from .vf to dvd. HOW?

ana_geobel wrote on 6/23/2003, 9:43 PM
Please someone tell me how to go from my timeline of video clips to a burnt dvd. I can't figure it out and no one has been able to tell me so far.

I can't believe how frusturated I have become over this software. Is it just me, or are there so many things wrong with Videfactory 2.0 (2.0c, excuse me) that it makes sense to snap the disks in half, uninstall the program, and chalk the whole experience up to a bad Sonic Foundry human resources department? Or maybe it's just me.

I've used Acid Music, and know that program backwards and forwards. I don't understand why VF is so difficultly different.

Please someone help me.

ana
ana_geobel@yahoo.com

Comments

discdude wrote on 6/23/2003, 10:19 PM
Video Factory can't burn DVDs (sorry).

Video Factory can create .avi files which you can import into programs that can burn DVD's like Ulead's Movie Factory 2 and Roxio's Easy CD & DVD Creator 6.

Video Factory can also burn VCD's which can be played in *some* DVD players. However, VCD's are not DVD's.

JohnnyRoy wrote on 6/24/2003, 7:08 AM
> Or maybe it's just me.

Welcome to the forum! You sound pretty frustrated for a first-time poster and lots of people find VideoFactory to be one of the most stable, well-constructed software packages they’ve ever used. I don’t know if you’ve used any other video editing software but you won’t find a better package unless you upgrade to Vegas 4+DVD.

What kind of problems are you having? Perhaps someone here can help. As discdude pointed out, VideoFactory 2 doesn’t burn DVD’s because it came out way before DVD burners were available to the public and it was ahead of its time in offering VCD burning which no other NLE in its class had at that time. Unfortunately the program is quite old by today’s standards and so you need a DVD authoring package like Ulead MovieFactory 2 to make DVD’s. Still, it sounds like you’re having other difficulties that perhaps we could help you through. Hang in there. ;-)

~jr
ana_geobel wrote on 6/24/2003, 10:07 PM
thank you discdude. if you don't already work for sonicfoundy, you should. you're the only honest person I have heard from about tihs who also made sense. So I have to get a program that converts avi to something my dvd burner will understand.

what files do a dvd burner understand. I just tried to burn an .mpg. Is that wrong? How can I convert an avi to a file I can burn to make a dvd?

cdex freeware was freat in letting me convert .wav to .mp3. I thought a similar program would work for avi to dvd. are there any, or are Ulead and Roxio the closest things?

thanksana
ana_geobel wrote on 6/24/2003, 10:13 PM
does Ulead convert .avi files to dvd burnable versions? what file versions (extensions) are dvd-burnable? Please don't tell me it depends on my burner, because my burner does dvds.

thanks
ana
IanG wrote on 6/25/2003, 3:01 AM
Welcome to the wonderful world of standards! First of all mpg is right, but it may not be right enough! There's MPEG-1, which is used for making VCDs, and then there's MPEG-2 for SVCD and DVD. BUT, SVCD and DVD use different settings, so you can't swap them around - you have to make an mpg file specificaly for either VCD, SVC or DVD.

What's the best way to do that? It depends on what you want. You can either get something like Movie Factory 2, which will do the conversion and DVD authoring, or you can get a converter like TMPGenc and a separate authoring program. The first way's easier (and probably cheaper), the second way gives you more control. Personaly, I'm into control, but that's more by accident than design.

It might be worth keeping an eye on this thread.

Ian G.
ana_geobel wrote on 6/25/2003, 7:27 AM
what's the difference between a VCD, an SVCD, and a DVD?

OK, I have a digital camera with an ilink. I want to imput my footage into Videofactory, edit it, turn the thing into an .avi (all of which so far I can do), and then......

make it into a disc that people can put into their dvd player and watch.

I downloaded a couple AVI-MPEG free encoders last night from the internet. But they don't specify which kind of MPEG I'm encoding to. Which is the kind that I can play in a DVD player?

Thanks a lot, guys,

ana
ana_geobel wrote on 6/25/2003, 8:02 AM
p.s....

when I eventually get around to burning a video disc, in whichever format is the right one (and I'm counting on YOU to tell me that one:), can I use regular CD-Rs or CD-RWs to make them?

OR, do I have to use DVD-R or DVD-RWs?

Thanks again guys,
ana
discdude wrote on 6/25/2003, 8:32 AM
Oh boy, tough questions to answer.

