Cant get DVD to verify!

[Michael Sacci]

The frustration is that I’m asking for details, step by step details of your procedures. A list of all your settings. I’ve asked about your system and HD, don’t see an answer.

To put it another way I would like a list of what you are doing and then the result. No more paragraphs.

So if you want me to help that is what I need.

[Terry Mikkelsen]

Anna,
I know its frustrating to have these problems, but don’t let it get to you yet. You have taken great strides and eliminated a few possibilities.

Here is my main thought. If the disc that successfully burned is stalling in the middle of a video asset (not a jump command or other authoring option), then the media (audio/video not DVD) is to be suspect. I have never “export” a string of MPEGs from DVDSP to make a single file. No one else seems to be complaining about this, so it may be a valid workflow. I have and often DO have many different MPEG files within the same track and not had any problems. (I do this to mix different encode settings for different scenes depending upon complexity and composites)
So again, if the video is stalling, lets check it. Open the single long .m2v file in Quicktime, scan to near the stalling point and let it play and see what happens. If it glitches, flashes, gets blocky or anything other than your great video (even for just one frame), that would indicate a problem. I would then check the smaller .m2v file that was strung together. IF that file is also bad, then check the source file you placed in Compressor, and keep going back till you find a “clean copy”.

Tech-T Productions
http://www.technical-t.com

[Michael Sacci]

[Terry Mikkelsen] “I have never “export” a string of MPEGs from DVDSP to make a single file”
That is because there is no such feature within DVDSP. Using multiple m2v assets in a single video stream has always been a problem. There is a program (Mpeg Amend) that can stitch these files together give you a valid single video. It is not a valid workflow if you want playback compatibility.

I agree that her problem is probably the video stream but more than likely it is a spike in the bitrate which cannot be seen in a player, and this could be a combo of the file and the media. It could also be she has a command placed in a chapter marker. It can be several things

[Terry Mikkelsen]

Using multiple m2v assets in a single video stream has always been a problem.

That’s interesting that you have that problem, as I have never had a problem doing that. It is also a convenience (besides encoding different bitrates) in that you can right click on an m2v file in the track and select “add chapter marking to clip end”. (LOVE THAT COMMAND)

Tech-T Productions
http://www.technical-t.com

[Terry Mikkelsen]

Sorry to beat this thing to death, but I think I found some clarrification!

I thought it odd that the command “place chapter marker at clip end” exists, if you shouldn’t have more than one clip per track. Started looking through the manual. Page 368 talks about timecode and it referencing the clip (depending on which clip you have selected) with a screenshot showing multiple clips on the track (along with a clearer image on 369).
BUT, then I see a really interesting highlighted box on page 371:

About Segmented MPEG Files
The segmented MPEG files created by some third-party encoders do not import
correctly into DVD Studio Pro. Some encoders segment their large encoded files into
1 GB files. When imported into DVD Studio Pro, only the first 1 GB segment is
imported. You need to append the files into a single file before importing the asset
into DVD Studio Pro. There are several third-party applications that can be used to
append a segmented MPEG file into a single file.

So you don’t want “automatically” segmented files, but “manually” (by exporting separate .mov files from FCP) segmenting is OK. It must be some kind of flags used by the encoder or incomplete GOPs in the segmented files that give DVDSP the hassle.

Tech-T Productions
http://www.technical-t.com

[Anna Conlon]

I did finally get enough DVDs working to get the urgent samples I needed.

The problem defiantly related to the string of Mpeg. Watching over the DVD’s it stalling always occurred where the mpegs joined up. Doing the video stream helped a little but didn’t fully resolve the problem. What I have to do now is return to final cut create one .mov and then compress that into one mpeg file.

-I also was leaving lossless switched on
-and my DVDs wasn’t the best quality

Hopefully this thread will help someone with similar problems

thanks to all who took time out to help

[Anna Conlon]

I really hate to start this head wrecking thread back up but I’m starting to have the same unexplained problems …..AGAIN.

Just to refresh …Even though formatting my sample DVD appeared to be successful. On half of the disc I tested it would stall at the same point on the disc with green banding, freezing and jumping.

I’m using a

-Mac OS X 10.5.8 with 2GHz Power PC 5 and 2GB memory and western digital MYbook external hard drive
-I created my sample file in final cut and export as .mov 126min long
-I use compressor to create my mpeg2 and dolby digital files
-I then create my DVD stuido pro file with motion menu audio and chapters.
-The motion menu is created in After effects as .mov and then compresses to mpeg2 and audio format is .aiff this is used in the menu
-I build the file to my desktop and then format
-I also tried building the file to my desktop and then used disc utility to burn the disc at the slowest rate possible (x2) both burning methods produced the same unreliable results (some disc worked some stalled)

When consulting this forum we identified a few things that may be causing the problem

-I was leaving lossless switched on when formatting the disc
-The DVDs I was using wasn’t the very best quality possible
-I was stringing together mpges in the time line

I resolved all of the above. The most complicated was stringing together mpeg2. In order to avoid this I had to go back to final cut create on uninterpreted .mov and re-compressed this file. I also cut footage at the point where the disc stalled the majority of the time. I replaced this with new footage. I created an entirely new DVD studio file. Even though this new file worked the first few burns it has started to stall again on testing. This time randomly at different point on the disc. It gives green bands and then stops and jumps or completely stops.

Just as an experiment I tested a DVD in my DVD player at home and it stalled at one point and competently stopped. I took this DVD and tested in another DVD player and it worked perfectly. I then tried the same DVD back in my own DVD player and now its working perfectly. I’ve tested it several times on both DVD players and its almost as if its gotten better??? I’ve tried this with a few DVD that were stalling and they work now on another player. Can DVD players damage disc …The more testing I do the more confussed I become.

-The way I test the DVD is by forwarding them by x8 speed. I know the footage so well that i can see very quickly if the disc stalls slightly

I have spent weeks trying to resolve this problem. Could it lie in DVD player? I know this sound stupid but can you damage a DVD in a player and you make it better in another. Clutching at straws! I want to put and end to this so I can move on and do actual work!