DVD-RAM to DVD-R editing/conversion

[fredpb]

I have a Panasonic E50 DVD standalone recorder. It does not do dvd-rw but dvd-ram.

What software on my PC do I need to convert or edit these dvd-ram disks made on the E50 to DVD-R to play on on DVD players?

I use WIN98SE. I have done some video editing before but all my software is not that reliable working on win98se.

I have a Sony DVD burner, and old DRU500a. I am going to get a cheap DVD burner that does dvd-ram too. Before i get it i need to know what software I need and the process to edit/convert dvdrams to dvdrs.

[gshelley61]

Before I mention software that is supposed to handle .VRO files (the type of MPEG2 that is recorded on to DVD-RAM), note that many of us have tried to deal with DVD-RAM video and have not been happy with it. It takes a long time to extract .VRO's to the HDD. Plus, the files work OK sometimes and other times are buggy. Frustrating and time consuming.

I suggest you buy DVD-R's online (for cheap) and record and edit with them instead. They are more compatible and much easier to work with.

Anyway, TMPGEnc DVD Author claims that it can import .VRO for light editing and authoring. Womble MPEG Video Wizard offers frame accurate editing without re-encoding, and it's supposed to work with .VRO files. Ulead VideoStudio8 and Cyberlink PowerProducer 2 both say they are capable of handling DVD-RAM.

I have either tried or own all of these, and like I said, .VRO is a pain. I gave up on using DVD-RAM some time ago.

[OneCardShort]

I have done over 50 laserdiscs using dvd ram recorded on a panasonic then prepared for dvd-r using Tmpgenc Dvd Author and the results are always great. I simply copy over the folder on the ram to the hard drive then import into Tmpgenc Dvd Author using the Add Dvd video option and point it to the rtav folder on the hard drive. You can then edit it and put chapters and menus on the video. Once outputted and burned the dvd-r's have played in every player that I have put them in and the picture looks just as good as the original. The great thing about this method is that the video is not reencoded like some other apps will try to do.

p.s. you'll need windows xp for Tmpgenc Dvd Author I believe but check the Pegasys website to make sure. Win98 has a 4gb limit since it uses the fat file system, you'll want to use ntfs to get around this limit which win2000 and winxp support.

[muskgrave]

I have also had success using the above method with a friends wedding video. I recorded it using a camera that records straight to dvd-ram. Open TDA and tell it you are opening a dvd folder, then point to the RTAV folder and it will give you the option of copying to hard disk. It will then individual mpg files (one for every time you stopped and started recording.

Then I went into womble mpeg video editor and chopped up the dead spaces in the video, did a little crossfade between scenes and came out with a very good looking product. I then extracted the audio, cleaned it up and encoded to ac3. plunked it back into TDA and made a menu then burned it.

[macleod]

I have a small business converting peoples' home videos from VHS to dvdr. I have the panny E30 and a A05 pc burner. TMPGENC DVD Author WILL do the dvdram to dvdr conversion without a problem.

There are a few solutions out there. You can convert the .vro to mpg be renaming it, but I have seen issues with that. The easiest for me is to put the ram in a pc dvd rom that handles ram, open tmpgenc dvd author, do your editing and stuff and then let her fly. Very easy!

[lbeck]

many of us have tried to deal with DVD-RAM video and have not been happy with it. It takes a long time to extract .VRO's to the HDD. Plus, the files work OK sometimes and other times are buggy. Frustrating and time consuming.

I suggest you buy DVD-R's online (for cheap) and record and edit with them instead. They are more compatible and much easier to work with.

I'd like to go on record as someone who uses and prefers DVD-RAM. The media itself is much more robust than +/-RW blanks, and I can't edit +/-Rs. I have a Panasonic DMR-E20 and use it frequently as a high-end VCR to record movies from TV or analog video from my camcorder or from old video tape.

I'm not saying that you're wrong not to prefer DVD-RAM, and I'm not trying to "sell" it. I'm sure that it's not for everyone, but I've come to prefer it to other formats for my TV or analog needs.

One problem that I have is converting to a format that can be used with my editing software (Studio 9). I have been using Panasonic's MovieAlbum SE to convert the .VRO file to MPEG. This has worked fine until recently when I recorded a movie from TV and the DVD-RAM disk has an out-of-sync portion that shows up consistently and only on the converted MPEG file. The DVD-RAM disk plays fine in the desk-top machine.

I have an LG GSA-4163 burner and it came with Cyberlink's PowerProducer 2 Gold software for using DVD-RAM. I've loaded the software, but there is no documentation and the HELP files aren't very good.

Has someone on the forum used this software? Can you give me a hint on how to do the DVD-RAM conversion to MPEG or AVI? Or can someone simply let me know that it can't be done with this software.

I've seen the recommendations here for TempGENC software but I'm not ready to spend $70 for software to do something that I think can be done with freeware that I already own. Plus, I think (can't remember) that I downloaded the trial version a year or so ago and couldn't or didn't get it to work for my purposes.

Information on the Cyberlink PowerProducer will be appreciated.

Thanks