How do I tell where error is?

Videot wrote on 5/17/2004, 11:52 PM
I created a video In Vegas 4 opened it in DVDA where I added thumbnails to go with embeded markers. Everything previews OK so I tell it to render & burn.

The message comes up that burn was a success. The disk won't play on either PC or Stand alone player. How do I find where problem is, since it could be media, encoding etc?

Comments

bStro wrote on 5/18/2004, 10:42 AM
First thing I'd try is using a different brand or type of media (start with a DVD-RW or DVD+RW so that you don't waste a disc if it doesn't work). If it works, it's the media. If it doesn't work, it might be DVDA's burning process. Try the same media but with a different burning program -- Nero Burning ROM, for example.

If none of these works, it's probably something to do with the project itself. But if DVDA renders and prepares without complaining, the probably is probably in the media.

For my part, I find (and find it odd) that I can burn successful DVDs on TDK -R media in DVDA, but anything I burn on TDK +R media fails to be read by anything. If I burn the exact some files on the exact same kind of media with Nero, it plays fine. I hoped this problem would go away in DVDA 2, but it has not. Meanwhile, others have reported no problem burning +R media. Weird.

Rob
johnmeyer wrote on 5/18/2004, 10:53 AM
I always preview my files on my computer using WinDVD BEFORE I burn them to a disk. In really critical situations, or where I am doing many unique new things, I also burn a DVD-RW and try it in a set-top player first. Thus, here is my workflow:

1. Create project in Vegas. Insert Chapter markers in Vegas.
2. Burn both the AC-3 and MPEG-2 files, using the BatchRender GUI script.
3. Open DVD Architect 2.0 and author the DVD.
4. Preview the DVD in the DVDA "preview" facility and check navigation, etc.
5. Prepare the DVD to a hard disk folder.
6. Open WinDVD (you could use PowerDVD or any other DVD software player) and navigate to the folder that has the AUDIO_TS and VIDEO_TS folders that were just prepared by DVDA. Play these files to check navigation (not only menus, but chapter forward/back especially when using a mix of "Music Compilations" and regular menu items).
7. Optional: Burn a DVD-RW and check on a set-top player (only when the DVD is going to be duplicated in large quantitiy, or when I have done something unusual -- low bitrate encoding, for instance -- and I want to see what it will look like on a very large NTSC screen).

Hope that helps!
bStro wrote on 5/18/2004, 9:55 PM
I really should use step #6 more often. I usually just prepare and burn all in one swoop. I've been pretty lucky so far, but you never know...

Rob