Testing final DVD: Is this a cause for concern?

Sierra Nomad Photography wrote on 2/24/2010, 5:00 PM
I have 2 issues to ask about, and will start another thread for the other "problem".

Tested my DVD on 4 players. Plays and navigates fine on 3. On the 4th it plays fine sometimes, and other times the navigation buttons don't always go where they're supposed to. Sometimes it leads to another feature, other times it stops playing the DVD and when you press "play" it starts as if it were just put in. When it has these navigation issues, it also has a problem with the audio (ac3). It "stutters".

But if I stop it and start over the issues go away.

Will these issues likely go away when the DVD is replicated?

Again, plays great on 3 of 4, and sometimes on the 4th.

I'm ready to pull my hair out, because this project has already taken me months longer than I planned. :)

I appreciate hearing from your experience.

Jon

Comments

johnmeyer wrote on 2/24/2010, 6:57 PM
The first thing to do is test the DVD to see if you have created a DVD with a high error rate. To test a DVD, download and run DVD Speed (although it has been renamed):

nero dvd speed

You want to run the "Disc Quality" test.

Hopefully this will work with your DVD burner. If not, try running it on another computer with a different DVD burner. I seem to remember that it doesn't work with Pioneer burners.

You should get a low error rate throughout the entire disc. When the disc test is finished, you will get an overall quality score and it should be reasonably high. Quality scores in the single digits or near zero are a sure sign of either bad media or a failing DVD burner.

You may also be seeing a problem related to how you structured the DVD. If you used multiple MPEG-2 files, rather than just one big MPEG-2 file, then the DVD will be created with multiple titlesets. It turns out that some DVD players navigate across titleset boundaries differently than other DVD players. In particular, when you press the chapter advance button on the remote, some DVD players will advance to the next titleset if their are not more chapters in the current titleset. Other DVD players will do nothing. So, that's a possibility.

However, the fact that you are getting "stuttering" makes it sound more like a DVD burn problem.
Sierra Nomad Photography wrote on 2/24/2010, 9:56 PM
Thanks John.

I'll download and check my DVD. I do have multiple mpeg2 files; 25 to be exact.

So I guess it would be easier for the player to read if it was one large mpeg - but I want the viewer to be able to choose and watch just one feature at a time.

But if it would make the difference between a DVD that is solid and one that isn't.....I'd rather have a solid DVD.

Thanks again, I'll start by checking my error rate.

Jon
johnmeyer wrote on 2/24/2010, 11:32 PM
So I guess it would be easier for the player to read if it was one large mpeg -I hope I didn't mislead you. The player should not have any more problems playing a DVD with multiple MPEG-2 files. It is only the navigation between titlesets that can sometimes be a problem.

Also, one other thing to check that I didn't mention in my last post -- mostly because I don't think it is that big a potential problem, even though others do -- and that is the average bitrate you use to encode MPEG-2 files. Some people claim that if you encode at a really high bitrate, usually defined as something over 7,500,000 bps, the player might have a tough time keeping up. I have never seen this myself, but some people claim that it is so. If you have been using average bitrates in excess of 8,000,000 bps, then I would definitely recommend reducing the average bitrate below that. Also, do not increase the maximum bitrate above the defaults provided in the "DVD Architect" templates provided within Vegas.
Sierra Nomad Photography wrote on 2/25/2010, 6:33 AM
Oh! Thanks John.

My bitrate is below that...had to to get it to fit on the DVD.

The opti-drive didn't work on burner in my computer...will try it on another.
Sierra Nomad Photography wrote on 2/25/2010, 11:11 AM
A couple of my clips are very short, just 2 1/2 seconds "Audio has been changed to music only" and "Audio has been changed to include narration".

Could the player be having a hard time locating these files because of the small size? I noticed the other problems first after trying to change the audio setting.
Sierra Nomad Photography wrote on 2/25/2010, 9:50 PM
It seems that the DVD player was having an issue with the media used. My replicator thought this might be the case and suggested that I try burning to a different brand. I did, and it did the trick.

BTW, this is my first time using this replicator, 720 Media Group, and I couldn't be more pleased with the personal service provided. I'm a small-time customer but am treated like my business matters.

Thanks again for the suggestions John.

Jon
johnmeyer wrote on 2/26/2010, 9:03 AM
The cause of your problems is exactly what I suspected, and is why I recommended doing that test. You should still try to find a computer on which you can test discs because each time you get a new batch of media, you should ALWAYS test the first burn.