DVD authoring - what am I doing wrong? • Non-Gaming • Film • Eurogamer.net

coderkind 26 Mar 2005 20:38:18 986 posts
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Hi all,

I'm trying desperately to burn camcorder footage to DVD.

My first attempt was on DVD-R Ritek media, and didn't work on the XBox, PS2, but kinda worked on my standalone DVD player (but was pixelated/jumped around).

Today I bought Maxell DVD-R media from Virgin, burned it again using the "Click-to-DVD" package on my laptop, but it didn't work on anything.

Is there something I'm missing? Why can't I just burn something that works on my consoles/DVD player? Are there any good sites/tutorials about all this, because otherwise it seems I'm wasting money burning disks I can never watch.

Thanks for any help!

BlackJedi 26 Mar 2005 21:02:55 388 posts
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Try using Nero Vision Express. You can get a demo here - get package 2.

Using this, I've never had a DVD fail to play on my laptop, desktop, standalone player or PS2. It's not the software you want if you're a control freak and want to specify every single option; however, if all you want to do is go click click click and hey presto! there's a DVD, this is the package for you.

Machiavel 26 Mar 2005 22:00:44 5,964 posts
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I think Xbox is pretty restricted - won't play any of my DVD-Rs. There's also a problem with different quality readers e.g. my computer has a DVD drive and a DVD-RW drive - many burned disks will read fine on the writer but stumble or skip on the DVD drive.

WoodenSpoon 26 Mar 2005 22:10:00 12,360 posts
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I download and it tells me that my demo version has expired. Which is odd, because I've never installed it before. Are there any alternatives?

reflux 26 Mar 2005 22:54:52 1,804 posts
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I dont think it's the media, rather the program you're using. There are free alternatives but most of them are pretty complicated.

So, try some of the other 30-days offers, like Uleads Mediastudio. Make sure you use PAL settings for your project.

Also, Pegasys make exellent software. They have 14 days trial versions for their encoder and dvd-authoring/burning programs. I use their software on a daily basis at work for simple conversions like DV/VHS -> DVD or WMV.

Deleted user 26 March 2005 23:44:23

I second Pegasys's DVD Author for simple things.

Can you play DVDs on your computer? In that case, you could make an image file of your disc, mount it with Daemon Tools and play it with your DVD software. If it's borked, it's obviously the authoring software that's causing it.

BTW, if you run into tricky media, try lowering the burning speed as much as possible. It usually works for me with certain media/console combos.

coderkind 26 Mar 2005 23:51:06 986 posts
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Thanks for the replies guys.

All the DVDs I've burned play fine on a computer, it's only when playing on the XBox or PS2 that I run into problems.

I've tried burning DVD-R using DVD Shrink and Click to DVD, and neither have played on the XBox or PS2.

I'll try the trial software you mentioned, as it's worth a try. Don't really need fine-tuning options, so those suggestions may just do it, thanks...

Deleted user 26 March 2005 23:57:18

Then it's a media problem or a software problem. How about lowering the write speed? You should also try dvd decrypter to burn images, it's free and very reliable.