PLEASE HELP ME!!!!!!!!

[duranh]

I'm driving myself freaking CA-RAZY here trying to figure this crap out!! I'm not one to just jump into "show me how to do this" mode. I've been messing with DVD authoring for three weeks straight now, trying out different programs to see which one I like. So far, I've found features that I love in all kinds of different apps but nothing all wrapped up into one!
I simply want to create a DVD with a couple of menus. I want to be able to play my video files and have a slideshow. That's it!!! The program I like best so far is DVDiT. It's allowed me to put in all the menu's I like. I have my movies in there. I even have my slideshow in there. Only problem I'm having with it is everytime I try to build my DVD folders, the freaking file size is too big for the DVD!!! I've tried lowering the 8mb bitrate to as low as it will go, but it's still too big!
TMPGEnc DVD Author works fine for just creating a DVD with a menu, but I can't put my slideshow in there!
I need a hand please. I'm going nuts here. Just tell me what to use.

[coyote]

Sometimes DVDit defaults to cd mode when you tell it to compile. Is this what's happening to you (I know it seems simple and like something you would notice...but when I first started, I had the same problem)

[housepig]

it's also possible that it's reencoding the audio to PCM audio, which takes up much more space than AC3 or MP2.

that will easily bloat a 150Mb audio file into a 1Gb file....

[duranh]

OK. The project is set to DVD-R (4.7GB). The audio is set to Dolby Digital. The projected file size is still 5.03 GB.
Is there another program that is better to use to do what I want? What do you guys use?

[housepig]

Is there another program that is better to use to do what I want? What do you guys use?

TMPG to encode to mpeg, Vegas Video for titles / intro movies / slideshows, DVD Lab for authoring, Nero for burning.

The reason I use multiple tools is because I have yet to find one tool that is flexible enough to do all that I want.

[duranh]

One more question housepig. Is there a way to preview what I've built in DVD Lab? So far all I see is how to simulate what the buttons look like. And I can't seem to change the colors of them when they're activated. I was able to do it the first time I tried, now I can't.
Thanks for the help so far. You've been a great help!

[lordsmurf]

I use DVDit! PE, and all I do is convert video in TMPGEnc or let ATI MMC encode MPEG2. Don't let DVDit! convert, use a real encoder to get the MPEG files you need. Let DVDit! convert the audio to AC3. Also know that the DVDit! project meter is often wrong, with final size being larger/smaller without warning. It's lucky we have DVD2one these days when there's an overage. Under sizing is fine.

[andkiich]

You will want to learn the multi-tool approach. Trust us when we tell you this. There is no holy grail for DVD, well unless you want to spend 5 figure and above money. Even then, I don't think that those tools are all in ones.

I use :
VideoStudio to capture
TMPGEnc Plus to encode
DVD-lab to author
Photoshop if I want custom meu images

It's generally better to use the best tool for the job. A spork might work for a lot of things, but is it really the best tool for every meal?

[gizmofanv]

@duranh

I was in the same boat as you are now few months ago.

This was my problem: I wanted to put picture slide show(s) on a dvd with trasition and background music along with video(s) with its own music. Without compromising with the quality of the image/video

So found answer with ULEAD DVDPictureShow 2.0. I love this product. This enabled me to do exactly what I wanted. There are set menu's styles, image you could also have background music. But onething you can't creat your menus like you do it with DVDit.

I had multiple videos of the same occasion(i.e: Birthday), I combined (avi) them using TMPGEnc Plus.

ULEAD DVDPictureShow 2.0 is available for 30 day trial.

Goodluck!

[housepig]

One more question housepig. Is there a way to preview what I've built in DVD Lab? So far all I see is how to simulate what the buttons look like. And I can't seem to change the colors of them when they're activated.

There is no way to check within DVD Lab - you have to compile and check with a separate software player like PowerDVD or WinDVD.

Changing button colors, there should be a set of tabs in the upper right corner of the screen, one will let you change activation colors (sorry, I don't have the program right in front of me at work, I can't get more specific...)

[duranh]

Yeah houspig. You're right. I found it. It's just that I tried to move the slider for the colors and it was locked or something. Couldn't change it. But when I closed the program and opened it back up I was able to adjust everything. All in all, I like the program. Especially after using Vegas Video to add my chapters and slideshow. But there's a feature in DVDiT PE that will convert all audio to AC3. Will DVD-Lab do this as well?

And oh yeah, Gymkata and Remo Williams are great guilty pleasures!

[obiron]

duranh,

I'm still green with this DVD stuff myself but I'll tell you my experience with MyDVD. I think it's Sonic's consumer version of DVDit. I created a DVD with 9 slideshows with music and transitions between slides. The menu buttons were motion menus buttons and the menu background was a motion background. All this was provided by MyDVD. The tenth item on the DVD was a 30 minute video I encoded using TMPGenc.

MyDVD will transcode the audio to PCM thus inflating the size of the audio. Also, if you use the same music track for more than one slideshow, MyDVD is not smart enough to link, it makes multiple copies, inflating the audio even more. With my video being about 2GB, and the 9 slideshows plus music none of which are more than 5 or 6 minutes in length, MyDVD reports I have only ~480MB free on a 4.7GB disc.

Another issue I've run into with MyDVD is that the transitions between slides has some sort of block noise artifact. Toward the end of the transition just before it locks in you can see some block noise or as someone who saw it described it as sparkles. It's just annoying and I'm trying to figure out how to get rid of it.

Guess this is just a vote for the multitool approach. I'll have to learn that one myself. Good luck in your quest.

[housepig]

I found it. It's just that I tried to move the slider for the colors and it was locked or something. Couldn't change it. But when I closed the program and opened it back up I was able to adjust everything.

this happens to me occasionally... can't explain it. but restarting the app usually fixes it.

maybe I should report this as a bug....

[beno76]

I have the problem with dvdit that the movie is slower then the sound. I encoded with TMPGEnc and then made a menu with dvdit and it showed 9,4GB. When I made a DVD folder it was only 4,5GB. Used PCM audio.
Any clues?

Thanks

beno76

[samsberr]

I want to be able to play my video files and have a slideshow. That's it!!! [quote]

If you want a program to do motion menus and slideshows with music
try roxio 6 dvd creator... very simple and quick cheap I'm using a pioneer a06 to burn with and have done 3 jobs with it so far and it has not blown up yet...Great results and works in everything from a x-box to a $53.00 cheepo set top from walmart...

[turk690]

To duranh: create your DVD with the program you like. I mostly create mine with DVD-lab nowadays, from material that originated mostly with DV AVI. It's indeed hard to tell exactly how big the resulting DVD will be after compiling due to many factors; it's very annoying to find out one is 100MB, for example over the 4.7GB limit. But there's a sweet way out: DVDShrink. After compilation, open up DVDShrink and point it to where your DVD-authoring program put the VIDEO_TS folder. Best use the latest DVDShrink3beta, which has a lengthy assess mode to find out the best quality and just about fit all your files into 4.7GB. I've encountered no problems so far (and am happy to use DVDShrink for something other than DVD "backups").