Few Questions

[JayA783]

I'm having the problem a few others have had in the past with the burning dvd freezing at 97%. Before I go into detail I want to understand something first.

 

When adding movies, it tells me I have reached the limit for links on the main menu and asks to create a new menu. I decided to hold it off for a minute and said no, I then noticed the links were added to the main menu anyway, a total of 7. Since they showed up, I tried burning as it was to see a 97% freeze. It took me a minute to set it up and the burning took quite a while and I don't want wait such a long time again to find out it freezes again.

 

Windows 7, 175.67 minutes - 7 movies - over 500mb of space leftover

 

ETA: I should also mention, the files were originally converted to dvd using ConvertX2DVD. I bought Roxio to have more decisions, mainly the menu. I loaded the .vob files from the saved project in convertX2dvd folder. The preview went perfect. Also, I didn't understand why it took so long to get to 97% as the files were already in DVD format (.vob), it seemed as it was reconverting for some reason. The setting I used was "use original quality". The only additional things I did was add a personal background in the menu and a full length song in the menu.

[JayA783]

Just some more information...

 

The blank dvd I used remained a valid blank after freezing at 97%. Only makes me wonder more what Roxio was doing on that time that convertX2dvd didn't already do.

 

Restarting the computer with a cd in optical drive causes a long hang up during loading while it checks medium status. I wrote this information down for further information. ide channel 0 slave udma mode 5 referring to my dvd drive.

[JayA783]

1. How can I change the buttons to text only? I rather have a text button saying "previous" instead of the arrow. If thats not possible, can I use my own buttons?

 

2. Can I set up my own color schemes for the button/text links? There are 3 to choose from by default.

 

3. How can apply the font/size/text and color schemes for everything in the menu and sub-menus? I saw a thread on this earlier by accident and lost it.

 

Thanks

[Jim_Hardin]

“Links” are something your Browser has.

 

DVD’s use Buttons. You can change Button Style from the Menu. There are 327 to choose from (the thubnails aren't real good, so keep notes on which you like)

 

As far as Menu Styles… I see 104 to choose from but 6 is about the max for Buttons… You can ignore it but often they do not behave properly after that.

 

If you think about commercial movies they don’t have very many Buttons on any single page. “Scenes” is a good example. They normally have 4 to 6 choices with buttons across the bottom to go to the next page. (FYI ~ “Scenes” in movies are really “Chapters” )

 

You best results are going to be obtained by sticking to the conventions offered. Rethink your menu structure so that it fits the conventions.

 

Read through this posting, Here. It should help with some the terminology we use.

 

Get some DVD RW to use for learning and trying things out. Save a lot of headaches in the end When trying out menu ideas, I often use a single still picture as a substitute for my movies. Renders faster and lets me see what I want to test out quickly

[Jim_Hardin]

Now for some of your other questions …

 

Your thinking that DVD Movies are a bunch of files slapped on a disc. They are not!

 

They are a group of files that are Rendered into an international format and structure so that they will play on all Players.

 

The fact that you used a converter on them raises some questions

 

Why?

 

How long is the total production?

 

Here is what a DVD holds in real life:

4.7Gb:

HQ = 1:06

SP = 1:37

LP = 2:22

 

8.5 Gb:

HQ = 2:00

SP = 2:57

LP = 4:19

ELP = 5:35

 

Any quality less than HQ usually isn’t worth looking at There are some ways to nearly reach the SP times without clicking on SP but in all cases it is Video Quality that is sacrificed for time…

 

The 97% freeze can be a hard one to resolve… The files you are using raise questions so that may be a large part of the problem. Also the length of project can be a factor sometimes…

 

FYI: Video is measured in Time! File size is useless and tells us nothing.

 

When I render, I often use the Folder option instead of a disc. Then use Roxio’s Burn Data Disc program to burn that folder set onto a disc. Others here prefer to burn to an ISO file first then use Roxio’s Burn Disc Image to put it on disc.

 

But almost no one burns directly to disc unless the project is very short.

 

Another thing to try is to bring the files into VideoWave and output them as mpeg2. (assumes a DVD project) Sometimes this will fix something within the file that is choking MyDVD.

 

There are some things for you to try and some questions for you to answer

 

Wouldn’t hurt to post your specs, like I have in my signature block. (could add them to your signature block)

[JayA783]

“Links” are something your Browser has.

