stuttering in playback (sometimes audio, sometimes video)

[WCanyon]

Hi, I'm working on a 2 DVD --> 1 DVD project. Total of 2.25 hours of video down to 1 DVD. Got it all compressed reauthored and so on but I'm getting either intermittent stuttering in the video or choppy audio.

The weird thing is that the audio is only choppy on my computer's DVDROM. The video is sometimes choppy on my set-top DVD player, but if I hit rewind then hit play the choppiness stops.

Something I read made me think that this could all be due to "field order" but I have no idea how to change that.

As I was writing this I decided to check the original files (VIDEO_TS on the hard drive). They don't stutter! So it must be a media or burner problem. Guess I'll try and burn with Nero in a different mode or something.

[guns1inger]

What media are you using ?

Do you test your burns ? I use DVD Info Pro to test discs after burning. Ahead Speed Disk can also do this. Might be worth a god.

[WCanyon]

I'll give that a shot. I've seen the same behavior on a Fuji DVDRW and a Memorex DVD-R. I've used both for burning purposes many times. I think this issue has to do with some part of the process.

Here's what I'm using:

Rip: DVDShrink
Demux: ReJig
Compress (to 2100MB per VOB): DVD Lab
Author: DVD Lab
Burn: Nero Express

I think I'll try skipping ReJig and demuxing with DVD Lab instead. I'll also take a look at that tool you mentioned.

[guns1inger]

If it plays back fine from the HDD using a good software player, such as PowerDVD, then the problem lies with either the burner, the burning software, or the media.

Try this. Take your compiled DVD and use imgtools classic to create an ISO. Burn htis with DVD Decrypter and test.

[WCanyon]

The real issue here seems to be the compressor. I did a lot of things to figure it out. But when I changed the compressor from DVD Lab to DVDShrink it fixed it. I had to reduce the whole thing to 90% of its sixe to get it on one disk.

[guns1inger]

I have never used DVD Lab's transcoder (and probably wouldn't anyway - I don't like transcoding if Ican help it). It is probably worth having a look at the MediaChance forums to see if this is a known issue.

[WCanyon]

For me the moral of the story is this: DVDShrink rocks! I can't believe it's free. That guy/gal deserves a medal.

[bdf24]

For me the moral of the story is this: DVDShrink rocks! I can't believe it's free. That guy/gal deserves a medal.

You'll find that in some newer movies (Sony mostly I believe) you will have to use it along with other software cause it's not supported anymore. And will not get around newer protections.

[WCanyon]

Man, this issue is still happening! I removed the "compress" portion of the whole thing. Now I'm down to an m2v and ac3 file and I'm still getting stuttering on the output (just the 1st part of the movie, not both parts).

I've reauthored enough movies with the exact same set of software -- I just can't figure out what could be going on here. Any ideas? I'm gonna try smartripper instead of dvd shrink for the initial ripping, maybe that'll help.

[WCanyon]

OK, I got this fixed. It turns out that ReJig was the problem. I was using it to demux (I tried smartripper too but had other issues). For some reason ReJig and my Toshiba DVD player did NOT get along. I did get a message about open GOPs or something. I wonder if that was part of it?