iVCD – Mac: Converter and DVD Burner FAQ

 

General

What are the System Requirements for running iVCD™?

What types of movies (output video format) will iVCD make?

iVCD will make the following movie types:

  • DVD
  • VCD (Video CD)
  • SVCD (Super VCD)
  • XVCD
  • SXVCD
  • KVCD
  • mpeg

What types of movies (input video format) will iVCD make in to a DVD, VCD, SVCD, etc?

iVCD™ works with a variety of source movies, including:

  • iMovies (iMovie HD, iMovie 2, iMovie 3)
  • Quicktime movies
  • .mov (MOV)
  • MPEG movies (MPEG-1, MPEG-2, VCD, SVCD)
  • AVI, Divx, XviD, .divx
  • wmv, .wmv
  • For more input file types, see Specifications page

Note: To work with AVI, Divx, WMV, Xvid source files, you need a component. For further information, see the System Requirements

Note: To work with MPEG-2 source files, you need an MPEG-2 Playback Component. (Only required if you have MPEG-2 input files.) For further information, see the System Requirements

Is there an iVCD Tutorial?

Yes there is. Refer to the iVCD Tutorial Page

Is there a free trial?

Yes. For complete instructions on how to use the free trial,

Registration and Installation

How do I install / uninstall the program?

For complete instructions on how to install or uninstall,

When I run the program, it displays the “Registration” dialog. Why?

You haven’t registered the software.

  • If you want to quit, click the “Quit” Button
  • If you are trying to run the demo, click the “Run Demo” Button. For further information, refer to the Read Me in the documentation folder.
  • If you want to purchase the product now, click “Buy Now”.
  • If you want to register the program, enter the Registration Information and click the “Register” Button. If you purchased online, the Registration Information is in the email we sent you. If you purchased a CD, the Registration Information is printed on the CD jacket. For further information about registering, refer to the Read Me in the documentation folder.
  • If you have already bought a Registration key/Serial Number, have entered it and are getting this message, there is an error in the registration information you have entered. For further information, see the “When I try to register, the “Invalid Registration Information” message is displayed” question in this faq.

When I try to register, the “Invalid Registration Information” message is displayed. Why?

There is an error in the registration information you entered. Please follow these steps:

  • Verify that you entered the correct License Type.
    • If you purchased online, check that the License Type you entered matches the one in the email you received from us.
    • If you purchased from a CD, use the License Type “Individual”
  • Verify that you entered the correct Purchaser’s ID/Email Address. If you purchased online, enter the Email address used when the product was purchased. If you purchased from a retail outlet, use the Purchaser’s ID that came with the product.
  • Verify that you entered the Serial Number correctly. Check for the following common problems:
    • typing the letter O or I instead of the number 0 or 1
    • transposing 2 digits
    • adding extra spaces before or after the Purchaser’s ID or Serial Number
    • entering the registration information more than once (click in the field and scroll with the arrow keys to see this)
    • entering the registration information for the wrong product.
  • If that didn’t solve the problem, delete your preferences file and configure iVCD™ again. The preferences file’s location is: “$HOME/Library/Preferences/com.mireth.ivcd.plist”
  • If that didn’t solve the problem, send a copy of your preferences file to Product Support (support@mireth.com) so we can determine the nature of the problem. The preferences file’s location is: “$HOME/Library/Preferences/com.mireth.ivcd.plist”

I can’t find a place to put the Registration Information. Why?

The Registration Dialog Box will be displayed when you start the program, only if it is not registered. If the Dialog Box is not displayed, your copy is already registered. This may happen if you are already a registered user and you have downloaded a free upgrade. Your old registration information is retained. You don’t need to re-register.

How do I know if I’ve successfully registered the software?

To verify whether the product is already registered, choose “Register” from the “Help” menu. If the product is unregistered, the “Register” dialog will appear. If the product is registered, the “Already Registered” message will be displayed.

 

Operation – DVD

How do I convert AVI, Divx or xVid to DVD?

You need to convert the video files, create the disk image and burn the disc. iVCD will do it all for you. For instructions,

How do I convert and burn mpeg (.mpg) to DVD?

