10 replies to this topic

[Deborah]

Hello,

I am a brand new Roxio user and really don't know where to begin.  I've done a search on the forum but can find nothing related to this (in Easy Media Creator 8 Suite - I found an identical problem in Easy Media Creator 6, but it didn't help: http://kb.roxio.com/...t/kb/EE6000162).

Basically, when during encoding a movie to DVD, in MyDVD or the Express version, whether I send it to an .iso or try to burn it to DVD, between 50% and 90% it freezes every time.  I really don't know the right questions to ask so I'm hoping someone can help me understand the basics here.  The drive is an NEC UltraDMA33 DVD+/-RW, firmware updated.  I've updated to all the latest Easy Media Creator 8 patches.  I am running XP Home.

Thank you in advance for any assistance!

[RIVKID]

I am experiencing the same exact problem, everything that helped on versions 7 and 7.5 do not help in my new version 8.

[cpedrick@scotlandrack.com]

I  am experiencing exactly the same problem.
I am running on Windows XP Pro SP2, Pentium M (Dell laptop) with 12GB free on the hard disk, 1GB RAM. Not a lavish system, but certainly above what Roxio identifies as their minumum requirements.
I checked for firmware updates on my IOMagic 16x external DVD drive. (IOMagic informed me that I have the most recent version.) I downloaded and ran the pxengine1_08_34a.exe fix from Roxio.

At the suggestion of someone on this forum, I un-checked "fit to disk" in the project properties of a test movie created in VideoWave from some clips imported from my digital camera. I  exited VideoWave, went into MyDVD directly from the Start menu. I then burned the project to disk with no problem. I was thrilled. It even ran in my DVD player.

I shouldn't have gotton excited so soon. I went to burn the project I am really interested in and it hangs. No error message. Just hangs. It appears to run the "normalize audio" and then all activity stops about 2% through. I tried running the movie to an .iso file. Same problem. It hangs in the same place. I tried a different movie file. I tried creating the MyDVD project (including the menus) all over again. Still hangs.

I'm about ready to throw this thing in the trash, count it as a $160 lesson (I have the Deluxe version), and go back too Nero Express which I got free with my DVD burner. It doesn't have some of the features I really wanted, but at least it knows how to burn a disk reliably.

I'm willing to give it one last try if someone has some ideas I haven't tried...
Thanks,
Carolyn

[tbrewst]

Take a look at the pinned posts at the top of this category and see if any of the messages apply to what you are getting.One of them may help.Usually when it hangs it is having trouble encoding so maybe one of the hotfixes will help.

[myguggi]

cpedrick@scotlandrack.com, on May 21 2006, 01:12 PM, said:

I  am experiencing exactly the same problem.
I am running on Windows XP Pro SP2, Pentium M (Dell laptop) with 12GB free on the hard disk, 1GB RAM. Not a lavish system, but certainly above what Roxio identifies as their minumum requirements.
I checked for firmware updates on my IOMagic 16x external DVD drive. (IOMagic informed me that I have the most recent version.) I downloaded and ran the pxengine1_08_34a.exe fix from Roxio.

At the suggestion of someone on this forum, I un-checked "fit to disk" in the project properties of a test movie created in VideoWave from some clips imported from my digital camera. I  exited VideoWave, went into MyDVD directly from the Start menu. I then burned the project to disk with no problem. I was thrilled. It even ran in my DVD player.

I shouldn't have gotton excited so soon. I went to burn the project I am really interested in and it hangs. No error message. Just hangs. It appears to run the "normalize audio" and then all activity stops about 2% through. I tried running the movie to an .iso file. Same problem. It hangs in the same place. I tried a different movie file. I tried creating the MyDVD project (including the menus) all over again. Still hangs.

I'm about ready to throw this thing in the trash, count it as a $160 lesson (I have the Deluxe version), and go back too Nero Express which I got free with my DVD burner. It doesn't have some of the features I really wanted, but at least it knows how to burn a disk reliably.

