Comments

bStro wrote on 12/14/2004, 12:27 PM
Using the latest update, DVDA 2.0b?

Rob
geraldFRA wrote on 12/15/2004, 1:42 AM
Thank for the solution, but after update, nothing !!!
bStro wrote on 12/15/2004, 10:00 AM
Alright, well, since this is happening during the Prepare stage, I'll assume that your burner is not an issue (yet). Perhaps it's the files you're working with or something to do with the your harddrive.

What kind of video files are you using? What format, what encode settings, and how were they produced?

Rob
geraldFRA wrote on 12/15/2004, 11:20 PM
All my video are on the external harddisk (LACIE Big disk 500 Go), all in a specific file.
The format is .avi and sound all in .wave.

I try to prepare with 3 other computer, but nothing.
Before to prepare, all message are ok (some links are "overlap") ? But after correction, .....
No exit is possible !!!!
All video have been editing with Sony vegas 4.0
RobbyBoy wrote on 12/22/2004, 8:50 AM
I'm having this problem too. Can no one at Sony shed some light on this? My project contains numerous still show videos created by Vegas 5, and menu background and still show lead-in videos created by After Effects 6.5. Everything previews fine within DVDA, but never makes it anywhere when it starts the actual rendering phase. The project only takes up 65% of the disc, and I have 19GB free on my system drive, and over 400GB free on my data/prepare drive, so that's not an issue. If I make a small project with just a couple of menus (same video backgrounds as the real project), and use just a single lead-in and single still show video, all renders fine.

I did notice that, when the real project is open, DVDA is using a HUGE amount of memory and swap space (my swap file usage grows from around 300MB to near 1GB). I have 512MB of physical RAM. Maybe this is causing some of the problems.

Surely someone at Sony can tell us what this error means. Otherwise, this project is dead in the water. Not a good thing at all.
ScottW wrote on 12/22/2004, 9:03 AM
Are you letting DVDA render from AVI? What happens if you render to MPEG-2 from Vegas using one of the DVD Architect templates?
RobbyBoy wrote on 12/22/2004, 10:53 AM
Sorry, I should have specified what the video formats were. The still show videos are rendered from Vegas 5 using a modified version of the DVD Archtiect template (made it VBR and reduced the average bitrate down to 2Mb). The menu videos are MPEG-2 video streams from After Effects; also VBR, but at an average bitrate of 6Mb. The lead-in videos are the same settings as the menu backgrounds, but are interlaced (for better display of some fast-motion elements). So, the only thing DVDA has to render is the final menu video (starting from MPEG-2), and all of the empty audio tracks.

I'm still testing, but I think it may have to do with the swap file usage. Like I said, DVDA seems to use an incredibly large amount of memory when this project is open. It may actually be hitting the upper size limit of the swap file. I'm going to switch to letting Windows manage the size and see what happens. It does make me wonder, though, what DVDA is attempting to keep in memory that it uses so much.

Update: letting Windows manage the swap file size didn't fix anything.
RobbyBoy wrote on 12/22/2004, 11:23 AM
I just found this in the help file:

"Disc preparation can fail if your project contains complex subtitles or highlight masks.

The DVD specification does not allow subpicture graphics that are too complex overall or on a horizontal line. Please check your project for complex subtitles or complex highlight masks that may prevent your project from being prepared.

If you have subtitles with large amounts of text, break the text into separate lines or events. Avoid using highlight masks with high levels of detail or simplify the mask images."

Not sure what consitutes a subpicture that is "too complex or on a horizontal line", but perhaps this is what is happening. Can anyone explain this limitation better?