 

DVD’s use Buttons. You can change Button Style from the Menu. There are 327 to choose from (the thubnails aren't real good, so keep notes on which you like)

 

Links are not only for browsers, links connect you to something. The word connect isn't only used for the internet. What good is a dvd button if it has no purpose, would just be an image then. I'll have to look through the other 321 and find something different. It's not a big deal really, I just didn't expect to be limited to what the program offers. At least I can choose my own background.

The fact that you used a converter on them raises some questions

 

Why?

 

The files were originally .avi files that I wanted on DVD. I downloaded ConvertX as it was free but didn't like the limited menu editing plus I wanted to see what extras a good program could do. I converted them with ConvertX before I bought Roxio and Roxio accepted the .vob files without a problem. What throws me off is, I could pull ConvertX up and use the same files and they would burn quickly to a dvd. Converting was usually the long part... Again, not a big deal.

 

How long is the total production? File size is useless and tells us nothing.

 

If file size is pointless, why is there a bar at the bottom telling how much free space is left on the disc? That bar has to be pointless too because all it did was throw me off. The bar is not accurate anyway because, my first time trying, I used HQ and the bar told me I had 500mb left to spare, admitting I didn't see how as I had almost 3 hrs of video I went along with it. That is when it froze at 97%, lucky for me I saved as a .iso file as well, only to find out it was a total of 11 gigs. (Keep this in mind for future 97% freeze reference) So I started over, chose fit to disc and it burned with lower quality that was worth looking at. Tell me about this file size bar though, I can't believe its there for no reason.

 

Another thing to try is to bring the files into VideoWave and output them as mpeg2. (assumes a DVD project) Sometimes this will fix something within the file that is choking MyDVD.

Side question, are you referring to the files might not having the same codecs permitted by dvd & permitted resolutions/frame rates/sampling rates/number of channels?

 

Specs Include: Newer pioneer dvd burner, quad 4 phenom, 4 gb memory, 1.5tb hd, nvidia gfx, windows 7 pro...

[bimicher]

 

 

If file size is pointless, why is there a bar at the bottom telling how much free space is left on the disc? That bar has to be pointless too because all it did was throw me off. The bar is not accurate anyway because, my first time trying, I used HQ and the bar told me I had 500mb left to spare, admitting I didn't see how as I had almost 3 hrs of video I went along with it. That is when it froze at 97%, lucky for me I saved as a .iso file as well, only to find out it was a total of 11 gigs. (Keep this in mind for future 97% freeze reference) So I started over, chose fit to disc and it burned with lower quality that was worth looking at. Tell me about this file size bar though, I can't believe its there for no reason.

 

 

When we talk about file size being meaningless we talk about the source file size. A 60 minute video can be a few mb to many gb in size depending on the format of the video. When converted to a standard 4.7GB DVD at HQ quality the video is converted to the standard DVD format video which is mpeg2.

 

Your 3 hour video will never fit on a 4.7GB DVD unless you choose fit-to-disc and that would make it unwatchable and most likely give you a corrupt menu.

[JayA783]

Your 3 hour video will never fit on a 4.7GB DVD unless you choose fit-to-disc and that would make it unwatchable and most likely give you a corrupt menu.

 

I must have been extremely lucky because my menus work perfectly (3 menus, 7 videos, 3 hours) with a full 5 minute song on each menu and very high resolution background photo (im sure it was converted). Plus all videos work and they may not be full high quality but they are very, very watchable.

 

Perhaps, the next version you guys could exclude the file size bar unless I missed something about its purpose. Is it only accurate if the files are .mpeg2?

 

Side question: If HQ converts to .mpeg2, what does the other options convert to?

[bimicher]

I must have been extremely lucky because my menus work perfectly (3 menus, 7 videos, 3 hours) with a full 5 minute song on each menu and very high resolution background photo (im sure it was converted). Plus all videos work and they may not be full high quality but they are very, very watchable.

 

Perhaps, the next version you guys could exclude the file size bar unless I missed something about its purpose. Is it only accurate if the files are .mpeg2?

 

Side question: If HQ converts to .mpeg2, what does the other options convert to?

 

Nobody here works for Roxio so we have no control over the file size bar, we are just users like you.

 

If you are happy with the DVD then that is all that matters. You are lucky.

 

All quality settings convert to mpeg2, the other settings may lower the bitrate and resolution which in turns lowers the quality.

 

What setting did you use when you burned that 3 hour video to DVD?