Very Frustrated - Can't Make a DVD That Works

[TwoRails]

Hi All,

Please help!! I'm keeping the recycle bin full with bad disks!!

I'm pretty new at this so hopefully it's something simple. I have a new system and I want put tons (years) of home movies and TV recordings to DVD.

All the DVD discs I've made will stutter a lot, and if they do play a bit without stuttering, they will just freeze at the current frame and I have to do a hard power off on the DVD player.

This happens on various set top players and set top burners I've tested them on.

I've tried different brands of discs to no luck. However, if I copy a disc that works that my set top burner recorded, it (the copy) plays fine with the same media that stutters or sticks so I don't think it's the various media.

Don't laugh, but I barely know how to use my software and don't know enough about settings. I can do the basics, though:

I use TMPGEnc Video Mastering Works 5 for my editor to cut out "foot shots" and commercials (all I know how to use is the Cut Editor; haven't tried the Time Line Editor yet). For output, I use the default “DVD-Video standard MPEG File” and have tried checking/unchecking “Output bitstream for editing,” “Detect scene change,” and “Encode keyframe into I Picture” (whatever that is).

I use DVD Pro 2 to turn the MPEG 2 file into video files. I know how to make a basic menu with one "Play" button/link but that’s it.

I've used DVD Pro 2's built-in burner function and ImgBurn to burn the DVDs: same stutter / freezing problems each way. With ImgBurn I don't see an option to burn straight from the Video folder, so I learned how to make an Image, then burn a disc from the image.

System specs: Win 78 Pro 64, 12GB RAM, Samsung SH-S223L burner, Intel i7-2600 CPU.

Thanks!

[manono]

With ImgBurn I don't see an option to burn straight from the Video folder, so I learned how to make an Image, then burn a disc from the image.
"Write Files/Folders To Disc", and then scroll to the video name, inside of which are both an AUDIO_TS folder (empty) and a VIDEO_TS folder which contains the IFO/BUP/VOB files. Taking time to create an ISO is not necessary.

You're saying it plays jerky on both the computer as well as the standalones? These DVDs, they're reencoded movies, or made from a camcorder or something? Upload a sample of something that doesn't play properly - 10 seconds or so of a scene with steady motion - to either SendSpace or MediaFire and give us the link. If you don't know how to cut a VOB, then open one in DGIndex, use the [ and ] buttons to cut off a piece, and then File->Save Project and Demux Video. Upload the M2V it makes for you.

[Ghitulescu]

I use DVD Pro 2 to turn the MPEG 2 file into video files. I know how to make a basic menu with one "Play" button/link but that’s it.

I've used DVD Pro 2's built-in burner function and ImgBurn to burn the DVDs: same stutter / freezing problems each way. With ImgBurn I don't see an option to burn straight from the Video folder, so I learned how to make an Image, then burn a disc from the image.

Maybe it's that software, DVD Pro 2, that messes up your files. Which software is that, anyway? Even google is helpless :)

If ImgBurn can do an image, then it can directly burn the files nevertheless (ie without creating that ISO).

[TwoRails]

"Write Files/Folders To Disc", and then scroll to the video name, inside of which are both an AUDIO_TS folder (empty) and a VIDEO_TS folder which contains the IFO/BUP/VOB files. Taking time to create an ISO is not necessary. …

Thanks for the reply, manono! That tip will save a lot of time once the burning problem is figured out!

… You're saying it plays jerky on both the computer as well as the standalones? These DVDs, they're reencoded movies, or made from a camcorder or something? …

I’ve not played an entire DVD on the computer, but, for example, one disc that stuttered horribly right from the beginning on a set top, played fine for my approximate 20 minute test on a computer. These are a variety of captures. The TV shows are captured with an Hauppauge TV tuner. The home movies come from a digital movie camera on tape, from still cameras with movie functions (AVI and MOV files on a memory stick), and old VHS tapes recorded to DVD via a set top burner and then imported to the editor.


… Upload a sample of something that doesn't play properly - 10 seconds or so of a scene with steady motion - to either SendSpace or MediaFire and give us the link. If you don't know how to cut a VOB, then open one in DGIndex, use the [ and ] buttons to cut off a piece, and then File->Save Project and Demux Video. Upload the M2V it makes for you.