First of all, DVD, VCD and SVCD are all very rigid formats. They all require your video to be in a certain format, at a certain resolution and at specific bitrates. Also, the data has be arraged in a specific way on the disc. Therefore, I suggest you use a specialized program for burning these kinds of discs.

However, I'm going to go over the general differences between the disc formats before I go into what burning programs to use.

This table should explain everything:

(Disc Format, Resoulution (NTSC), Video Compression used, Type of Recordable Media used)

DVD, MPEG-2, 720x480, DVD-R/+R/-RW/+RW
SVCD, MPEG-2, 480x480, CD-R/RW
VCD, MPEG-1, 352x240, CD-R/RW

More detail can be found here: http://www.dvdrhelp.com. Check out the "What is" menu on the top left of the screen.

As you can see there is a lot of information to memorize if you want to create a file that can be burned directly to your disc. However, DVD burning programs make it easy for you. They will take a DV-AVI (the default file created by Video Factory) and convert it into the proper format for you.

Common DVD burning programs include:
Easy CD and DVD Creator 6 from Roxio
DVD Movie Factory 2 from Ulead
MyDVD from Sonic Solutions

In fact, that last program is frequently bundled with DVD burners. I'd be surprised if you didn't already own a DVD burning program.

Hope this helps.
JohnnyRoy wrote on 6/25/2003, 8:41 AM
Ana,

> what's the difference between a VCD, an SVCD, and a DVD?

Without going into the technical details which you can read all about at www.dvdrhelp.com, VCD is similar to VHS quality and uses regular CD’s. SVCD is better than VCD but no where near as good as DVD and are also burned to regular CD’s. DVD is the highest quality but requires a DVD burner and DVD media. Not all DVD players can play VCD's and even less can play SVCD's.

> I downloaded a couple AVI-MPEG free encoders last night from the internet.

Your best bet is to download the 30-day trial version of Ulead DVD MovieFactory 2 and see how easy it is to create DVD’s without having to know any of this information. Just drop your AVI file into DVD MF2, pick a template, and burn. It’s that easy. I wouldn’t waste my time with free utilities to do a multi-step process and risk messing things up. Just get DVD MF2 and start making DVD’s tonight. Then if you want to go back and understand the process you can do that while your friends are enjoying your DVD. ;-)

> can I use regular CD-Rs or CD-RWs to make them? OR, do I have to use DVD-R or DVD-RWs?

VCD and SVCD use CD media and a CD burner. If all you have is a CD burner, then this is all you can make.

DVD uses DVD media and a DVD burner. If you have a DVD burner, don’t even bother with VCD or SVCD. You won’t be happy with the quality.

~jr
ana_geobel wrote on 6/25/2003, 8:52 AM
Thank you thank you thank you!!!

Now all I have to figure out is why my cd burner (which IS all it is, despite the fact that I have always thought it was an actual DVD burner) WON'T burn video cds. But wait....

Is it possible that my burner IS actually burning them, but my ROM drive in my computer (the only DVD-viewing device I own) doesn't recognize it?

How can you use a VCD if it might not play in all DVD players? Do VCDs play in computer cd drives?
discdude wrote on 6/25/2003, 9:01 AM
VCD's play in computer CD drives but you need special software to play them back.
ana_geobel wrote on 6/25/2003, 9:06 AM
ok, thanks discdude. I followed the link that either you or Jonny told me to follow, and I came up with a software download that I can use to play VCDs, WinDVD4. This might (hopefully_ solve my problem.

I'm still going to want to burn DVDs at some point, but for now, I will practice on VCDs until my movie-making skills are worthy of a $300 DVD burner.

Thank you so much for your help. You don't know how much it means to me. I'd send you flowers if I could. But I sholdn't jump the gun yet.... I will probably need more help.

ana
ChristerTX wrote on 6/25/2003, 9:40 AM
Hello,
I went trough the same frustration as you as I was trying to figure out the various formats.
I now do the following to create a DVD movie.

1) I edit the movie in VF and save it in the DVD compatible format. (MPEG2) This is a smaller file than the AVI so I find that more convenient.
2) Then I use the ULEAD Video Factory ($50). That is a VERY easy program to work with.
You just select your movie to include. You can create great looking menus and include slideshows with still images.
I created a movie from our latest vacation and then included stills as well. From the DVD Menu I can select what I want to watch. COOOOOL !Cheers /

You might want to download a trial version.
It is great and you can create "disk images" on your hard disk that is everything that the DVD would include, just to test your project.
I understand that you don't have a burner yet so you would be able to play with the software to see if you like it.

