Creating DVDs with video source files from Studio Deluxe 7

[wlam]

Greetings,

We recently attempted to create DVDs for exhibit and archival use. However, when we played back the DVDs on a DVD player, the video began to skip in the same places every time it was played (when played on a PC however, the playback was flawless).

We initially thought it was our setup (firewire external NTFS HDD, USB 2.0 DVD-R, Win XP pro, latest Deluxe 7 software, Nero DVD burning software, uncompressed/DIVX/LEAD MJPEG codecs for the edited source file) that was causing this. However, when I brought the external HDD to my personal computer at home, I encountered similar problems with the video being "jittery" in various locations (both firewire external HDD and internal HDD, internal DVD+/-R, Win Xp pro, Sony DVD burning software, same source file codecs).

By process of elimination, we managed to rule out the external HDD being the problem, as well as the external USB 2.0 DVD-R. Since we tried 3 different codecs, it shouldn't have been the problem. Also, the DVD burning software used was different on both machines, so it wasn't the DVD burning software either.

The only thing we can think of is that either the source files rendered from Adobe Premiere 6.0 were somehow corrupted (though, I would think the problem would have occured on the DVD-Roms as well, not just the DVD player). Or, the original captures were to blame. We used the Pinnacle Deluxe 7.0 capture device with the latest Studio software. We hooked up a DVD player and a Playstation 2 to the capture unit and created the source files from there. On playback, they seemed fine. And even during playback in Premiere, it seemed fine.

Is there something wrong that we aren't accounting for? At one point, we also had Pinnacle DV500 installed on the same machine, but since DV500 is not compatibile with XP we got a Deluxe 7. I think some of the DV500 drivers may have remained on the computer (at least, the codec and video format is still available to select in Premiere 6.0).

Any indepth help you can provide would be greatly appreciated, as we need a smooth playing video as soon as possible.

Thank you for your time.

Adam

[Dimmer]

Try burning the DVD on a different brand of media, preferably RW, and see what happens. This kind of problems often caused by poor media quality.

[wlam]

Thanks for the tip. I'll give that a try, but I've tried using 2 different brands (one for -R and the other for +R). Do you have DVD+/-Rs I should stay away from?

[Dimmer]

Check out this web site. They have compatibility lists for different media types, burners, and standalone players:
http://www.videohelp.com/dvdmedia

[wlam]

Is it at all possible that the video capture was somehow screwed up? So that when it was edited and transfered to DVD, it would play back on the computer's DVD-Rom okay, but on a DVD player it would play back with some errors?

Since 2 different manufacturers' DVD discs were used (at work we have -R roms only, and at home we have +R roms only), I thought I could rule those out as being the possible problem.

[Dimmer]

Originally posted by wlam
Is it at all possible that the video capture was somehow screwed up? So that when it was edited and transfered to DVD, it would play back on the computer's DVD-Rom okay, but on a DVD player it would play back with some errors? Yes, it's quite possible. Both capture and encoding can be tricky. Fortunately, you can find a number of guides and entire forums dedicated to the subject. For example, if you encoded the video at the bitrate higher than allowed by the standards, it may stutter on a standalone player while PC software players are much more forgiving and may play it fine.

However, why would you capture DVD player output through the capture card in the first place? There are many methods to rip the video directly from DVD.

[wlam]

Well, mostly because of time constraints. The group that did the video editing was a little lax, and things needed to be done in a hurry when the deadline rolled around. Since the deadlines were so tight, we just had the group come in and video capture the segments they wanted (about 1 min of footage per movie and game).

Also, we had to worry about HDD space. With 8+ movies and 5+ games, the footage needed had to be rather small. Against my advice, my organization decided to buy external HDDs with sub-80 gig of space.

Thanks for the tip.

[wlam]

Well, we tried a DVD-RW and it still didn't work.

I'm beginning to think that it may have been the video capturing process.

I also noticed that it seems to skip when it cuts between a video source and video game source video.

Here's the file information for each of the captured videos:
Resolution = 720x480
Bit Rate = 1536 kbps
Audio Sample = 16 bit
Frame Rate = 29 fps
Video Sample Rate = 24 bit
Video Codec = MicroDV2avi

[wlam]

bump

[Dimmer]

Just to double check, you do realize that ripping the original DVD will be much faster and will take less HDD space than re-capturing the DVD through an analog card, don't you? Not to mention preserving the original quality.

[wlam]

Yes, but the segements the group wanted to use was very specific and we were way past deadlines. There just wasn't enough time for them to rip 8 movies and edit out the parts they wanted, then edit that footage plus Playstation 2 game footage to make the art project. Everyone in the group was in high school, so getting them to show up to work on the project when they were supposed to was difficult enough.

[atreides93]

Do you have access to a DVD recorder? A standalone? I know this sounds crazy, but if you're pressed for time, I'd just play it through the video card's video out connector to a dvd recorder and record it to DVD like that...
I know, people will cringe at this suggestion, but its quick and dirty and if don't have time to re-encode the whole thing or start over, then that would work.

Another possiblity is take all the video clips into a program liked TMpg DVD Author. I fed all sorts of clips into it, and it did an excellent job converting the video to mpeg2 and making it compliant.
I don't really like or trust Pinnacle software..i always had trouble with pinnacle.

[wlam]

Thanks, I'll give that a try and see if that fixes any issues.

[wlam]

Hmm...I can't seem to load .avi files into DVD Author (looks like .avis are not supported).

I used TMPGenc Plus 2.5 and IFOedit to make a .vob, and then tried to burn to Nero, but it wouldn't let me. So, I then used Nero's video editor and added the .wav file to the .m2v file that way, and it would let me burn a DVD. All seemed well at first. The quality seemed a lot better than when I used the Mjpeg as the source when I turned it into a DVD. However, again it started to skip at certain parts (always in the same spot). It seemed to do it only in the PS2 game footage, and not the movie footage. And when it did skip, it seemed to only skip with Marvel vs Capcom 2, and not Dragon Ball Z Budokai 2 or Tekken Tag.

I'm going to try again, this time, I'm going to use TMPGenc Plus and then use TMPGenc DVD Author to make a simple DVD.

Any other suggestions someone might have?

[[_chéf_]]

Just create the required ifo/bup files using IfoEdit from the vob's you've made.