DVD Compatibility Issues

[tsiger]

Hi guy,

I am running a small business of event photography and video coverage in Greece (Weddings mostly). For the last 3 months i decided to produce on my own the DVDs for my clients and not outsourcing them. After a small research i ended up using the following programs for my creations.

Pinnacle Studio 9 (Because it has no less no more of what i need) to produce my final mpg files.

DVD-Lab 1.3 For DVD Authoring.

So far everything works just fine except some returns and some complaints from clients about discs not playing at all or about stucking almost at the end of the movie and stuff like that.

Could the experts in this great forum give me some advise on what to have in mind as i started evetything on my own and i am sure there must be some rules that i am missing.

Maybe some advise on codecs and stuff would be nice as well.

I would like to notice that i've read 100s of other posts in this forum but propably i am missing that bit which suites for me

[AlecWest]

So far everything works just fine except some returns and some complaints from clients about discs not playing at all or about stucking almost at the end of the movie and stuff like that.

Because you say "some" returns and "some" complaints, I suspect that you're doing everything right ... and that the problem might be the media you've chosen to use (brand names don't necessarily imply quality).

Take a look at this page:

https://www.videohelp.com/dvdmedia

You'll notice that, with only a few exceptions, almost all the media listed on this page doesn't play on all machines. Were I you, I'd buy blank DVDs by, say, three different makers (the 3 best as determined on the page above). And, make note in your client files as to media brands they have problems with. There's no magic fix to this problem that encompasses all DVD players. Some players like some media types, other players like other media types, etc.

P.S. I bought a professionally made DVD movie recently that would "freeze" on my AD-1100W APEX DVD player before it even left the title screen. I captured it and reburned it on Memorex DVD-R media ... and the copy works great (grin). But, hehe, that same movie might play just fine on another player that wouldn't like my Memorex media. Go figure.

[tsiger]

Thank you for your reply. Yeah i suppose that i am doing everything just fine as most of my clients are happy. About the media, i read a few articles and some posts in this forum and after reading a FAQ (digitalFAQ.com) i only purchase "first class" media.

I just posted to see if there is anything that i have to consider. I had a look earlier in this package called Ulead Mediastudio Pro (Version 7.0) and it seems to have some great features (direct AV -> MPG for example).

Any experiences on this piece of software?

I always follow the rule "if it works don't touch it " as i am professional programmer as well but this doesn't seem to occur in the Video Industry.

[AlecWest]

Thank you for your reply. Yeah i suppose that i am doing everything just fine as most of my clients are happy. About the media, i read a few articles and some posts in this forum and after reading a FAQ (digitalFAQ.com) i only purchase "first class" media.

True ... but not all players may like it. It's a hard nut to crack, really. Have you ever kept track of the DVD player types used by the people who complain? You might see a pattern emerge.

I just posted to see if there is anything that i have to consider. I had a look earlier in this package called Ulead Mediastudio Pro (Version 7.0) and it seems to have some great features (direct AV -> MPG for example).

Any experiences on this piece of software?

I don't do video work professionally. I have ULEAD DVD Movie Factory but rarely use it since I've found other utilities that work much faster with excellent results (most of them free or inexpensive).

[tsiger]

yeah.. making a plan of dvd players is good idea i think. Even for clients who want copies for relatives as well it would give me an idea of what type of media to use (approx.)

I am using freeware and other utilities to author my dvds but i was thinking to remove the huge stack of cd on my office that are responsible for making just one dvd and replace it with "all in one solution" even with some creative limits if you understand my point.

Thanx man. I really appreciated this little talk.

[AlecWest]

yeah.. making a plan of dvd players is good idea i think. Even for clients who want copies for relatives as well it would give me an idea of what type of media to use (approx.)

Some people have told me that cheap players prefer cheaper media, hehe. There might be some truth to that. That's a thought ... keep a few cheap blank DVDs on hand. When a customer complains about the top quality DVD you give them, burn them a duplicate on a cheap DVD. If their player likes the new cheaper media, note it in your client's record ... and from then on, you can save money on that customer and keep them happy, all at the same time. 8)

[HatchetMan]

I have not yet seen any mention of "-" & "+" formats. Most will say "-" is more campatible, others will say "+" if and only if you set the booktype to DVD-ROM (if your writer supports it). I would say give the client one format, and if that doesn't work, simply reburn it onto another format which should work out MOST of the time.

[Richard_G]

I produced 56 copies of the same DVD last year for different people so researched this a bit before starting. I found that DVD-R was more compatible than DVD+R with the exception of Philips players that preferred the + disks. I used Ritek G04 (DVD-R) disks and only had 2 that were returned. One wouldn't play on a Philips standalone, the other wouldn't play on a PS2. There were no complaints about any of the others.

Unfortunately, the quality of Ritek G04 dye seems to have taken a dive recently and I'm now using TDK instead. I could also do with finding the best possible blank for standalone compatibility.....

[Richard_G]

By the way. I use Mediastudio Pro 6.5 to edit and DVD Workshop to author. I transfer the footage by Firewire (the footage is shot on three MiniDV camcorders simultaneously and then edited together switching from one view to another) as DV avi and edit in that format. Once the editing is completed, I let MSP create mpeg files from the finished edit. These are then imported into DVD Workshop for menus, titles and chapter points to be added.

Although MSP can transfer and convert to mpeg on the fly, this isn't a good idea i you intend doing any editing. Simple cuts are OK with mpeg but wipes, fades and anything that isn't instant end up looking horrible.

[AlecWest]

I have not yet seen any mention of "-" & "+" formats. Most will say "-" is more campatible, others will say "+" if and only if you set the booktype to DVD-ROM (if your writer supports it). I would say give the client one format, and if that doesn't work, simply reburn it onto another format which should work out MOST of the time.

That's an excellent point. I haven't been burning DVDs for very long. Currently, I use Memorex DVD-R blanks and my APEX player loves them ... as well as the Sony DVD player of a certain lady I know. But +/- considerations are valid.