[Neil Wilkes]

Brandon.

What Audio format did you use here?
MPEG Audio will preview okay, but will almost certainly not play back correctly in NTSC discs, and only sporadically in PAL.
Try resetting your default Audio Transcode settings to Dolby Digital instead of MPEG.

Can I also suggest you buy a pack of DVD+RW discs to save you making so many coasters?

[Neil Wilkes]

I second Jeff’s advice.
We have done many 16:9 projects with Encore, and had no trouble at all with letterboxed playback on 4:3 sets (Encore does not have a Pan & Scan setting, thankfully).
It can only be either the player is not set up correctly, or the other possibility is the TV set is not picking up the aspect ratio properly. I have lost count of the number of sets I have seen left on factory default, which in 99 cases out of 100 will “assume” just 16:9 playback, even for 4:3 material – making everyone look just like Danny DeVito.
The TV should be set to Automatic.

[Neil Wilkes]

Forgot to mention.
Encore will happily accept a Dolby Digital 5.1 stream, and preview it.
It will also accept a DTS stream in passthrough mode only.

[Neil Wilkes]

Dolby Digital 5.1 creation – correctly – is not easy or cheap.
If logo usage is required, then Dolby Labs also insist that you use a properly licensed encoder, and submit an example of the final DVD to them for approval of the encoding.

You can have Discrete 5.1, or matrixed (Which requires the additional use of either an LCRS type encoder, followed by a DD stereo encoder that can set the Dolby Surround flag (Encore cannot do this) or else through a Dolby ProLogic II encoder and from there to LPCM in Dolby Surround, or again through a licensed DD multichannel encoder.
The cheapest one available is the one that can be purchased for Premiere Pro.

If we want to get into DTS, it gets easier but also more complex as well.
AC3 (Dolby Digital) and LPCM are mandated streams. This means every DVD must have one or the other. DTS is optional, and cannot be the sole stream in any VTS.

[Neil Wilkes]

Try clearing out the Media Cache database, and then re loading the project.
This will force Encore to rebuild the database, and may help.
To do this, go to Edit/Preferences/Audio & Video.
There is an option to clean the media cache database in there.

[Neil Wilkes]

1Gb is the maximum amount of material that can go into Menu Space – period.
There is no workaround.

[Neil Wilkes]

Can you please give more details?
What Audio format are you trying to use – MPG, AC3 or PCM?
What are the project details (TV Standard etc)
What do you mean by “broken”?
What happens if you burn to an RW disc from Encore?

[Neil Wilkes]

I cannot accept it is Encore at fault here – we have burned countless test images to RW discs using Encore – from first version to current – and never had any issues at all that were not caused by the fault located between the keyboard & the chair.
There is a tab in the write dialogue that will allow automatic erasing of RW discs, and this should be checked.
It’s much more likely to be the burner or the media at fault here.

Can I ask what make/model of burner & what brand discs you are using?

[Neil Wilkes]

Agreed.
200% agreed.
Never use an Over ride unless you know exactly what they are doing – and I am not being facetious here either.
There is very little actual use for them in Encore 2 since the introduction of various features such as Chapter Playlists, Chapter End Actions etc.
Always try without them set at all.

[Neil Wilkes]

Might sound very silly, but have you tried making certain there are no spaces in the file path names?
This is a Sonic authorcore, and one of the annoying things I have noticed with Sonic apps – all of them, including the high end ones – is that whilst the importers do not seem to mind spaces or funny characters in filenames, the encoders often throw a right hissy fit.