Nero error seems to be related to length of video

[jjbtnc]

I have 5 episodes of a tv series to put on to a dvd. They are aprox 42 mins each and in total the size of the files is 1.7 gb. I use nero (i realise that a lot of people don't like the all in one solutions but i've been happy with it so far) open smart start, then make movie, add my 5 clips, create chapters for each piece of video, change the menu around, check it plays in the virtual dvd player screen, then burn either to a hard drive folder or disc but not 'burn at once'
The transcoding and burning window then appears but instead of the bars starting empty and gradually filling up until the process is finished, the top progress bar fills up immediately and the second bar below it fills up to 9 tenths. Sometimes it shows the time it's supposed to take other times it ends. Also it doesn't show the video in the preview screen.Then after about 15 mins it errors and i have to control alt del. I've tried burning each clip individually and they work. I've tried combos of the vids and it works fine if i only add 4 episodes to the project. I've also tried with 5 different tv episodes and i get the same error. The pc i'm using is a p4 3000, xp home, 512 mb, 40gb free, latest nero apps. I thought it might be a file size limit problem as the drive is formatted as fat32 but i tried the same 5 episodes on a different pc that is formatted as ntfs and i get the same error.
During the initial stages of the project i get the message saying will not fit onto....do you want to reduce the size to fit on to a 4.7gb disc. It then compresses it down to extended play to fit it on a blank dvd. I get the error whether i let it reduce the size or not. If i choose not to compress it says the dvd size will be around 8 gb

This all leads me to believe that it is down to the combined length of the movie.
The fact that 5 episodes won't work on a fat32 or ntfs pc rules out the file system. the fact that the ntfs pc is a fresh install rules out things like not enough free contiguous space. The fact that i can make a dvd from each episode on their own rules out one of the vid files being dodgy. And there is the fact that i can do 4 episodes but not 5.

The combined time of the 5 episodes is about 3 hours 40 mins - is this the reason ? I've checked the faqs on the nero site and it says you can fit 240 mins at extended and 360 mins at super long.
I have previously made a dvd of 35 music clips that came to around 2 hours 20 mins and it worked ok - ruling out my version of nero i think.

So - is there a known problem with Nero and video length. I managed to make a dvd 2 hours 20 mins but failed on 3 hours 40 mins.

Is there a know maximum length of video Nero will be happy to work with - 2 hrs 30mins ? 3hours ?

If i use a different authouring program will i get similar problems or is this (if it is the problem !!) confined to Nero ?

Thanks for any help

p.s. i realise fitting a lot of video on a dvd at extended play is going to reduce the quality a bit but for these episodes that's a trade off i'm happy with.

I'm away from the pc for a few days and forgot to email myself the log file - i'll try and get access to it and post it here if that would be helpfull.

[jjbtnc]

here's a bit of the log


[13:44:46] DVDEngine ********END: VTSTT_VOBS#1 - INFORMATION after Create
[13:44:46] DVDEngine ******END: VTSTT_VOBS#1 - Process Create
[13:44:46] DVDEngine ******BEGIN: VTSTT_VOBS#1 - Verify
[13:44:46] DVDEngine ******END: VTSTT_VOBS#1 - Verify
[13:44:46] DVDEngine ..VTSTT_VOBS: size=363 MB (381,073,408 bytes)
[13:44:46] DVDEngine ****END: Create - VTSTT_VOBS#1
[13:44:46] DVDEngine **END: _DVDVideo - Create
[13:44:46] DVDEngine END: IDVDVideoSessionImpl - CreateVOBs
[13:44:46] DVDEngine BEGIN: IDVDVideoSessionImpl - CreateDesc
[13:44:46] DVDEngine **BEGIN: _DVDVideo - Create
[13:44:46] DVDEngine ****BEGIN: Create - VTSI#1
[13:44:46] DVDEngine ******BEGIN: VTSI#1 - Create
[13:44:46] DVDEngine ...VTSM_VOBS exists = false
[13:44:46] DVDEngine ...VTSM_PGCI_UT exists = true
[13:44:46] DVDEngine ...VTS_TMAPT exists = true
[13:44:46] DVDEngine ...VTSI_MAT created...
[13:44:46] DVDEngine ...VTS_PTT_SRPT created...
[13:44:46] DVDEngine ******END: VTSI#1 - Create
[13:44:46] DVDEngine ****END: Create - VTSI#1
[13:44:46] DVDEngine **END: _DVDVideo - Create
[13:44:46] DVDEngine ################################################## ######################################
[13:44:46] DVDEngine ERROR
[13:44:46] DVDEngine cause: 3 (invalid_parameter)
[13:44:46] DVDEngine source: _get_PGC_PB_TM
[13:44:46] DVDEngine description: ICellRef refers a cell (VOB_IDN=1, C_IDN=2) which does not exist in
[13:44:46] DVDEngine VTSTT_VOBS#1.
[13:44:46] DVDEngine ################################################## ######################################
[13:44:46] DVDEngine END: IDVDVideoSessionImpl - CreateDesc
[13:44:46] GCHW Node added: Microsoft Kernel Wave Audio Mixer
[14:04:22] GCHW Node removed: Microsoft Kernel Wave Audio Mixer
[15:38:11] DVDEngine BEGIN: IDVDSessionBaseImpl - RegisterCallback
[15:38:11] DVDEngine ..Session callback unregistered...
[15:38:11] DVDEngine END: IDVDSessionBaseImpl - RegisterCallback
[15:38:11] DVDEngine BEGIN: IDVDVideoSessionImpl - ~IDVDVideoSessionImpl
[15:38:11] DVDEngine END: IDVDVideoSessionImpl - ~IDVDVideoSessionImpl
[15:38:11] NeroVision Process information:
[15:38:11] NeroVision --------------------
[15:38:11] NeroVision Address Version Module name
[15:38:11] NeroVision -----------------------------------------------------

[redwudz]

If i use a different authoring program will i get similar problems or is this (if it is the problem !!) confined to Nero ?

I would certainly try a different authoring program. If your MPEG-2 files are DVD compliant, you only need to author them. Nero has a bad habit of re-encoding. It does look like there is something wrong with your DVD structure, as per the error.

13:44:46] DVDEngine ERROR
[13:44:46] DVDEngine cause: 3 (invalid_parameter)
[13:44:46] DVDEngine source: _get_PGC_PB_TM
[13:44:46] DVDEngine description: ICellRef refers a cell (VOB_IDN=1, C_IDN=2) which does not exist in
[13:44:46] DVDEngine VTSTT_VOBS#1.

I'm not sure of the exact nature of that error, but it looks like it's trying to find a non-existent file, and that would point to an authoring error.

TMPGEnc DVD Author has a trial version. Give it a try.

On a separate subject, why are you using FAT32 at all? Unless you are using W98 or a OS that doesn't support NTFS, it really isn't worth using it.

[jjbtnc]

fat32 - not my pc, i share it. Have mentioned about converting to ntfs but want to make sure they've backed up all their stuff first (converted many times and been ok, but sods law something goes wrong and they loose all their docs)