newbie burning his 1st - DVD-r / Help!

[3hitsaday]

okay, i have 1 DVD-r, came free w/ my burner. I'm getting a spindle of Ritek dvd-r this week, 100 pack, then i can not worry so much about coasters, but i want to try this first one and get it Right! and no i'm probably not going to go buy a dvd-rw at this point, call me cheap and lazy.

I've read all the stickies on burning DVDs and still cant come up w/ the answers. It seems like i have CD-rs down and this is like learning a whole new language.

I rendered my 1hr 2min movie last nite at 93% quality to fit it on the DVD, 100% was 3min too long! i know i can drop down the quality to fit more on but i'm quite happy w/ the 1hr.

So i rendered the movie and got it all the way thru on the 2nd try (1st attempt i had the screensaver still on, doh!). So my movie is sitting in some folder, somewhere. in .dat form or .iso form or something, i really have no idea how the DVD is made, that's half my problem.

I have Roxio easy CD creator and there's an option for DataDVD project that holds 4.7GB - can i use this? or is this just for data storage and not media playing?

Or, i can burn using Pinnacle Studio 9's software which i rendered w/ right? I didnt burn directly to disc, obviously, i made the media w/out burning because i need to make multiple copies of this first DVD when i get my spindle. Plus i realize its the best way to make DVDs without getting coasters.

All of the stickies on burning point to NERO - and i am very anti - nero. I havent touched the software ever since college when i stupidly d/l the CD-r program, and it crashed my PC, the only time i've ever lost everything, b/c of Nero, apparently it had some qualms w/ Easy CD creator being on the same hard drive, and this happened to alot of people. So having Roxio EZ CD right now, i dont want to install NERO, unless i'm absolutely positive i wont get burned again.

Can anyone hold my hand thru the burning process or point me to an easy to follow FAQ or guide to this process w/ a surefire program to do it w/? Sorry i'm such a wuss, i just want this first one to work so i can test it out today on the big screen and see what i need to edit (safezones and all), etc.

thanks so much for any help, i truly appreciate you taking the time,
-Mike
mooremr6779@yahoo.com

[thecoalman]

The easiest way is just use Studio9 or any other DVD movie creation software you have. Just follow the steps.

The DVD data disc option is just that, you can burn your movie using the data disc option but it won't be playable in a standalone DVD player.

If you created a entire project with your menus etc. then made a iso file you can open Roxio and select file>burn disc from image ......

Get your self some RW's, your going to make some mistakes. Instead of making them with large files do some short test burns.

[Matt D]

Sorry you had some issues, but Nero is the better program. I've used it for years with NO issues and zero headache while I will not touch a Roxio product.

Exactly what did you create during the "rendering" process? Find this out, because it's certainly not a .dat file, but probably MPGs or a VIDEO_TS folder. If you have MPGs they need to be Authored (meaning changed to VOBs, BUPs, IFOs) so that they are compliant with DVD standards. If you already created your VIDEO_TS folder then you already have the VOBs and you need to burn that folder to a DVD-r using something like Nero.

[3hitsaday]

i guess what i created was :

in my
C:\Documents and Settings\Mike\My Documents\Pinnacle Studio\Auxiliary Files\CBRBpt1a

i have :
DVD folder
_render.dat
_z000.bmp
_z000.mp3 (33MB or so)

and this list continues to abut _z0011

------------------------

THEN, inside the DVD folder there's a folder for:
DVDTmp
Menus
mpi
VIdeo_ts
vmgm
vts_1

so what goes thru the burning process? everything ? Just in the DVD folder? or just everything in the video_ts folder?

- Mike

[Matt D]

Inside the VIDEO_TS folder should be all the VOBs, BUPs and IFOs needed for your dvd. You can play the VOBs with PowerDVD or some other DVD player to make sure that they are all there if you wanted, otherwise just burn the VIDEO_TS folder and all it's contents.
In Nero this is easy, just select DVD/Video, choose a name, drag all your VIDEO_TS files into the red VIDEO_TS folder in Nero and burn away.

[3hitsaday]

thanks for the link, i'll test out powerDVD. okay, i will d/l Nero if i have to, sounds easy to use, but does anyone out there have Nero running AND roxio (at least the EZ CD creator) on their PC at the same time? i would hate for something to happen. i'm sure this issue has been resolved though. any hints on where to get Nero? or is it not freeware?

Can i just use Pinnacle STudio 9 to do it? i'll search around in the software.

- Mike

[Garibaldi]

thanks for the link, i'll test out powerDVD. okay, i will d/l Nero if i have to, sounds easy to use, but does anyone out there have Nero running AND roxio (at least the EZ CD creator) on their PC at the same time? i would hate for something to happen. i'm sure this issue has been resolved though. any hints on where to get Nero? or is it not freeware?

Can i just use Pinnacle STudio 9 to do it? i'll search around in the software.

Nero is the best burning software, but many of the free ones on this site work fine too. All you have to do is make a new data dvd (assuming your happy with the Vobs that you have made) and drop your VIDEO_TS folder onto it (make sure that the title of the folder is VIDEO_TS exactly, and in caps). You will also need to make a new folder called AUDIO_TS- just leave this empty. So the structure of your dvd is:
MY DVD-
- AUDIO_TS
- VIDEO_TS
Now just burn it. Once it gets done stick it in your dvd player and you should be good to go. I would be glad to help you out more on developing your dvd creation process- just pm me or post here.
Garibaldi

[freebird73717]

If your dvdauthoring software has an option to create an iso file instead of the video ts folders that would be the easiest way to go. Then you could just use about any burning app and choose "burn iso". The only time this could be a problem is if your operating system is fat32(win98 or me) because of the 4gb file limit. If you run xp or win2000 you will have no problems.

[Garibaldi]

system is fat32(win98 or me) because of the 4gb file limit.

Good old vfat, only 4024 MB filesize! It can really make video-editing difficult... especially with uncompressed avi!

[3hitsaday]

so what's the best version of Nero to d/l? i dont want any flare, just a basic version w/ no quirks and will most likely burn consistently. I know warez is a no no on here, but if you can tell me a version i can probably come up with it at some point.

- Mike

[Capmaster]

so what's the best version of Nero to d/l? i dont want any flare, just a basic version w/ no quirks and will most likely burn consistently. I know warez is a no no on here, but if you can tell me a version i can probably come up with it at some point.

- Mike

I've used Nero for years and version 6 is the first one I've been disappointed with - mainly because of the bugs. I can recommend ver. 5.5.9.XX or 5.5.10.XX Both can be downloaded from Nero.com.

[jimmalenko]

Roxio products do work for a number of people, but for the rest, it's known as Roxio EZ Coaster Creator

I'd recommend reading What is DVD (top left) to give you an understanding of the file structure you need for DVD.