What rituals do you perform before and after burning a dvd?

[Raen]

Just curious if other people do what I do to ensure a clean burn.

A take a handful of blank dvd's and inspect each one, making sure there aren't any bubbles or smears and then pick the 'cleanest' one to use.

After it burns I leave it alone for 15-20 mintues to let the dyes or whatnot settle(had problems before with putting on a label right after I burn the dvd, it would cause smears in the dvd)

I then play it in the standalone dvd player. playing a few seconds of each chapter(then hitting skip to get to the next one.. is there a better way to tell if its a good copy without actually having to spend 2 hours watching?)

If I get no freezes while skipping chapters I then carefully put a label on it and put it into a dvd case.

Does anyone else go to extreme lengths to make sure they get a good burn off the dvd the first time?

[birdygal]

For a DVD backup I do the following
I just glance at my discs before burning to look for dust. I usuallly sit and watch them within 24 hours after burning, If I absolutly don't have the time to watch them. I crank the volume up and listen for a freezing problem.

For my home movies I give the TV 100 percent attention for every detail

The only DVD's I have had freezing problems develop the 2nd or 3rd time they were viewed had labels which I lableled them after watching the first time

[AarontheRipper]

Well, I always take the top disc, but I make sure that the dye looks good. after that I put it in and let Nero do its thing. However, immediately after I give the burn command, I turn off the lights in the room and leave, not to come back until the burn is supposed to be done. When I take the burned disk out, I check the underside to make sure that everything worked like it should have, and I usually skim through the chapters immediately after to make sure that everything's cherry.

[txpharoah]

Ritual? Smoking a peace pipe and praying to the DVD gods for a good crop of discs.

Then I let the disc slowly roast in the burner until it comes out a golden brown.

If it turns out good, I thank the DVD gods for their generosity, carefully handling it like a newborn baby, and placing it in the player for its ultimate test: the playing of the disc.

And finally, if one has failed, I remove my trusty shotgun or bow-and-arrow and shoot it for its failure, a sacrifice to the DVD gods.

I'm sorry guys I couldn't resist.

Seriously, though, check for dust, imperfections in the dye, then burn, and play and then skip to the last chapter or extras to make sure there is no end-write error.

[mecg]

Darn txpharoah, Ya beat me to it. I was gonna give some cute reply like yours (complete with sacraficial coaster) but alas....

[mkelley]

I've only burnt a 100 DVDs or so, but the only thing I do is put the blank in the drive, burn it, put a label on it, and then watch it later at my leisure.

I've seen just about every DVD I've burnt and they are all just fine. Why worry about problems you don't have? (Life is *way* too short for this kind of obsession).

If you are REAL paranoid (sounds like you are) just run a verify on the burn (Record Now max has this, I'm sure Nero does as well). If it verifies then it almost certainly is just fine (but that will increase your burning time by 2).

[rsuave5]

i put a blank one in, i take a full one out, you do the hokey pokey then you turn yourself about

[tweedledee]

I put it in and take it out and lose interest,,,,,sorry wrong forum.

[txpharoah]

Why worry about problems you don't have? (Life is *way* too short for this kind of obsession).

Well, if you don't worry about it, then you may get dirt/dust in your drive. Then you'll get the joy of opening it to clean it with alcohol. Because a dirty drive won't burn any faster than 1x, if it will burn at all.

[mkelley]

Ahem -- if you are using disks straight from the cakebox/package I doubt seriously if this is a problem in any way whatsoever.

I bow to people who have burnt more -- on my Sony I've only burnt 100 or so disks, and on my Panny I've only burnt around 400 -- but I've never experienced any problems.

I admit if you burn thousands of disks you may indeed subject yourself to this situation, but this also smacks of the sort of witchcraft we used to hear back in the VHS/Beta days (and I've burned literally tens of thousands of videotapes without cleaning tape heads -- since I used to do this for a living. The old "tape cleaner" was so much old wives tales we used to laugh about it, as anything truly abrasive enough to grind stuff off the hard tape head would also destroy it).

Once again, life is *way* too short to worry about something which never affects you. If you get a dirty drive then I would grant you that you might want to start taking more care, but if you constantly worry about things that don't matter you won't make graybeard (and this I DO speak from experience :>)

[TBoneit]

Ritual, What a concept

I use the top Disk, usually Verbatim, or Fuji, and sometimes Maxell, Memorex or Princo.... All work OK for me. Sony DRU500A

Burn with Nero....

Label with a Sharpie...

Test, usually ...

Delete the source and folders holding the Vob etc....

And while I'm burning I usually have some sort of internet activity running, e-mail, reading this forum, WinRar and or FsRaid etc...

When WinRar is running creating/extracting I do keep a watch on the record buffer.. But it usually runs 97 to 98% while all this is going on. Maybe a slow machine/Hard Disk Drive would have problems ??

YMMV
Cheers

[TBoneit]

FWIW I believe a dirty drive will more likely be from a smoker using the computer and that same film that builds up on windshields building up on the laser lens.

Or a very dusty work environment.

Cheers

[duhmez]

I'm surprised no one mentioned this, yet I do it for every burn.


I copy the files from the burned disk to the hard drive.

If they all copy, I delete the files and file the disk

Fatser than watching, and more reliable than a random play test. (this method verifies the entire data structure, not just points after chapters)

And helluva lot faster than watching the whole thing.

