Hello everyone. I have a JVC Everio camcorder that shoots in widescreen and the output files are called .MOD.... I have read many of times on here that Roxio will not work with them unless you change them to .MPG files.

I have done that but when I use either Roxio 8 or 9 MYDVD and VideoWave says that they are 4:3 aspect ratio and when I burn them the video isn't the 16x9 that I shot them in.


I have seen people say to use VideoWave first and before you add any files first go to file>new production>then choose the widescreen option but this still doesn't work. This is what it says under the Aspect Ratio Handling

Source Aspect Ratio- 4:3
Production Aspect Ratio-16:9


Please help

Sorry, but the JVC camcorder is NOT saving the files correctly. Someone else complained about this so I had him send me a file. According to every app I have, the file was 4:3 so it is a problem with the camcorder. Use the software that came with the camcorder to capture or use some other software that can force the file to 16:9.

This is a classic example of proprietary formats and why companies SHOULD stick to standards.

I have tried other software like Nero 7 and Cyberlink and all of them detect the proper aspect ratio but I don't like all those programs cause their menu templates and options are crappy. I like Roxio but it just wont detect the files properly

Anything I could try?

That is the same camcorder I'm using. The problem is that the mod file does not have 16:9 flag set in the mpeg-2 header set. Go to this forum and scroll down to post #36. Download the program from the link. This program will help you rename your files to mpg and let you set the 16:9 flag.

http://www.camcorderinfo.com/bbs/showthrea...age=3&pp=15

When you have your clip renamed and modified and are ready to edit, make sure that the 16:9 option is set in the project and when you are finally ready to author the dvd make sure you set the 16:9 selection in MyDvd too.



There is nothing wrong with the format as it is mpeg-2. Why they use the ".MOD" extension is beyond me. There is a bug where they do not set the correct aspect ratio in the sequence header of the mpeg-2 stream when 16:9 is selected on the camera.

Your guess is good as any. Without JVC releasing the full specifications on the MOD file format, we'll never really know what they are doing. If the 16:9 flag is really there, I would still consider it a 'proprietary' format based on MPEG 2 just like what Microsoft did with dvr-ms format which is also MPEG 2 with additional header info.

WOW thanks for the link to the program. It works GREAT. Now Roxio detects all the clips at 16x9.

One more question. Since these .MOD files are basically .MPG files how come when I burn them with MyDVD it has to encode them? I thought there shouldnt be any encoding. Whats really strange is that some clips get encoded and others don't cause when there is no encoding the "encoding preview screen" just says MPEG

MyDVD does not re-encode 'DVD COMPLIANT' MPEG 2 files. The only other thing that may trigger rendering is how much editing you do: transitions, overlays, text, etc. Those HAVE to be rendered and at some point, may trigger the entire file to be rendered.

That's what I thought too but these files have not been edited at all. They are straight from my camcorder>desktop>Roxio.

What I don't understand is that one of the video files is about 10 minutes long and when it is burning it encodes about half and the other 4-5 minutes the preview screen goes blank and says MPEG and stops encoding.


It's not really a big deal however I noticed that the scenes that it doesn't encode the video quality is much better then the scenes that do get encoded. I would think that these files shouldnt get encoded at all unless like you said about editing it alot.

This is why I avoid using compressed files like MPEG 2, MPEG 4, DivX, Quicktime, etc, at all costs. I have a 320GB hard drive that I only use to capture my video using DV AVI only. Editing is much quickier and I get the best quality possible. Render does take longer, but I don't mind a little extra time for the quality.

Something else I just found out thats really odd is that Im working with 4 clips that are about 10 minutes long and when I add them to MyDVD as separate titles there is no encoding at all and the quality is perfect however when I take those same files and make them as one video is when I have the problem with roxio wanting to encode them. Any idea on why?


I know this is a Roxio forum but what other popular dvd programs are there thats like Roxio for the purpose I would use it for?

They could be different bitrates. Use something like GSpot to check the files. See if they are identically encoded.

I'm using the same camcorder and I'm seeing lots of problems. I've got 15 clips of different lengths that I'm trying to put together with VideoWave. When I preview the movie in VideoWave all is fine but when I export the production to the pc (as an mpg) and play it for some reason the transitions are lost. I then take that production and attempt to author with MyDvd. When I preview this all is ok (minus the missing transitions). I then burn a dvd and attempt to play and all I get is audio, no picture just a black screen. This is true for playback on the pc and on a dvd player.



