Dave Friend
Forum Replies Created
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Bob,
Why do you feel that the error reported by the DVD player is a VTS Sector Error?
Does this disc play on any other set-top players or do all have the same problem? IOW, is your client’s DVD player lame?
Dave
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billy,
Not sure you would need a $4K computer if all you wanted it to do was host the SD1000. Seems like you would be happier with mac anyway.
On the mac side Optibase has a card. Details here. I have no first hand experience with this card. A SDI version will run you about $4K.
The one I would look at first is the Mediapress MPEG Encoder which will again run you close to $4K for the SDI version. The analog i/o version is about $2,300. I’ve seen the output of an earlier version of this card and it look good. Would not be able to comment as to how it compares to the Sonic cards.
Hope this helps.
Dave
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Bill,
Are you happy with the SD1000 card output? I ask because Sonic uses this card with their current professional products that run on Windows. So, perhaps your card can be used with newer software. The Sonic dealer in your area should be able to tell you if this is true. They might also have a good upgrade path from your current to a new system from Sonic.
It’s impossible to beat the efficiency of a good hardware encoder.
For a software encoder my favorite is the Cinema Craft Encoder Basic. This Basic version provides all the functionallity you need to encode from AVI or MOV files at a very reasonable $60. The high price Cinema Craft products are probably only needed if you are encoding from tape and trying to please a hollywood studio.
Dave
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I want to report that Sonic has contacted me and been very helpful. It is fantastic to see a company respond to end-user problems voiced in an open and public arena like the COW. In particular, eDVD Product Manager Scott Epstein’s efforts on my behalf have been outstanding. He has offered ideas to work around the readme file discrepancy (only needed until the upcoming update is released) and provided other information that has helped me win back my client
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Hi Scott,
Thanks for taking notice and responding.
I would really like to login to SonicOnline but it insists that I don’t have a registered email. Correct me if I am wrong, but I recall the install of eDVD offering (insisting on?) registration and I’m quite certain I did. If I am wrong and did not register as part of the install I would register on the Sonic website – if there was any way to do so!
In the mean time I have a client who is more than a little put-off by the discrepancy in the readme file. I need an immediate fix. This issue is about to cost my company a contract worth tens of thousands – and potentially much, much more. I need a hero.
Dave Friend
Precision Powerhouse
Minneapolis
612-333-9111
davidf@power-house.com -
[Bob Cole] “I gave up.”
As did I after having the exact same experience you describe. Shameful. Makes Sonic look like a joke of a company.
Dave
Dave Friend
Co-Host discreet edit COW
and
discreet combustion COW -
Bob,
I’ve been reasonably happy with WinDVD for playback. I know others who think that Sonic’s DVD player is great. The price is fair compared to some.
You still need a decoder even with eDVD. The interActual player (part of the eDVD scheme) relies on the decoding software you provide and does not provide any itself.
AFAIK, any late model mac is good to go for DVD playback. I too am curious about how the eDVD thing works on a mac.
I’ve been doing some work with eDVD4 this last week or so. There are a couple things about it that make me nuts. By the way, check out the README.htm file it puts on the DVD disc for the end-user. It uses the wrong file name for manually installing should the auto-install not work. The real kicker is you can’t edit the README file before burning to the disc. If you do the interactual player gives an error saying the image is invalid. It’s a real pain in the a__. Of course my client had trouble – auto install failed – and the bad info in the readme made me look not so good. I’m still trying recover the face lost on that incident. Other than that the eDVD thing works pretty well – when it works at all. Have fun.
Dave
Dave Friend
Co-Host discreet edit COW
and
discreet combustion COW -
Ruby,
No problem for me with PPro and SP2.
Dave
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Arty,
Think of the files as a film that is on several reels. Starts with reel VTS_01_1.VOB then goes to VTS_01_2.VOB then to …
The DVD file system has a file size limit so the two hour video is broken up into smaller pieces.
BTW, the menus are encoded into the VOB files so you are still going to have them in the copy.
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Normann,
Perhaps you should investigate Matrox Axio. Tons of real time in both SD and HD. Comes at a price however. Check out the COW’s Matrox Video Editing forum. Read the posts specific to Axio and then ask your questions there for expert info.
Dave