Novice: TMPGEnc DVD Author - very slow erasing?

[terrypin]

Just registered TDA 1.6 (act of faith; my trial ran out but I hadn't go around to evaluating it.) Trying my first project. When I got the stage of writing the DVD (on a DVD-RW), TDA asked if I wanted to erase the existing disc. It has now been doing that for 36 minutes. No idea how long it will take!

Is this slowness normal please? The 'Quick Erase' option in other programs (like Nero Express) takes only a minute or so.

--
Terry, West Sussex, UK

[terrypin]

As a footnote, there's no activity in the empty Progress Bar at all! Although below it says "Erasing the media...", I'm beginning to wonder if it's doing anything?

--
Terry, West Sussex, UK

[BobK]

Don't know why TMPG would take so long to erase. But I'd suggest using something else to erase (ie- Nero), and perhaps use something else to burn too.

[lantern]

TDA could be performing a full erase instead of a quick erase. That would require a ton of time to perform. As BobK suggested, you could try to use a different program, i.e. IMGBurn or something. This would allow you to specify a quick erase.

[BobK]

I usually use Imgburn to burn disks. One of the best burning tools and it's free. After creating the DVD files with TDA you can also use Imgtool (free version- Classic 0.91.7) to create the iso.

[terrypin]

Thanks both. It did finish a few minutes after my last post, at about 39 mins. So I take it that TDA:
- Has no Quick Erase.
- Is slow at full erase.
- Shows no progress bar while it's erasing.

For the next test I used Nero Express to do a Quick Erase and then returned to TDA to do the burning. Must say it seems a shame to have to load up another program, especially after forking out $68 USD (£40 UKP)!

Could you clarify why you would also want to do the burning outside TDA please? Is TDA known to be comparatively slow at that too?

--
Terry, West Sussex, UK

[Denvers Dawgs]

I also use TDA 1.6 for my authoring. When done editing I create a DVD folder and then burn with copytodvd (plus I have set copytodvd to automatically erase whats on a rw disc, only takes a few seconds then it automatically starts to burn my video). I only do this because I have used copytodvd for years and have never had a problem. It doesn't bother me that i have to open another program because it only takes a few seconds, and I know that every burn will work 100%. TDA may burn fine, but I figure why change something that has worked for me for years.

[lantern]

TDA does offer a "Create ISO" option under the writing tool. You can then use Imgburn to write the iso that TDA created. I think Imgburn offers more options and features than TDAs authoring tool.

edit: changed author to write

[terrypin]

Thanks, but I'm not sure I understand. What exactly is 'an ISO' and why would I want to create one? And if I did, why would I want to do further authoring with it, having already used TDA for that (and another authoring program previously)?

--
Terry, West Sussex, UK

[jimmalenko]

An ISO is a file image. You would create one if you wanted to burn with DVDDecrypter or its predecessor ImgBurn. You would want to burn with these either because TDA's burning engine may not play nice with your burner / media and/or they're free and/or they're well-regarded for reliability and/or Nero (or other "dedicated" burning softwares) don't work for your setup.

[terrypin]

Thanks jimmalenko, understood.

Do you have any comments about the remaining authoring issue please?

--
Terry, West Sussex, UK

[guns1inger]

Actually, ImgBurn doesn't author at all - it burns. The most it does in the authoring realm is change ISO labels and set layer breaks when burning dual layer. It is a burner, and a damn good one.

[terrypin]

Ok, thanks.

--
Terry, West Sussex, UK