Burned Dvd Skips/jumps

[SixthAve]

I'm using Toast Titanium (8.0.4) and trying to burn some MPEG-2 movies (704x480 / 29.97 fps) that were created using a digital video camera that burns directly onto a mini disc. I'm using a Mac Pro (with 2 superdrives) running OSX 10.5.6. After successfully burning the DVD, the playback skips/jumps every 5 seconds, rendering the disc useless.

 

I've done a search on these boards and tried 3 different disc brands (Memorex, HP & Sony) and different writing speeds (16x all the way down to 4x) and I've checked the 'Haf Pel' box in the Custom Encoding menu ... all have had the same exact results.

 

I've seemed to have misplaced both of my paddles and I was wondering if anyone can guide me through this creek.

[tsantee]

Up the creek with no paddles, oh my.

 

Did you use the Toast Media Browser to add the videos to the Video window? The Media Browser is a separate window. If you don't see it you can open it by choose Show Media Browser from the Windows menu.

 

Insert your DVD and choose DVD with the top button of the Media Browser. Double click on what appears in the browser window. Drag the titles you want to the Video window.

 

Now proceed with what you were doing before. Choose Save as Disc Image (File menu). Mount the resulting .toast file by selecting it with the Image File setting in the Copy window. Preview the disc image using DVD Player. If all is okay, burn the disc image to disc.

[tsantee]

Hi!

Yes, Toast does "Mux" the file. Typically this only takes about 3 minutes before a 15 to 30 second pause then writing begins. And my current theory is that if I observe this unusually fast Mux process, the disc will have the issue. If a more normal, say 5 to 8 minute Mux, the disc will not have the issue.

EyeTV doesn't seem to have an export of "separate streams" as you suggest so I'll try the 2 options listed and report on results...

Thanks!

John

It's probably called Elementary Streams but it is there near the bottom of the Export options. I know doing that has helped a lot of others.

 

The fast multiplexing probably is a good clue that Toast is skipping frames. Are you using the Toast Media Browser to add the EyeTV videos or are you using EyeTV's send to Toast?

[SixthAve]

Thanks for the feedback. I created a disc image this morning then mounted it. When I played it with the DVD player it still did the jumping/skipping. Any ideas?

 

[tsantee]

Thanks for the feedback. I created a disc image this morning then mounted it. When I played it with the DVD player it still did the jumping/skipping. Any ideas?

Is Toast multiplexing or encoding when you start the process of creating the disc image?

 

You may be cursed with the timecode break problem that many users of standalone DVD recorders experience. If this is the case then you'll need to use MPEG Streamclip (freeware but requires Apple's $20 QuickTime MPEG 2 Playback Component). The process involves opening the video from the minidisc in Streamclip, choosing Fix timecode breaks from the Edit menu and choosing Convert to MPEG from the File menu. Toast then can use that saved MPEG video.

 

If you can record in VR mode instead of video mode on your camcorder you can avoid the timecode break problem. Toast can read VR-mode discs using the Media Browser to extract the video from those discs. VR-mode does not require finalizing.

[SixthAve]

Toast does multiplex when it starts to encode. I will try the solution you suggested. You mentioned standalone DVD burners ... mine are installed SuperDrives (if that makes a difference). Is this problem exclusive to MPEG-2, or will I run across this with other formats?

 

Thanx for your help with my coaster creation company.

[tsantee]

Toast does multiplex when it starts to encode. I will try the solution you suggested. You mentioned standalone DVD burners ... mine are installed SuperDrives (if that makes a difference). Is this problem exclusive to MPEG-2, or will I run across this with other formats?

 

Thanx for your help with my coaster creation company.

 

I'm wondering if you entered the Toast Custom Encoder settings window and chose Alway Re-encode if the finished disc would still have the skips. I don't know why that would make a difference, but it is the kind of testing I do when befuddled.

 

What I'm referring to are DVD recorders that connect to home entertainment systems rather than computers, so my comment has nothing to do with what kind of DVD burner you're using with your Mac.

