Pixel ' ly playback

[barryware]

I have been working on a project for a few days now. I was not able to overcome the problems with EMC8 in regards to audio and video being out of sync so I purchased EMC9.

Now my problem is: I create the DVD project using MyDvd. When previewing the project everything looks good. When I create a DVD and play it, the play back gets "pixely" every few seconds then it is fine. A few seconds later, does it again.

 

When I say "pixely" I mean that it looks like satellite TV in a rain storm. The video shows big squares, it hesitates a bit, then jumps.

 

I get this result when I play a burned DVD or if I use a software DVD player that supports playing the "folder Set". I have burned both actual DVD and created folder sets. All the results are the same.

 

I know the problem is with EMC9. I had other problems with EMC8 (video & audio out of sync) but the "pixely" problem was not present with EMC8.

 

Now the same project using EMC9, the video & audio are in sync but I get the above problem in the finished project.

 

Any thoughts?

 

I have contacted Roxio's support but have not received an answer.

[barryware]

I am still suspicious that "quality" of the source was low to begin with. Uping the output to HQ will badly distort the video when it is re-rendered.

 

I don't have MCE but is any conversion even needed in V9?

 

Open VideoWave and try loading one of the MCE files. If it loads, right click it and see what is listed under Properties.

 

Do the same with the one you converted to mpg.

 

There is nothing wrong with the quality of the video files but they are recorded from TV so they are TV quality, not commercial DVD file quality. One hour of recording is well over 2 GB in file size. After the commercials are removed, now the video is 40 minutes long and the file size is reduced to about 1.8GB or so.

 

EMC9 will load DVR-MS files (MCE recorder TV files). However, it does not load them directly, it writes them to a temp directory and then converts to mpeg. EMC will not allow editing of MCE files without converting them.

 

I just finished another encoding using "progressive" as opposed to "interlaced" under project settings. It seems that the Pixely effect went away but now the audio is once again out of sync with the video. I mean ALOT, not just a few frames. I have not gotten to the bottom of it yet but it is almost like when I trimmed the video, the audio remained intact but that is not possible.

 

Again, all is well using the preview mode within EMC. The project looks fine. It is when encoding to DVD files the finished project is all screwed up.

 

I'm about ready to give up. This takes a long time to find out that you made another coaster.

[ggrussell]

EMC will not allow editing of MCE files without converting them.

Mostly because dvr-ms files are not DVD compliant so they must be converted at some point before burning to a blank DVD.

 

Are these blocky playback areas random? or are they always where the split was made? The ATI 9600 should work fine on hardware encoding. Make sure you have teh latest ATI driver and the latest DirectX (dec 2006).

 

With that said, you need to plan ahead BEFORE recording. I'll try not to be too lengthy. The idea is to create a 8.5gig video folder that will later be 'shrunk' to fit a 4.7 disc.

 

Let's say each show is 30 min. Then you can record at HQ. Remove commercials and convert to MPEG2 files.

 

Run Disc Copier

use the video compilation mode

add 4 shows (total 2 hrs)

Burn to video folder which should be about 7 to 8GB

 

Play the folder back with Cineplay or any other software player. It plays fine. (?)

 

Once this folder is 'shrunk', you are saying there are blocky areas in the playback, but ONLY when you play the disc back? Did you use DVD Shrink or Disc Copier? Does it do this on both?

 

One area to pay close attention is the recording bitrate. I have no idea what ATI considers 'HQ'.

[grandpabruce]

I have been working on a project for a few days now. I was not able to overcome the problems with EMC8 in regards to audio and video being out of sync so I purchased EMC9.

Now my problem is: I create the DVD project using MyDvd. When previewing the project everything looks good. When I create a DVD and play it, the play back gets "pixely" every few seconds then it is fine. A few seconds later, does it again.

 

When I say "pixely" I mean that it looks like satellite TV in a rain storm. The video shows big squares, it hesitates a bit, then jumps.

 

I get this result when I play a burned DVD or if I use a software DVD player that supports playing the "folder Set". I have burned both actual DVD and created folder sets. All the results are the same.

 

I know the problem is with EMC9. I had other problems with EMC8 (video & audio out of sync) but the "pixely" problem was not present with EMC8.

 

Now the same project using EMC9, the video & audio are in sync but I get the above problem in the finished project.

 

Any thoughts?

 

I have contacted Roxio's support but have not received an answer.

 

First, try a different brand of media and/or, burn at a slower speed. If that works, great. If not, come on back.

[barryware]

Are these blocky playback areas random? or are they always where the split was made?

 

Play the folder back with Cineplay or any other software player. It plays fine. (?)

 

Once this folder is 'shrunk', you are saying there are blocky areas in the playback, but ONLY when you play the disc back? Did you use DVD Shrink or Disc Copier? Does it do this on both?

 

One area to pay close attention is the recording bitrate. I have no idea what ATI considers 'HQ'.

 

The blocky areas are random..

 

It does not play well when using a software player even before the folders / files are shrunk. It plays well when using the Preview option within EMC.

 

I used both DVD shrink and CloneDVD. Both had the problem as well as the software player(s) playing the files created with the Create File Set option.

 

Bitrate is a bit above 5mbs.

