Free online USM to VCD converter

USM files commonly contain game video encoded for CRI Middleware, while VCD players require disc-compliant MPEG-1 video. Conversion is needed when a game cutscene must be edited, archived in a standard format, or authored onto a Video CD.

What the USM format is

USM is a proprietary CRI Middleware Sofdec video container used mainly for prerecorded game footage. Game publishers package video and audio streams inside USM files for titles on consoles and PC platforms; files usually appear in a game's movie, video, or data directories.

A USM file may contain CRI video plus separate audio streams such as ADX or HCA, and some releases use encryption or additional obfuscation. Standard media players and FFmpeg builds generally do not open every USM variant directly, so the usual workflow is to demultiplex the container first and then decode or transcode its streams.

What the VCD format is

Video CD is a disc specification rather than a single ordinary video extension. Its video is MPEG-1, normally stored on the disc as files such as AVSEQ01.DAT in the MPEGAV directory.

A compliant VCD uses 352×240 at 29.97 fps for NTSC or 352×288 at 25 fps for PAL, with MPEG-1 Layer II audio at 44.1 kHz. The usual video rate is 1,150 kbit/s and the usual audio rate is 224 kbit/s. These fixed parameters let older standalone VCD players read the disc, but they provide substantially lower quality than modern codecs.

How to convert USM to VCD

1. Extract the USM streams. Use a CRI USM demultiplexer, such as the USM functions available in VGMToolbox where the file variant is supported, or another current USM extraction utility. Export the video and audio streams rather than simply renaming the extension. Extraction may produce a video file and an ADX or HCA audio file.
2. Make the extracted streams playable. Decode ADX or HCA with a compatible CRI audio tool if the extractor does not produce WAV. Confirm that the video opens in a media player or that FFmpeg can read it. Encrypted or title-specific USM files may require a game-specific key or extractor and cannot be converted by a generic tool.
3. Transcode to the correct television standard. For NTSC, use a command similar to:

ffmpeg -i extracted_video.mpg -i extracted_audio.wav -vf "scale=352:240:force_original_aspect_ratio=decrease,pad=352:240:(ow-iw)/2:(oh-ih)/2,setsar=1" -r 30000/1001 -c:v mpeg1video -b:v 1150k -minrate 1150k -maxrate 1150k -bufsize 327k -c:a mp2 -ar 44100 -ac 2 -b:a 224k -f vcd vcd_video.mpg

For PAL, change the filter dimensions to 352:288 and the frame rate to 25. If the source has a different aspect ratio, the padding in the command preserves it by adding borders; removing the padding will crop or distort the image.

4. Author the disc. Test vcd_video.mpg with a VCD authoring application, create the VCD image or disc, and let the authoring program generate the required MPEGAV, SEGMENT, and navigation files. Burning the MPEG file as an ordinary data file does not create a playable Video CD.

For a simple file conversion without installing software, the converter at 101convert.com can be used for free. Proprietary, encrypted, or unusual USM variants may still need local extraction before the video can be submitted.

Quality and compatibility limitations

USM source video is often low-resolution game footage, so scaling it to VCD dimensions does not add detail. Transcoding to MPEG-1 introduces another lossy generation and may expose interlacing, frame-rate conversion, or audio-sync problems.

Choose NTSC or PAL from the source game's frame rate and the intended player; do not mix standards. A valid MPEG-1 file is not automatically a valid VCD, and some authoring programs reject files with incorrect GOP structure, timestamps, audio format, or bit rate. VCD also has a practical capacity of about 74–80 minutes per disc at its fixed data rate.