video by a factor of approximately 60 to one. (DVDs use the much less compressed, and higher-quality, MPEG-2 algorithm.)

What do you need to play a Video CD?

There are many options for playing Video CDs. Of course, most PCs with a CD or DVD drive can play Video CDs using a Video CD player application. There are also dedicated Video CD players, but you won't easily find one outside of Asia.

But the most interesting, and useful, way to play Video CDs is on a Video CD-capable DVD player. Most manufacturers clearly mark their players if they are Video CD capable, but there are varying degrees of capability. Any Video CD-capable DVD player can play a commercially stamped, silver Video CD, but you will probably also want to play Video CDs you have recorded yourself. This requires that the player be capable of reading CD-R or CD-RW media.

Testing a DVD Player for Video CD Compatibility

Here's simple procedure: Buy, beg, or borrow a commercially pressed Video CD, perhaps you can find one at a computer flea market or on the Internet. Then, using Toast 5 Titanium, make two copies of this Video CD, on both CD-R and a CD-RW blanks.

Take the original and the two copies to a store with a selection of DVD players. Test the players by playing each disc in turn in the player you wish to test. This will tell you what kind of media the player can handle. It should definitely play the commercial disc, it will probably play the CD-RW, and it might play the CD-R.

It's least likely to play the CD-R disc; many DVD players actually handle CD-RW better than CD-R media. Check the DVD player's manual; most will indicate whether they are CD-R capable.

If a player cannot play the CD-R or CD-RW discs, then it likely won't be able to play homemade Video CDs. However, many DVD players can play back Video CDs recorded on some brands of CD-RW, and not others; my own DVD player has a preference for one particular brand over all others. So don't give up until you try a few brands of both DVD players and media. Also check out www.vcdhelp.com for more information.