I’ve already recycled most of the discs, but I did find one that locks up the set top player and not the computer. I was able to get about 10 seconds from the front of the movie. On a non-related issue, I contacted TMPGEnc (their customer support is fantastic, BTW!!) and they had me upload a sample file using WeTransfer. Since I already have an “account” with WeTransfer, I used them for the file transfer. I hope this is OK. The link is:

http://wtrns.fr/QrdZ7FYghwdqoU

I hope this will help! If I can supply any other info, please let me know :)

Thanks!

TwoRails :)

[TwoRails]

Maybe it's that software, DVD Pro 2, that messes up your files. Which software is that, anyway? Even google is helpless :) ...

Hi Ghitulescu,

Below is to the product page for DVD Pro:

http://www.mediachance.com/dvdlab/

Here’s their product page:

http://www.mediachance.com/product.htm

TwoRails :)

[Midzuki]

Nitpick:

DVD-lab PRO is not the same as "DVD Pro" ;)

[manono]

It looks OK to me. Maybe someone else will spot something peculiar about it. The audio isn't WAV audio, by chance? That might throw it over the max bitrate limit sometimes, but DVDLab shouldn't continue the mux if that were true (don't know, never used it), and even if the authoring completes, it shouldn't freeze a player, but only cause stutters from time to time.

On an unrelated note, it should have been IVTC'd, unless there are other parts different from the sample. It makes for a much better quality video to be able to encode for progressive 23.976fps with pulldown as opposed to interlaced 29.97fps.

Do you know enough AviSynth to be able to use HCEnc for the encoding? I've never heard of TMPGEnc causing the problems you mentioned, but there's at least a chance you messed up in some setting or other.

[Ghitulescu]

Stuttering can have different causes, and there's no "common" definition for stutter:
- false deinterlacing
- false field order (TFF/BFF)
- false IVTC (film mode/camera mode)
Some of these cause will cause stuttering only on a PC (as the graphic subsystem must deinterlace the material before displaying it), thus the relevant question with PC/standalone.
I suspect that TDA is the main suspect here, as it reencodes the video, and may ignore (or is wrongly set) some information.
Double check all the relevant attributes and see if they are observed up to the final DVD.
Wasn't supposed that TDA can author the DVD, too?

[manolito]

@TwoRails

I do not have much experience with NTSC DVDs, but two things in your sample look a little suspicious to me:

Your max bitrate is 9 200 Kbps, and depending on the bitrate of the audio stream you will mux into the final MPEG, this might break the DVD specs. Try to lower your max video bitrate to 8500 Kbps or even lower (depends on how much the encoder overshoots the specified max bitrate).

Your GOP structure is M=3, N=16. While a 16-frame GOP is probably legal for an interlaced NTSC stream (the max GOP size is 18 AFAIK as long as you do not apply pulldown), but maybe you should experiment with a GOP size of 12 just to play it safe...


Good luck
manolito

[TwoRails]

Nitpick:

DVD-lab PRO is not the same as "DVD Pro" ;)Hi Midzuki,

Nitpicking is fine! That's one of my "Dooh" moments :o

On something like this, typos like that could make a big difference!

[TwoRails]

It looks OK to me. Maybe someone else will spot something peculiar about it. The audio isn't WAV audio, by chance? That might throw it over the max bitrate limit sometimes, but DVDLab shouldn't continue the mux if that were true (don't know, never used it), and even if the authoring completes, it shouldn't freeze a player, but only cause stutters from time to time.

On an unrelated note, it should have been IVTC'd, unless there are other parts different from the sample. It makes for a much better quality video to be able to encode for progressive 23.976fps with pulldown as opposed to interlaced 29.97fps.

Do you know enough AviSynth to be able to use HCEnc for the encoding? I've never heard of TMPGEnc causing the problems you mentioned, but there's at least a chance you messed up in some setting or other.

Hi manon,

No, it’s not WAV. If I remember right, DVD Lab will convert any audio problems into something compliant. See below for the audio settings. Ah… I’m clueless: what is “IVTC’d” ?? I had to look and I can set different frame rates by selecting “Non Standard Settings.” I can give it a try with a progressive settings. Correct me here, but I was under the impression that interlaced gave better compatibility??

Sorry, but I don’t even know what AviSynth is, nor HCEnc, either… Yes, I’m sure hoping all this is from incorrect settings!

Hopefully this helps: below are screen shots of the settings the program goes thru for output. The first one is choosing the basic template. The one I pick is highlighted (DVD-Video standard).

