DVD-RAM .VRO's won't extract to PC hard drive

[paspallum]

I have a Panasonic DMR-50 DVD recorder for our TV. It works OK, We record onto DVD-RAM discs.

If I record something from the TV I want to keep, like a sporting moment or a music video, I will want to transfer it from the DVD-RAM disc onto my computer for tidying up, editing etc, and eventually I'd burn such clips (as a compilation) onto a DVD- disc from our PC's onboard DVD writer.

I purchased the SAMSUNG SH-W08 DVD writer for my PC, as it has the ability to read DVD-RAM discs. The format for the video on thses RAM discs is .VRO

So far I have not been able to extract anything off the Panasonic DVD-RAM discs onto my PC... I can not even drag or copy/paste the data from the DVD-RAM disc onto my hard-drive, I get the message:

Cannot create or replace VR_MOVIE: The parameter is incorrect

I have downlaoded all the trial software from companys that claim that they can read .VRO files or data from DVD-RAM discs including: Intergator, TMPGEnc Author (etc)

But I can not yet even succeed at extracting the files of the RAM disc.

If I can eventually extract it, I'll also want to convert it to an AVI for editing in premiere.

Can anyone tell me why I can't extract these VRO files from the DVD-RAM disc from my SAMSUNG DVD writer/reader??

Has anyone had success doing this??

Sincerely
Paspallum

[anzimike]

Windows doesn't like vr files. Try isobuster (free) in tools section to extract the vr files from dvd to hard drive. Extract to a folder named RTAV like on the dvd. You need the video file and the control file, then any vr-friendly authoring program (ulead, TMPGEnc dvd author) can author the files to dvd spec, if they are in acceptable resolution. This works for the vr files I produce on my Pioneer dvr-7000 using dvd-rw discs.

[OneCardShort]

What you are trying to do should work. I use the same method put laserdiscs onto dvd-r using tmpgenc dvd author. I am able to copy the rtav folder on the ram disc using a copy/paste operation straight to the hard drive. The only problem I have had is tmpgenc dvd author not accepting the .vro file because the panasonic was recording in variable bit rate mode. When I switched to fixed bit rate it was fine. Tmpgenc will edit your .vro files, too.

[OneCardShort]

I just looked at your pc details and noticed you are using win98. If the file is bigger than 4 gigs than win98 won't import it because its limit is 4 gigs (fat32 file system). You'll need to use win2000 or winxp formatted in ntfs for files bigger than 4 gigs

[paspallum]

Thanks guy for all your help so far...

But so far...still no progress!

With regards to the 4Gig file limit of Windows 98:
I have one segment (364 mb) that I'm trying to get of the Panasonic DVD-RAM disc onto my hardrive, it still won't happen.

With Regards to making sure everything I want to copy is of the same bit rate:
It is and it still won't copy over.

With regards to Isobuster:
I took this advice also, downloaded it, but on install, it asked me what files I wanted Isobuster to associate with... there was no VRO box to check, so I stopped the install, as I presume it will not read the VRO's anyway?? Am I correct? Or will Isobuster still do the job??

Any more ideas???

Sincerely
Paspallum

[anzimike]

It's been a couple of years since I installed isobuster, but I don't recall checking a vro file association box. I could never get cut/paste to reliably transfer vr files under win xp. If at all it would only transfer a partial file. Isobuster will extract the entire file to hard drive, 4 gigs in about 30 to 40 minutes on my system. I'm not sure if the 4 gig limit will be a problem. I believe win 98 will split into 2 files. best of luck.

[OneCardShort]

You say you have downloaded tmpgenc dvd author, what happens when you use that program and try to open the file from the samsung without copying over to your hard drive? It will give you an error message that should narrow it down further or it will open it and give you statistics and options to put chapters on the file. If it does open in that program then you will have an option to transfer the file over to the hard drive.

[elkfir]

With regards to the 4Gig file limit of Windows 98:
I have one segment (364 mb) that I'm trying to get of the Panasonic DVD-RAM disc onto my hardrive, it still won't happen.

There's only one VRO file on the DVD-RAM, so it doesn't matter if you only want a small segment, if the size of the entire VRO file is over 4GB you will not be able to read any of it with 98SE.

Try starting with a completely blank DVD-RAM, and only record a few minutes, then try to import with TMPGEnc DVD Author. It should work.

I have a 98SE system and I import DVD-RAM VRO files all the time, it works great.

Also, as OneCardShort said, be sure to turn off the hybrid variable bit rate before recording.