Cheers / Christer
ana_geobel wrote on 6/25/2003, 9:52 AM
hi ChristerTEX,

The only problem I see for me now is that I can't save to MPGEG1 OR MPEG2 in Video Factory, no matter what I do. I think because of this, i will have to take a different route to burning DVDs (when I finally get a dvd burner, of course) than you take.

Since I can't even save as an MPEG1 in Video Factory for some reason, i can't see buying the MPEG2 converter plug-in. I'm sure that won't work, either. Until I figure out how to save Video Facotry files (or AVI files) as MPEG1s, I am at a standstill.
ChristerTX wrote on 6/25/2003, 10:23 AM
Do you get any Error Messages ?
ana_geobel wrote on 6/25/2003, 10:25 AM
yes, i get error messages. I don't know what they are, though, sincethe program is at home.

ChristerTX wrote on 6/25/2003, 10:30 AM
When you can, please post the error messages. That's the only way to solve that issue.

Doing VCD's and SVCD's are a good way to learn the basics and getting teh satisfaction of having your own project on a disc.
I purchased a $100 DVD player that could play my SVCD's. This was before I got a PC that had a DVD burner.
There is a pretty big difference in quality between the SVCD and the DVD as you can imagine.
The SVCD is more like quality you get when you watch a VCR tape.
Chienworks wrote on 6/25/2003, 11:55 AM
ana, I noticed you say you can't save MPEG files. You should be able to. Are you attempting it and getting some sort of error? Or have you just not discovered how yet? You should be able to Make Movie, Render my movie to a file on my disk, and then choose MPEG as the file type. (I can't tell you the exact prompts at the moment because i don't have VideoFactory installed on my work computer.) Once you've saved the MPEG file to your hard drive you can then use it in other authoring software.

VideoFactory "out of the box" will only generate MPEG-1 files. You would have to purchase the additional MainConcept plugin to be able to create MPEG-2 files.
ana_geobel wrote on 6/25/2003, 11:58 AM
as soon as I choole MPEG1 from the drop-down box, after choosing to write movie to disc, I get an error. There's no real error text,a nd the details are in DOS format.
discdude wrote on 6/25/2003, 12:07 PM
I used to get this error with my older AMD processors. Does your computer have a AMD K-6 processor.

To check your processor type. Go the the Control Panel and double click the System icon. Underneath the General tab there should be info about your processor.
ana_geobel wrote on 6/25/2003, 12:14 PM
I have 550 Mhz
discdude wrote on 6/25/2003, 12:19 PM
I need to know the brand of the CPU. For example, my computer says:

AuthenticAMD
AMD Athlon(tm) XP 1700+
IanG wrote on 6/25/2003, 4:37 PM
>How can you use a VCD if it might not play in all DVD players?
You can check DVD players' ability to handle different standards at VCDHelp. In general, the very cheap Chinese players can handle anything you throw at them. If you've got a Sony, you're in the lap of the gods!

Ian G.
gus2150 wrote on 6/26/2003, 11:48 AM
My sympathies - I am feeling exactly the same way. At the moment, I am just wanting to set up 4 slideshows of still pictures with a menu to select the slideshow. I have already done this with 2 other programs - where it is very easy to do.
I struggled through VF2 just to set up one simple slide show with music. I did render it and burn it on a CD-RW and it does play in my Sony DVD player. However the quality of the images is terrible! Worst I have ever seen. Ulead DVD Picture Show 2 will create a VCD easily and the quality is not bad - about like VHS, like people say. I was told that VF2 would create a VCD with MUCH better quality, but for me, it is MUCH worse.
Also, I do NOT see any way to have the program adjust the timing to match the song, nor do I see any capability for VF2 to create the necessary upfront menu. It appears that all this program can do is collect events and create an output file.
OK, so I set up VF2 to create an MPEG2 file, which I did and it looks good playing in Windows Media Player. My Ulead DVD Picture Show appears to be able to take this MPEG2 file and wrap the menu I want around it and burn a DVD. But I do not have a DVD burner yet. I am tempted to just go buy a cheap one (I saw one for $120 after $40 in instant and mail-in rebates) It's a Cendyne (sp?). Would that work for me?
I realize this is a Sonic Foundry Forum, but again as I look at my Ulead DVD Picture Show 2 software, it looks like I can do the whole nine yards within this program, so why should I use VF2 at all? Does it create a MUCH better MPEG2 file?
There is SO much to learn with all this - almost makes my head hurt. Need to go to Starbucks and wind down. Thanks in advance for your help.