Panasonic DVD Recorder and DVDRAM copying problem

[lee harvey oswald]

I just bought the Panasonic DVD Recorder DMR ES25 and I'm trying to do the following:

1. Transfer VHS to DVD Ram (ok)
2. Edit Ram to eliminate commercials (ok)
3. Copy Ram on my PC to DVD R (ok???)
4. Play DVDR back on my Panasonic (not okay)

About the Ram:
I am re-recording VHS to my Panasonic -Ram disc. After recording and editing on the -Ram and I try to copy it on my PC to a DVDR. I don't get any error messages on my PC about the -Ram and it seems to copy fine to the DVDR. I can play the -Ram on my PC.

I do get this message though when I put open the RAM:
"This is a CPRM protected disc. You can download an updated WinDVD patch to enable CPRM content playback. Click OK to download" (From InterVideo Win DVD 5) I tried downloading the udpate, but their website takes me to a bad link. But after getting the message it will still let my play the RAM.

What's CPRM mean? Is it b/c its protected that it won't copy correct? In my DVD Player it has protection turned off.

Basically what I want to do is this:
Copy VHS to a RAM, go back and edit out commercials, then copy the RAM to a DVDR.

I don't want to buy a bunch of RAM's since they are more expensive.

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I'm also having problems with incompatability with Sony DVD -RW's.

[usually_quiet]

Working with RAM disks is problematic. I have an earlier Panasonic model, and I've done it, but it isn't easy. For one thing, the file on RAM disc that contains the video and audio are in VRO format rather than VOB. VOB is the standard format for DVD. That is likely part of the problem. When copied directly to DVD-R, a file in this format probably isn't recognized and would not be playable on other DVD players even if it was recognized by yours.

I use DVD-RW for things I want to edit. I finalize the discs. Use Rejig or other demultiplexer to separate the video and audio and copy that onto my PC. Edit these files using Cuttermaran. I remux and re-author to DVD format using IFOEdit to produce a menuless DVD, or I use GUI for dvdauthor to make one with menus. Finally, after testing and playing back these files, I burn them to a DVD-R using Nero or ImgBurn. Everything I use but Nero is a free tool that you can find more about at this website. If you have the money to spend, there are some good commercial editors and authoring tools, that greatly simplify things, however I'd recommend not getting an all-in-one program to do both.

I'd suggest you spend some time searching the guides section too, if you haven't already. They can help you a lot with your project.

I can't say why the Sony DVD-RW are incompatible. I've used them and they work fine for me.

[handyguy]

'contains the video and audio are in VRO format rather than VOB'

I just change it to *.mpg with success.

But when i got my RAM drive for my PC it came with software from panasonic to read & then edit it & convert it to a real dvd.

[usually_quiet]

'contains the video and audio are in VRO format rather than VOB'

I just change it to *.mpg with success.

But when i got my RAM drive for my PC it came with software from panasonic to read & then edit it & convert it to a real dvd.

I can see where having such software would be a great advantage. My PC's DVD drive was from LG. It didn't come with any software specifically designed to be used with my Panasonic DVD recorders's recordings, and editing video on my recorder is not possible. Hence frustration with the extra steps needed, the audio synch problems, as well as some video quality issues that may or may not be due to using RAM discs. I decided to save myself the headaches and use DVD-RW for anything I wanted to save.

[elkfir]

Basically what I want to do is this:
Copy VHS to a RAM, go back and edit out commercials, then copy the RAM to a DVDR.

I think this is a fine plan, I do this all the time. The key for me is to use TMPGEnc DVD Author which has the ability to rip the individual title from the DVD-RAM's VRO file onto your hard drive as a nice dvd compliant mpg file. At this point you can continue to use TDA to author your file for burning to DVDR, or you can use the mpg file with another authoring program.
I have two Panasonic, and one Toshiba, standalone DVD recorders. They all use DVD-RAM, and I've been using this method for years to author my DVD-RAM recordings onto DVDR.

[handyguy]

Btw, the software is called DVD-MovieAlbumSE. It's out of date I bet.

[usually_quiet]

I did a little research on DVD-MovieAlbumSE, and found that Panasonic is still supporting this program and has updaters, including ones for Vista at their website.

I also found an interesting thread at http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=160246


One of the posts there recommended this:

Simply copy the VRO file from the RAM, then re-name it to MPG and you can do all the editing you want with any program you like.

This was part of one reply:

Probably won't work properly if the disk has more than one program on it.
The best solution is Panasonics DVD-MovieAlbum which unfortunately
only seems to be available with hardware and only works with Panasonic
writers, although I think Hitachi also supply it with their DVD-RAM videocams.


Bad news for me. Someone also said Nero Vison would import VRO files from RAM discs to a PC, but that is not what came with my LG DVD burner. Oh, well. If I want to buy it, there is always TDA.

[Bjs]

copy the RAM to a DVDR

???

What exactly do you mean ?

Vro files to dvd-ram on pc requires a program capable of writing to ram discs ... you may already have one .

Vro files to dvd-r or rw ... thats just screwing it up ... your player will chuck it out .

Vro > edit > vob output > dvd-r / dvd-rw > fine .

Slice / dice / convert = mpeg streamclip .

If ram includes multiple titles which appear unrecoverable by most products , you may want to give sony vegas a crack at it ... it's worked when nothing dose ... of course it does not guarantee 100% recovery of all titles .