What's the best way to go about editing panasonic dvd-ram?

[fsuorange]

I'm a little bit confused aboout this....again!

What are the advantages and disadvantages of buying a separate dvd-rom like the Toshiba SD-M1712 and separate dvd-r like the pioneer a06 to buying an all-in-one drive such as the gsa-4040b? Or can they do the same things?

I would like to edit my dvd-ram dvd's that I burn off my panasonic dmr-e50 and then edit them by removing commercials, adding menus and buttons, etc and then burn it to dvd-r. Are there any disadvantages to buying a Toshiba SD-M1712 and pioneer a06 because it is a lot cheaper to do this then buy an gsa-4040b or another 4x dvd-r multi format burner.

Please help!

[accountwiz]

I have questions along this line, too. My wife is giving me a DMR-E50 for Christmas, and I've never used DVD-RAM before at all.

A) It's my understanding that DVD-RAM can be reformatted when you're done with it. Is that true?

B) I do my DVD editing on my PC, obviously. Right now, I burn with a Lite-on LDW-440D and read with a Lite-on DVD-166. I have a few editing toys like DVD-Lab that can work with VOB's, etc. Will I be able to take a DVD-RAM that my DMR-E50 prepares and pop it into either of my PC drives to create nicer menus and combine different shows onto their respective discs?

C) If no on question B, what drive can I buy for my PC that will read the DVD-RAM disc so that I can work with it?

Thanks in advance for these answers.I've been on this forum for quite some time now, and it's very cool how you can go to one place to get assistance with using unfamiliar tech.

All the best this holiday season.

[saftrep]

I have a Panasonic E-30 and wanted to do the same thing you want to do. It is not as easy as it may seem (though not terribly complicated) You will have to have a DVD drive on your PC that can read DVD-Ram. If you are limited to only one DVD burner - pick one that is compliant with all formats. (Iomega makes one among others). You will need an authoring software program (to make your menus) to edit the VRO (different format than PC) format that the Panny will use. There are several. I like TPMG Author. (30 day free trial - fully operational for that time) It will read VRO files and is pretty user friendly. DVD Lab also will read VRO files but I find it not as easy to use as Author. You can compile several source files. I have used it to make my own copy of the Carnivale episodes. I used the EP recording time and the resulting video is acceptable to me. Next season I will use SP and improve the quality. One thing you will have to watch for is VBR. This is used by the Panny on some video to maintain quality. Author will not recognize the file format. A way around this is to change the video in setup on the Panny from Automatic to Fixed. Hope this helps. :Let me know how it turns out.

David

[accountwiz]

Thank you very much. I'm feeling great that I'm getting this Panasonic.

I guess my only real question now is if either or both of my Lite-on drives mentioned above can read/rip DVD-RAM format to my pc hard dive?

Anyone know?

[fsuorange]

So is it true that you still have all the editing capabilities if you buy a separtate dvd-rom that can read dvd-ram and separate dvd-r than if you buy a dvd-r with dvd-ram reading such as the iomega or gsa-4040b?

If this is true what are the dvd-rom drives that can read panasonic's dvd-ram

[fsuorange]

anyone?

[donpedro]

I guess you would have to rephrase your question. I didn't get it.

To second part

what are the dvd-rom drives that can read panasonic's dvd-ram

Sorry... I stole your question and I created new post
DVD-ROM drives that can read PANASONIC's DVD-RAM

[bobones]

So is it true that you still have all the editing capabilities if you buy a separtate dvd-rom that can read dvd-ram and separate dvd-r than if you buy a dvd-r with dvd-ram reading such as the iomega or gsa-4040b?

It should be obvious that you can't actually edit the contents of the RAM disc itself unless you have a RAM burner. However, you can copy the RAM contents to hard disk and produce an edited/authored dvd-r with only a RAM capable reader and appropriate software.

