[VCDImager] Menus, PSD files...

[Chris Gallaty]

Hello,
        I'm just getting into VCDs here. I was wondering if there are is
any info on the Net about 'PSD' files or the how to code menus. I know
this is the million dollar question, but everywhere I look on the Net, the
question is usually answered with 'use package X' and never any detail as
to the actual workings of menus. Has anyone seen details of this (reverse
enginneering, etc) on the Net? I don't have the $200 to shell out for the
whitebook spec (and if I did I'd prolly buy a better capture card :) If I
could get a hold of the spec, I think it would be fun to write I program
to setup menus (perhaps in Java). I know people would use it.

        Also, has anyone here played with capturing on a Mac with
Premiere? I have access to a PowerMac 8600 with a built-in TV/Video card.
The issue is that I can't find a file format that I can convert from that
it will output. I know there are Panasonic/Xing plugins to go direct to
MPEG1/2, but I don't mind transfering the files over and converting them
as I suspect that those are pricey. I do my actual buring on a Slackware
box.

        Currently I have a cheap Dazzle parallel port dongle (the older
one, not the DV) While the VCD setting in the Amigo software is nice, I
still have to rip apart the adio and video streams and re-weave them
before buring. That and the quality is low. I think it's the fact that the
hardware can't cache that many macro blocks and so on scenes where it
should only be updating part of the screen, it's actually reencoding the
static parts and you get this jitter-bug effect going on. Kinda like
watching Dr. Katz. I was just thrilled to get video from a tape to a VCD
for the first time. :) Now I'm looking at the amount of stuff I want to
convert and the effort/quality equations are starting to concern me.

                                                Thanx,
                                                   Chris Gallaty

"You sign Prince of Darkness, try Squire of Dimness."
                                        -Tori Amos "She's Your Cocaine"