You need to convert the video files, create the disk image and burn the disc. iVCD will do it all for you. For instructions,

How do I convert and burn .mov, Quicktime movie, iMovie or iMovie HD to DVD?

You need to convert the video files, create the disk image and burn the disc. iVCD will do it all for you. For instructions,

How do I convert and burn WMV (.wmv) to DVD?

You need to convert the video files, create the disk image and burn the disc. iVCD will do it all for you. For instructions,

Operation – VCD, SVCD

How do I convert AVI, Divx or xVid to VCD?

For step-by-step instructions,

How do I convert and burn mpeg (.mpg) to VCD?

For step-by-step instructions,

How do I convert and burn iMovie, Quicktime, .mov to VCD?

For step-by-step instructions,

How do I convert and burn WMV (.wmv) to VCD?

For step-by-step instructions,

How do I convert AVI, Divx or xVid to SVCD?

For step-by-step instructions,

How do I convert and burn mpeg (.mpg) to SVCD?

For step-by-step instructions,

How do I convert and burn .mov, Quicktime movie, iMovie or iMovie HD to SVCD?

For step-by-step instructions,

How do I convert and burn WMV (.wmv) to SVCD?

For step-by-step instructions,

Operation – MPEG, KVCD, XVCD, XSVCD

How do I convert AVI to MPEG (DVD, VCD, SVCD, MPEG-1, MPEG-2)?

For step-by-step instructions,

How do I convert Divx to MPEG (DVD, VCD, SVCD, MPEG-1, MPEG-2)?

For step-by-step instructions,

How do I convert MOV to MPEG (DVD, VCD, SVCD, MPEG-1, MPEG-2)?

For step-by-step instructions,

How do I convert xVID to MPEG (DVD, VCD, SVCD, MPEG-1, MPEG-2)?

For step-by-step instructions,

How do I convert WMV to MPEG (DVD, VCD, SVCD, MPEG-1, MPEG-2)?

For step-by-step instructions,

How do I make an KVCD?

For step-by-step instructions,

How do I make an XVCD?

For step-by-step instructions,

How do I make an XSVCD?

For step-by-step instructions,

Fix Video Features

How do I make a looping DVD or VCD that will play continuously?

You can use iVCD to make a looping DVD, VCD and more for use in a tradeshow kiosk, or anywhere where you want the disc to play continuously. For step-by-step instructions,

How do I fix video that appears cropped on a TV screen?

You can use iVCD to try to fix video that appears correctly on a computer screen but appears cropped on a TV screen. For step-by-step instructions,

How do I lighten dark video?

You can use iVCD to try to lighten dark video. For step-by-step instructions,

 

Troubleshooting

Can I use the command line interface?

Yes. Open the iVCD™ package contents and look in the Resources folder to find the pre-built command line utilites. If you are not sure how to do this then you should use the GUI.

The program quits right after launch. Why?

iVCD™ requires MacOS X 10.2 or later. If you are running an earlier version of the OS, the application will not launch.

I get an error when I try to burn. Why?

Not all CD-RW drives are supported by Apple Disc Recording, but another burn option is available in iVCD. If the burn fails, change the iVCD preference to use the CDR Disk At Once option (cdrdao). For further information, refer to the Configuring the Preferences section in the iVCD Read Me(pdf).These CD RW drives are known to work:

  • HL-DT-ST RW/DVD GCC-41208
  • LITE-ON LTR-52246S
  • MATSHITA CD-RW CW-7121
  • MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-815
  • PIONEER DVR-105 (A05)
  • SONY ATAPI DVD RW DW-U10A
  • SONY CD-RW CRX140E
  • SONY CRX820E
  • TOSHIBA DVD-ROM SD2002

These CD RW drives are know to require additional CD burning software (like Toast 5 – Toast 6 is *not* required to burn SuperVCD if you use iVCD™ – from www.roxio.com):

  • PIONEER DVR-104 (A04)
  • PIONEER DVR-103 (A03)
  • USB Drives

If you don’t see your drive on this list then please try the built-in Burn function and send an email to support@mireth.com telling us the drive information and if it works or not. Don’t assume that because the PIONEER 103 and 104 drives do not work that other PIONEER drives will not work. You need to try the burn function with each model from each manufacturer.