 

I've never used a DVD camcorder so I don't know what settings they offer. If they offer a video-mode setting in which you can finalize the DVD for playback in DVD players, then there is a likelihood you have an issue with timecode breaks using that mode. My guess is your camcorder also offers a VR-mode recording option which allows you to do some editing of the video in the camera, but those discs cannot be played on a DVD player. Toast can extract the MPEG-2 video from a VR-mode disc. There is no problem with timecode breaks with VR-mode recordings.

 

It is true that MPEG-2 is the only format that I know has this problem and it only seems to appear with video-mode recordings with certain DVD-recording devices.

[ToastMeister?]

I'm using Toast Titanium (8.0.4) and trying to burn some MPEG-2 movies (704x480 / 29.97 fps) that were created using a digital video camera that burns directly onto a mini disc. I'm using a Mac Pro (with 2 superdrives) running OSX 10.5.6. After successfully burning the DVD, the playback skips/jumps every 5 seconds, rendering the disc useless.

 

I've done a search on these boards and tried 3 different disc brands (Memorex, HP & Sony) and different writing speeds (16x all the way down to 4x) and I've checked the 'Haf Pel' box in the Custom Encoding menu ... all have had the same exact results.

 

I've seemed to have misplaced both of my paddles and I was wondering if anyone can guide me through this creek.

 

Hi!

I'm having the exact-same problem as 6thAv. ...

My system specs and issues:

1) Apple PowerMac G5 Dual 2.7GHz, 2.5 GB RAM

 

2) Mac OSX 10.4.11 (Tiger)

 

3) Pioneer DVR-109 ADA Internal OEM Superdrive

 

4) Pioneer DVR-111D External (OWC) Firewire 400 Superdrive

 

5) Toast Titanium 8.0, 8.0.1, 8.0.3, 8.0.4, 8.0.5 (I've been using Toast Titanium with a wide variety of Mac

systems since Toast 5, as I can best recollect. For my purposes and system, I see no obvious reason to upgrade to later versions of Toast, i.e. 9 or 10. Correct me if I'm wrong, somebody.)

 

6) Elgato EyeTV v. 3.1(4511) with EyeTV Hybrid tuner (USB) and Elgato Turbo.264 transcoder / encoder (USB).

 

7) Additional Internal 250GB SATA HD where EyeTV MPEG-2 recordings are stored.

 

8)250 GB External (OWC) Firewire 400 HD

Ext. FW drive mentioned above is used by Toast to write temp DVD files which are then used by Toast to burn the DVD.

 

9) In my case, the skip-stutter or "skitter" happens when I burn the EyeTV "standard definition" analog cable channel recordings (about 2.1GB to 4 GB file size) to any of a variety of DVDs including 16x +/- R, 4x +/- RW Discs by Verbatim, Memorex, TDK, JVC, Sony and Circuit City house brand ("Nexx or Next something"). It doesn't seem to make any difference what "speed" they are burned at 4X or 16x or in between.

 

9.1) Unfortunately, the "skitter" started suspiciously about the time of the 8.0.4 update, and has rapidly become "automatic", even with the very recent 8.0.5 update (installed in the last couple of days).

 

10) Digital Cable "HD" recordings (usually about 10 to 15 GB in size for 1 to 1.5 hour recordings) do not exhibit the issue.

 

11) MPEG-4 recordings transcoded by the Elgato Turbo.264 burned to these discs by Toast do not exhibit the issue.

 

12) Downloaded MPEG-4 podcasts burned to these discs by Toast do not exhibit the issue.

 

13) Another odd thing... sometimes, MPEG-4 files when moved into Toast appear as radically "squeezed" images, even in the Menu preview still images and the Edit>Video section before burning. So far, only the Menu still image remains "squeezed" when viewed on the burned disc.

 

14) Prior to this issue, I have burned 1000+ DVDs using Toast, iDVD, and DVD Studio Pro without any major problems.

 

I've numbered the discussion points above as a quick index for reference to them.

