How to make a Video CD from an MP4
A Video CD is a plain CD-R holding up to about 80 minutes of video, and almost every DVD player made in the last twenty-five years will play one. If you have a phone clip or a family video and someone who only has a DVD player, a VCD is still the cheapest disc you can hand them. It takes two steps: convert the MP4 into the exact format a VCD expects, then burn it.
What a Video CD actually is
The Video CD standard dates from 1993. It fixes almost everything about the video so that any player can rely on it: MPEG-1 video at 352 by 240 pixels and 29.97 frames a second for the NTSC version, a steady 1150 kbit/s, and MPEG audio layer 2 sound at 44.1 kHz and 224 kbit/s. Picture quality lands around VHS tape. It won't look sharp on a big modern TV, but it looks the way people remember home video looking.
Because every number is fixed, a VCD player never has to cope with anything unexpected. That's why the format still works on cheap and old hardware, and also why burning software rejects a file that is even slightly off the standard.
Why an MP4 won't burn straight to a VCD
An MP4 from a phone is almost always H.264 or H.265 video at 1080p or higher, at a variable bitrate, with AAC sound. None of that matches the VCD specification, so the video has to be re-encoded, not just copied into a new file. Some burning programs offer to do the re-encode themselves, but free versions often leave it out, and the ones that include it are slow and give you little say in the result.
Converting first means the burning software gets a file it can write as it is. Nero checks a VCD's MPEG file against the standard when you add it, and a file that already matches goes straight onto the disc.
How to convert an MP4 to a VCD file in your browser
Open the MP4 to VCD converter and drop your video on it. It uses the same settings as the `ffmpeg -target ntsc-vcd` command, because it is FFmpeg, built to run inside your browser. When it finishes you get an .mpg file to download, named after your video.
The first time you use it, the browser downloads the converter, about 5 MB, and keeps it. After that it works offline. Your video isn't sent anywhere: the file is read from your own disk, encoded on your own processor and saved back to it.
It accepts MP4, M4V and MOV files with H.264, H.265 or MPEG-4 video and AAC, MP3 or AC-3 sound. That covers phones, most cameras and most screen recorders. MKV, WebM and AVI files aren't supported. Encoding video is far heavier work than converting a photo, so a long clip takes a while, and the progress bar shows how far through each video it has got.
Burning the file with Nero
In Nero Burning ROM, start a new compilation and choose Video CD as the type. Drag the .mpg file in, add more files if you want several videos on one disc, and burn to a blank CD-R. Each file becomes its own track, so the player's next and previous buttons jump between them.
Use CD-R rather than CD-RW. Plenty of older DVD players can't read rewritable discs at all, and a CD-R costs very little. Burning at a slower speed also helps older players, which can struggle with discs burned flat out.
Other burning programs that make Video CDs accept the same file. What matters is choosing a Video CD project, not a data disc. A data disc with the .mpg on it plays on a computer, but most standalone players won't recognise it as a video.
How much video fits on one disc
The fixed bitrate makes this easy to work out. A VCD uses about 10 MB for every minute of video, and it stores video in a mode that skips the extra error correction a data CD carries, so an 80 minute CD-R holds roughly 80 minutes of video and a 74 minute disc roughly 74. The .mpg files on your computer can add up to more than a data CD would hold, and that's expected.
If your video runs longer than one disc, split it into parts before converting and burn the parts to separate discs.
NTSC and PAL
This converter makes the NTSC version of the standard, the one used in North America and Japan. The PAL version, used across Europe and Australia, runs at 352 by 288 and 25 frames a second. Most DVD players sold in PAL countries play NTSC discs too, but a very old player or TV may show the picture in black and white or rolling. If the player is old and PAL only, burn one short test disc first.
When a VCD is the wrong choice
Keep the original MP4. A Video CD throws away most of the resolution, and you can't get it back from the disc later. Treat the VCD as a way to play the video on a particular machine, not as the copy you archive.
A DVD holds much better video, but it needs a DVD burner and blank DVDs. If you only have a CD burner, or the player really is a VCD player rather than a DVD player, a VCD is the format that works.
Quick questions
Is my video uploaded to convert it to VCD?
No. The conversion runs in your browser on your own computer. Once the converter has downloaded, it works with the internet switched off.
Will the file work in Nero?
Yes. It's made with the same settings as ffmpeg -target ntsc-vcd, so Nero takes it in a Video CD compilation without converting it again.
Can I make a PAL Video CD?
Not with this tool. It makes NTSC only. Most players sold in PAL countries play NTSC Video CDs as well.
Does the tool burn the disc for me?
No. A web page can't drive a CD burner. You download the .mpg file and burn it with Nero or another program that makes Video CDs.
Can I convert an MKV or WebM video?
No. The converter reads MP4, M4V and MOV files. Most phones and cameras already record one of those.
Why did my video fail with a message about a sound track?
A Video CD must have sound, and the file had none. Add a silent audio track in a video editor and try again.
How long a video fits on one CD?
About 80 minutes on an 80 minute CD-R. The file uses roughly 10 MB per minute.