Listing All My Problems W/ Emc8?

[asandull]

I'm not sure if my install of EMC8 was not complete or if I'm just overlooking some things.

First, I cant imagine why there are only 12 DVD menu templates to choose from. I cant figure out how to switch the style of a menu with buttons vs. a menu with text links. Are there more menus that I'm just not able to find? Older versions of MYDVD had more menu options than what I'm seeing here. The layout in the older versions are also easier to follow... but that's besides the point...

 

My next question is where do I find the intro's? When I used dell movie creator/VW, there was a great feature that stored everything at a glance. There were all kinds of intros and endings for your video to choose from. When I click on 'add intro' in EMC8 it brings me to my folders and I cant find them.

 

Another strange problem i'm having is the text. I'm trying to insert text in a DVD menu , the text is not showing in the text box. I tried changing the color of the text but the only choices I'm seeing are to change the color for the actual text box background. Very confusing why simple text is giving me such a problem...I'm computer 'stupid' but I didnt think I was this challenged.

 

Moving on to my next problem, There are times I try to open EMC8 from my desktop icon. It wont open. I'm wondering if somehow it is already running in my background, although I cant see it. When I shut down my computer I'll get an error (sometimes) Roxio Upnp service has encountered a problem & needs to shut down. Other times I'll get the Roxio end task option. Any ideas how I can get that fixed?

 

Why cant I open movies in EMC8 that were originally created using Dell movis studio? I was working on a few different things in my original version but never rendered them. Now I cant open them.

 

Anyone do computer work in Northern Jersey? I would much rather pay someone to walk me through all of this. But I'll take whatever help i can get...

 

The list of problems can go on and on but I"m going to start with those...

 

 

Thanks in advance to anyone who can give some advice!!!

[ggrussell]

MyDVD 6 and earlier don't have much in common with MyDVD 8 although they have the name. V6 and earlier was developed by Sonic. V8 was developed after the merger with Sonic and Roxio. MyDVD 8 is more like the previous Roxio product DVD Builder.

 

 

OEM - Original Equipment Manufacturer like DELL. They can purchase special versions of software sometimes called 'lite' versions. Sometimes the OEM will alter the interface or add things to it that the retail version does not have. Added value is an incentive to purchase a DELL vs. another brand.

[asandull]

oh, I see... I'm not sure what version I have... But I wish I new this version of MyDVD was going to be so different. It's not what I expected at all... But I'm sure once I get used to it and figure out all the minor troubles I'll like it even more than the old one...

 

patatrox: I went to dells website and tryed downloading an update for my video driver, Now my display is HUGE and waiting on someone from Dell's forum to help me figure out why this happend... I posted something a couple of hours ago but havent heard anything yet. I dont know what the heck I did but I managed to really blow things up this time...

 

 

Thanks guys!

[JC]

It Sounds when you updated you video card, it changed you screen resolution.

To change go to control panel- Apparence & Themes- Change screen Resolution- settings. Your screen shoud be set to 1024 X768. Apply update

I'm assuming you have windows XP

[asandull]

It Sounds when you updated you video card, it changed you screen resolution.

To change go to control panel- Apparence & Themes- Change screen Resolution- settings. Your screen shoud be set to 1024 X768. Apply update

I'm assuming you have windows XP

 

You are my hero! Thank you for saving me so much time... i was just about to restart for the 3rd time and download that thing again... Thank you, thank you, thank you...

 

Do you have any idea what it means after it says ... Geforce w/ tv out. ??? My orginal card didnt say that but the one i downloaded did... Does that make a difference?

 

The only thing I could think of is when I purchased the PC I told them I wanted it so that I could hook up my cable and watch tv on it if I needed to... Am i way out in left field here???

[JC]

You can output your video card to your TV ( Thats what Tv Out means) so you can output video your computer to your TV to be watched

 

You also have a Nvida is the brand of your Graphic card. There should also be some numbers afterwords, indicating what video card you have

(Example: Nvida GeForce 5200 w/ tv out)

 

No there should not be any difference on the name change as long as you got the right driver.

[asandull]

You can output your video card to your TV ( Thats what Tv Out means) so you can output video your computer to your TV to be watched

 

You also have a Nvida is the brand of your Graphic card. There should also be some numbers afterwords, indicating what video card you have

(Example: Nvida GeForce 5200 w/ tv out)

 

No there should not be any difference on the name change as long as you got the right driver.

 

Oops... Well then I did something wrong, because what I had was NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 420. When I went to Dells site there were only two downloads available... The only one that was similar to mine was NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 420 w/ tv out. so I downloaded it...

 

Is that bad?

[JC]

Oops... Well then I did something wrong, because what I had was NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 420. When I went to Dells site there were only two downloads available... The only one that was similar to mine was NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 420 w/ tv out. so I downloaded it...

 

Is that bad?

 

 

Yes if you got the wrong driver;

 

Go to Nvidia's web site and get the correct driver, dowload and install.

IF you are Not sure, ask someone they will help you before downloading.

This is the video card you have:NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 420- Right?

 

You can get the drivers below (click on link)

http://www.nvidia.com/content/drivers/drivers.asp

Choose graphic card (first box on left) , the group (middle box listing of video card types) and then the Operating system( third box). Download, install & reboot.

You may have to change the resolution back again. We had already discussed this in a previous post in this thread.

I hope this helps.

[asandull]

Yes if you got the wrong driver;

 

Go to Nvidia's web site and get the correct driver, dowload and install.

IF you are Not sure, ask someone they will help you before downloading.

This is the video card you have:NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 420- Right?