The second one is Encode/Bitrate settings, which I’ve never messed with.

The last is File output mode. The only setting I’ve changed here from the default is I picked VBR over CBR as I understand you can pack “more” on a disc without quality loss. The three items checked under Advanced Settings I have tried various combinations with them, but nothing seems to change except the bad burn stack gets taller.

Most of what I have is old TV size of 4:3. Only some newer home movies are in “wide screen” format.

http://i489.photobucket.com/albums/rr260/TwoRails/TMPGEncVMW5SettingsScreenShot-1.jpg

http://i489.photobucket.com/albums/rr260/TwoRails/TMPGEncVMW5SettingsScreenShot-2.jpg

http://i489.photobucket.com/albums/rr260/TwoRails/TMPGEncVMW5SettingsScreenShot-3.jpg

[TwoRails]

A forum question:

Is it OK to put screen shots directly into a post? They are very small in size, easier to view, and a lot of folks don't like clicking on links for security reasons.

[TwoRails]

Stuttering can have different causes, and there's no "common" definition for stutter:
- false deinterlacing
- false field order (TFF/BFF)
- false IVTC (film mode/camera mode)
Some of these cause will cause stuttering only on a PC (as the graphic subsystem must deinterlace the material before displaying it), thus the relevant question with PC/standalone.
I suspect that TDA is the main suspect here, as it reencodes the video, and may ignore (or is wrongly set) some information.
Double check all the relevant attributes and see if they are observed up to the final DVD.
Wasn't supposed that TDA can author the DVD, too?

Hi Ghitulescu,

TMPGEnc Mastering Works is an editor only, if that helps. I looked, but didn’t see an “IVTC” setting. Yes, I agree and suspect that the settings aren’t right somewhere, and it’s probably TMW. But that’s my problem: I do not know the relevant attributes or settings to make, and I have no idea how to check any of it in the final DVD. Above are links to screen shots of the setting changes I can make. Do you see anything there that would help? Is there a tool that will “test” a final DVD for settings?

[TwoRails]

@TwoRails

I do not have much experience with NTSC DVDs, but two things in your sample look a little suspicious to me:

Your max bitrate is 9 200 Kbps, and depending on the bitrate of the audio stream you will mux into the final MPEG, this might break the DVD specs. Try to lower your max video bitrate to 8500 Kbps or even lower (depends on how much the encoder overshoots the specified max bitrate).

Your GOP structure is M=3, N=16. While a 16-frame GOP is probably legal for an interlaced NTSC stream (the max GOP size is 18 AFAIK as long as you do not apply pulldown), but maybe you should experiment with a GOP size of 12 just to play it safe...


Good luck
manolito

Hi manolito,

Thanks, I’ll turn down the bitrate. The program has a check box for 8,000 max, so I’ll enable that. I had to search for it, and found GOP settings in the NonStandard menu. I found I can turn it up or down by steps of one, so cranking it down to 12 is not a problem for both “normal number of frames in a GOP,” and “maximum number of frames in a GOP”. I can also change the “number of B pictures in a GOP.” It’s currently set to 2. Is that a good number?

I also found “pulldown” in the display mode (but I have no idea what pulldown is). Display mode is currently set for Interlaced. My other choices are Progressive, Inverse 3:2 pulldown, and Progressive 2:2 pulldown.

[manono]

Yes, you can put screenshots into a post. You only have to wait until a mod (someone like me!) approves them.

You're using MP2 audio. Even though I understand most NTSC players will play it, technically it's not allowed in NTSC DVDs. The first thing I'd do is convert it to AC3 audio from whatever it started out as (PCM/WAV audio?). Use either Aften and one of its GUIs or eac3to.

http://www.videohelp.com/tools/Aften

http://www.videohelp.com/tools/eac3to

I don't use TMPGEnc, so can't provide advice. It does have an IVTC function, but I'd always use AviSynth for the job. Maybe someone else that uses TMPGEnc can explain how to (first) IVTC your video back to progressive 23.976fps and (second) set up TMPGEnc to encode as progressive 23.976fps with pulldown applied.

[Emulgator]

BTW, MP2 muxing is broken in DLP2 from a certain version on, resulting in stutter.