 

I could use some help from Roxio or one of the experts on this board, too...

Cheers!

John

[tsantee]

Hi!

I'm having the exact-same problem as 6thAv. ...

My system specs and issues:

1) Apple PowerMac G5 Dual 2.7GHz, 2.5 GB RAM

 

2) Mac OSX 10.4.11 (Tiger)

 

3) Pioneer DVR-109 ADA Internal OEM Superdrive

 

4) Pioneer DVR-111D External (OWC) Firewire 400 Superdrive

 

5) Toast Titanium 8.0, 8.0.1, 8.0.3, 8.0.4, 8.0.5 (I've been using Toast Titanium with a wide variety of Mac

systems since Toast 5, as I can best recollect. For my purposes and system, I see no obvious reason to upgrade to later versions of Toast, i.e. 9 or 10. Correct me if I'm wrong, somebody.)

 

6) Elgato EyeTV v. 3.1(4511) with EyeTV Hybrid tuner (USB) and Elgato Turbo.264 transcoder / encoder (USB).

 

7) Additional Internal 250GB SATA HD where EyeTV MPEG-2 recordings are stored.

 

8)250 GB External (OWC) Firewire 400 HD

Ext. FW drive mentioned above is used by Toast to write temp DVD files which are then used by Toast to burn the DVD.

 

9) In my case, the skip-stutter or "skitter" happens when I burn the EyeTV "standard definition" analog cable channel recordings (about 2.1GB to 4 GB file size) to any of a variety of DVDs including 16x +/- R, 4x +/- RW Discs by Verbatim, Memorex, TDK, JVC, Sony and Circuit City house brand ("Nexx or Next something"). It doesn't seem to make any difference what "speed" they are burned at 4X or 16x or in between.

 

9.1) Unfortunately, the "skitter" started suspiciously about the time of the 8.0.4 update, and has rapidly become "automatic", even with the very recent 8.0.5 update (installed in the last couple of days).

 

10) Digital Cable "HD" recordings (usually about 10 to 15 GB in size for 1 to 1.5 hour recordings) do not exhibit the issue.

 

11) MPEG-4 recordings transcoded by the Elgato Turbo.264 burned to these discs by Toast do not exhibit the issue.

 

12) Downloaded MPEG-4 podcasts burned to these discs by Toast do not exhibit the issue.

 

13) Another odd thing... sometimes, MPEG-4 files when moved into Toast appear as radically "squeezed" images, even in the Menu preview still images and the Edit>Video section before burning. So far, only the Menu still image remains "squeezed" when viewed on the burned disc.

 

14) Prior to this issue, I have burned 1000+ DVDs using Toast, iDVD, and DVD Studio Pro without any major problems.

 

I've numbered the discussion points above as a quick index for reference to them.

 

I could use some help from Roxio or one of the experts on this board, too...

Cheers!

John

Does Toast multiplex or re-encode the EyeTV videos that are skipping? Another experiment you can do is to export the video from EyeTV choosing Separate Streams as the format. Drag the resulting .m2v video to Toast (Toast will automatically match the audio file). Now proceed with making your video DVD.

 

My guess is the skipping will be gone. I believe the problem is with Toast removing the EyeTV package wrapper.

 

[ToastMeister?]

Does Toast multiplex or re-encode the EyeTV videos that are skipping? Another experiment you can do is to export the video from EyeTV choosing Separate Streams as the format. Drag the resulting .m2v video to Toast (Toast will automatically match the audio file). Now proceed with making your video DVD.

 

My guess is the skipping will be gone. I believe the problem is with Toast removing the EyeTV package wrapper.

 

 

Hi!

Yes, Toast does "Mux" the file. Typically this only takes about 3 minutes before a 15 to 30 second pause then writing begins. And my current theory is that if I observe this unusually fast Mux process, the disc will have the issue. If a more normal, say 5 to 8 minute Mux, the disc will not have the issue.

EyeTV doesn't seem to have an export of "separate streams" as you suggest so I'll try the 2 options listed and report on results...

Thanks!

John