MyDVD and Burning

[g8novice]

I just started using EMC9 Deluxe Suite this afternoon to make a trial DVD. I added a set of 14 photos w/ audio background and then two video clips (which EMC calls as movies), changed menu styles, added transistion before each of the video clips. First clip runs for about 1 minute and 44 sec while the second on 1 minute 4 secs. The order of these three segments is slideshow of those 14 photos, then the two movies. Everything went OK, then I did a preview and here are my problems/issues.

 

1) The 'loading menu' part took so long - almost 10 minutes.

2) When it played after loading is done, it did not do it continuously. That is, after the slideshow, it stopped

and went back to menu. I had to manually select the individual movie button in order to play the clip and

when it played, it did show the transistion style as I had added. Question is why it could not play

continuously.

 

Even with the above issues, I went ahead and burnt a disc anyway. Then here is another problem. The encoding took so long. It took 20+ minutes to encode those 14 photos and the two movie clips (less than 2-minutes long each as mentioned above) and another few minutes to do the rest. And again, it does not play continuously on DVD player just like in the preview session.

 

So is there anyone who can tell me whether there is possibly something I did not do right and whether this long burning time is normal (which I don't think so, my friend has a different software and it took seconds to burn about 1 minute of video)? Please excuse me for this long message and thanks in advance.

[g8novice]

Videowave uses the term 'production'. MyDVD uses term 'project'. I suppose the terms could be used for either. Doesn't really have a specific meaning.

 

Easy:

Open MyDVD

Create a new project (check settings before starting)

Add Image/Video

When Media Selector pops up, you can select several files at one time like you can in Explorer and click OPEN. This adds all the files under one button. If the files aren't in the correct order, just select the button and click Edit Movie. You can then re-arrange the clips. When done, Click on BACK TO MENU at the top.

If you plan on making several copies or maybe later make copies, burn to ISO FILE or VIDEO FOLDER. Disc Copier can then burn multiple copies from either.

 

Your laptop's CPU is on the low side for video editing. With only 66GB free, I would suggest using an external drive for extra storage, but only if your laptop has USB2 or firewire ports. USB 1 is too slow for video work.

Thank you so much, I'll try that tomorrow. Regarding my laptop, what does the external drive look like? I believe you are not referring to flash drive, right? Do you have a recommendation what to get and which brand to buy and do you know the approximate price range? My laptop does have 3 USB 2.0 ports.

 

Thank you so much, I'll try that tomorrow. Regarding my laptop, what does the external drive look like? I believe you are not referring to flash drive, right? Do you have a recommendation what to get and which brand to buy and do you know the approximate price range? My laptop does have 3 USB 2.0 ports.

One more question I forgot to ask. Do I need to worry about copyright of songs/music (from CDs I bought) I add to my production? If so, how do I take care of it? Please note that I probably only need a portion of the song/music.

[g8novice]

Thank you so much, I'll try that tomorrow. Regarding my laptop, what does the external drive look like? I believe you are not referring to flash drive, right? Do you have a recommendation what to get and which brand to buy and do you know the approximate price range? My laptop does have 3 USB 2.0 ports.

One more question I forgot to ask. Do I need to worry about copyright of songs/music (from CDs I bought) I add to my production? If so, how do I take care of it? Please note that I probably only need a portion of the song/music.

Couple of questions.

1) It sounds like in order to merge clips into one button, I shouldn't start from VideoWave as someone suggested in the 'One way of doing it', do I have the right understanding?

2) Is burning subsequent copies from image file or video folder faster than the 1st burn (i.e., directly to disk)?

[malatekid]

Couple of questions.

1) It sounds like in order to merge clips into one button, I shouldn't start from VideoWave as someone suggested in the 'One way of doing it', do I have the right understanding?

2) Is burning subsequent copies from image file or video folder faster than the 1st burn (i.e., directly to disk)?

1) If you do not want to do any editing on your clips (e.g., add text, overlays, transitions, trimming, etc), then you can bypass Videowave. When you said "merge clips into one button", you would like to play one clip immediately after another? Then you accomplish that using MyDVD (the module to do menus, buttons, etc).

 

2) Yes. No more encoding is involved if you aready have the iso or video folder set available for burning.

[malatekid]

Create you production in Videowave. Then use MyDVD for authoring. I suggest that you read this tutorial first.

[ggrussell]

Sounds like you need to do some reading on video production. Yes, video rendering does take time and is very CPU intensive. Fast CPUs, more memory, fast hard drives, etc., all have a bearing plus how much editing was done, original file formats, etc.

 

Sounds like you haven't done anything wrong and the program is working as designed.

[g8novice]

Create you production in Videowave. Then use MyDVD for authoring. I suggest that you read this tutorial first.

