"Insert Media (Not Responding)"

Steve Grisetti wrote on 5/16/2009, 7:54 AM

Did we establish that your computer has adequate clean, defragment hard drive space (at least 15% of your hard drive clean) and that you've got the latest operating system updates and Quicktime?

musicvid10 wrote on 5/16/2009, 9:53 AM

Or maybe you're not being patient. Large / multiple clips take a while to load. Depends so much on your CPU, other running apps, etc.

"Not responding" sometimes means "Waiting." Don't pull the trigger and see what happens. DVDA has to do a lot of work to load big files.

banquo wrote on 5/16/2009, 11:19 AM

Thanks for replying. Fair questions.

> Did we establish that your computer has adequate clean, defragment hard drive space (at least 15% of your hard drive clean)…

Yes, there’s 400GB free on the hard drive (less than 25% full) and recently defragged.

> …and that you've got the latest operating system updates and Quicktime

System updates, yes. Not quite the latest version of QT (I have 7.55; latest is 7.60), but I don’t want to update it because I’ve had headaches with the QT installer stealing file associations. The file I’m trying to open is an .mpg anyway, which I don’t have associated with QT. I’m willing to bet the QT version isn’t the problem.

> Or maybe you're not being patient

Just tried again -- have had the hourglass for 50 min. & counting…

musicvid10 wrote on 5/16/2009, 11:24 AM

Well, 50 minutes is too long . . .
How was the .mpg file created?
Try something completely different, like a short .avi file and see if you get the problem.
Might be a lingering priveleges problem from your previous issue.

Steve Grisetti wrote on 5/16/2009, 11:40 AM

Although Quicktime may not be the issue in your case, I did want to say that Quicktime DOES play an important role in video editing and DVD creation, even on a PC and even when working with MPEGs.

banquo wrote on 5/16/2009, 1:36 PM

Ah, finally I have some progress. I'm able to open the smaller of my MPEG files (including one that's 2 GB) in DVD-A. I have two MPEGs that are just over 4GB each (digitized videotapes), and these both hang the app when I try to insert them. These files were created on this PC with my capture device (DVDXpress DX2), and I am able to open both in VideoStudio (I switched to Movie Studio because VideoStudio was misreading the file size in the burn step). PC: a Dell laptop less than a year old, Core 2 Duo T7250, 2GB RAM.
Does this help diagnose?

musicvid10 wrote on 5/16/2009, 4:43 PM

Are you possibly pulling the file off an external hard drive that is formatted FAT32?

banquo wrote on 5/16/2009, 5:05 PM

Nope -- it's the laptop's hard drive, NTFS. Good suggestion, though, given FAT32's file size limitation.

musicvid10 wrote on 5/17/2009, 10:01 AM

"These files were created on this PC with my capture device (DVDXpress DX2),"

That's likely the problem. The mpeg-2 files created by direct-to-mpeg capture usb devices can be very fussy.

Instead, capture with firewire directly to their native format, instead of encoding on-the-fly.

banquo wrote on 5/17/2009, 5:28 PM

> That's likely the problem. The mpeg-2 files created by direct-to-mpeg capture usb devices can be very fussy.

VideoStudio can open both files.

> capture with firewire directly to their native format, instead of encoding on-the-fly

Sorry; I don’t follow. These are VHS videotapes -- their native format is analog, not digital.

musicvid10 wrote on 5/17/2009, 6:12 PM

"VideoStudio can open both files."

Video Studio is a NLE with authoring capabilities. DVDA is an authoring program only. The range of files that can be opened are more limited, and MPEG-2, in particular, should be close to compliant. Have you tried opening the files in Vegas?

"Sorry; I don’t follow. These are VHS videotapes -- their native format is analog, not digital."

Oh, I didn't pick up on that. Can your device capture to DV-AVI? That is a much easier format to work with. Should open just fine in DVDA.

I know that you are trying to save a render step, but unless your capture app can turn out compliant MPEG-2 files, it will re-render anyway when you prepare to DVD. That would apply to any editing / authoring program, not just DVDA.

musicvid10 wrote on 5/17/2009, 7:19 PM

Update:
I had a little time, so I downloaded the manual for your device. It records MPEG Layer 1 audio with the MPEG-2 video stream. This is not the preferred audio format for DVD, and there are other users who have reported not being able to open certain MPEG Audio flavors in DVDA.

The preferred file formats for DVDA are a compliant MPEG-2 video-only stream, and a separate AC-3 stereo or 5.1 audio file. They are both easily created in Vegas, its companion NLE.

Why don't you upload about 2 minutes of raw captured video somewhere and let us take a look at it.

banquo wrote on 5/17/2009, 8:56 PM

Thanks much for the sleuthing. Just to recap, I have 7 MPEGs I captured with this device, and DVDA can open all but the largest two.

> Have you tried opening the files in Vegas?