DLP will not reencode anything, no video nor audio, only a single I-frame encoder is given to encode menu stills.
I do not suggest to use the DLP built-in burner, it has not been maintained for years.
Use ImgBurn instead, best tool up to Blu-ray for free.
I do not suggest to use the DLP built-in Quick-lab MPEG-2 encoder, it has not been maintained for years.
Use Hanks HCEnc instead, up to Blu-Ray MPEG-2 for free.
I do not suggest to use the somewhere mentioned TMPGEnc AC3 plugin, it has not been maintained for years.
Use WavtoAC3Enc instead (using Aften), up to 5.1 @640kbps for free.

Still DLP2 is a very versatile and useful authoring tool.
Unfortunately the old mmbforum is gone forever, it contained so much useful information.
Vapymids over 4000 posts, antonsvideos over 3000 posts and my 990 contributions are gone as well...

If you must have .mpa and DLP, you may use DLP 1.60, mpa muxing is still fine there,
but I would suggest to transcode into ac3 anyway as manono suggested.

[smok3]

so your sources are mpeg2 or what exactly?
If so, why are they mpeg2, how did you capture this stuff?
Can you consider some other final format? (Are your sources mostly interlaced or are they mostly cartoons that you will solve with correct IVTC?)

If you think that dvd video is the format to choose, can you do a disk with some other tools (as suggested):

1. open source in avisynth (trim, IVTC + other filters here) - ok, not sure how IVTC is done properly, since iam in pal land, so read on that...
2. use hcenc to reencode your stuff
3. Use some other multiplexer, some other authoring software (I did a lot of stuff like that with muxman - free edition, but at that time it had a nice gui, not sure about now)
p.s. i never had any problems with pcm audio on dvd as well, but that can be pal-country related.

(Personally i would just trash dvd stuff and find a nice wdtv like device which can play AVC and similar 2011 formats)

[Ghitulescu]

I have a new system and I want put tons (years) of home movies and TV recordings to DVD.

All the DVD discs I've made will stutter a lot, and if they do play a bit without stuttering, they will just freeze at the current frame and I have to do a hard power off on the DVD player.

This happens on various set top players and set top burners I've tested them on.

I've tried different brands of discs to no luck. However, if I copy a disc that works that my set top burner recorded, it (the copy) plays fine with the same media that stutters or sticks so I don't think it's the various media.

Let's start again.

You may throw away the VHS movies, they are now reedited to DVD. Their quality and price unjustify the work of capture, editing, burning, and a good blank would cost anyway more or less the same as the original DVD (I've seen movies at 1€ each).

But the TV recordings are something different, they hardly appear on media.

So I suggest to create a DVD from those MPEGs (using eg DVDstyler, GfK or any other freeware), with no reencoding at all, but instead burning it to a blank, put it on a stick or SDcard and test it on a standalone DVDplayer that allow the playback of DVD media on SD/USB. Or on a mediaplayer / mediatank or whatever it's called this in your country. If the stuttering is due to the inability of the media to sustain the transfer rate, then this won't be seen. If not, then something is wrong in your editing chain, in particular the encoding.

Since all your sources are interlaced, a wrong setting/action can be done at any stage, and thus is very hard to be detected, unless you check the results every time after each step.

[Midzuki]

BTW, MP2 muxing is broken in DLP2 from a certain version on, resulting in stutter.

...

If you must have .mpa and DLP, you may use DLP 1.60, mpa muxing is still fine there,
but I would suggest to transcode into ac3 anyway as manono suggested.

I still use version 2.24. It muxes MP2 audio fine. Newer versions sometimes screw the VM command-chain with certain complex menus :(

[Emulgator]

Midzuki, good find. Since the old mmbforum is down I can not track back my and others findings.
But I can shed some light on the muxer version vs DLP version dependencies, if anyone is interested.
So dvdlibx.dll 4.0.41.0 seems to be able to still mux .mp2

_______________________________________________________________________________________

DVDLab History as kept by Emulgator (maybe incomplete...)

