DVDA Studio: Truncates mpg file

MFS wrote on 5/8/2007, 4:30 AM
I noticed that DVDA Studio 3.0 (and also 4.0) appears to truncate an mpg file that I use in building a DVD. In my current DVD project, I have about 5 video clips and 2 of them have been "truncated." The "media file properties" displays that it has the correct video length (e.g. 1:45 video length) but the actual length (as seen in the preview is about 29 seconds). I also inserted this item into a "playlist" and is displayed as 29 seconds long). I don't know why this is. I rendered those files in mpeg-2 using Vegas Studio platinum and they play correctly as stand alone files.
I even tried to render the file as a Quicktime, and then imported it into DVDA Studio, to no avail.
Today, I just purchased and updated my software from Platinum 6 to 7, hoping that it would go away - no, it did not (using the same file and opening it in the version 7). Thanks for any help and recommendations or work-arounds.

Comments

MFS wrote on 5/8/2007, 5:57 AM
Additional info:
I started a new "test" DVD project only using that 1 "errant" video file. The result: it played properly in DVDAS4.0. Using this newly created project, I am rebuilding this particular DVD from scratch.

It is a workaround but I still don't know why and how it happens and what causes it in the first place.
It is very annoying.
MPM wrote on 5/8/2007, 12:42 PM
Please forgive as this is all guessing -- I've never opened the studio products...

Probably the first tip is to make sure you're using the DVDA template for your mpg2 video.

DVDA will sometimes truncate a file if it's used as a menu background -- just have to adjust the play length in properties. I've seen it do this to imported video it didn't like after re-opening a project, but that shouldn't be the case I think if Quicktime failed also. There was one thread where the poster was having problems because the audio track had a much different duration than the video.

At any rate in DVDA I would check the tracks in timeline view, and make sure the audio & video durations matched. Then I'd see what happened when I moved the end marker further to the right -- if the rest of the video didn't appear, then I'd start looking at the video file itself, regardless how it plays outside DVDA.
MFS wrote on 5/8/2007, 2:37 PM
MPM, Thanks for the reply.

I've been using Vegas (studio platinum 6) to render all my video files for DVDAS (as mpeg2) -- it outputs the mpg and the wav files separately.

I think that the duration times of the video vs the audio is moot in this case, since I've restarted the DVDAS as a new project using that same "errant" file and everything is copacetic!

But it is true that in Vegas (Studio Platinum), I have made it such that the audio track is longer than the video track (e.g. video fades away but the music continues for a few seconds more). Hmmm.
There was a file that still got truncated but does not appear to have this discrepancy in durations. The other errant files seem to have the discrepancies. So, I will continue to experiment with it and figure this out. THanks!!!


Chienworks wrote on 5/8/2007, 6:45 PM
Is there any chance that you inadvertently set an "Out" point in DVDAS' timeline? This would specify where to stop playback of the video.