I'll assume you are both trying to "Make DVD" within DVD Architect studio, as opposed to doing so within Movie Studio.

Have either of you tried the "prepare" option, instead of using one of the "burn" options? This will create folders on your hard drive that can then be used by Nero or other DVD burning programs to burn the DVD. (I use a free package called DVD Decrypter.)

No I have not tried the prepare option but the point is I should not have to. I should be able to use the current software and use the burn DVD. As far as trying to use Movie Studio, it does not let you burn to DVD. When you use the make movie option it allows you several options and at the end transports everything to the DVD Architect Studio.

Well stated!
The DVD Architect Studio software should function, as advertised.

But to answer the previous question, I have in fact rendered my projects to harddrive sucessfully, in various formats. (avi, mpeg, etc.)
And my Nero software also succeeds in burning those files to DVD.

HOWEVER...Sony's DVD Architect program is supposedly superior to Nero's.
And that's one of the reasons I purchased the Movie Studio package.

Hoping to find a solution to this problem soon. Thanks.

gogiants' suggestion is a good one and worth a try. I had a similar proglem but when I used the Prepare option then Burn I had no problem.

Just a thought.

Actually, the question Gogiants posed was a good one from a troubleshooting standpoint, IMHO. If you choose "prepare, but not burn" and everything works alright up to that point, then the problem is isolated to the burning process. Conversely, if you choose "prepare, but not burn", and the machines hangs, the problem is in the preparation process. If I understand your response correctly, you have not yet tried the exact procedure requested. If you could try that and post the results, it could provide some insight to those who are trying to help.

Thanks for all the insight so far.
Troubleshooting is, of course, a smart thing to do. I'll certainly try the "Prepare" option this evening, when I get a chance to work with my system.
I should also clarify my answer to gogiant's earlier question:
My attempts at "Make DVD" have occured within DVD Architect Studio, as well as launching that application from within Movie Studio.
If I understand gogiants correctly, though, can I assume that he doesn't use DVD Architect Studio because of similar problems on his end? Or am I mistaken?
When all is said and done, I think we can agree that having to resort to using other burning software (Nero, for example) would be a less-than-ideal solution.
Regardless, I'll cross my fingers and report my findings later!
Thanks again.

Here's my exciting update:
I "Prepared" a project to harddrive, which created folders named AUDIO_TS and VIDEO_TS. The "Prepare" option also created various VOB, IFO, and BUP files...all of which we know are common in the world of DVD's.
However, any attempt to "Burn" that project to DVD in the Architect Studio software resulted in the same old lock-up problem.
I did succeed in burning the "Prepared" files to DVD, using DVD Clone software...and the result was a functioning playable disc!
Perhaps it was the lateness of the hour last night, but I couldn't figure out how to author those same "Prepared" files to DVD, using either Nero or DVD Decrypter. I'd appreciate help from other users, on these techniques.
And...of course...it sure would be nice to have Architect Studio 2.0 function completely!
Thanks to all.

Using DVD Architect, when you click the Burn button you are presented with with various options (such as burn speed, the actual DVD device to burn to, etc). Do you get that far? If you could provide us with each step and the exact moment of lock up we might be better able to help diagnose the problem.

So you click the "Burn" button and specififcally what happens next? Those kinds of details all the way up to the computer locking up will help us help you.

Chris

I use DVD Shrink and DVD Decrypter because burning directly from DVD Arch Studio had problems with my old DVD burner, a cheapie that I've since given up on. I got so used to using other programs that I didn't even bother trying DVD Arch Studio directly with my new DVD drive.

As for how I use DVD Shrink and DVD Decrypter (I forgot to mention DVD Shrink in the original post, I think!): I use the "prepare" feature in DVD Architect Studio to create folders on my hard disk. I then use "open files" in DVD Shrink to open the files, and I then use "backup" in DVD Shrink to create an ISO file. From there, I open DVD Decrypter and choose "Mode -> ISO -> Write". Then it's an easy matter of choosing the ISO file and choosing the burner drive.

Seems like a lot of trouble, I guess, but I do this because DVD Decrypter does a great job of presenting status about the blank disc and the progress of the burn itself. I guess I've also become a realist about the problems in getting any given computer to work with any given software/burner combination... I'm happy to go with anything that works!

First, thanks to gogiants for the details on how you burn your DVD's.
Much appreciated.
Mr. Christopher: I'm not at my own computer right now, but I can give you some info. Using DVD Architect Studio 2.0, I invoke the "Make DVD" selection from the "File" pulldown menu. If memory serves me correectly, there are three options presented at that point...
1. Prepare DVD
2. Prepare & Burn
3. Burn (not sure about the exact working here)
The "Prepare" option works fine for me; I'm able to render my files to my harddrive. At that point, other burning applications (like Nero and DVD Clone) have now proven successful at burning those projects to disc. (Joy!!!)
However, invoking ANY of the "Burn" options in Architect results in the type of program lock-up that I described in my first posting; the program fails to proceed, eventually yields a "Not Responsing" message, and is unrecoverable. The only way to exit the problem is to restart/shut-down the computer.
I hope this background info is useful and informative to all. Thanks for your troubleshooting suggestions; they've been very helpful!

Hi,

Did you ever try to check the 'skip drive database' (or similar sentence) in the preferences of DVDA?
According to the help, this might work for some drives with other parameter-settings as stored within DVDA.
Since checking that, I am able to burn dvd-s (but still not rewritables, which do work with Nero). Before that, only a lead in was written to disc.

good luck,

Bart

And now, an update!
Following is a reply from Sony Tech Support, pertaining to this problem:

"Unfortunately there is a known issue with this drive which should be taken care of in the next update for this application. Please watch for the update here:
http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.com/download/step1.asp?CatID=2
For a workaround however, select to Prepare rather than burn and then burn the prepared files from DVD Architect Studio with the Nero program that came with the burner."

So...that would seem to settle that, for the time being.

Sorry for simple question, but I,ve also had lock up with burn option. Sometimes I can't even get to prepare DVD stage- very annoying. I have one project "prepared". Is a video-ts and Audio-ts file. How do I burn these in Nero to produce playable DVD?

Thanks

Jai