does original format matter?
 

This is probably a dumb sounding question...

I am interested in making some video CD's of some programs and since in Premiere, 'Printing to Web' is where one finds the option to output to CD format (basically a data-starved, .avi file), I am hoping this is the correct forum.

I've made a few test videos to see how Premiere works, and output is okay. What I'm curious about is whether the original format (NTSC, PAL, SECAM) matters for a video CD file. For example, I record in NTSC and want to distribute the CD's to areas where PAL and SECAM are used. Will the CD play correctly on PC's in those areas?

Sincerely,
Ron Johnson
Portland, OR

Basically you have two sorts of CD's:

1. Data CD with an AVI/MPEG/QuickTime file etc. on it:
These will play on all computers if people have the right playback
software and/or compression codecs installed

2. VCD, SVCD or DVD:
These will also play fine on ALL computers with the right software
(VCD should be playable by default on almost any). HOWEVER,
since these are VIDEO discs they can also be played on seperate
devices like DVD players. Now these will probably all read NTSC
but the TV they are displaying it on will probably NOT! So then
there is a problem.

However, computers do not care about PAL/NTSC/SECAM or the
next best thing to come out and will play everything (with the
right software).

And in Europe more and more people get multi-standard TV's
(most new ones sold have multi-standard) and WILL play back
PAL, NTSC & SECAM in its many forms. I know my TV does at least
(which is great for my NTSC collection of DVD's while I am in a PAL
country).

Hope this explaines!

Hi.
You may want to also consider using a Flash projector for your video. A Flash projector contains both the Flash video and the Flash player, so the end user does not need any other player to view the video. You can create Flash projectors for both Windows and Mac and the new MX video quality is really excellent.
We have a tutorial on it here:
http://www.wildform.com/tutorials/flashvideoforcdroms/index.php
Another useful site you may want to check out is:
www.vcdhelp.com

jb