[Jeff Pulera]

Hi Dick,

In Encore, you have the option to Build to Disc, Image, or Folder. Like you, I use Image since that gives me a file on the hard drive from which to burn more copies later, good workflow. One can choose from many FREE disc burning utilities for this task, or you can do it from within the Encore Build window.

Just tell Encore to “Build to Disc”, but then for the Source, which by default is “Project”, change that in the drop down to “Image” and then specify the file path for the .iso file you’d made earlier.

I don’t have Encore to look at right this moment to be more specific, but it is pretty simple really when looking at the Build window options.

Thanks

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

[Jeff Pulera]

Hi Ed,

First rule of using video software – use the DEFAULTS if inexperienced with the program. As soon as you start checking boxes without knowing the results, problems creep in.

You could try burning a “Disc Image” and that will create an .iso file on the hard drive (you must enter a destination in the Build window). Then burn that .iso using free software such as BurnAware or ImgBurn. I believe if you double-click the .iso file, Windows 7 might also offer to burn, ran into that dialog accidentally the other day but didn’t actually try it.

If you can upload a few screen grabs of Encore, that might be helpful in troubleshooting. The main interface plus Build window would be a good start then we can look at settings for you

Thanks

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

[Jeff Pulera]

Hi Kevin,

I have admittedly burned very few Blu-rays due to lack of interest from my clients, and it’s been probably a year since I did one. I have gone up to 3 hours, but that was with 1080i at 1440×1080. I think 4 hours is going to push the quality too low for full HD. I just ran an online bitrate calculator and it suggested a 12.9 encode rate, where I’d prefer to keep it up to 18-20 range at least, if not better.

Now there are 50GB Blu-ray discs, but I don’t know that those are actually supported by Blu-ray players…might be just for “data applications”. As for burn time, will be somewhat longer than DVD as I recall, but don’t have any numbers in my head, been too long since I made one.

Perhaps someone with more Blu-ray expertise can chime in here?

Thanks

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

[Jeff Pulera]

Hi Ed,

I can’t possibly train you on Encore in a forum post, suggest viewing/reading some of the many tutorials available on the Cow and elsewhere. In a nutshell though, use Import As > Timeline since that might be your issue – you need a Timeline before the media is really added to the DVD.

This should allow you to create a basic DVD, no menus, that auto-plays.

Try this series to start, scroll to bottom of list to see the 9 parts – https://library.creativecow.net/tutorials/adobeencoredvd

Thanks

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

[Jeff Pulera]

Hi Adam,

Do you have “Audio Time Units” turned on for the Sequence? If so, change back to video (frames).

Thanks

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

[Jeff Pulera]

deleted

[Jeff Pulera]

Hi Ed,

While computers will play almost any media that is on your disc, a set-top DVD player can only play VIDEO DVD that meets the approved DVD specification.

From Media Encoder, you need to choose “MPEG-2 DVD” as the format, then also use an appropriate preset such as “NTSC Widescreen High-Quality”. This will create the proper format for DVD, however you cannot simply burn the resulting files to DVD media. Rather, the DVD must be “authored” using Adobe Encore or similar. The MPEG-2 files are combined and written to the DVD in a very certain way, with .vob files inside of a VIDEO_TS folder. Certain headers and stuff are written to the disc to tell the DVD player “This is a DVD video disc”. The raw MPEG-2 files would play from DVD media in a computer, but not in a DVD player without the authoring step.

Once you choose the right presets in AME, the only setting you might want to change is the encoding bitrate. Rule of thumb is 560/minutes=bitrate, and I usually round down a bit for safety/menu overhead, for instance 560/120=4.66 and I’ll specify a 4.5 rate then. You can web search “bitrate calculator” for other options also. Note that for short videos, not recommended to exceed “8” for bitrate.

Just Import the results from the AME encode job into Encore and author/burn from there to create a DVD-legal disc that plays in all set-top players.

EDIT: just noticed you have CC, and Encore is NOT included. You can download Encore CS6 and use that for DVD and Blu-ray authoring, see here – https://helpx.adobe.com/encore/kb/encore-cs6-installed-cc.html
Thanks

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

[Jeff Pulera]

Hi Jason,

Help us to help you…

What’s the source format, and desired delivery format? Such as 1080p24 source, delivering as 720p24 online.

What is the length of the project?

Difficult to make encoding suggestions when we don’t know what format and length.

Thanks

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

[Jeff Pulera]

Hi Kevin,

Most users avoid letting Encore transcode their material. Better to take charge and use Adobe Media Encoder right from Premiere, then use the resulting assets in Encore.

A good rule of thumb for bitrate is 560/minutes = bitrate, and I round down slightly to allow for menu overhead. etc. So for instance 560/120 = 4.66, encode at 4.5 and good to go! Or use an online “bitrate calculator” – there are many to choose from, just do a search.

How long? Depends on system speed for starts, and of course are you encoding from SD or HD source? On my older Core i7 PC, a 2-hour SD video will encode to MPEG-2 DVD in maybe 10 minutes, then another ten or so to author/burn in Encore. HD video might take closer to realtime to transcode to SD DVD.

Of course, any effects applied to the original video can increase render times a little or a lot, your mileage may vary.

Thanks

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

[Jeff Pulera]

Another angle – since DVD is standard definition and doesn’t always look so great on an HD display, and no doubt the client wants a nice rendition of their products showing on the trade show display, why not go with an HD workflow? Skip DVD.

Encode to HD using H.264 (.mp4 file) and for playback into the HDTV, there are many options. Many HDTVs now have a USB port. Insert a USB stick with the video clip on it. Or get a Western Digital WDTV device (or similar) player box with HDMI output (under $100). Use an Android tablet or iPad to play the HD video, using appropriate HDMI adapter cable into the HDTV. The HD video will look SO MUCH BETTER on the display than a DVD.

Thanks

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers