Ulead DVD Factory 2. HELP!

[philipohare]

I've been trying to get vcd episodes of futurama onto dvd-r. I've followed the guide to the letter and it worked great... BUT its now stopped working.

It now suddenly wants to render all my videos - telling me the project will take sometime to render, as if the files aren't compliant, but I know they are. It didn't used to do this - it would simply finalize the menus and convert the audio for DVD standard. I've changed no settings so I'm lost. I've got the correct settings for video system, frame rate, resolution etc but it won't work.

Whats even more strange is that since last night it won't write video CDs either. I just get... "MPEG file is not compatible with this VCD engine"

The files are VCD compliant as I wrote VCDs with them last week when the DVD part failed.

I've tried removing all traces of it from the registry, as well as re-installing it, but no luck.

Please... any advice would be great.

[tphaggerty]

MF2 wants to rerender if all of your sources are not encoded exactly the same way. I run into this problem all the time as I'm trying to run tests between CCE/ProCoder/MainConcept encoders.

After you add your souce clips, right click on them, you'll get a property window. ALL of the clips have to have the same Max Bitrate. If they all do, you may have changed your template. To check that, click on the Checkmark icon in the lower left. The template you select must be for DVD/MPEG2 and the Avg. Bitrate needs to equal or exceed what your souce clips have (you can fix this by clicking on customize). Also, make sure the "Don't render complaint files" is checked (not sure if that is the exact name).

Also, ALL of your audio in your clips must be encoded in the same format and the same bitrate. If you are using an external encoder (CCE, TMPGenc etc), just make sure you use the same template for all of your encodes.

[hunghuynh]

Try with NeoDVD plus version 4. Everything is fast you will be like it. I used it to made DVD folder from Mpeg-2. The bad thing it do not have many menu selection for you to choose. Let us know after you tried.

[philipohare]

I've tried all that. The mpeg is VCD compliant, 24 bits, mpeg1, 1150 kbps ete etc. I wrote it to a dvd 3 weeks ago and now it won't work.

To test the theory of all files needing to be the same, I tried writing ONE file... again I got "this action will take some time to render". I'm really at a loss, and don't want to have to buy new software when I KNOW this works.

Could it be possible that a codec is missing or something?

[tphaggerty]

To test the theory of all files needing to be the same, I tried writing ONE file... again I got "this action will take some time to render".

Did you check the Template in the Properties (check box at lower left)? If your encoded video is SVCD and your template is DVD or even a different rate/audio rate, MF2 is going to try and reencode.

[philipohare]

Yes, all my settings match the file.

Project: DVD
TV System: NTSC

Then I add VCD compliant file. Details...

File Format: NTSC VCD
Video Type: MPEG-1
File Size: 229, 187 KB
Attributes: 24 bits, 352x240
Frame Rate: 29.970 fps
Data rate: 1150 kbps
Audio: 44100Hz, 16bit stereo, MPEG Audio Layer 2

(I know the audio will convert to 48khz, , so thats ok)

I then check the template, and ensure all attributes match above data. NTSC, 24 bits, 352x240, use MPEG audio 224 at 48khz, do not convert compliant file.

Click to write the DVD, and I get...

This action will take some time to render. When I click on write anyway, it takes about an hour to convert.

Can you see anything in this setup that I'm doing wrong? It shouldn't need to convert my video, so why is it?

[fravel]

You state that you know the audio will convert to 48Khz. So, what ULM2 is trying to reencode is only the audio part of your mpegs from 44100Hz to 48Khz. Also, it might want to make some changes to the VCD files to make them more compliant. Try to compare the resultant files with the original. Good Luck!

[philipohare]

It takes a LOOOOOOONG time. about an hour / 2 episodes.

The audio conversion is not an issue. When I had this working, it took 2 minutes to convert the audio for an ENTIRE DVD.

The problem lies in the conversion of video - it should not have to convert my videos - I had it working a few weeks back and it was great - 20 episodes to a DVD with the same file I'm trying now - took 25 minutes including writing the dvd. Something is just not right.

It won't write VCDs now either as I mentioned earlier, so maybe there is a conflict somewhere, but I doubt it.

[fravel]

Ok. Check the bitrate in the DVD template you are using. Maybe it's trying to reencode at that bitrate.

[stimpleton]

check the properties for the project, there should be a tick box saying "do not re encode compliant MPEG files, make sure this is ticked, click on the change mpeg button and check the files size and audio are the same as the clips you have imported
god luck

[vukodlak75]

I'm having a similar problem. I am capturing video and the video I captured is DVD compliant. I checked the properties of the video in Movie Factory and it matches the template, yet it still goes through the converting process.

[Specialist]

Here is a summary of DVD Workshop's Smart Rendering Logic:

"When using multiplexed (system) VBR video files in DVD Workshop, as long as the bit rate settings are greater than or equal to the max bit rate of the video file and VBR is set correctly, DVD Workshop will NOT re-render the video."

"If you uncheck the "do not convert compliant files" box, and select different audio setting, only audio will be re-encoded and you will see a "audio file is being converted" message."

"So, you can use VBR video's with different bit rates in DVD Workshop with out re-rendering."

"If you are using elemental VBR videos, then all of the videos must have been encoded in the same manner and the system template must be set to the max bit rate of the files and VBR set."

"Note that this means that it is currently impossible to use more than one elemental stream MPEG-2 video in DVD Workshop without re-rendering unless both (all) of the files in the project were encoded with the same settings."

"If you do have all files with the same setting and don't check "do not convert compliant files" but select different audio attributes, you won't receive a message saying audio is being converted message, but it will be converted to the new settings."

"You'll note the operation will complete much faster than if video was also re-rendered."

"If you are using constant bit rate elemental or system videos, they all must have the same bit rate and DVD Workshop's bit rate must to set to that exact same bit rate for smart render to function."

From Mark Dileo's review of Ulead MediaStudio Pro 7.0 (and Ulead DVD Workshop) in the "Smart Render In Depth" section.

http://www.matroxusers.com/mreviews.php?op=showcontent&id=6

Again, jump to the "Smart Render in Depth" section by scrolling to the bottom of the page and using the drop-down section list.

Jerry Jones
http://www.jonesgroup.net

[mmmbeer]

I'm having a similar problem. I am capturing video and the video I captured is DVD compliant. I checked the properties of the video in Movie Factory and it matches the template, yet it still goes through the converting process.

I've had nothing but problems with this POS program since I spent 45 hard earned dollars on it. If I didn't download it I would have returned it. I had contemplated disputing the charge on the basis that the product didn't really work. I have made vcds and svcds that were out of synch no matter what you do to them. This stupid thing changes some properties every time you try just to burn without fail. I check the do not convert box, change the audio to match my TMPG settings use virtualdub. Even their techs told me that MF2 is not that good. Of course it was AFTER I wasted money. They told me to try using Studio7, ha good luck. I'll just use dvd2vcd and vcdeasy from now on. It might take longer but the quality will still be better all around.

[philipohare]

But it was working. I've come back to it and its not. Same files as before, same settings, same PC, same configuration. I've uninstalled it and totally cleared the registry and re-installed and still nothing.

Do not re-encode compliant files is ticked, and the files show as being the same size as the mpegs. It just seems to fail at the final step.

Is there no reason for this??

[courtrrb]

If it was working before but not now, welcome to the wonderfull world of MS windows. Thats the reason I stopped my encoding in Ms Windows and moved to Linux. I still do my DVD authoring in Win2000 but I have to reload the system often. (Children loading all types of games)

[mdtplus4]

Same thing happened to me guys. It worked great the first time but never again. Fortunately I didn't purchase it before I tested it.