VHS to DVD problem

[Project Director]

I've been successfully converting from VHS to DVD for months now and never experienced a failure until recently. I use the following method:

(1) VHS connected to Sony Digital Video Camera to convert the signal
(2) Digital Video Camera connected to computer with Firewire
(3) Capture using Win DV
(4) Convert using TMPGenc
(5) Author and burn using Ulead DVD Movie Factory

My last two attempts have failed. One was a kids VHS, the other a show I taped off the TV. In both cases, the captured and converted files played back absolutely perfectly from the hard drive on both Media Player and Power DVD. However, once burned to DVD, there were problems - they both reach a point where they lock up and the image on the screen simply freezes. With the PC, I have to reset it and on the stand alone DVD player I get an error message on the display. Since everything has always worked 100% up till now, it is a mystery to me what's going on. I suspect that my DVD burner may be on the way out. Could anybody help me please with any suggestions?

[gadgetguy]

It could be the burner, but I would first suspect bad media. What error message does the player give you? Does it always lock up at the same point? What media are you using?

[Project Director]

The media is 8x TDK, but I don't think that's the problem. I tried re-burning one of the files using a Teac DVD, but the second disc also locked up in exactly the same place.

I just put the disc in the stand alone player to try it again, but I didn't get a complete lock up or error message this time. However, the picture and sound constantly stall, stop and start. I can't remember what the error message said last time I tried it.

[Project Director]

One other thing I forgot to mention. After capturing and converting, I authored the DVD so that it has 3 chapters. If I start at chapter 2 or 3 it plays perfectly. But if I start at chapter 1 the problem always occurs at the same point in the opening credits. I just tried it again on the PC, both Windows Media Player and Power DVD and both times it locked up completely.

[gadgetguy]

I haven't used either of those types of media so I won't comment on them, but the fact that the problem occurs in the same place on two different media indicates a problem with the file itself. I wonder if that part of the video file exceeds the bitrate that the stand alone players are capable of handling. What did you have the maximum bitrate set to when it was encoded, and what bitrate is the audio?

[Project Director]

The video bitrate is set to 7999 kbits per second and the audio bitrate is 384 kbits per second. I also just tried creating a disc image file first, then burning this to a DVD, but it failed again, in exactly the same place.
Please help!!!!

[reboot]

If it's a chapter point that's failing, I would tend to blame the authoring software.

[Epicurus8a]

Try setting the bit rate to 6000 or lower. Also, you might want to try TMPGEnc DVD Author as your authoring software.

<edit> Download DVDinfopro to check your discs for errors.

[spectroelectro]

Friend of mine reported exactly the same problem recently. Turned out his DVD burner was going bad. Once he replaced it, the problem vanished. YMMV.

[Project Director]

I've tried Epicurus8a's idea of lowering the bitrate to 6000 and it seems to have worked. This raises new questions though.

(1) I noticed that when I reduced the bitrate, the size of the file on DVD decreases also. I assume that this means the compression is higher and the quality is reduced? (I thought that the quality would be unchanged, just that the conversion would take longer)

(2) Is there any definitive way to find out if the burner is stuffed? I always used a bitrate of 8000 before, always used the same software/media/methods and it always worked, so it seems strange that it won't work anymore.

[Epicurus8a]

The quality is reduced a bit, but chances are most people will never notice the difference. I've read several places that for best compatibility with most discs/players you shouldn't exceed 6000. Some discs/players can handle higher bit rates with no problem(s), and some can't. So in your case, the culprit might actually be the particular batch of discs you have.

As for checking your burner, I can't comment. Maybe you should make another post.

Glad I could help!

[CrustyCurmudgeon]

When converting VHS to DVD I use about 4500 bps. I've gone as low as 3000 without seeing any degradation from VHS, but I only had to do that on a very long tape. Now that I can recode the audio to AC3, I wouldn't have to go that low.

I use VCR->Hauppauge WinTV PVR 250->NeroVision->DVD

Takes about 3 hours to go from tape to DVD on a 2 hour movie.

[Project Director]

New problem! I burnt one dvd with the bitrate reduced to 6000. However, I have tried another 5 times to burn different dvd's and now there's an error message from the authoring software. It comes up with the standard Microsoft style message 'DVD Movie Factory has encountered a problem and needs to shut down . . . etc etc'.

Perhaps the software was originally the problem. I have tried uninstalling and re-installing the software, but the same problem shows up. Could the lower bitrate have somehow affected the software? In any event, I thought that after uninstall/reinstall that it should be resolved.

[Epicurus8a]

No, the lower bit rate wouldn't hurt the software. You might need to set-up another computer profile with fewer apps in START-UP. That way you'll have more resources available for your DVD work. I don't know which version of Movie Factory you have, but I found 3.0 to be quite troublesome, even with the downloaded patches. I eventually up-graded to Workshop 2 and have been happy ever since. (Often times those all-in-one suites are bloatware.) MF 2.0 worked okay for me, but it doesn't support AC3 audio, and I haven't tried MF 4.0. I think you can down load a trial version of MF 4.0 to see if it works any better for you.

Good Luck!

[John Whittle]

If you know exactly where the dvd "hangs", go back into Ulead and make an edit at that point and take out a few frames. There can be errors in the video that can make it all the way to transcoding and even burning and just hang on playing.

I've found that problem with some files and working with Nerovision with the preview I can see where it fails and go back and make an edit.

It seems there are lots of video sources with errors. Speed corrections are a big problem on some shows (a four year old PBS show drove me crazy for two days until I solved it).

Sometimes changing the bit rate changes the I frames for the encoder which will get you past the bad point and often you don't have to make much more than a little tweak to make the change work. The edit will also work since the encoder will get the frame/field rates back in sequence. I'm assuming you're doing NTSC since most of these problems don't occur in PAL.

John