CD+Graphics on Behind The Mask CD
 

Has anyone here seen the graphics included on the Behind The Mask CD? It's the only CD I've seen that's encoded with CD+Graphics. Maybe there's software that you download to see the graphics?

CD+G
 

Well, I'm not sure if you can download it from the discs or not but I have the CD+G stuff from BTM on a VHS tape anyways.

All it really is, is the album playing in the background and the lyrics that are being sung at the time display in the screen with pictures of the band members etc. on the sides of the screen that are free of the printed words if that's of any help. :)

I know Lou Reed's "New York" album from 1989 had CD+G stuff on it too as well as the WB copies of Bonnie Raitt's "Nine lives" & "Green light" CD's (though I doubt the new Rhino reissues of those albums have the CD+G stuff on them, who knows though?! :)

John

No, I don't think the CD+G CD's were made for computer software, as far as I know they only played the graphics in CD players that were sold at the time that included CD+G capabilities so you could hook it up to your TV and watch it on there.

Maybe there is/was a way that it could be played in a PC CD drive, but I've never heard of it being accessed (directly) that way anyways. If anyone else knows, do tell! :)

John

CD+G machines are now mostly used for karaoke. I think on there was a Hendrix discthat was released as a CD+G around the same time.
Just something else in mycollection, along with the Bowie Sound & Vision CD-V, that I'll never see.
:(

Still Interested? CD+G on Behind the mask
 

Are people still interested on watching it on their PCs? I can offer some hints, so let me know.

Also, what is the title of that Reba CD that might have been encoded with graphics?

Yeah, Jimi's Smash Hits album.

Yes CD+G CDs can be played in karaoke machines. As long as you have a screen hooked up to the player, it should work.

I had a Sega Genesis CD game machine when 'Mask' came out, and it played CD+G-

Yes, sure I am. It's like discovering an easter egg on a DVD or a hidden track.
Thanks in advance for your input.

I have a CD+G player (but it's in storage right now) and from what I remember there is pics and the lyrics to the songs. It's actually pretty good but after a few plays you've basically seen it. There is also CD+G discs for Little Feat, Lou Reed, Bonnit Raitt, The Planets (Classical), Woody Guthrie, Jimi Hendrix, Imformation Society and a few others.
I don't know about a Reba disc and I think there was one for Donna Summer. I should be able to burn the images to a dvd but it will probably be a least a month before I get the player out of storage.

Thank you for your offer souldrifter333, but I have to say no thank you. What I'm looking for is basically a software that will enable me to play those discs on my computer. I googled for it and read something about there being a plugin for WinAmp that should be able to play the graphics portion of CD+G.
I've also found a list that made it obvious to me that BTM isn't the only album in CD+G format in my collection. I'm curious as to what's on the other(s?) as well.
Thanks anyway,
and if any one of you should know about or even have that plugin, please let me know.

Bye
Bill

That's how I was able to view it was via my brother's game machine

It's weird...

I bought a box of FM concert videotapes (all circa 1990) off an ebay auction a year ago...and one of the tapes has this (CD-Graphics) as its title...

..but I've never watched it.

I have the disc but have never seen the graphics. Just found this video of the Hard Feelings graphics on YouTube, however:

Is that really what those discs were like? I mean, did the band, or maybe Warner, actually put Frankenstein as a graphic for a Fleetwood Mac song or is that just some fan made video?

If that is what was on that CD then it must have seemed pretty cutting edge at that time.

Three years ago, after a sixteen years quest, I was able to find a copy of the Donna Summer one. Do you have "The Planets"? By the way, I helped Steve Martin with many of the pictures collected at The CD+G Museum. Check it out!

I've so always wondered about the Mask graphics cd after I'd re-read about it in one of the old Rumours fanzines...heck at the time I was so new to collecting so getting one of those cds didn't even enter my mind back than....I tried it on my regular Mask cd thinking it had it but no luck. Would cd players play them now? And how could one find one of those Mask cds? (after all these yrs that is)...I wonder what Stevies songs look like??? :)

Follow the link on previous post to the CD+G Museum. Almost 95% of Behind The Mask are still encoded. Or, using the guide on the CD+G Museum, you can identify if your copy is encoded. If you have access to an old console game, or a Karaoke machine, you are set. Or if your CD or DVD drive can read the graphic subcodes (you can find out with Nero Info, a free tool), then rip the CD to a bin file with CDRWIN (one of many tools). The there is a free CD+G player for the PC that plays the bin file for you. Also, I have rips of Behind The Mask that have been converted to ipod video format. So, when I am doing cardio, I watch my CD+G collection!

Is there a way to convert it to a file type that can then be converted to an MPEG so I can burn it to a DVD?

John

I didn't know Donna Summer had one. Which title is it? I do have "The Planets" and always thought it was one of the better ones that I have. Also if you look at the inner ring of the cd it will have CD+G
inscribed.

Use Power CD+G to Video www.powerkaraoke.com. As its title says, it's a CD+G to Video Converter with AVI and MPEG as output formats.

Donna Summer
 

Yes, Donna Summer's Another Place And Time. This is one of those titles that was released as CD+G in a very limited quantity. Same for Simply Red's Picture Book. Do you have this one too?

Great! Thanks for this. :)

The thing is, I don't forsee buying any other CD+G discs beyond BTM so I hope not to buy this for $40 just to convert the BTM graphics to mpeg.

So do you know if the trial version of PCD+GTV is fully functional for a while (i.e. will it allow me to convet just this one album) or, are there functional restrictions on the free trial version (i.e. will it only convert like half of each song to mpeg or put a watermark on the mpegs I make until I spend the $40 etc.)?

John

I don't have either one of those. I do remember seeing a clip on TV where they said they had been secretly including graphics to cds for a while and they showed the Donna Summer one but I couldn't tell which disc it was. I think I have that cd but not sure if it's the one with graphics though. I'll check when I get home. Right off I don't have a complete list of the ones I have but I think there is at least a dozen. Thanks for the info!

Well, I tried the trial version and it converts just the first minute of each track and has a watermark throughout the minute.

So if anyone does buy this & has a copy of BTM they can rip/convert to MPEG, let me know & we'll work out either a disc trade or an upload trade. Just one request, I'm a full screen kind of guy so if the border could be zero that'd be prefered. :)

John

I've ripped and posted the different songs/videos to YouTube.

Skies the Limit
Love is Dangerous
In the Back of My Mind
Do You Know
Save Me
Affairs of the Heart
When the Sun Goes Down
Behind the Mask
Stand on the Rock
Hard Feelings
Freedom
When It Comes to Love
The Second Time

I still have the original files, but they're in .mov format and might not translate very well to something the size of a TV. I can upload those if you'd like, or I can try to get a larger video output. The original video size I had was quite small, though, so I don't know how the quality of those would turn out.

Thanks very much oaacdi & DeadliestPoison! :)

John

Thanks Greg! These are great.

Thank you for posting these! Its hard to believe this passed as "technology" not all that long ago.

thanks DP...it's always fun to rewatch these vids...:xoxo: