Problem Burning to DVD

[computer challenged]

I have the Roxio Easy VHS to DVD, and I think everything installed properly. I first tried plug and burn, but then after reading the forums, I realized that I should just capture my video first, then burn. So I have a few hours worth of video captured and am ready to burn. I go to the "Videos-Movies" tab, then under the "Create" heading, I click "Create DVDs" I add the video that I want to be on the DVD, and then I click the "Burn" button that is on the upper right corner of the page. The program goes through the process of everything, and it takes a really long time, so I have to walk away from my computer while its checking everything and burning. And after a few hours I come back and it says that everything happened successfully and to hit the ok button. But then the DVD is blank and nothing has burned on it. As you can see from my screen name, I am a very computer challenged person, I don't understand the majority of the things that are written in this forum. So please keep your responses as simple as possible! Thanks so much!

[Jim_Hardin]

Did you ever notice the Enter key on your keyboard?

 

Improves readability a lot…

 

First let's check the disc to make sure.

 

In the MyDVD program you actually direct the output to 3 different places! Only one of them is a disc… So you need to make sure the Drive is actually selected!

 

In this picture the output will only go to an Image File (ISO), the drive is not selected.

 

 

Use Windows Explorer and put the disc in your drive. Explore the disc. You should see an AUDIO_TS and VIDEO_TS folder on it.

 

The VIDEO_TS folder should have files in it with funny extensions like BUP, IFO & VOB.

 

If so the disc is OK. Now right click on the drive and look at its' Properties. What does it say about Used and Available space?

 

Those are enough things to look at for now, let us know what you find.

 

Oh and as far as render times, depending on your PC it could be close to 1 for 1. That is 1 hour of video will take 1 hour to render/burn.

[computer challenged]

Did you ever notice the Enter key on your keyboard?

 

Improves readability a lot…

 

First let's check the disc to make sure.

 

In the MyDVD program you actually direct the output to 3 different places! Only one of them is a disc… So you need to make sure the Drive is actually selected!

 

In this picture the output will only go to an Image File (ISO), the drive is not selected.

 

 

Use Windows Explorer and put the disc in your drive. Explore the disc. You should see an AUDIO_TS and VIDEO_TS folder on it.

 

The VIDEO_TS folder should have files in it with funny extensions like BUP, IFO & VOB.

 

If so the disc is OK. Now right click on the drive and look at its' Properties. What does it say about Used and Available space?

 

Those are enough things to look at for now, let us know what you find.

 

Oh and as far as render times, depending on your PC it could be close to 1 for 1. That is 1 hour of video will take 1 hour to render/burn.

 

Thank you for your response. I think that the problem was that "Burn to Disk" was not checked. I think I had it checked, but then I checked the box that says, "Create folder set," which unchecked the Burn to Disk, and I did not realize it.

 

Another question, in the MyDVD section it has the options to record the quality of the disk as "fit to disk, ep, lp, or hq" which one should I pick? Does picking High Quality really make it any higher of quality or should I just click "fit to disk?"

 

Thank you for your time, I am sure I will have more questions as I am learning to use the program.

[Jim_Hardin]

I always set my for HQ!!! It limits you to about 1 hour per 4.7GB disc. Actually:

 

4.7Gb:

HQ = 1:06

SP = 1:37

LP = 2:22

ELP = 3:04

 

8.5 Gb:

HQ = 2:00

SP = 2:57

LP = 4:19

ELP = 5:35

 

But the problem is Quality when you are only starting with a VHS tape… HQ seem to retain what you captured, all the rest of the settings degrade quality.

 

Discs are cheap, I use 2 or 3 to get the job done at HQ but that is my personal opinion.

 

[computer challenged]

I always set my for HQ!!! It limits you to about 1 hour per 4.7GB disc. Actually:

 

4.7Gb:

HQ = 1:06

SP = 1:37

LP = 2:22

ELP = 3:04

 

8.5 Gb:

HQ = 2:00

SP = 2:57

LP = 4:19

ELP = 5:35

 

But the problem is Quality when you are only starting with a VHS tape… HQ seem to retain what you captured, all the rest of the settings degrade quality.

 

Discs are cheap, I use 2 or 3 to get the job done at HQ but that is my personal opinion.

 

Thank you for your advice.

 

What about when I am capturing? Which capture setting should I use to get the best possible picture? DVD HQ, or one of the other options?

 

Is there anything else that I need to make sure that I do to have the best quality capture possible (other than making sure my hard drive is clean and closing all programs)?

 

thanks so much!!

[Jim_Hardin]

I capture with:

 

DV — AVI, big file, no compression edits like butter

 

DV HQ — MPEG2, small file, compressed, can bog down an editor

 

Test it yourself to decide. (remember that DVD RW media?) Do a short capture of the same thing and burn and view.