[barryware]

First, try a different brand of media and/or, burn at a slower speed. If that works, great. If not, come on back.

 

I have tried different media. After making several coasters with both EMC8 & 9, I tried +R's, -R's and as of late -RW's (so I can re-use them) and the results are the same so I am going to rule out the media.

 

Everything is perfect when previewing the project within EMC. But all burns turn out the same. When you burn a DVD, you can either burn directly to the media, make an ISO file, or create a folder set. AS I am sure you know, creating a folder set puts the Audio TS and Video TS files on the hard drive. Then you can use DVD playing software like Power DVD to play the DVD files. IN this mode, the burning hardware does not come into play as the files are created on a hard drive as sort of a "virtual DVD"

 

Files or a real DVD burn all turn out the same. There is something wrong wrong with the encoder. As I stated earlier, this is a new problem with EMC9. I had other problem with EMC8, but not this one as this is new to EMC9.

 

Thanks for the reply... I still need more help.

[ggrussell]

What video card to do have? Have you run the graphics test? Run MyDVD. Click Tools/Options. Click the graphics test button. When finished, does the 'dot' remain on hardware or software?

[james_hardin]

I am curious what the quality of the source file is?

 

Likewise what quality settings are being used with the output?

[ggrussell]

Which application are you using to put these episodes together? At 5Mbps, none of them should be re-rendering. Perhaps there is a problem with converting from dvr-ms to MPEG 2.

[barryware]

What video card to do have? Have you run the graphics test? Run MyDVD. Click Tools/Options. Click the graphics test button. When finished, does the 'dot' remain on hardware or software?

 

Yes... I have run the grahics test and it does stick at the hardware accelaration. For fun, I changed it to software acceleration and it did the same thing, just took alot longer. I am sure that there is something wrong with the encoder.

 

I have installed in this machine that I use for the multi-media stuff an ATI All-In-Wonder 9600 XT graphics card.

 

I suppose I should develope a sig. I have several machnes around the house all running Bionic projects. This machine I use for these types of projects is my fastest. Components are as follows:

 

P4 3.6Ghz with Hyperthreading

4 x 512 Kingston Value ram

2 x 156 GB WD sata drive setup running Raid 0

1 Segate 250 Gb IDE drive UDMA

1 WD 120 Gb IDE drive UDMA

Abit AS8 MB version 18 Bios

ATI 9600 XT All-In-Wonder Graphics card

Ultra X Connect 500 W PSU with Flex Force Cables

Windows MCE 2005 with all service packs and rollups

Lots of Lights & Fans

[barryware]

I am curious what the quality of the source file is?

 

Likewise what quality settings are being used with the output?

 

The source files are DVR-MS files that were created with MCE. The files were converted to MPEG files and I edited out the commercials. The original files DVR-MS play perfectly as well as the MPEG files when using Windows Media Player, ATI File Player, and MCE player.

 

The quality setting for output is HQ but I have tryed others.

 

The project also plays and performs as expected when using the preview within EMC

 

A bit about the project:

 

I have recorded a complete TV series using MCE. I have taken the DRV-MS files and converted them to MPEG files using BOTH a stand alone conversion utility and EMC. I have then edited out commercials using the edit movie feature. I have split the movie at the commercial start and end points and deleted the split section.

 

My plan was to write the DVD using the Create Folder Set option and then use a DVD copy and shrink software like CloneDVD or DVD shrink as the files will not fit on a single DVD without compression.

 

However, in my trouble shooting process, I have used only one file with no editing and no compression and burned both a file set as well as a real DVD and the results are always the same. The burned DVD also has the "Pixely" effect on a set top DVD player.

 

This is a new problem with EMC 9. I did not have this problem with EMC 8 on the same project. I had other problems with EMC 8 that influenced my decision to buy EMC 9.

 

It may be that I have something set incorrectly in my computer but I have no issues at all with this machine and I have checked everything I can think of. I have disabled all unnecessary processes within the OS as part of my trouble shooting process to no avail.

 

I'm stuck and kinda pissed I spent the money on this new version.

[barryware]

Which application are you using to put these episodes together? At 5Mbps, none of them should be re-rendering. Perhaps there is a problem with converting from dvr-ms to MPEG 2.

 

I am using EMC 9 for all of this. I have let EMC 9 convert the files to mpeg and I have converted them with a 3rd part application. The results are consistant.

 

Each file (mpeg), plays as expected using player utilities such as ATI file player, Windows Media player, etc. And, using the preview option within EMC, everthing is good.

 

I either have something set wrong within the software, or there is something wrong with the encoder in EMC. There are not too many options within the software and believe me, I have tried them all. I leaning towards a problem with the encoder.

 

Thanks for your help.. I have gotton no responce from Roxio's technical support and I am not going to pay 35 bucks for phone support on a new piece of software

[james_hardin]

I am still suspicious that "quality" of the source was low to begin with. Uping the output to HQ will badly distort the video when it is re-rendered.

 

I don't have MCE but is any conversion even needed in V9?

 

Open VideoWave and try loading one of the MCE files. If it loads, right click it and see what is listed under Properties.

 

Do the same with the one you converted to mpg.