DL 2004:

2004 xx xx DVDLab 1.3.1

2004 xx xx DVDLab 1.4

DLP 2004:

2004 xx xx DLP Beta One
2004 04 19 DLP Beta Two
2004 05 01 DLP Beta Three
2004 06 01 DLP Beta Four
2004 06 22 DLP Beta Five
2004 06 23 DLP Beta Five c
2004 07 20 DLP Beta Six
2004 08 04 DLP Beta Seven
2004 08 11 DLP Beta 8
2004 08 15 DLP Beta 9
2004 08 15 DLP Beta 9 b
2004 08 18 DLP Beta 10
2004 09 03 DLP Beta 11
2004 09 08 DLP Beta 12
2004 09 15 DLP Beta 13 RC1
2004 09 21 DLP Beta 14 RC2
2004 09 27 DLP Beta 15 RC3
2004 09 29 DLP Beta 16 RC4

2004 10 04 DLP 1.0 041019
2004 10 25 DLP 1.0 041025
2004 10 30 DLP 1.0 041030
2004 11 04 DLP 1.0 041103b
2004 12 15 DLP 1.0 041215

DLP 2005:

2005 05 05 DLP 1.50 (Full Installer)
DLP 1.51 (I missed this one)
2005 05 13 DLP 1.52 (.exe only)
2005 06 30 DLP 1.53 (Full Installer, contains dvdlibx.dll 3.0.0.170)
2005 10 12 DLP 1.55 (.exe + dvdlibx.dll 3.0.0.170 + Compile.aux 1.0.0.1 + writelib.dll 3.0.0.45 + Record.exe 1.0.0.1)


DLP 2006:

2006 01 03 DLP 1.60 (.exe + dvdlibx.dll 3.0.0.170 + mpthread.dll 1.0.0)

DLP2 2006:

2006 07 31 DLP 2.0 (Full Installer)
2006 09 01 DLP 2.1 (Full Installer)
2006 09 25 DLP 2.15 (.exe + dvdlibx.dll 4.0.35.0 + spclib.dll 3.0.108.0)
2006 09 29 DLP 2.18 (.exe + dvdlibx.dll 4.0.36.0 + spclib.dll 3.0.108.0)
2006 10 18 DLP 2.19 (.exe + dvdlibx.dll 4.0.36.0 + spclib.dll 3.0.108.0)
2006 10 24 DLP 2.20 (Full Installer, contains dvdlibx.dll 4.0.36.0 + spclib.dll 3.0.108.0)
2006 11 14 DLP 2.21b(.exe + dvdlibx.dll 4.0.36.0 + spclib.dll 3.0.108.0)
2006 11 16 DLP 2.22 (.exe + dvdlibx.dll 4.0.38.0 + Compile.aux 2.0.0.1 + spclib.dll 3.0.108.0)
2006 12 11 DLP 2.23 (.exe + dvdlibx.dll 4.0.38.0 + Compile.aux 2.0.0.1 + spclib.dll 3.0.108.0)

DLP2 2007:

2007 01 09 DLP 2.24 (.exe + dvdlibx.dll 4.0.41.0 + Compile.aux 2.0.0.1 + spclib.dll 3.0.108.0)
2007 02 08 DLP 2.25 (.exe + dvdlibx.dll 4.0.42.0 + Compile.aux 2.0.0.1 + spclib.dll 3.0.108.0)
2007 02 19 DLP 2.26 (.exe + dvdlibx.dll 4.0.42.0 + Compile.aux 2.0.0.1 + spclib.dll 3.0.108.0 + sfile.dll)
2007 02 26 DLP 2.27 (Full Installer)
2007 03 05 DLP 2.27a (.exe + dvdlibx.dll 4.0.42.0 + Compile.aux 2.0.0.1)
2007 03 06 DLP 2.27b (.exe + dvdlibx.dll 4.0.42.0 + Compile.aux 2.0.0.1)
2007 03 23 DLP 2.28 (.exe + dvdlibx.dll 4.0.42.0 + Compile.aux 2.0.0.1)
2007 04 03 DLP 2.30 (Full Installer)
2007 xx xx DLP 2.31 PS (Full Installer)
2007 09 12 DLP 2.32 (.exe + dvdlibx.dll 4.0.207.0 + Compile.aux 2.0.0.1)
2007 09 25 DLP 2.33 (.exe + dvdlibx.dll 4.0.208.2 + Compile.aux 2.0.0.1)
2007 12 12 DLP 2.34 (.exe + dvdlibx.dll 4.0.208.2 + Compile.aux 2.0.0.1)


DLP2 2008:

2008 01 05 DLP 2.40 (Full Installer, contains dvdlibx.dll 4.208B)
2008 01 18 DLP 2.50 Full Installer
2008 01 10 DLP 2.50b Bugfix (.exe + dvdlibx.dll 4.0.212.0 + Compile.aux 2.0.0.1 + spclib.dll 3.0.108.0)
2008 12 08 DLP 2.51 (Full Installer, contains dvdlibx.dll 4.0.215.1 + Compile.aux 2.0.0.1 + spclib.dll 3.0.201.0)

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

[TwoRails]

Wow!! Thanks for all the very informative replies!! It will take some time for me to digest all of it (I don’t claim to be too fast, LOL) There sure is a lot to learn, as I’m finding out!

