Lots of errors (jumps, gitters, freezes) when authoring a DVD

[DW]

Hello all,

I just recently finished editing something (a wedding video for a friend of mine) using Final Cut Pro (Final Cut Studio 2 version) on my all-black MacBook Pro (matte version). All went fine.

I exported as a quicktime (.mov) to my external firewire drive (a WD MyBook Home 500GB External). All went fine. I played it back, it all looked good.

Then I went into DVD Studio Pro, and just as a test, imported the video, and made a simple DVD (no chapters or anything, just a link to the video). I left all the default settings as is. Total size read 1.9GB. I clicked to author it. Encoding, muxing, burning, etc., all went fine.

Then, I popped the finished DVD in my DVD player, and at about 10 minutes, it starts freezing, skipping, jittering. Sometimes, I can fast forward over the bad parts, sometimes I can't.
So I put it in another DVD player. It gets past the first bad part (about 10 minutes in), but same thing happens towards the end of the disk (about 40 minutes in). I put it in my MacBook to see how that works. All plays fine, until about 40 minutes again, and then is says "skipping over damaged part of the disk."


SO,
How can I fix this? Is this a burning problem? An authoring problem with DVD Studio Pro? Any help greatly appreciated.

[guns1inger]

The first question I would ask is : What media are you using ? Crappy media is the leading cause of this type of problem.

Second question - what is the running time of the video ? I don't believe that length has anything to do with your problem, but unless the video only runs about 30 - 40 minutes total, 1.9 GB is over compressing and reducing quality.

[DW]

Hi guns1inger!

What media are you using ?

Used Maxell DVD+R 4.7GB 16x disks. Sorry I can't be more specific.

what is the running time of the video ?

Total is about 45 minutes, give or take. In DVD Studio Pro, I just let it do all the work for this trial run. I left all compression settings and everything as is.


Would burning it at a slower speed help? Or not even worth trying? Could it be a problem originating before the burning?

[guns1inger]

Does DVD Studio Pro give you the option to write to your HDD first ?

If so, do this and play from the Video_TS folder it creates. This will tell you if the process prior to burning is at fault (I suspect it isn't). If it plays OK, try buring with something else, like Toast.

FWIW, 45 minutes should fill around 3.n GB if compressed at the highest allowable bitrates for DVD. You are getting lower quality than you should by talking the default values.

[DW]

Does DVD Studio Pro give you the option to write to your HDD first ?

It didn't when I just hit "burn" ... but perhaps it is a preference or option somewhere. I will look around (not too familiar with the program, as you can tell).

If so, do this and play from the Video_TS folder it creates.

Isn't this going to be a .vob file? What can I play this in? (on a mac)

If it plays OK, try buring with something else, like Toast.

OK.

I will fool around with the preferences/compression to get higher quality out of it too. I guess I'd like it to come out to about 4.5GB ideally.

[DW]

Hmm,... unfortunately, I am not at the machine right now, but apparently, DVD Studio Pro can write the file to the hard drive, but as an .img file:

http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/image_to_disk_stone.html

Will "testing" it out this way be ok/just as good?

[guns1inger]

You are limited in the bitrate you can use, so at 45 minutes you cannot fill a disc. Simply isn't allowed. At the highest bitrate a disc holds around 65 minutes of video.

[DW]

You are limited in the bitrate you can use, so at 45 minutes you cannot fill a disc. Simply isn't allowed.

Are you talking about a limitation of DVD Studio Pro here?


Also, does your gut tell you that this is a burning problem or a something-before burning problem? I only ask because I am going to be getting an external LightScribe burner, which may or may not help things...?

my new DVD burner post is here:
https://forum.videohelp.com/topic366922.html

[guns1inger]

Look at What is DVD - top left corner of this site. The maximum allowable bitrate for video on DVD is 9800 kbps, with a total combined audio/video bitrate of 10800 kbps. For burned media, some players struggle to keep up with those bitrates, so a lower bitrate in the high 8000's is often recommended.

I suspect it is either burner or media related. I don't know of any testing tools for Macs, but on a PC you can use Nero CD/DVD Speed or DVD Info Pro to test the quality of the burn.