I had not, but I just tried, and yes! It can open them both. All I want to do to these files is add a chapter menu before burning to DVD, but it looked like I needed DVDA for that. If so, can I convert them in Vegas so DVDA can work with them?
Previously (before wanting to add menus), I have captured videotapes direct to file, and then burned them to DVD with the capture device’s app. The DVDs all play fine.
Here’s some stats on one of the problematic files I collected with MediaInfo. Perhaps it will help:

GENERAL
Format: MPEG-PS
File size: 4.1 GB
Duration: 2h 23mn
Overall bit rate: 4 097 Kbps

VIDEO
Format: MPEG Video
Format version: Version 2
Format profile: Main@Main
Format settings, Matrix: Default
Bit rate mode: Variable
Bit rate: 3 710 Kbps
Nominal bit rate: 8 000 Kbps
Width: 720 pixels
Height: 480 pixels
Aspect ration: 4/3
Frame rate: 29.970 fps
Standard: NTSC
Colorimetry: 4:2:0
Scan type: Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame): 0.358
Stream size: 3.71 GB (91%)

AUDIO
MPEG Audio, Version 1
Format profile: Layer 2
Bit rate mode: Constant
Channels: 2
Sampling rate: 48.0 KHz
Resolution: 16 bits
Video delay: -67ms
Stream size: 229MB (5%)

musicvid10 wrote on 5/17/2009, 9:03 PM

Render to the Mainconcept DVDA NTSC video template.
Render the audio to the AC-3 DVD stereo template.
The name of the audio file should match the name of the video file (except for the extension).

Open the video file in DVDA. The audio file should open automatically.
Make sure your DVDA project properties are set correctly.
Add Menus, etc. to your liking.

Try a Prepare and Burn.

EDIT: Other than the mpeg audio, there is nothing obviously problematic with your file parameters. There is also nothing inherently different about opening large files in DVDA except it takes longer. Certainly 4 GB should not be an issue. Do it all the time on my laptop. I'm beginning to think a memory issue?

banquo wrote on 5/18/2009, 2:35 PM

> Render to the Mainconcept DVDA NTSC video template.

OK, just to confirm, these are two separate runs, right? First the video, with Save As Type: MainConcept MPEG-2, Template: DVDA NTSC video stream. Do I check any of these boxes?
[ ] Save project as path reference in rendered media
[ ] Save project markers in media file

> Render the audio to the AC-3 DVD stereo template.

I don’t see that option in the Save As Type drop-down menu, nor any with an .ac3 extension.

> I'm beginning to think a memory issue?

Shouldn’t be; it has 2GB RAM and am running no other apps. Maybe it’s just the finickiness of the USB-captured files, as you mentioned, which DVDA might be able to overcome with the smaller files but not the larger ones.

musicvid10 wrote on 5/18/2009, 6:23 PM

-> OK, just to confirm, these are two separate runs, right?
Right.
Save project markers in media file if you want your markers to show up as dvd chapters.

->I don’t see that option in the Save As Type drop-down menu, nor any with an .ac3 extension.
i'm at a disadvantage here because I don't have Movie Studio. Look for a render as option of Dolby Digital AC-3 Studio or something similar and choose the DVD Stereo template.

I better let someone with your particular version take over here so I don't steer you in the wrong direction . . .

banquo wrote on 5/18/2009, 6:33 PM

Never mind; I'm back on track. Above I was referring to Tools-->Render to New Track (in Movie Studio). I just discovered Project-->Render As, and it shows an AC-3 audio option, where the former didn’t. Confusing. I’ll give it a shot & post the result. Many thanks!

EDIT: OK, I did all that, and DVDA can open the file OK, but when I preview it I'm getting no audio. The video & audio filename roots are the same, and it shows one video track present and one audio track. But no sound. The help file's troubleshooting section has no entries on audio. I'm stumped again!

banquo wrote on 5/19/2009, 9:08 PM

Still dead in the water here. Per my edit immediately above, I followed the instructions and rendered my video & audio separately in Movie Studio. It now opens fine in DVDA, but I get no sound on preview, despite it showing the project now has one video track and one audio track. I tried loading the .ac3 file with Insert Media, but that just inserts in the menu as a separate button. Anything else I can try to troubleshoot the audio? I've confirmed my speaker is on & working.

TOG62 wrote on 5/19/2009, 10:54 PM

To load the audio track (if it doesn't happen automatically) you first need to double click the video track in the project window, so that it shows on the timeline, then drag the audio track from the explorer window onto the timeline.

Mike

banquo wrote on 5/20/2009, 9:20 PM

It already shows one video track & one audio track in the timeline. I tried dragging the .ac3 file to the timeline from the explorer window. It says “building peaks,” but when it’s done, I still get no audio when I preview the project, and the audio timeline just shows horizontal bars, no audio squiggles.

I’m ready to give up on this g.d. program. Much time invested to date, starting with the idiotic folder permission issue to even get it to run, and I’ve gotten nowhere.