 

You can get the drivers below (click on link)

http://www.nvidia.com/content/drivers/drivers.asp

Choose graphic card (first box on left) , the group (middle box listing of video card types) and then the Operating system( third box). Download, install & reboot.

You may have to change the resolution back again. We had already discussed this in a previous post in this thread.

I hope this helps.

[/quote

 

Thank you for looking into this for me! I'm at the site and want to make sure I'm picking the right one (even though you just basically drew me a map) The first box is Graphic Driver, then the middle box I'm not sure about? Choose which GeForce and TNT2? Then 3rd box, windows xp 2000. Is that right?

[ggrussell]

Yes, that should do it. The nVidia driver should recognize whether you have TV out or not.

 

TV OUT is not the samething as watching TV on a computer. That is usually a separate card with a cable connector.

[ggrussell]

First, the best advise I can give to someone just starting out is to READ everything you can from any source. Books, magazines and even online. There is tons of information available. Most marketing makes this stuff look really easy, but then it seems to never work the way we think that it should.

 

I cant imagine why there are only 12 DVD menu templates to choose from

 

Did you install the second disc - CONTENT? I'm not sure exactly how many, but I think it is only 12 or 14. Roxio does sell more DVD styles on the Roxio Store website.

 

You can also save a custom Menu that you create for later use. Load a premade style. Change the background, text, font, colors, etc. Under the FILE menu, choose 'Save as Menu Style'.

 

My next question is where do I find the intro's?

 

An intro is just another video file. Create your own in Videowave. Launch MyDVD and click on the button to the left - "Add Intro Movie". Don't confuse this with clips for starting or ending your movie. On a commercial DVD, the intro would be like the FBI warning or advertising they want to force you to watch before the menu.

 

I tried changing the color of the text but the only choices ....

 

Editing text works very similar to most paint/image programs. When you click on 'add text', there is a default text string - 'type your text here'. To edit, you must first highlight it by dragging the cursor over it. It will turn green. THAT'S ONLY the highlight color. Not the text background color. Click on the little black box beside the workd COLOR brings up the color picker. Clicking on MORE COLORS give you even more choices and you can create your own color. When you finally change the color, ONLY THE TEXT should change.

 

but never rendered them.

 

That's why you can't open them. The file created during editing IS NOT A VIDEO FILE. Liek the .dmsm file has no video or images in it. It's literally a 'to do' list when the final file is rendered. The original video file and/or still images are never altered. A completely separate file is created during render. If you open the project in the Dell program and render it to a video file, then you should be able to use that file in Videowave or MyDVD 8.

 

Hope this helps.

[asandull]

Thank you so much for your respose. I went out today to Barnes and Noble to purchase EMC8 for dummies... I've been skimming through it and I'm sure I'll learn a lot from this. For anyone who is looking to buy this, you'll probably get a better price going through amazon... I paid $23 at Barnes and noble.

 

I installed two links when I purchased the software so I think everything is here... When comparing it to MyDVD v.6 I noticed more menu options and thought I was missing something.

 

As far as the intro's... I liked having those clips to put in the front... Some were animated and you could add text...My original version of Videowave had them pre-set and I just added them to my storyline. MyDVD v. 6 even has a nice selection of the warnings you could place in the beginning, like the FBI warning, cute kid friendly stuff... I dont see any of these in EMC8. I'm going to skim through the book some more when I have time and see if there in some hidden location.

 

The text for some crazy reason is still giving me trouble. When the menu, like you showed below is open, i click in the box start typing and nothing shows up in the box. I see what I'm trying to type in the lower left (sort of like a folder pane) but it's not showing in the box. I tried changing the color thinking maybe the text was the same color as the background and that's why it wasnt showing but when i change the color it only changes the background of the text. Very weird and it's probably something very simple that i'm overlooking.

 

Unfortunatley, when I installed EMC8 it wiped out my older version of Videowave so I can not get back in to render the files that need rendering. I'm not sure if running both versions will interfere. Let me know your thoughts on that.

[ggrussell]

I thought you said your previous project was in a Dell program? Was it an OEM version of Videowave? If it was an OEm version, Dell may have included some custom intros or styles that are not in the retail version.

 

Also the dvd 'styles' of previous versions of MyDVD are not compatible with V8, but you can use the MPGs or JPGs that were included. In fact, I have even used background MPGs that were included with 'competitor' products. There are several places on the net where you can get FBI warning JPGs and even countdown MPGs. Here is a great place

[patatrox]

The text for some crazy reason is still giving me trouble. When the menu, like you showed below is open, i click in the box start typing and nothing shows up in the box. I see what I'm trying to type in the lower left (sort of like a folder pane) but it's not showing in the box. I tried changing the color thinking maybe the text was the same color as the background and that's why it wasnt showing but when i change the color it only changes the background of the text. Very weird and it's probably something very simple that i'm overlooking.

 

Updating your video driver should fix that...

[asandull]

Hello. I'm not sure what OEM is, but my old version of videowave was dell movie studio. I purchased it with my dell about 4 years ago and with that came Sonics MyDVD. I loved it and it was so easy!!!

 

Just recently I downloaded MyDVD v.6 (Trial version) and they had a bunch of the intro's or clips... (the fbi warning thingys). So my question is if MyDVD 6 had that stuff then why wouldnt the newest version, EMC8 have them as well. I'm wondering if I cant find them or if there just not there...

 

I'll continue to play around with it... I'm still frustrated about trying to open the program. It's not opening. So I have to restart... Do you know anything about whether or not this could be running in the background? I'm clueless.

 

I really appreciate you taking your time to get me through this!

 

Have a great day!

 

Thanks Patatrox... I'll try that and let you know how I make out. Would you know off hand if thats something I would update through Dell?