Idiot needs help

[lazarus]

OK, I give up. Im trying to take 2 fairly large AVI files totalling about 7.5 G, combine them into 1 file, and then burn it onto a DL DVD. Im tired, exhausted, and tired of making $10 coasters.

Any advice?

[phd]

Are you attempting to burn AVIs directly to DVD?

That doesn't work (for most players.)

http://www.videoredo.com/FAQs/SupportFAQDVDEdiitingAuthoring.htm#PlayFilesOnDVDP layer

[Anole]

Lazarus -

In simple terms and steps, what programs and proceedures are you using?
Have you ever made working single layer DVDs that operated in your DVD player?
From zero to success is a very long way, in the world of DVD making.

If this DL DVD is your first attempt, I'd say you are in way over your head.
Get your feet wet with some single layer discs, first.

VideoReDo is an absolutely wonderful program, but it does just one of several steps in the work flow of making DVDs.


PS: I got tired of $1 and $2 single-layer coasters a couple of years ago.
Now, I rarely make 20-cent to 40-cent coasters, in part to newer, better, beefier software like VRD.

[lazarus]

Ive been burning single layer DVD's for ages Im using Nero Express (among others) and it screams and yells. My best bet is that for some reason its not recognizing the DL blank in the drive. Crazy thing is, ive done this before. Must have been sheer luck the first time.

[phd]

Is it possible you need an update from Nero for your DL drive?

[bitter_old_man]

You may need to update the firmware for your burner.

Barry

[lazarus]

Is it possible you need an update from Nero for your DL drive?

Thought of that. Im current.

[bitter_old_man]

What brand of DL discs are you using? The consensus is that anything other than Verbatim is a waste of money.

Barry

[zaphod7501]

I have a fairly new DL drive (LG GSA-4163B) that came with Nero Express (not Nero Burning ROM) and it will not burn anything correctly even with the latest Nero upgrades. The drive works perfectly with Ulead Movie Factory, DeepBurner (freeware), and DVDDecrypter. Nero has worked exactly twice. (using Verbatim +R and Maxell -R & +RW)

My personal belief is that Nero Express does not yet correctly support DL 16X drives even though it came with my drive. Since it won't support single layer disks, I haven't even tried DL disks. You probably need different burning software.

[lazarus]

What brand of DL discs are you using? The consensus is that anything other than Verbatim is a waste of money.

Barry

Actually, im using verbatim

[bitter_old_man]

What burner do you have? What firmware version?

Barry

[bitter_old_man]

I've only burned one DL disc so far and I used DVD Decrypter to burn it. It worked perfectly.

Barry

[BaysideBas]

In my experience don't try to burn at the highest rated speed, regardless of media. Even with brand name media such as Verbatim. I got a couple of cake boxes of the Verbatim "looks like a movie reel" media, rated at 4X, and burned at least a dozen coasters, would get a write error about 2/3 of the way through every disc. It wasn't until I throttled back to 2X that I was successful in burning on those discs. Since then, I've found other media that, in one instance, would suffer from compatibility problems on playback. Throttling back the burn speed corrected that as well. And, since the burn process is actually a small part of the authoring process, I have instituted a policy of using no more than 1/2 the rated speed on all my projects and I'm that much happier with the results.

[bitter_old_man]

I've burned several hundred DVDs at 16x on my NEC-3500 with no problems. There are also plenty of documented cases (PIE/PIF scans) where media burned at less than its rated speed results in a poorer quality burn.

Always keep your burner's firmware up to date. The firmware contains the writing strategies for media. Updated firmware may contain improved writing strategies for old media and writing strategies for new media.

Barry

[Anole]

I've tried slowing down my burns, in hopes of getting better discs.
After several hundred (of many types of blanks), I don't really know for sure if it helps or not (any more).

The main reason I slow down, is to make sure the computer can keep up with the data requiremens of burning two DVDs at the same time, at 8x or 12x.
As long as I don't launch -some- as-yet undetermined application, they generally work fine.

But I gotta say, -some- newer burners beat the pants off -some- older burners, and that has to come down to writing strategies.
Or, it may just be better drives, but what is "better" about them?

For years, I'd fought with a top of the line, name brand burner.
I updated the firmware whenever I got impatient.
My test case was a direct DVD to HD to DVD copy, so nothing about editing nor authoring applied.
My results were ... sporadic at best.
Last summer I got an 8X NEC 2500 burner, and all of a sudden, I could do no wrong.
It wasn't just the new media I had. All my old 1x, and 2X media suddenly was gold!

I've since graduated to dual NEC 3520's, and as mentioned, can burn two DVDs at once, certainly at 8X, and with some media even at 12X.
(I'm not pushing 8X media to 12X, that's what the drive recommended)

So, either your problem has to do with authoring and the burning software, or it's the media, or it just might be the drive.

[BaysideBas]

There are also plenty of documented cases (PIE/PIF scans) where media burned at less than its rated speed results in a poorer quality burn.Barry, then are you saying that those using older burners should not be using them to burn to media rated faster than the burners are capable of?