I'm willing to give it one last try if someone has some ideas I haven't tried...
Thanks,
Carolyn

12GB free is barely enough to to do any serious video work. Since you were able to burn a another DVD project successfully there is probably nothing wrong with your software. I believe the problem is with your source video since it freezes at the same place every time. Have your used videowave to render the project to an mpeg file? It should tell you where you might have a problem in your source file. Where did this file come from? In what format is it? You have given very little information on your source.

[cpedrick@scotlandrack.com]

myguggi, on May 21 2006, 10:19 AM, said:

12GB free is barely enough to to do any serious video work. Since you were able to burn a another DVD project successfully there is probably nothing wrong with your software. I believe the problem is with your source video since it freezes at the same place every time. Have your used videowave to render the project to an mpeg file? It should tell you where you might have a problem in your source file. Where did this file come from? In what format is it? You have given very little information on your source.

First, thanks very much for the reply. I want so much for this thing to work, partly because I have put in untold number of hours on it and partly because this particular project is very important to me.
The video is put together from mpeg2 files recorded with a Sony camcorder. (The camcorder is new, but I'm afraid I don't have it here so I can't tell you the exact model number. It records directly to mini-DVDs, if that is any help.)

How do I render the videowave project to an mpeg file? One of my main frustrations is that I don't know what it is doing when it hangs or what it is hanging on, so it makes it pretty hard to troubleshoot.
The production I have made is pretty simple. It has some fairly short and simple text effects (for titles and credits) at the beginning and then a simple dissolve transition fade between clips. According to the burn stats, it should well fit on a disk. (It is around 3.6GB, as I recall.)

I'd actually love to think it is just a hard disk space issue. Can you tell me some rough rule of thumb for how much free space I need to burn video DVDs? (ie. Is there some "1GB for each 5 minutes of video" or something like that?) Maybe I just need a supplemental hard disk for doing video projects?

Again, thanks *very* much for your help. (I logged a ticked with Roxio tech support 5 days ago and haven't heard a word.)
Carolyn

[Deborah]

Greetings,

Thank you for your replies.  I have about 128 GB free on this hard drive, and the "video" was actually a slideshow I made in Roxio, and added a little movement to the pictures and some music.  Everything I did, I did in Roxio, so you would think there should be no issues.

Edit:  I also have to say, I am very disappointed.  I can't call for technical support or it costs me $35?  What exactly did I pay for when I purchased this software?  I could have gotten the same technical support, and likely DVD authoring that actually works to the point of burning something, anything, onto DVD, for free.

I would like to enjoy this product, but I can't if it cannot do even the most simple tasks that I ask it to do, and when it doesn't work, I can't even talk to a human being to get the help I need.  I will definitely NOT be recommending this suite of software to anyone, in fact quite the opposite.

Edited by Deborah, 22 May 2006 - 01:29 PM.

[sknis]

If you created your project in VideoWave, open it and select "output as" (the icon looks like an old style film reel).  Select "video file" and set the quality (scroll down to get mpg2 for DVD better quality.  Then select "create video file". (bottom left).  The file will start rendering and will hang if there is a problem with an image, a video, a transition, music etc.  Note the time the rendering stops.  Go back to the production and look at that time frame.  You should be able to find out what is wrong even if you have to temporarily delete the video, image, transition etc.

Oh, by the way, do not highjack a thread.  Start a new thread even if you thnk that you might have the same problem.  In this case, you probably do not--so the original poster is getting shortchanged in getting the answer to the question that was originally asked.

cpedrick@scotlandrack.com, on May 22 2006, 07:36 AM, said:

First, thanks very much for the reply. I want so much for this thing to work, partly because I have put in untold number of hours on it and partly because this particular project is very important to me.
The video is put together from mpeg2 files recorded with a Sony camcorder. (The camcorder is new, but I'm afraid I don't have it here so I can't tell you the exact model number. It records directly to mini-DVDs, if that is any help.)

