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From: John Navas <spamfilter0@navasgroup.com>
Newsgroups: rec.video.desktop,rec.video.production,comp.publish.cdrom.multimedia
Subject: HOW TO: Autoplay Video CD (VCD) in Windows
Organization: The Navas Group, Dublin, CA, USA
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Date: Fri, 22 Mar 2002 18:15:02 GMT
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A pure Video CD (VCD) will not Autoplay (automatically play the video on
an inserted disc) in Windows without some sort of "helper" application.
Although there are several ways to create a Video CD that will Autoplay
without a "helper" application, the following procedure, based on
Windows Media Player, is arguably the simplest, easiest, and cleanest.

REQUIREMENTS (for player computer):
1. Windows Media Player (6.4 or above; 7 or above recommended).
2. Windows Me, Windows 2000, Windows XP (or later), or earlier versions
of Windows with Internet Explorer 5 (or above).

METHOD: Use an .ASX Windows Media Metafile (named VCD.ASX in this
document, but any valid filename could be used) to control Windows Media
Player, and an AUTORUN.INF file to automatically launch the .ASX Windows
Media Metafile.  Both of these two files must be placed in the root
directory of the Video CD, as described below.  They should not
interfere with playing the Video CD on a Video CD or DVD player.

The contents of the AUTORUN.INF text file are always (assuming the .ASX
file is named VCD.ASX):
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[autorun]
ShellExecute=VCD.ASX
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The second line uses the standard .ASX file association to launch
Windows Media Player and process the .ASX Windows Media Metafile.

The .ASX file contains text commands that allow you to control Windows
Media player.  A simple example that will play a single video clip:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
<ASX Version = "3.0">
<Title>My Video CD</Title>
<Entry>
<Title>My Video Clip #1</Title>
<Ref href = "MPEGAV\AVSEQ01.DAT" />
</Entry>
</ASX>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
A simple example that will play two video clips:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
<ASX Version = "3.0">
<Title>Name of my Video CD</Title>
<Entry>
<Title>My Video Clip #1</Title>
<Ref href = "MPEGAV\AVSEQ01.DAT" />
</Entry>
<Entry>
<Title>My Video Clip #2</Title>
<Ref href = "MPEGAV\AVSEQ02.DAT" />
</Entry>
</ASX>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Notes:
 * The first Title line (with "Name of my Video CD" as an example) is
optional; if present, Windows Media Player will display your framed text
as a title for the entire Video CD.
 * The lines from <Entry> to </Entry> play a single clip; repeat those
lines if there are additional clips to be played, as in the 2nd example
above.
 * The Title line in a given Entry ("My Video Clip #1" and "My Video
Clip #2" in the examples above) is also optional; if present, Windows
Media Player will display your framed text as a title for the clip.
 * The Ref line tells Windows Media Player where to find the clip.  When
a Video CD is created, your clip(s) will placed in the "MPEGAV" root
folder (directory) on the CD.  The particular clip names depend on the
CD authoring software you use; the example above is for ahead's Nero
Burning ROM <http://www.ahead.de/> (highly recommended for Video as well
as other types of CDs and now DVDs).  The file extension is usually
.DAT, rather than (say) .MPG, but Windows Media Player will still
recognize the format and play the file (if the correct codec is
installed).

(For complete documentation on Windows Media Metafiles, see
<http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/wmplay/mmp_sdk/asx_elementsintro.asp?frame=true>)

Getting the .ASX Windows Media Metafile and the AUTORUN.INF file into
the root directory of a Video CD can be easy or hard depending on the CD
authoring software you use.  In Nero Burning ROM (version 5) it's easy:
after a Video CD compilation (layout) has been created, use the clip
names in the "MPEGAV" folder (directory) to create the .ASX file, drag
and drop the .ASX and AUTORUN.INF files into the upper right pane of the
compilation window (set to "\" root), and then burn.

-- 
Best regards,
John Navas     <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/>
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