burning avi files to vcd

I've got some avi files that i want to watch on my dvd player and so i
want to burn them to vcd. I've downloaded divx to view the files and I
wanted to use windows media player to burn to cd. However as i
highlight the file it says that they may not be enough room (the avi
files last about 45mins) and seeing as a cd holds about 80 minutes of
music, perhaps it won't hold 45 mins of video.When i try to burn anyway
i get the error message and it doesn't burn to the vcd.

What's the solution? Do i have to break apart the avi file into
chapters? How much video does a vcd hold and how small would the
chapter have to be?

stauffer...

Depends on the software you are using. I have never tried burning a VCD
in WMP, but with other programs, some do require you to set up menus,
others give you the option of autoplay (starts up just like a vhs tape,
no menus needed). Lately I have settled on Premiere Elements. It has a
very nice and easy burning section- you can select either menus or
autoplay, and user interface is excellent.

Richard Amirault...

First .. burning avi files on a CD will not get you a VCD.

Second .. buring mpg files on a CD will not get you a VCD, .. BUT .. it may
get you a disk that can be played on some late model DVD players.

Third .. to burn a VCD you need a program (Nero, Roxio or the like) that has
a menu choice to burn a VCD. Some of the free programs that come with
computers and/or CD drives are not the 'full' versions and have this option
greyed out. A VCD is more than a collection of video files on a CD.

NOTE: if you have a working VCD and copy each and every file and folder over
to your hard drive .. then put in a blank CD and burn all those files over
to the new CD .. what you will end up with is a CD with a bunch of files and
folders on it .. NOT a VCD. It will not be recognized as a VCD by a DVD
player. There is a special formatting that need to be on the CD to make it a
VCD, as well as the proper files types and names.

A VCD uses a special kind of mpg file for the video ... not avi files.

Richard Amirault N1JDU Boston,
MA, USA
n1jdu.org "Go Fly A Kite"