I cought 2 bad disks this way, they almsot copied totally, then failed, so i tossed the disk and did again.

[Raen]

Life is too short for an extra 5-10 minutes of work to ensure you don't have to re-burn something that will take 30 mins to an hour?

I think all my 'paranoi' is due to the fact I initially used Princo and they had alot of problems if there were any small defects on the disks... I guess the habit's still in me after I long since washed my hands on it.

I still dont get it.. life is too short to look for quality?
Maybe you should think about a quality life over a quanity life. What the use in living longer if you live in sh#$ =)

[negon]

Pop it in and burn, then put it in my CD/DVD wallet. Voila, instant DVD.

[Doggiedaddy]

I take the disc out of the 100 pack and have my son play frisbee for a half hour or so with his friends in the front yard with it, then burn with record now max and label. Never been a problem so far, record now max and Ritek A03s are dope.

Dd

[tweedledee]

What do you know about dust in your hollywood mansions in America? out here in the deserts of Australia we really know about dust. Huddled in my tent on the Nullabor Plain, a 100mph gale blowing sand in my eyes, the smell of the sheep making my guts heave, and I'm trying to rip " A TOWN LIKE ALICE". Yes, things are tough here, and we do get the odd coaster, but we just throw them to the crocs. Now excuse me while I take my medication.

[txpharoah]

FWIW I believe a dirty drive will more likely be from a smoker using the computer and that same film that builds up on windshields building up on the laser lens. Or a very dusty work environment. Cheers

Yeah, normally, but apparently not always true. I'm a non-smoker in a very clean environment, but it still gets dusty in the drive. If you've ever dealt with photo equipment before, you'd have probably heard how lasers and CCDs and other similar optical electronic components are magnets for dust and dirt.

And as far as cakebox DVDs being clean. Oh, no way. I find them the dirtiest of all. Usually I find dust, dirt, and even white foam in the cakeboxes or other various spindle types. The warehouse environments where the things are kept are not great, and with spindles getting cheaper as the days go buy (referring to the physical sealants, or lack thereof on the spindles themselves), it's not all that surprising. The jewel case discs are generally the cleanest and most scratch-free of them all. I've burned so many thousands of discs, I cannot even keep count anymore.

Let me tell you, prying apart a DVD-R drive to clean it is not fun, nor is having to recreate a project from scratch because you deleted the source and were too lazy to check the final product for errors. Two seconds to check the disc and one minute to test the last chapter of the DVD can save hours and hours in the long run.

[pacmania_2001]

What do you know about dust in your hollywood mansions in America? out here in the deserts of Australia we really know about dust. Huddled in my tent on the Nullabor Plain, a 100mph gale blowing sand in my eyes, the smell of the sheep making my guts heave, and I'm trying to rip " A TOWN LIKE ALICE". Yes, things are tough here, and we do get the odd coaster, but we just throw them to the crocs. Now excuse me while I take my medication.

You shouldn't encourage them hehe.

Anyway back to the topic. All I do is quickly check the bottom of the disc for dirt, pop it in and burn.

Then (if it is video, not data) I just play it in WinDVD at 20X and also randomly flick through the movie.

[chazzie]

Does anyone have a list of compatible DVD peace pipes?

[MOVIEGEEK]

Does anyone have a list of compatible DVD peace pipes?

I think you can get one from your local head shop,make sure to ask for a glass pipe with a good carb.Maybe "weedvendor"could elaborate more.
I personally sit in a yoga position and chant while listening to Slim Whitman albums.

[Scumbag]

If I get no freezes while skipping chapters I then carefully put a label on it and put it into a dvd case.

I'm really surprised that no-one else has mentioned this, but I reckon all the worrying could be quickly eliminated as long as the last step in this process not performed, namely PUTTING A LABEL ON IT !!!!

Don't do that, and I believe your problems will go away. DVDs spin much faster than CDs, and are not designed to have sticky labels stuck to them. The jewel cases will have specific warnings about doing this. Even CDRs come with warnings against sticking labels on, but you can normally get away with it.

If you want a pretty looking DVDR, buy the inkjet printable ones, and a special purpose printer. Otherwise, just write on the top of them with a permanent marker, and print a nice insert for your DVD case .

jr

[chazzie]

[quote="Scumbag"If you want a pretty looking DVDR, buy the inkjet printable ones, and a special purpose printer. Otherwise, just write on the top of them with a permanent marker, and print a nice insert for your DVD case .[/quote]

OR, just keep the disk in their proper cases except when playing! :P

Chazzie

[Redd]

Before-Wipe the sweat from my brow.

After-Wipe the sweat from my brow.

[kuroyume0161]

To tweedledee:

In my Presidential Palace in Parker, CO, USA, I can attest that much of eastern Colorado is a dust-collection-bowl. I have to wipe my Sony VEGA's screen every other day (and it's vertical!). With windows closed, a good 1/32" dust collects on everything. Eastern CO is a veritable desert and it's not even a desert, like Arizona.

My computer has four case fans - all blowing out - which serve two purposes: heat and dust removal. I still have to open it up once a month and use a duster (DFE can sprayer) to remove that which doesn't get "filtered".

No problems writing anything yet!

Kuroyume