How do I render the videowave project to an mpeg file? One of my main frustrations is that I don't know what it is doing when it hangs or what it is hanging on, so it makes it pretty hard to troubleshoot.
The production I have made is pretty simple. It has some fairly short and simple text effects (for titles and credits) at the beginning and then a simple dissolve transition fade between clips. According to the burn stats, it should well fit on a disk. (It is around 3.6GB, as I recall.)

I'd actually love to think it is just a hard disk space issue. Can you tell me some rough rule of thumb for how much free space I need to burn video DVDs? (ie. Is there some "1GB for each 5 minutes of video" or something like that?) Maybe I just need a supplemental hard disk for doing video projects?

Again, thanks *very* much for your help. (I logged a ticked with Roxio tech support 5 days ago and haven't heard a word.)
Carolyn

Edited by sknis, 22 May 2006 - 01:34 PM.

[sknis]

Did you change your board name? Please post your computer specifications, you have plenty of hard drive space. Can you describe what steps you are taking to make the slide show. What is the source of both the music and the audio you are using.

Call Roxio; if you truly have a problem with the program, they will let you know and usually will not charge you for the call. If it is a problem with knowledge of the program, they will charge you. The more you can describe where the problem is, the more chance we will suggest a solution, including calling Roxio.

You might also want to start a new thread since this one was hijacked and not all the suggestions may apply to your situation.

Deborah, on May 22 2006, 04:21 PM, said:

Greetings,

Thank you for your replies. I have about 128 GB free on this hard drive, and the "video" was actually a slideshow I made in Roxio, and added a little movement to the pictures and some music. Everything I did, I did in Roxio, so you would think there should be no issues.

Edit: I also have to say, I am very disappointed. I can't call for technical support or it costs me $35? What exactly did I pay for when I purchased this software? I could have gotten the same technical support, and likely DVD authoring that actually works to the point of burning something, anything, onto DVD, for free.

I would like to enjoy this product, but I can't if it cannot do even the most simple tasks that I ask it to do, and when it doesn't work, I can't even talk to a human being to get the help I need. I will definitely NOT be recommending this suite of software to anyone, in fact quite the opposite.

Edited by sknis, 22 May 2006 - 01:53 PM.

[cpedrick@scotlandrack.com]

sknis, on May 22 2006, 01:32 PM, said:

Oh, by the way, do not highjack a thread.  Start a new thread even if you thnk that you might have the same problem.  In this case, you probably do not--so the original poster is getting shortchanged in getting the answer to the question that was originally asked.

I very much appologize for my faux pas. It was not my intention to shortchange anyone. It sounded like the same issue and I didn't want to start something redundant. It is clear now that the issues may be different.
I am new to forum boards and certainly did not intend to create a problem. Thank you for your help and your teaching.

Carolyn

[jamesmcnair3]

Praise be to all!!  After three weeks of not being able to finish my 2 hour DVD project laden with added audio sound tracks, the Roxio gods finally smiles upon me.

My system has the bare minimum requirements. I cleared out 15 megs on my hard drive, had current versions of Direct X, hardware drivers et al.  I read all of the guru suggestions. (thanks to all).

After reading the whole VCGproxyfilemanager issue with pegging CPU usage, I hit upon my solution.  The proxy files created for audio files were space hogs.  It also doesn't help the program doesn't automatically delete the proxy files from previous sessions.  I had to make sure that was done through the tools/option section.

I already was using a 170 GB external hard drive solely to produce video. All of my audio and video source files were there.  I just changed my proxy file location from the default C drive to my external drive.  After waiting 8 hours to encode my preview, the program actually worked.

In my case, it saved me from adding more more than 3/4 GIG of RAM and upgrading my video card.

I hope my tale of success provides some hope to others. I was feeling a lot of pain reading so many frustrated cries for help with freezes.