problems with sizzle...

[bonanzataz]

Hi all. I've been using osex and sizzle for a while now to backup my dvd's, but lately, sizzle's been acting funny. i use version 0.1 because i don't need or want menus. sometimes it will work without any problems at all and other times it will stop in the middle of the disc creation process. with some discs, the program will have an error as soon as it reaches the generating filesystem stage, other times, it will stop at 27% of the filesystem stage or even at 98.5% of that phase. i'll try the same video files exactly the same way a few days later and it will work. the program is hit or miss and it is very frustrating to not know whether or not your disc will work. i tried using the new version (0.5) and this also will not finish but this time i don't even get an error message. i would prefer to have a disc without menus. is there a way to do this in 0.5 or is there a way to fix whatever is happening in 0.1? thanks.

[galactica]

sizzle is freeware is it not?
I think you would be much more happy with DVD2ONE. The cost is well worth the headache you get from things like this...

Per sizzle, I was under the impression you could throw a .mpeg without audio and then your audio file to it and have it compile the dvd image. Why not just rip your dvd to the elemental streams of movie only and sound only and then have sizzle build the image.

have not used sizzle much since backing up is much easier with dvd2one, but i have used it a few times.

hope that gives you some insight
if not, post again

[Equus]

I've never had trouble with Sizzle working. The only times I've had it freeze or error during authoring is if I didn't have enough hard disk space to form the image.

You may have already thought about this, but just in case you haven't: Make sure your hard disk has at least twice (and preferably 3 times) the disk space available that the final disk image will take up, because Sizzle needs that space for it's scratch file while it's authoring.

Eq

[terryj]

Sizzle .5 is a pain to work with...the menus and button
limits caused me to e-mail the author, who promised
he would be fixing the bugs soon.

I've used .1 for ever and last night I got DVD2One.
I have to say, it is by far more intuitive, and *
THANKS TO GALACTICA* and his superb manual,
I had the program down in complete read through of the manual!

Switch to DVDOne for less headache.

For Your Sizzle problems though, what I have found is:

0. Always rip Elementary Streams, never VOBS, to use with Sizzle.
1. Always have double the HD space of your .mv1 and .ac3 audio files.
2. Always keep the HD where Sizzle resides with at least 3 GB of free space,
that or designate a seperate clean and free partiton ( I have a 5GB
scratch disc just for this purpose) for Sizzle's scratch disc.
3. Don't do ANYTHING else while Sizzle is working. No email, no Quicken,
no PDF reading.

That pretty much made Sizzle error free for me.

[galactica]

agreed.
I have a OSeX how to coming out soon, it will be on my website shortly for those interested

[bonanzataz]

thanks guys. i'll try and free up some more space and see if that helps.

about osex... will this new version get rid of the audio delay when ripping separate chapters? i prefer splitting up discs rather than reencoding them and whenever i perform a split (with any dvd ripping program, oddly enough) the audio gets out of sync in my second halves. what causes that?

aside from that, what's new in the new version?

[terryj]

What's new in the new version is that it enables you
to roughly build your own DVDs ala iDVD, in that
once you get the elementary streams assigned
in the title, you can then create a TOC file,
(for the opening splash screen, and play movie
and chapter menu buttons) and Your Title 1
(which can contain your chapter menu).
You can insert background pictures and audio,
(no motion menus), and your buttons are text only buttons,
but it has some bugs ( a limitation on how many chapters
you can place {8}, not being able to do more than one
menu per Title, etc) that make it a waiter.

Will it replace iDVD? no.
When the bugs are worked out, will it make
for a simple(r) way to create great looking DVDs using
just Osex ripped elementary streams? yes.

I've emailed the author ( Henry) and he said he is working
on fixing those bugs.