This is a Windows distribution of the CCDtoVCD software which produces digital photo albums on a Video Compact Disk (VCD), which is playable on a standard DVD player. See the CCDtoVCD web site for more information.
Included in the package are:
CCDtoVCD is written in Java, so your computer must be set-up to use java for it to work. Go to the Java Web Site to download java for your computer.
The installation program will have created an icon in the CCDtoVCD group on the start menu. Clicking on the CCDtoVCD icon should start the program. If it does not, you probably do not have Java enabled on your computer (See above).
Assuming that the program starts, the next thing to do is set the application defaults in the View menu. There are three tabs, in "Temporary Files" specify a directory to use for temporary storage. In 'Video' select the video standard to use (PAL) for the UK, and make sure that the dummy MPEG file is specified as "C:\Program Files\CCDtoVCD\dummy.mpg". A dummy mpeg file is required to make the VCD work. The one included in the distribution is the minimum length to make sure everything is happy.
Next, start a new project (either the File menu, or the toolbar icon). Give your project a name, and press ok.
You will be presented with the main data gathering screen (Collect Images/Build tree tab). Use the right hand pane to set up the menu structure of your VCD by right clicking in the box beneath the word 'menu' to add a sub-menu. The menus can be renamed to something sensible by right clicking on the word 'menu'.
Next, add some photos by selecting the directories containing photos in the left hand pane. Once the directory is selected, the images in that directory will be shown in the centre pane, along with a preview of the selected image. Drag the images from the centre pane to the appropriate menu on the right hand pane (drop into the square box beneath the menu name).
The Menu screens can now be created. If a background image is required, drag the required image from the centre pane and drop it onto the menu title. The menu can be edited by right clicking on the menu title and selecting 'edit', or double clicking on the menu title.
Choose the type of menu from the third tab. "Stepping Stone" is a simple title screen that is displayed before the photos are displayed. "Manual Selection Menu" and "Automatic Selection Menu" require the user to press a numbered button on the remote control to determine which submenu is displayed next (The difference between manual and automatic is that the in the manual option, you must specify which submenus can be chosen by selecting them, the automatic version allows all submenus (and photos) to be selected from the remote control). Pressing the "Automatically Generate Menu Text" will generate a first guess at the text you might like to be displayed on the menu. Go to the 'Image' tab to edit the text to what you want.
Once you have created the structure of your VCD, you must create still mpeg files from your photos using the 'MPEG Encoding' tab.
Go to the "Create XML File" tab next, and press the 'Refresh VCDImager XML' button. This generates the input file required for VCDImager. If you know what you are doing, you can edit this file, otherwise press the 'Save XML' button (Very Important!).
On the 'Invoke vcdxbuild' tab, make sure that the vcdxbuild executable location is set to c:\Program Files\CCDtoVCD\VCDImager\vcdxbuild.exe. If it is not, press the '...' button to select it. Make sure that the 'File to Process (xml) is as was specified on the 'Create XML File' tab. Finaly, give your output file a name (e.g. videocd), and press the 'Invoke VCDImager (vcdxbuild)' button.
Final Step - record your VCD using the 'Burn' tab. Again check that the file names are correct (set cdrdao location to "C:\Program Files\CCDtoVCD\cdrdao\cdrdao.exe" if necessary, and press the 'Burn Baby Burn' button.
All being well, this should record a VCD, which will play in a standard DVD player.
I indend to do the following for future releases....