Burning HDV Home Movies to Blu-ray disks

Comments

Laurence wrote on 6/10/2007, 11:13 PM
Larry, have you messed with Ulead's Photo Impact 12 for more involved HD DVD design?
LSHorwitz wrote on 6/11/2007, 7:07 AM
The end to end process of making an HD DVD is extremely fast, with superb results, if all the settings are correct. The HD DVD / DVD menu maker seems to work well, and the plug in as well as the user manual for the menu maker plugin can be found at:

http://www.ulead.com/pi/plugin.htm

This is a free download.

I like Photoimpact 12 a lot, and bought it even though I have and use Photoshop.

Animated HD DVD menus with very cool effects are just another beautiful feature of this Ulead software.

Ulead's stuff for $50 to $100 bucks makes the Sony Vegas / DVD Architect offering (with its' entire lack of hi def authoring and burning) look like a very weak competitor IMHO.

Larry
Laurence wrote on 6/11/2007, 7:36 AM
Thanks. I'll check it out.
MH_Stevens wrote on 6/11/2007, 10:02 PM
I probably read 80 of the last 99 posts and I see how to make an HD DVD movie on red laser disks to play in an HDDVD player, but did I understand that with InCD such HD DVDs can be played on a regular PC DVD drive? And if so what is the advantage to that over playing an .m2t file from a data DVD?
Laurence wrote on 6/11/2007, 10:06 PM
Menus.
LSHorwitz wrote on 6/12/2007, 7:55 PM
MH_Stevens,

InCD will merely allow you to mount and see the files and folders on the specific HD-DVD disks which are recorded in the newer UDF 1.5 and above formats which Windows XP does not support otherwise. The ability to truly play HD DVDs with their complete menus displayed as well requires an HD DVD software player from such companies as Cyberlink and Intrervideo, both of whom sell such products for about $100.


A free player, VLC, will allow you to see and play the HD content as well as play (as a short movie clip) the animated menu(s), but it has no navigation capabilities. Thus is cannot be used to test and evaluate an HD DVD fully, but does a very fine job showing the HD movie / file content.

Without InCD installed, Windows will give you an error message when you attempt to open an HD DVD-formatted disk made in the newer UDF formats. Fortunately you can also make older UDF fdormat HD DVDs which play fine in the Toshiba. It takes several extra steps and requires additional software to burn the disk, thereby adding complexity to the otherwise simple method using only 1 program which Ulead offers.

Larry
MH_Stevens wrote on 6/12/2007, 8:16 PM
Larry:
I get the InCD UDF stuff - been using InCD for ever, but I did not think a regular PC DVD drive could read the HD DVD format. Forget the menu icing on this cake. Please confirm that you are saying a regular PC DVD drive will read hd DVD disks, AND if this is so why would we ever want a $400 HD DVD players or BluDisk at all?

Michael
LSHorwitz wrote on 6/13/2007, 6:06 AM
Michael,

"Reading the disks" is not the same as "playing the disks".

Without the InCD software, an HD DVD created by Ulead will not mount, open, or show up on your PC. Instead, the attempt to open the disk by double clicking on it results in an error message like: "Windows does not recognize this format". Once InCD is installed, you can open the disk as the folder HD_DVD becomes accesible.

You would still need a player to play the disk. The official HD DVD players from Cyberlink and Interview (~$100 apiece) will indeed play an HD DVD the same as if you had a Toshiba player, full navigation, animated menus, HD movies, etc.

For free, the VLC player will also play the movie content, and also show a menu but not as a menu but only as a movie clip with no buttons. This allows you to see the rendering quality and watch the results even if you have no Toshiba. There will also be no ability to navigate the disk structure, see subtitles, etc.

Larry
LSHorwitz wrote on 6/13/2007, 6:08 AM
I failed to mention.......the disks you will be able to play are ***ONLY*** red laser disks. The true HD DVD blue laser disks require a blue laser HD DVD player such as found in some laptops and desktop PCs.

Larry
MH_Stevens wrote on 6/13/2007, 7:13 AM
LS: Your last post just repeated what you had said before. My question was.... 'Please confirm that you are saying a regular PC DVD drive will read hd DVD disks (with the software you speak of), AND if this is so why would we ever want a $400 HD DVD players or BluDisk at all?"
Thanks
Laurence wrote on 6/13/2007, 7:28 AM
Yeah you could play a Bluray or HDVD red laser disc in a regular PC DVD drive with the approrpiate software. I hardly see that as a substitute for having a player in your home theater though. My PC monitor is only 21 inches and it is in my private work space. My PS3 and Toshiba HD DVD players are in the living room connected to a big HD TV that the whole family and anyone visiting can enjoy. Big difference.

Then there is the whole aspect of these HD DVD or Bluray red laser discs being a DELIVERY format. My end goal has always been to put hd material onto a disc that anyone with the appropriate playback gear can view. I want the final product to be a disc with menus and nice packaging that can be popped into the existing setup that a potential customer might have. I want it to be just like a regular DVD only high definition.
teaktart wrote on 6/13/2007, 9:25 AM
With the right video card that is HD capable ....
and with a hd software/player on your computer could you also play out to your HDTV using the DVI out/in to the tv?
LSHorwitz wrote on 6/13/2007, 10:04 AM
Michael,

My most recent prior reply should have answered your question, and sorry if it was / is vague. You ***CAN NOT*** play hi def disks recorded with blue laser burners nor can you play commercially pressed / stamped blue-laser compatible disks on your PC unless you have a drive which supports these disks. You can ***ONLY*** play back red laser disks which contain normal or hi def content.

Larry
blink3times wrote on 6/13/2007, 10:10 AM
"With the right video card that is HD capable ....
and with a hd software/player on your computer could you also play out to your HDTV using the DVI out/in to the tv?"

Yes, but it is not by any means an easy process.

Most if not all computer software players for whatever reason.. ( maybe because of DRM) won't play to a secondary display... they play to the PRIMARY display. I don't know if you have ever connected your computer to your tv and tried to play a movie to the tv through WMP for example, but what you will see is WMP, the WMP controls,your computer icons.... but what you won't see is the movie.... just a blank space within the WMP window.

You have to switch the tv over to PRIMARY display and then adjust your video card to match your new display.


The whole thing is very much like owning a stand alone dvd player and a computer. Why did you get the dvd player if you have a computer..... because it's easier.

Added: This is about RED laser not blue.... you need the proper drive for blue
4eyes wrote on 6/13/2007, 6:41 PM
Blink3times,
It's one reason I turned to external consumer HD players.

I do play full screen HD video on 2 HDTV's setup as secondary display, one hdmi connection & the other component. It is possible with the correct video card & playback software. The video is really nice, technically better then my HD players.

I agree with you, for my setup it does (or is) become a hassle after a while switching video & audio cables around, then setting up an optical connection for the best audio quality.
I don't reccommend it for the average person not to mention the expense of long dvi/hdmi cables & adapters. There is protection on the secondary display for copy protected material. This can be a problem trying to playback commercial media.

I have to say that playing back from an ATI HD video card connected to an HDTV setup on the secondary dvi port (and as the secondary display) produces a nicer HD picture than any of the HD players I've used so far.
Laurence wrote on 6/13/2007, 9:06 PM
>There is protection on the secondary display for copy protected material. This can be a problem trying to playback commercial media.

Try "AnyDVD" from slysoft.com. It bypasses the copy protection on Bluray, HD DVD and regular macrovision protected DVDs. It really works well. It runs in the background and you just kind of install it and forget about it. It also has settings (which I LOVE) which will filter out the silly stuff that the studios want to make you sit through before the actual movie starts. I recommend it highly.