Thanks for the suggestion. I will try. But I am a bit surprised. I expect Roxio (or any other manufacturer) to give instructions and procedures that yield optimal performance of their products. Unless there are bugs in their product, it does not make sense that the users/customers have to take a different route (other than what they say in the tutorial) in order to achieve what that product is supposed to deliver.

 

Anyway, before I read that article, can you tell me whether that will solve the problem with non-continuous play (as described in my first message) or it just solves the problem with burning time? Thanks again.

[g8novice]

Sounds like you need to do some reading on video production. Yes, video rendering does take time and is very CPU intensive. Fast CPUs, more memory, fast hard drives, etc., all have a bearing plus how much editing was done, original file formats, etc.

 

Sounds like you haven't done anything wrong and the program is working as designed.

I am sure there is still a lot I can learn regarding video production. But as I replied to malatekid, it does not make sense to me that one has to use a different method other than what's shown in the tutorial in order to acheive the best performance of the products. They shouldn't expect everyone is a digital guru like you folks or everybody to get onto a discussion site like this one to find better way of doing things. Shouldn't they include these better methods in their tutorial or user guide or technical documents?

 

BTW, my laptop which I used for making the DVD is less than 2 years old so it shouldn't be that bad, I am still surprised with that kind of performance I am getting. If it takes 20+ minutes to burn only a couple of minutes worth of video, does that mean it will take days to burn an hour of video? Can you please tell me based on your experience?

 

As I said, my friend's PC which is less powerful than mine could burn a minute of video in seconds but he was using Kworld (a different software). Maybe Kworld is a better software in terms of encoding, and it is not just slightly better, it's much much better and Roxio should learn from them.

[sknis]

I am sure there is still a lot I can learn regarding video production. But as I replied to malatekid, it does not make sense to me that one has to use a different method other than what's shown in the tutorial in order to acheive the best performance of the products. They shouldn't expect everyone is a digital guru like you folks or everybody to get onto a discussion site like this one to find better way of doing things. Shouldn't they include these better methods in their tutorial or user guide or technical documents?

 

BTW, my laptop which I used for making the DVD is less than 2 years old so it shouldn't be that bad, I am still surprised with that kind of performance I am getting. If it takes 20+ minutes to burn only a couple of minutes worth of video, does that mean it will take days to burn an hour of video? Can you please tell me based on your experience?

 

As I said, my friend's PC which is less powerful than mine could burn a minute of video in seconds but he was using Kworld (a different software). Maybe Kworld is a better software in terms of encoding, and it is not just slightly better, it's much much better and Roxio should learn from them.

 

Let's talk about your first problem. In MY DVD, you should be able to select the second movie and go to properties to get the navigation options. Just set that to play #2 after playing #1 and then #3 after #2 etc.

 

 

 

With my computer, the encoding will take about 2-3 minutes so you need to take into account your computer and computer condition.

 

A two year old laptop could be a celeron or equivalent CPU or it could be a P4 or a dual and a higher or lower CPU speed.. They will all give different performance. The condition of your hard drive (clean/defragged/free space) will all slow things down. In addition the video chip you have has a lot to do with it as does how you have XP controlling your computer or not controlling. Update the drivers for that chip as well as Microsoft DirectX 9c.

 

Seem like Windows Movie Maker which is already on your laptop may be something you want to try for just doing a little with video productions. K-World does not make software; just capture cards and the like. They do bundle a simple, lite version of a different software package. Perhaps, if you are not willing to read (link to manual) and learn about this program you can take it back and get a refund or donate it to charity. Not everything is intuitive with video editing.

 

The features and options you have with this program make it more complex. With the complexity, comes some restrictions. Read the minimum requirements for this program and you will see that they are higher than many other less complex less feature filled software packages.

 

At this point, you have had your rant. If you want specific help or suggestions on how to use the program, please come back and ask. If you do, please put your computer specs in your signature via My Controls at the top of this page. That way responders will know what they are dealing with.

[d_deweywright]

I am sure there is still a lot I can learn regarding video production. But as I replied to malatekid, it does not make sense to me that one has to use a different method other than what's shown in the tutorial in order to acheive the best performance of the products. They shouldn't expect everyone is a digital guru like you folks or everybody to get onto a discussion site like this one to find better way of doing things. Shouldn't they include these better methods in their tutorial or user guide or technical documents?

 

BTW, my laptop which I used for making the DVD is less than 2 years old so it shouldn't be that bad, I am still surprised with that kind of performance I am getting. If it takes 20+ minutes to burn only a couple of minutes worth of video, does that mean it will take days to burn an hour of video? Can you please tell me based on your experience?

