[eddy438]

I just purchased a Panasonic DVD external recorder. In the box was included a DVD-RAM disk, apparently an old format which Panasonic and others have been reviving. Toast doesn't seem to recognize those disks and I'm thinking about the prospect of making copies of those programs I may have recorded.

The LaCie d2 Firewire doesn't recognize the disk and I'm not sure about the G4 combo drive.

Is anyone familiar with this?

Thanks,

Ed

[tsantee]

You can extract the videos recorded by a standalone recorder to a DVD-RAM disc by using the Toast Media Browser. Open Toast and choose the Video window, insert the disc, click the Media button, choose DVD with the top button in the browser, wait a few seconds for the disc to appear in the lower window, go down a level using the lower button. The titles on the disc appear. Click on the ones you want and drag them to the Video window.

Toast extracts the MPEG files from the disc and writes them to the Roxio Converted Items folder. You may want to change Toast preferences so the converted items folder isn't automatically emptied when you quit Toast.

With the titles in the video window you can have Toast author and burn a new video DVD or export the video as some other format.

[eddy438]

tsantee, on Aug 12 2006, 02:12 PM, said:

You can extract the videos recorded by a standalone recorder to a DVD-RAM disc by using the Toast Media Browser. Open Toast and choose the Video window, insert the disc, click the Media button, choose DVD with the top button in the browser, wait a few seconds for the disc to appear in the lower window, go down a level using the lower button. The titles on the disc appear. Click on the ones you want and drag them to the Video window.

Toast extracts the MPEG files from the disc and writes them to the Roxio Converted Items folder. You may want to change Toast preferences so the converted items folder isn't automatically emptied when you quit Toast.

With the titles in the video window you can have Toast author and burn a new video DVD or export the video as some other format.

Thanks again Tsantee! But in this case, the disk won't come up. I've tried it in my G4 combo drive which ejects it after some seconds. And when I put it in the LaCie d2 drive, it stays in but still won't display in any window that I can see. Yes, I chose DVD in the upper button but the lower says "No Disks" and it is grayed out.

I'd be surprised if I can get this to work.

[eddy438]

eddy438, on Aug 13 2006, 04:15 AM, said:

Thanks again Tsantee! But in this case, the disk won't come up. I've tried it in my G4 combo drive which ejects it after some seconds. And when I put it in the LaCie d2 drive, it stays in but still won't display in any window that I can see. Yes, I chose DVD in the upper button but the lower says "No Disks" and it is grayed out.

I'd be surprised if I can get this to work.

I've looked up the LaCie specs and, sure enough, DVD RAM disks are not supported. Apparently few drives do.

[tsantee]

eddy438, on Aug 13 2006, 05:44 AM, said:

I've looked up the LaCie specs and, sure enough, DVD RAM disks are not supported. Apparently few drives do.

If you do get an external drive that supports DVD-RAM then Toast can access its content as described even though the Mac OS won't. My standalone DVD recorder is a Pioneer and Toast reads its VR-mode video burned to DVD-RW. Does the Panasonic burn to DVD-RW as an alternative?

[eddy438]

tsantee, on Aug 13 2006, 06:01 AM, said:

If you do get an external drive that supports DVD-RAM then Toast can access its content as described even though the Mac OS won't. My standalone DVD recorder is a Pioneer and Toast reads its VR-mode video burned to DVD-RW. Does the Panasonic burn to DVD-RW as an alternative?

Yes. The only reason to use DVD RAM is that you can edit and, I think, remove commercials. And also "chase" playback; that is play from the beginning while it's still recording. This is especially useful if you've turned on a program late and want to view it immediately. The Panasonic DMR-ES-15 supports RW and R, both plus and minus. There may be a way of editing the copy in Toast similar to what you describe using a non- RAM disk.

Obviously the RAM technology, if it takes off this time, will lead manufacturers of these drives to include it in their specs.

[tsantee]

eddy438, on Aug 13 2006, 07:36 AM, said:

Yes. The only reason to use DVD RAM is that you can edit and, I think, remove commercials. And also "chase" playback; that is play from the beginning while it's still recording. This is especially useful if you've turned on a program late and want to view it immediately. The Panasonic DMR-ES-15 supports RW and R, both plus and minus. There may be a way of editing the copy in Toast similar to what you describe using a non- RAM disk.

Obviously the RAM technology, if it takes off this time, will lead manufacturers of these drives to include it in their specs.

I don't think Toast will recognize any of the edits on a DVD-RAM any way. It doesn't with the DVD-RW VR-mode discs. What I get is the entire recording. However, after extracting the MPEG from the disc with Toast I can do cutting in MPEG Streamclip and then use that edited MPEG in Toast.

Another application that will read VR-mode discs as well as edit the video on them is Pixe VRF Browser EX available at pixela-1.com. If you used it you'd need to export the final edit as separate video and audio streams to work with Toast. Pixela's products are quirky but they do fill a void in the Mac world. Personally I don't recommend Pixe VRF Browser but do like their CaptyMPEG Edit EX. The latter is better for editing MPEGs than does MPEG Streamclip but first you must extract the MPEG file with Toast.

This post has been edited by tsantee: 13 August 2006 - 11:49 AM

[eddy438]

tsantee, on Aug 13 2006, 11:48 AM, said:

I don't think Toast will recognize any of the edits on a DVD-RAM any way. It doesn't with the DVD-RW VR-mode discs. What I get is the entire recording. However, after extracting the MPEG from the disc with Toast I can do cutting in MPEG Streamclip and then use that edited MPEG in Toast.

Another application that will read VR-mode discs as well as edit the video on them is Pixe VRF Browser EX available at pixela-1.com. If you used it you'd need to export the final edit as separate video and audio streams to work with Toast. Pixela's products are quirky but they do fill a void in the Mac world. Personally I don't recommend Pixe VRF Browser but do like their CaptyMPEG Edit EX. The latter is better for editing MPEGs than does MPEG Streamclip but first you must extract the MPEG file with Toast.

Well, thank you for the information and your help.