I understand what you are feeling and I am personally thinking of trying something else too. I've asked around and I've gotten alot of suggestions. I think I'm going to give Roxio a little more time but if I still can't get it to work I think I'm going to try using "Ulead Video Studio 11" next. There are so many other options out there, I just wanted to buy one product that let me do everything I need, that seems to he headed out the door.

That's what I was thinking too but this doesnt seem to be the problem cause if I take just one video clip and add it twice to my project roxio still wants to encode it howver if I take both clips and add them to separate titles it burns without any encoding. Really odd

Does sound odd.

Do all HDD camcorders have such a large file size for such a short video? A 20 minute video is 1.4 gigs !!! is this normal?

The comcorder we/you are using has four different settings for quality. Doing a quick check it seems that you have yours set to the highest quality available. Just lower the quality if you want/need smaller files.

Yeah I have it on the Ultra setting but I just didnt think the files would still be that big. You can only fit 50-60 minutes on a DVD and I thought that was a bit low.

In video work, size means nothing. The total time is what controls, and you can fit 1 hour of video on a standard (4.7GB) DVD at best quality.

That same 20 minute video that you are talking about, is about 4GB when captured as a DV-AVI file, from miniDV tape.

Is that what kind of camcorder you have is a MiniDV ? If so then anytime you make your own dvd's there is only about 20 minutes of footage per 1 disk?

Sorry for all the questions, as you can see I'm somewhat new to all this. My JVC Everio is the first camcorder my family has ever owned and bought and we just got it last month. I saw some of the other kinds of camcorders like MiniDV and HDD kind and we went with the Harddrive kind cause of the use of no tapes and seems more simple. Was that a mistake? Do the MiniDV kind that take tapes have better quality?

My model is the GZ-MG155 and we bought it brand new for $375.00...... It retails for $599.99 but I got it way below that.

Here is a link to my JVC. http://camcorder.jvc.com/gseries/index.asp

MiniDV tape camcorders, from what I understand, still give the best video quality. That is why I got my Sony DCR-HC 96 this past January. The quality of my captured videos is excellent.

That doesn't mean that the hard drive or mini DVD disc camcorders are bad, by any means. I have done some editing and productions from my daughter's mini DVD camcorder, and the result has been very good.

As I said before, file size means nothing (or almost nothing) when it comes to video work. I get 1 hour of video on a standard DVD, at best quality, too. The file size is about 12GB in the raw .avi file, but it encodes to a compliant DVD mpeg2, when using MyDVD.

Looking at the info on that camera in the link you provided, to get the best possible quality our of your videos, I would use the "Ultra" setting. That will give you mpeg2 files with the least compression, thus the best possible quality.

Also, I would suggest you try using the "backup transfer" from camera to hard drive capability it says it has, since that looks like it will just transfer the mpeg2 files to your hd, then you could use those directly in your production I would think. If that doesn't work, it does have the capability to transfer using firewire, so Media Import is also an option.

I have used the backup transfer feature using the provided Cyberlink software and it still saves them as MOD files. However I have a program now that will rename them to .MPG with the widescreen flag encoded

When I go to the media import program and I choose the video tab I don't see my connected JVC camcorder from the drop down menu. I have the device powered on and windows in seeing it but not Roxio. Can anyone please help.

It is connected via usb


grandpabruce...I only created another topic cause it is a totally different question but sorry for doing it I guess but you didnt have to close the thread cause what if someone else has the same question now they wont see it cause this topic has nothing to do with my new question

And you won't because it is connected via USB. If you look in Windows, the camcorder is actually recognized like an external HARD DRIVE. Not like a camcorder.

Media Import works with very few USB devices to capture video.

We always encourage people to start their own thread. Even if the problem is the same, each computer is different and so can the answer. Just because one thing fixed it for you, it may not fix it for someone else. Hence, create a new thread and we don't have to dig through messages to see what we have tried or not tried.

Then what type of connection does media import work best with? I know my JVC use USB but it might have other possible connections. I haven't checked yet but I will

It works well with a firewire connection, as Larry stated earlier in this thread.

I too have an JVC Enverio Camcorder and yes, the 16:9 flags are not set in the .mod file. I corrected it as follows,

1. changed the extension from .mod to .mpg
2. Used DVDpatcher (freeware) and loaded the file. In the "aspect ratio" box, click "16:9"; in the "patch" box, click "entire file"; and in the "Horizontal Size" box click "720". Leave the other settings alone.

This worked fine for me.

Milt