 

As I said, my friend's PC which is less powerful than mine could burn a minute of video in seconds but he was using Kworld (a different software). Maybe Kworld is a better software in terms of encoding, and it is not just slightly better, it's much much better and Roxio should learn from them.

The issue isn't the burn time, but the rendering time. Once I've got a movie rendered, the actual burn only takes minutes. But, to render a 10 minute slide show in Videowave to DVD format on my machine takes 50-60 minutes on my machine. So, I start it up and go away till it's done. In MyDVD, it doesn't take long to output the .ISO file since the .MPG input files are already DVD compliant, but it does take time to render the menu, if I have one.

 

Is it possible that other programs have more efficient encoding, yes. But be sure you're comparing apples to apples, rendering time to rendering time and burn time to burn time. If you tell MyDVD to write directly to DVD, then it first has to render, and then burn the output to DVD. The rendering time will be significantly longer than the burn time.

[Patty]

Hi ggrussell, I have tried your method, it worked and like you said, it's so easy, thanks. Now the other thing I need to do is to combine a slideshow with a couple of video clips. I have tried the following but it did not work. I first create a slideshow as production in VideoWave. Then I went to myDVD and did the same thing as adding two movie clips, i.e., selecting the production and a movie clip as the same time, but it came back adding them to the menu separately, i.e., it did not combine them under one button. So please help again.

 

Oh, hope you don't miss my previous questions as I did a few replies last night, thanks.

 

If you want the slideshow and video all together, in videowave, where your slideshow is, just add the video clips. Then it is all one production under one button.After that, just click on burn to DVD icon and it will take you to MyDVD where you can finish the project.

[g8novice]

Thank you so much, I'll try that tomorrow. Regarding my laptop, what does the external drive look like? I believe you are not referring to flash drive, right? Do you have a recommendation what to get and which brand to buy and do you know the approximate price range? My laptop does have 3 USB 2.0 ports.

One more question I forgot to ask. Do I need to worry about copyright of songs/music (from CDs I bought) I add to my production? If so, how do I take care of it? Please note that I probably only need a portion of the song/music.

Hi ggrussell, I have tried your method, it worked and like you said, it's so easy, thanks. Now the other thing I need to do is to combine a slideshow with a couple of video clips. I have tried the following but it did not work. I first create a slideshow as production in VideoWave. Then I went to myDVD and did the same thing as adding two movie clips, i.e., selecting the production and a movie clip as the same time, but it came back adding them to the menu separately, i.e., it did not combine them under one button. So please help again.

 

Oh, hope you don't miss my previous questions as I did a few replies last night, thanks.

[ggrussell]

But as I replied to malatekid, it does not make sense to me that one has to use a different method other than what's shown in the tutorial in order to acheive the best performance of the products.

And nothing we say will make any 'sense' until you learn more about how everything works. That wasn't meant to be an insult. Digital video is a very complex thing.

 

Can you please tell me based on your experience?

My computer below is one year old this month. DUAL CORE 3.0Ghz with 2GB RAM, huge hard drives, etc. On an average, it takes Videowave 1.5X to 2X the length of the production to RENDER (not burn - there is a difference). So if I have a one hour video, it takes about 1.5 hour to 2 hr to render. As I mentioned before, it all depends on factors like editing, transitions, overlays, special effects, etc.

 

Has been my experience that most laptops aren't designed for video editing unless you have a very high end laptop. First of all, laptop CPUs 'usually' are not as powerful as desktops because of power constraints. There are some exceptions. Most laptops ship with less RAM. ALL laptop hard drives run at a slower RPM than desktop hard drives (5400rpm vs 7200 rpm or higher). Basically, a $500 laptop just isn't suitable for video editing. I own a 2 yr old, $1200 laptop and find it way too slow for video editing.

 

Shouldn't they include these better methods in their tutorial or user guide or technical documents?

Why bother speculating what they should or shouldn't have done? Companies don't have unlimited time or money. What we have posted in the Tips & Tricks was written by one of us. We've found ways that make it easier to understand for ourselves. If that helps others, that's great, too. After all , that is why this forum is here.

[REDWAGON]

g8novice: I won't add anything more to what's already been suggested. However, I would like to pass on KUDOs to you for taking all the suggestions and making them work for you in your work. Many users of the EMC program when making a slide show that includes photos, videos, audio, transitions, text slides etc. usually give up to easiely. You didn't and from your posts you completed some pretty good results.

 

 

 

Congratulations on hanging in there and following some of the great suggestions that were made. Keep coming back to the Roxio forum and I'm sure you will learn a lot more. There is a lot of great talent here on the forum that can be a lot of help when it comes to Video work.

 

 

 

Good Luck on all your future "Productions", or should I say "Projects"

 

Frank...

[g8novice]

Let's talk about your first problem. In MY DVD, you should be able to select the second movie and go to properties to get the navigation options. Just set that to play #2 after playing #1 and then #3 after #2 etc.