Drives that are supported must be “generic-mmc” drives and while this includes most, it does not include all CDRW drives. Many third party external CD RW drives are supported so if your built in drive does not work its possible to purchase a low cost second drive that will work. You may be able to burn VCDs and SVCDs using Toast from www.roxio.com if you CD RW drive is not supported by iVCD™.

The SVCD I just burned won’t play on my DVD player. Why?

Not all component DVD player support SuperVCD playback. To find out if your DVD player supports SVCD go here:http://www.dvdrhelp.com/dvdplayers.php

The MPEG-2 (SVCD) I just made won’t play using my movie player. Why?

Your movie player (e.g. Quicktime and Quicktime Pro) does not include support for MPEG-2 playback. To play MPEG-2 media using Quicktime you need an MPEG-2 Playback Component, available from Apple at http://store.apple.com/ under the Apple Software category.

How do I play the VCD I just burned?

For Step-by-step instructions on how to play a VCD on Mac or Windows computer or on a DVD player, refer to our help page:How to Play VCD on Mac and Windows

Why is conversion to MPEG slow?

Conversion speed depends on quality and by default iVCD™ selects the Best quality. You can increase speed by selecting Good, or Better quality and in many cases the resulting video is good enough.Having said that, conversion to MPEG is video data compression and the current state of the art takes time. There was a time when doing conversion was a job for additional hardware. Now it can be done is software but it’s a bit slow – especially on a G3 CPU.

I exported my iMovie to Quicktime and converted it to VCD but it’s pixelated, has wavy lines, or artifacts. Why?

To get the best quality make sure to export your iMovie to DV so there is no Quicktime compression, you need to pick one of the DV options for video output.If you are using iMovie 3 you can skip the export step since iMovie 3 has already prepared a DV .mov file which you can use directly in iVCD – the best quality and no time wasted exporting.

VCD may still have some artifacts during fast pans and large areas of green foliage. SuperVCD will provide much better quality so use it if your DVD player supports that format.

How much video fits on a DVD, VCD, SVCD?

Because DVD uses a variable bit rate to encode video there is no exact answer. At the standard bit rate of 7500 you can get 2 hours on a DVD. However iVCD lets you adjust the bit rate, so if you changed it to 4500 as an example, you could get 4 hoursThe VCD standard is 74 minutes on a CD.

The SVCD standard uses a variable bit rate with a maximum of 2500 so approximately 45 minutes on a CD.

My source movie is too long to fit on a CD? What do I do?

If the source video is too long to fit on a single CD, you need to manually split it into 2 or more Quicktime reference movies. You can use any application (like Quicktime Pro) that can save movies to do the splitting. Just select part of the Movie (shift-click in the movie controller), Edit->Copy, File->New, Edit->Paste and File->Save. Use each reference movie in a different iVCD Project.

My disk has no audio. What’s wrong?

If the original Quicktime .mov file contains MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 media (MPEG-4 is ok), then Quicktime will not extract the Audio. This is a known issue with Quicktime and has been reported to Apple. The result is a disk with no audio.This problem commonly occurs when you download from the Internet if you click on a link to a .mpg, the browser uses the Quicktime plugin to play the movie, and you save the movie from the Quicktime plugin menu. The correct way to download MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 video is to control click the link and save the movie as a .mpg.

Your FAQ doesn’t answer my question / I need further help. What do I do?

Check our Support Page

 

If your question is not answered, please contact Product Support at support@mireth.com. Please include the following information:

  • Problem description
  • If the problem is specific to one of our products, please also include:
    • Software Name and Product Version
      To find the version number,
      Mac: single click the product icon and Get Info (File:Get Info)
      Windows: single click the product icon and show properties (File:Properties:Version tab)
    • What Operating System and version you are running.
      To find the version number,
      Windows: (Start Menu:My Computer:Help:About Windows)
      Mac OS X: (Apple Menu:About this Mac)
      Mac: OS 8, Mas OS 9: (Apple Menu:About this Computer)
    • Whether you are using the trial version or the registered version of the product

 

 

Free trial

Download Now

Buy App

$29.95 Buy App