ts_video or not?

rwizard wrote on 12/8/2003, 1:29 PM
This week in attempting to burn a dvd-r from a ts_audio and ts_video created by DVD/A, Nero failed with the error 'File size is not a multiple of a logical block size (2 KB)'. I upgraded from Nero 5 to 6 and got the same error.

I had successfully used Vegas and DVD/A with Nero 5 burning to produce and replicate a commercial dvd a few months ago. Needless to say I was puzzled.

I called Sony/Sonic tech support today and was amazed by their response. Which is basically that they won't say why such an error occurs. Only that if I'm going to use DVD/A it has to prepare and burn the final dvd.

I pointed out that the DVD/A menu lets me make a ts_audio and ts_video. The response was 'Use DVD/A to burn.'

I asked if the ts_audio and ts_video were, in fact, ts_audio and ts_video. I was told the 'engineering department' wouldn't discuss it or provide me with any information.

I pointed out that when Sound Forge makes a wav file, it is a wav file which I can use with other apps. When Photoshop saves a gif or jpg or tif that's what they are.

Anyway, the bottom line is that I got no help and in fact got the impression that I was asking an annoying question.

So is the ts_video rendered by DVD/A to my hard drive really a ts_video?

Since Nero 5 or 6 fail when trying to burn it, I presume not. If was named dvda_video I would understand it was for internal use by the app and I wouldn't be asking any questions.

Personally I feel it is important in producing a dvd to know what is going on during every step of the process. I'm surprised that Sony/Sonic doesn't seem to understand this concept.

Maybe it is time for Sony/Sonic to adjust the advertising copy for DVD/A to include "no pesky end actions" and "exclusive burning process." In any case, I hope to find someone at Sony/Sonic who will understand that I have no intention of using DVD/A to produce commercial product for replication until my question is answered.

Richard

Comments

Softcorps wrote on 12/8/2003, 4:00 PM
I have gotten both the "'File size is not a multiple of a logical block size (2 KB)" and the "Can't reallocate files" errors when burning files generated by DVD-A in Nero. I don't ever see these errors with burning files from any other DVD authoring package. This makes me wonder if I can completely trust DVD-A to generate 100% compliant DVD's.

James
ScottW wrote on 12/8/2003, 5:42 PM
Have you considered the possibility that this is a bug in Nero and not in DVDA? Simply because the same problem exists between Nero 5 and Nero 6 doesn't mean that it's not a Nero bug. What did Nero support have to say about it?

The error message suggests that Nero doesn't like the size of one of the files. Files are allocated by blocks and can also be written to disk in blocks - in this case the block size appears to be 2048. If you examine each of the DVDA files in the VIDEO_TS directory and pull up the properties on each file you'l see a value titled "Size:" and in parenthesis, there will be the actual number of bytes in the file. If you divide this value by 2048 it should divide evenly.

If you find a file that has a remainder, then DVDA may have done something wrong.

Another possibility that comes to mind is that Nero may not like where DVDA does file splitting at. In comparing DVDA with DVDLab I note that DVDA splits at exactly 1GB but DVDLab splits at 953MB. A quick look at a single commerical DVD shows file splits at .99GB.
rwizard wrote on 12/8/2003, 5:49 PM
The 'only burn in DVD/A' rule also prohibits the inclusion of a data folder on a dvd as far as I can tell.

DVD/A is sold as an authoring program. Yet it does not supply all the tools needed to author a commercial and competitive dvd. There are certainly things I like about it, such as 16:9 menu support, but to a great extent it seems like a job half done.

The refusal I got today on the phone to discuss or explain what I consider a serious technical issue is silly. I use Sonic/Sonic software (SF, AP, VV, DVD/A), the least they could do is be straightforward with me.

There was a time when Sonic Foundry was interested in what didn't work, and welcomed customer feedback to improve their products.

Richard





wobblyboy wrote on 12/8/2003, 6:07 PM
It sounds like Sony has phone support guys who don't know what is going on. Perhaps they hired some inexpensive help for phone service. I would suggest that you contact through support e-mail. . SOFO has always provided great support and answers to these kinds of questions. Perhaps one ot the Sony people who actually work on the software and have real answers will respond on this forum.
rwizard wrote on 12/8/2003, 8:11 PM
I produced and replicated a commercial dvd two months ago using exactly this setup.

The only difference is that the previous dvd was well under 3 gigs, while the current error producing ts_video is just over 3 gigs.

However, I'll certainly check the files per your suggestion.

Is it a bug in Nero? Well I use Nero all day to burn cd-rs and dvd-rs, data, video, udf et al and this is the first time I've seen this error. I also never saw it when using DVDit PE rendered ts_* folders in Nero.

Richard
pete_h wrote on 12/9/2003, 4:13 PM
Just yesterday I got the "Can't reallocate files" errors when burning files generated by DVD-A in Nero. "

I was using Nero 5.10 or so, then tried again using the UDFISO option, ( I believe the last one on the 'pull down list' and vola (sp??) it worked!

My method has been to "prepair a DVD folder with DVDa and then use Nero to burn the working copies. ( I think I used the UDF option when it failed ??)

Anyway, if I just use DVD-A to prepair the folder, then use NERO (UDFISO option, and drag the 'Audio File and Video File' to the Nero interface, IT WORKS !!!

Hope this helps

Pete
johnmeyer wrote on 12/10/2003, 4:16 PM
This is a well-known problem. If Sony isn't aware of it, and how to solve it, well, shame on them.

Here's a link to my earlier post where I describe the workaround:

Nero workaround to DVDA problem