Setting order for Dual Layer burn

daveesl wrote on 9/22/2010, 8:04 AM
Hi everyone.

Here is my problem. I do travel documentaries and each documentary is done as a series of tours. My latest production is about 3.5 hours long, so I'm burning it to two, dual-layer DVDs. The individual tours (6 total) range in size from 1.6 to 2.8 gb in size. So essentially it comes out to 3 tours per DL disk.

What I want to do is to place certain tours on one layer and others on the second layer. The tours were created in chronological order, but are not displayed that way. Due to file size limitations, I have had to put Tours 1, 2 and 5 on Disc 1 and Tours 3,4 and 6 on disk 2. I want to set my layer break at a specific tour.

Now, if I look at the file order on say disk 1, it shows it as T 1,2,5. However, I need to burn it as T 1, 5, layer break, T2. With disk 2, the order should be T 3, 6, layer break, T 4. This is simply due to file sizes.

So, how do I change the order in Architect Pro 5, so that when I choose the layer break I can have the out of sequence tour be last?

Thanks in advance,

Dave

Comments

daveesl wrote on 9/22/2010, 8:39 AM
OH, I forgot to mention that I have already changed the "file order", but when I look at the burning information area, it still shows it in chronological (ie tour#) order.

Also, each Tour has it's own scene selection, so yes I could break it at some scene, but I would prefer to put the break on a tour start. Is the order set by file creation date or by file import date? Those are the only two things that make sense to me.

I'm in the process of rendering now and should be burning in an hour or so. So, while this may or may not be a problem during the burn, I'm just wondering for future reference as I have a gigantic project coming up that will take 8-10 DL discs.

dave
PeterDuke wrote on 9/22/2010, 6:59 PM
I presume you are starting with six video files (and corresponding audio files), one per tour. Start with a new DVDA project with blank menu. In the DVDA explorer, find the first file, right-click and select Insert Media. Repeat for the next files in the order you want them. Each movie will return to the menu when finished. If you want to go to the next one, change the end action to point to the next movie.

Bear in mind that the layer break does not occur exactly half-way in the available data: the first side is slightly bigger than the second.

When you go to burn your DVD, DVDA will ask you if you want to select where the break goes or whether it should be done automatically.
g media wrote on 9/23/2010, 9:21 AM
Hi Peter

I have a problem after i burn a 6GB mpeg 2 file into a double layer 8.5GB single sided DVD+R. I am able to play on a Panasomic DVD plyer but it stopped at point 1hr 20mins. The whole file should last 2 hrs. When i play on my PC, I am able to play the whole DVD till the end, able to select from 1 chapter to another.
What should I select for the break options. Auto, prompt me or select the break and how? Did i miss out something??

Many thanks
mike
PeterDuke wrote on 9/23/2010, 4:59 PM
On your data, 1 hr 20 mins represents 4 GB. Perhaps you mean 4 GiB = 4.3 GB, which is close to the layer break. If the disc plays on your PC then it looks like a compatibility issue with your player. Can you try the disc on a friend's player?

How the break is selected shouldn't be an issue. If it is put in the middle of a scene you may get a small break while the player switches layers, so it is usual to put the layer break at a chapter point if possible.
g media wrote on 9/24/2010, 12:42 AM
hi Peter,
you are right, i noticed when i play it at Panasonic DVD player, the picture stopped at 1hr 20mins. That was also the beginning of the last chapter. I selected 'auto' break point then the 2nd time I burn I selected the break manually. Same result. Don't know where i went wrong........
daveesl wrote on 9/24/2010, 9:15 AM
Hi Peter, thanks for the reply.

Yes, there are 6 individual files. When I first loaded them I did them in tour order ( 1 through 6). I then put in a scene selector menu, which allows the user to go to a specific tour for scenes. Then in each tour I created scene/chapters, which link to that specific tours own scene selection menu. This means I have essentially 3 levels of menus (Main, Primary tour selector for scene, tour scenes). This all works great.

This is a 3 1/2 hour production, using two DL dvds. So what I had hoped to do was to split up the various tours to where 1 or 2 would be on one layer and the third would be on the second layer. I can actually do this by rearranging which tours are on which disk, but I also need to adjust the tour order. As an example, disk 2 has tours 3, 5, 6 on it. Tour 5 is 45 minutes long. Tours 3 and 6 are about 30 minutes each. So, I wanted to put Tour 5 on one layer and tours 3 and 6 on the other layer.

I found where I can "reorder the tours" in the program menu, which I did, but this does not seem to actually affect how they are actually written. In DVDA, when I go to burn, it gives me several options of putting in a break in the middle of 5 and only tour 5.

Now, I used ImgBurn and it gave me the exact option I wanted. So it seems that when I prepare, DVDA actually prepares in the desired order, but not so in the burn sequence. ImgBurn, using the DVDA prepared files, allowed me to set the layer break exactly where I wanted.

I just find this weird.

dave