I hope not directly quoting everyone is acceptable etiquette… if not, please let me know.

Thanks manono for the tips and links. I will check them out.

Thanks Emulgator for the DLP info and tips. I tried out the built-in burner only for testing and am using ImgBurn instead. My current version of DLP2 is 2.51 and compiler version 4.215. Thou I never really used it much, I still have DLP1 if you think that is better.

Thanks smok3. To answer your questions, my originals come from various sources (camera, digital tape, VHS tape, and so on) but all are put into mpeg2 format via TMPGEnc so I can put them on DVD via DLP(x). I want the DVD format so I can mail DVDs to family members so they may enjoy our home movies (yeah, that’s a yuk for a lot of people). And thank you for the tips.

Hi Ghitulescu. Yes, I agree: if I have an old VHS *movie* and I see it on DVD in the bargain bin, I do pick it up as it’s not worth my time. However, the few I can find and do want to keep is a “spare time” project. The important project concerning VSH tapes are my home movies. Thanks for the good tips and suggestions. I’ll be checking them out. -- So would it be better to set things to “progressive” versus interlaced? Which would be more compatible? Some of the folks I send home movies to have very old players…

Hi Midzuki. The version I have is 2.51 (compiler version 4.215). I got DLP in hope of learning advanced / complex menus and the like but just haven’t had the time to learn any of it. I can do just the basics: load in a movie, make a top menu with a link to the movie, and that’s about it (I do let it automatically set chapter points). One day I’ll learn more…

Hi again, Emulgator. Am I “good” with version 2.51?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I do thank everyone for all the great information provided!! I have a lot to learn, for sure!!

TwoRails :)

[TwoRails]

Hi All :)

Here's an update for you. I haven't had much time to try / test all the great suggestions, but I did have time to make one test DVD from an MPEG2 file that gave me trouble. To not have too much to keep track of, I changed only two things. I set TMPGEnc to 8,000 Kbps max, and dumped the mp2 audio, both as suggested below. I used the same DLP2 saved project settings, and ImgBurn to burn the DVD.

I tried the resulting disc in the most finicky player I have (an old Samsung). I didn't have time to watch all of it, but did watch at least 5 minutes of the beginning. The stutter problem has, to this point, always shown itself early, and throughout play. I skipped some chapters (which worked) and watched for a few minutes. I did that for the rest of the DVD (skip a 1/2 dozen chapters, watch for a couple minutes).

So far so good. Then I restarted it from the beginning and just left it play, unattended. It did not stall or hang up.

That is very good news!

My next test will be one that gave me lots of troubles, more so than the above. And I will play it when i have time to watch all of it.

I'll keep you posted! And any other tips and recommendations are most certainly welcome!!!!!

TwoRails :)

[Emulgator]

Welcome, TwoRails !
Yes, DLP 2.51 is good for me too. I guess in your case it boils down to:
DLP 2.51 and .mp2 audio is a no-no, DLP 2.51 and .ac3 audio is fine.
And if audio is 16-bit LPCM 2.0 video bitrate must not exceed 8,000kbps, the latter applying for all DVD authoring software.

About bitrates: Just for kicks I sometimes made test DVDs using DLP (1 and 2)
muxing MPEG-2 video @ 9,600kbps with 2.0 AC3 audio @ 192 kbps and even this mux was playable from DVD+-R/RW and +R DL
on different LG (mid-price, Sony(top-notch) and Panasonic (top-notch) players without hickups, stutter or any other faults.

But one does not gain much from using all available bits for video.
A proper preparation of the video before encoding helps so much more.
I would rather leave a little room for not-so-forgiving players.

[kolak]

Just use AC3 and video <8Mbit peak.
Old players have problems with high (>8Mbit) DVD-Rs.

[TwoRails]

Hi Emulgator :) -- thanks for the tips, and I'll be experimenting more in the future. With the "holiday season" upon us, I probably won't be able to play around much for a while.


Hi kolak. Yes, I'll be keeping the bitrate lower to be more compatible with older players! :) A lot of family have older players.