S-VCD Refresher course needed

[Charles Martin]

> From: "Erica Sadun" <erica at mindspring.com>
> VCD menus can look just like DVD ones.
>
> Honestly, if you're really into doing VCDs, pick up a $200
> PC and consider it an accessory for your Macintosh.
>
> I like Ulead's DVD Movie Factory. Under $50 and can create
> VCD, SVCD, miniDVD, xVCD, DVD, etc. with full menu and chaptering
> support.

Yeah, and there's nothing like that (yet) on the Mac.

Far be it from me to argue with Erica, who clearly knows a lot more 
about it than I do, but won't that "$200 PC" (no such thing in my 
experience) need:

1. A video capture card?
2. An above-standard sound card?
3. A large hard drive?
4. A processor capable of MPEG-2 rendering in a timely fashion?

IOW, while it's certainly better to author VCDs/SVCDs on PCs rather 
than Macs at present (thanks to software like Ulead's), it's not really 
as cheap as you make out, is it?

(having said that, as a *dedicated* VCD/SVCD authoring station, at 
present a PC really can't be beat!)

_Chas_

James Lileks, on Apple's iMovie versus XP's Moviemaker:
"Was [my bro-in-law's] machine cheaper? Yes. But time is money; I've 
never had to claw my way through the sodden mess of a corporate website 
looking for the one driver that will let me do what I want to do. I've 
never had to spend a Sunday afternoon trying to understand what iMovie 
wants me to do, because it does what *I* want it to do. He said that 
Moviemaker made him feel stupid, because he couldn't figure out the 
simplest tasks.
I'll say this for his machine, though: if he ever wants to back up that 
3.3 GB movie file on floppy disks, he's all set."