 

 

 

With my computer, the encoding will take about 2-3 minutes so you need to take into account your computer and computer condition.

 

A two year old laptop could be a celeron or equivalent CPU or it could be a P4 or a dual and a higher or lower CPU speed.. They will all give different performance. The condition of your hard drive (clean/defragged/free space) will all slow things down. In addition the video chip you have has a lot to do with it as does how you have XP controlling your computer or not controlling. Update the drivers for that chip as well as Microsoft DirectX 9c.

 

Seem like Windows Movie Maker which is already on your laptop may be something you want to try for just doing a little with video productions. K-World does not make software; just capture cards and the like. They do bundle a simple, lite version of a different software package. Perhaps, if you are not willing to read (link to manual) and learn about this program you can take it back and get a refund or donate it to charity. Not everything is intuitive with video editing.

 

The features and options you have with this program make it more complex. With the complexity, comes some restrictions. Read the minimum requirements for this program and you will see that they are higher than many other less complex less feature filled software packages.

 

At this point, you have had your rant. If you want specific help or suggestions on how to use the program, please come back and ask. If you do, please put your computer specs in your signature via My Controls at the top of this page. That way responders will know what they are dealing with.

Thanks for the tips. I tried the setting that you showed. It works between play #1 and play #2 but not between #2 and #3. Then I did a few other searches and found out (by accident) that there is also a setting button in the Preview pane and when you click on it, it also allows you to select what you want after the playing of that movie clip (this dialogue does not look the same as the setting dialogue box you showed). I tried that and it worked for all. So one (big) problem solved, thanks very much.

 

Now, I do have a few questions.

1) What is the difference between Production and Project?

2) I have several movie clips that I like to be under same button, how can I merge them since the software automatically create a button for each clip? Please note that I need to merge several groups of clips, e.g. there are total of 5 clips and I need to merge the frst 2 as one and the last 3 as another one, i.e., I want only two buttons shown on menu.

3) It seems that it's inevitable that I have to live with hours of rendering time for an hour worth of slideshow and video burning, how about subsequent copies? I have not had time to find out yet, hope you can tell me whether copying from the 1st burnt disk to 2nd one is a lot faster. Thanks.

 

Also, I have now included info on my laptop as you suggested.

 

And nothing we say will make any 'sense' until you learn more about how everything works. That wasn't meant to be an insult. Digital video is a very complex thing.

 

My computer below is one year old this month. DUAL CORE 3.0Ghz with 2GB RAM, huge hard drives, etc. On an average, it takes Videowave 1.5X to 2X the length of the production to RENDER (not burn - there is a difference). So if I have a one hour video, it takes about 1.5 hour to 2 hr to render. As I mentioned before, it all depends on factors like editing, transitions, overlays, special effects, etc.

 

Has been my experience that most laptops aren't designed for video editing unless you have a very high end laptop. First of all, laptop CPUs 'usually' are not as powerful as desktops because of power constraints. There are some exceptions. Most laptops ship with less RAM. ALL laptop hard drives run at a slower RPM than desktop hard drives (5400rpm vs 7200 rpm or higher). Basically, a $500 laptop just isn't suitable for video editing. I own a 2 yr old, $1200 laptop and find it way too slow for video editing.

 

Why bother speculating what they should or shouldn't have done? Companies don't have unlimited time or money. What we have posted in the Tips & Tricks was written by one of us. We've found ways that make it easier to understand for ourselves. If that helps others, that's great, too. After all , that is why this forum is here.

Thanks again, ggrussell. I have now included info on my laptop under the signature. So what do you think of it? I have also asked a few questions when I replied sknis.

 

 

Oh, I forgot to mention that as of now, my laptop has 66.7GB of free space.

[ggrussell]

1) What is the difference between Production and Project?

Videowave uses the term 'production'. MyDVD uses term 'project'. I suppose the terms could be used for either. Doesn't really have a specific meaning.

 

2) I have several movie clips that I like to be under same button,

Easy:

Open MyDVD

Create a new project (check settings before starting)

Add Image/Video

When Media Selector pops up, you can select several files at one time like you can in Explorer and click OPEN. This adds all the files under one button. If the files aren't in the correct order, just select the button and click Edit Movie. You can then re-arrange the clips. When done, Click on BACK TO MENU at the top.

how about subsequent copies?

If you plan on making several copies or maybe later make copies, burn to ISO FILE or VIDEO FOLDER. Disc Copier can then burn multiple copies from either.

 

Your laptop's CPU is on the low side for video editing. With only 66GB free, I would suggest using an external drive for extra storage, but only if your laptop has USB2 or firewire ports. USB 1 is too slow for video work.