Video splitting in half

[uklad24]

sometimes when I record from VHS directly onto my standalone DVD recorder (A Panasonic DMR-E30), the resulting Video file when I edit it on the PC seems to split into two windows. the actuall video is usually squashed up on the left hand side and the rest of the screen is black. Does anyone know what causes this?

[ImaWeTodd]

What do you edit it with?

My big guess is that the video is not full D1 (720) width and the editor isn't dealing with it correctly.

[uklad24]

Basically, what I do is this. I transfer the contents of the DVD-RAM disk onto the PC. I open up the .VRO file in TMPGEnc DVD Author and use that programme to edit out any material I don't need (eg commercial breaks). When I'm done I tell it to ouput the whole lot as a normal DVD. This then outputs the exact footage I need into VOB files, without re-encoding the audio or Video. I then use TMPGEnc to DeMultiplex the VOB files to their individual .m2v and .ac3 files. I then import those into DVDit to build my final DVD.
(yes I know I could use TMPGEnc DVD Author to create my DVDs and leave it at that, but its menu creation is so basic it doesn't allow me to be as creative I'd like. It's fine for simple projects, but if I want to get more advanced menus I usually draw up some nifty graphics in Adobe Photoshop, save them as PSD files and drag and drop them where I like in DVDit)

I only ran into this problem because Someone sent me a VHS recently and they wanted the material transferred onto DVD. There were two 1hour long specials on the tape. I transferred the first one onto DVD-RAM using my stand-alone recorder, authored it all on the PC and it came out fine. I went back to record the 2nd programme onto DVD-RAM, only with this one I get this file-splitting problem. In the preview editing window in TMPGEnc DVD Author, most of the video appears fine (full 720x576) but at 3 points during the movie, it will split in half. I didn't change any settings on the recorder. I merely popped in the tape, hit play, and pressed record on the DVD recorder.

I asked the person who gave me the tape how they recorded, and the master and the duplicate (sent to me) were both recorded in SP mode. I also used SP to record on the DVD recorder. So I can't understand how it can be flipping between resolutions, when everything has been kept the same. I can edit the file to my heart's content in TMPGEnc DVD Author, but when I play back the final cut using softwear such as PowerDVD, it always jams or freezes at the point where the screen would split in two in the TMPGEnc DVD Author preview window.

Hope this is useful

[uklad24]

attached is a pic of what i see when editing the file..... u can see the movie file squashed on the left, and just a black space on the right

[ImaWeTodd]

Much better post.
I do not have a StandAlone recorder so I've no experience with this

But, in reading your post, 1 thing comes to mind. Error in mpeg stream.

Some other info for others to help: Have you watched the tape? Is there a problem at the error points? Have you tried to recapture the second piece? Problem at same point?

I will be quite and hopefully someone will chime in with some good ideas.

[uklad24]

Thanks for the help, ImaWeTodd, much appreciated

Have you watched the tape? Is there a problem at the error points? Have you tried to recapture the second piece? Problem at same point?

Funny you should mention that. When I play the recording on the recorder, it plays back fine. No noticeable glitches. I can even put the RAM disk into my PC and play it through PowerDVD, and again, nothing out of the ordinary happening there. It's only when it comes to authoring the file that the problem becomes apparent. I did try re-recording the programme again, only the 2nd time I tried it in LP. This time, when I try editing in TMPGEnc DVD Author, instead of the picture being squeezed into one half of the screen, it simply appears 1/4 of the original size in the top left hand corner of the viewing area.

When I try importing the .VRO in TMPGEnc DVD Author as 'DVD Video' I receive the error message 'This programme is a mix of different video formats', and it won't let me edit the video. But if I just use the 'Add file' button, it quite happily ignores the problem within the mpeg-2 file, allows me to edit, but this is when I see the screen-splitting problem.

I can't understand how it can be a 'mix of different video formats' when I just leave the recorder recording, and don't change anything. There is obviously a defect on the VHS cassette itself.

Tomorrow I will try using a different VCR to play the tape while recording, see if that makes a difference. If not, i'll ask my mate to re-record it fresh onto a new tape and give that a go

[blade29]

Hello uklad24. Did you ever find a resolution to your problem? I have the same problem as you and follow the same procedure. I can't understand why the preview screen splits during editing and in the final DVD project with motion chapters. Very annoying. Let me know. Thanks.

blade29

[blade29]

Bump. Just looking to see if anyone has found a resolution or reason why this is occurring. Please let us know. Thanks.

blade29

[woland]

'This program is a mix of different video formats'
I got this annoying error many times and finally found out it’s given by the settings on Panny recorders: default setting for Hybrid VBR resolution is “Automatic”, which means the machine is allowed to automatically drop from the standard DVD resolution to a lower one in the middle of a recording. If you switch it to “Fixed”, picture quality will be equally good and TMPGEnc DVD Author will import each clip of the .vro properly. I was successful this way.
Cheers.

[Gazorgan]

It's by 'design' to save space on the disk. High res when you need it (yeah right, like flashy commercials) and a less res for more static scenes . Great if the disk stays in the player, but poor if you want to edit.

[blade29]

Gazorgan and woland, thanks for your advice. I'll change the setting on my Panasonic DVD Recorder to fixed instead of automatic for the setting. I'll let everyone know how it works out for me.

blade29

[blade29]

Hello Woland and Gazorgan. I changed the video setting to fixed and I'm still encountering a split screen when attempting to edit the .VRO file in TMPGENC DVD Author. I'm recording straight to a blank DVD-RAM disc and copying the .VRO file to my hard drive. This is where the problem starts. Even in DVD-Lab, I get the split video screen. Let me know if you have any other suggestions. Thanks.

blade29