I have a Panny burner which came with DVD-MovieAlbumSE software that allows you to edit the contents of the RAM disc in place, but I rarely have cause to use it. I prefer instead to go the TMPGEnc DvD Author route to produce dvd-rs from my ram recordings. I believe the only advantage of having a ram burner in this case is that you don't need to copy the ram contents to hard disk first.

As someone else mentioned, TMPEnc DVD Author doesn't handle recordings where the Panny has altered the resolution mid recording. This can be fixed by first exporting the recording using DVDMovieAlbumSE; however, if you don't have this software you need to avoid the situation in the first place by setting up your E50 to have Hybrid VBR resolution set to "fixed" instead of the default "auto".

[Destroyer]

Have I missed something here?

But the LG GSA-4040B can write dvd-ram as well can't it?
and it's only $119

[handyguy]

I have a e30 you can indeed do plenty of editing right on a DVD-RAM disk in your e30 as it has a big bunch of edit functions, DVD-RAM is actually just a 4gig HD.

I use a panasonic lf-d521 to read DVD-RAM disks on the pc but why use them if you can just write to a dvd-r with your recorder & put in your computer & edit?

DVD-RAM has a rewrite rating of 100,000 times so it cost more, but sure worth it.

[bobones]

Have I missed something here?

But the LG GSA-4040B can write dvd-ram as well can't it?
and it's only $119

Yeah, you missed the fact that one of the posters already has a burner, and was specifically asking about the differences between using a ram burner and a ram reader.

The LG may be cheap, but it's dae, dvd writing quality and compatibility have been criticized quite heavily in the cdfreaks review.

The Panny burner I have (LF-M621) doesn't do + formats but it comes with a superior software package for ram and, crucially for me, it takes ram in cartridges.

[bobones]

I use a panasonic lf-d521 to read DVD-RAM disks on the pc but why use them if you can just write to a dvd-r with your recorder & put in your computer & edit?

How can you edit dvd-r once you've already written to it?

[ejai]

I have an E-50 and use a program called Mpeg2vcr to edit my DVD-ram files. It works great.

[Bob W]

What I do is copy the DVD-RAM files (VRO files) to my hard drive then change the file extention to mpg. Now using NeoDVD Plus I can import the files do any editing, add a menu, add chapter points, create DVD files and burn to DVD-R or DVD+R.

[accountwiz]

Does each DVD-RAM finished by an E50 have a separate VRO file for each different show taped or one big VRO file for everything?

[Bob W]

Does each DVD-RAM finished by an E50 have a separate VRO file for each different show taped or one big VRO file for everything?

If you stop the recording for one show and start a new recording then there would be separate files for each show.

[accountwiz]

Bob W,

Thanks a ton! In the back of my mind, I was worried that VRO might work like VOB, where each file was capped at 1gb and episodes could span across these files, making it a pain to join/cut everything if you just want to pull out one episode of a show off of a DVD-RAM.

[classfour]

When using a program/movie recorded from cable/TV that has commercials:

I use TMPGEnc DVD Author to first import the video content, then remove the commercials via "set start point, set end point, cut (delete)". This results in a video that retains both the AC3 sound and DVD video quality - and Audio/Video sync. I do give up options on menus, though.

When using a program/movie recorded from cable/TV that is commercial free (or when recording home movies to the E20):

I use MPEG2VCR to open the vro file (select all instead of vob type), then select the start and end points. Save the mpeg file and author using DVDLab. Retain AC3 sound, DVD video quality.

Hardware: Panasonic DMR-E20 standalone recorder. Desktop with Panasonic LF-D521 multi-drive (DVD-RAM, -R, -RW, -ROM + CD recorder)

I know, I know: There are many programs out there that'll do the same thing - but this is the easiest method that I've arrived at to date; after spending many dollars on some Ulead, MedioStream, and other software.

My 2 cents

[fsuorange]

Is the Iomega Super Writer any good for panasonic ram?