How do they do it?

[chrissilke74]

This is probably a simple question to ask but I've scoured the web but I just can't seem to find a concrete answer. When I burn a DVD I've used DVD + R and DVD - R media and also RW. Now I've achieved some good results depending on the manufacturer but everyone I play in my DVD Players they all seem to pause or skip at some point. My question is.....if I were to use Dual Layer recordable DVD's would this solve my problems? I mean how do all the movie guru's make a DVD so that it will play on all DVD players irregardless of make or model. What media do they use? What software do they use? etc. Where am I going wrong? Okies dokies thanks for any help.

[Baldrick]

dvd+rdl wont work better. see our dvd player list for compatibiliy.

If you want something that works on everything you must "press" the disc commercially.

[SCDVD]

You didn't mention the type of burner that you are using or the brand of media. Flaky drives and poor media account for most of these problems.

[chrissilke74]

Sorry its a Samsung TS-552B and its Ritek Media at the minute.

[Scorpion King]

Change the media.
Burn at a slower speed.
Upgrade the firmware.
Replace the burner.

Good luck.

[Bjs]

As baldrick has pointed ... commercially pressed is the only true method that works .

The rest fall into many area's :

Drive used
Fireware revision of unit
Media used - some are rubbish
The player - unit for playback

Not to forget the video streams used for the project :
Improper bitrates ... issue's using mp2 audio (convert to ac3)

For burning , you need to follow the basic rule's :

Dvd-r only ... not all players like other forms .
4x burn max ... media fixation is improved the slower you burn .
4.3gig max fill of capacity ... older players had issue's reading near the rim on the media .

If the media is quality ... burner is highly rated ... rule's where followed , then the final issue is with the playback unit .

Make / model - some are cheap junk
Age - wear and tear device has already been subjected too

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Final problem comes down to dl media , and the placement of the layer break point ... it has been suggested as an example for better control .

Dl - second layer contains max 4.3gig , first layer contains remainder .

A bit backward , but because the layer break on the first layer is closer to the center of the media , and not near the outer rim ... any pause experienced will / should not be noticable ... the close to the center of the media on the first layer , the less distance the head need's to travel back .

I personally set the break point in my projects inbetween a specific scene break's ... scene switch's between locations (non transitional between scene's , cut off / cut in) or scene's with complete fadein / fadeout usage of black ... never anywhere else .

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Software :

My advice is to use freeware , before anything commercial .

Basic authoring of title from compliant media streams :

Ifoedit + imgburn

For more fuction :

Dvdauthorgui
The gimp + xnview
Besweet
Vobedit
Ifoedit
Bbmpeg
Avisynth + extra dll's
Virtualdub / mod
Visualsubsync
Koolplayer + ac3 filters + freedvdcodec + subtitle filter
Pgcedit + plugins
Vobblanker
Wax2
Blender
Dvdshrink
Super

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Commercial : In order of value

Nero burning rom ... limited , but workable .
Ulead video studio ... with some handy extra's , but limited menu design's .
Vegas movie studio / dvd architect studio... more fuctions .

More ... but I dont work with them

Dvdlab ... bugs still exist , work's
Tmpgenc ... bugs as well , work's

[ntscuser]

In my experience a decent DVD writer will work with almost any media or software. Changing the other two factors can only ever be a temporary expedient. Sooner or later the DVD writer will have to be changed. I read the feedback reports on this site and eventually plumped for the NEC 3520A which had a 97.5% satisfaction rating at the time.