Help burning DVD - won't play on standalone player

[degnar]

I'm having trouble burning a DVD that I have authored from mini DV tapes (from a Sony camcorder). I have been using WinDVD Creator to download video from the tapes, and author a movie. I've also used it to burn DVDs, which will play on my computer, but I can not get them to work on a standalone DVD player. I get an error that the player can not read this type of disk.

I've looked through the guides here plus the forums. I've tried some other programs for burning (TMPGEnc, Ulead) to no avail. I've also used different brands of disks, and tried burning at slower speeds.

Any thoughts?? Is there something I'm missing? I'd really appreciate any suggestions for how to use WinDVD Creator so that it burns disks that work on any DVD player. Are there some magic settings you need to set to make it work? Failing that, suggestions for good, simple authoring/burning programs or a good DVD burner would be helpful. Thanks!

[guns1inger]

What is the player ?
What is the disk ?

If it is an older player, it might be tied to one format of disk (+r or -r). If you use the wrong type, it wont read it.

[Bjs]

Try using imagetools to burn them , but use dvd-r only , and keep projects under 4.3gig , and see it this helps .

If they do after imagetools , then its a windvd problem .

Also check the dvd layout .

You should have audio_ts folder (nothing in it)
And a video_ts folder (dvd project files end in here) .

By default , imagetools places files correctly as expected by players .

[robf]

Hi there, this is my first post, be gentle with me.

I too am new to this but can report success using windvd creator 2 to convert DV from a sony camcorder to DVD.
I followed the instructions on the program, and chose 1hr DVD as the format for burning, and the resultant DVD plays fine on my Toshiba sd230e player. Initially had no sound through the surround sound amp but changed the output from bitstream to PCM and got it working.
I used a ritek G05 dvd-r disc
I suspect that if you are having problems it is probably a compatability issue with your player. Have you looked it up on here to see whether it is supposed to work with the disc you used?
What is imagetools?

[MysticE]

Failing that, suggestions for good, simple authoring/burning programs

Try NeroVision (it was called NeroVision Express) they have a demo available. Many seem too knock it, but I'm able to do many things with it. It should do your project from start to finish without he need of any other programs. It will convert almost any vid file and combination, PAL and/or NTSC into one project.

[Dragonsf]

Is NeroVision one of those 'can do everything, but not very good' or 'can only do one thing, but this very good' programs? If the first, I can understand the objections.
I'm using DVIO for transfer, Avisynth for editing, CCE for encoding, IfoEdit for authoring and Imgtools for burning. All those DVDs produced by those programs work all all plazers.

[MysticE]

Is NeroVision one of those 'can do everything, but not very good' or 'can only do one thing, but this very good' programs? If the first, I can understand the objections.
I'm using DVIO for transfer, Avisynth for editing, CCE for encoding, IfoEdit for authoring and Imgtools for burning. All those DVDs produced by those programs work all all plazers.

Note what the poster asked for:

suggestions for good, simple authoring/burning programs

NeroVision 3 which I use, produces very nice and compatible output with a minimum of fuss. It encodes almost everything, produces decent menus and is also great for quick, painless, one step PAL to NTSC conversions. If I need to crop or adjust AR I'll use MainConcept Encoder, but to these old eyes I see no difference on a 42 in. plasma between files converted with the supposedly superior Mainconcept... and Nero actually seems to handle PAL to NTSC conversions better.

Seeing as a Demo is available it's worth the poster's time to see if it suits his needs.

[degnar]

Thanks for the tips everyone. The stand alone player I'm using is a panasonic SC-HT720 player... it is an all-in-one CD/DVD/radio (so probably not the highest quailty player). According to the stats, it should be able to play dvd-r (which is what I am burning). I had my family try the dvd's and they did not work. But a friend with a good dvd player (don't know the brand) was able to play them. So I'm guessing that the problem is in the quality of the burn. My "generic" player just won't recognize it.

Will the Nero program produce any better quality burn? Is there anything I can do with WinDVD creator to improve it (I did try the "DVD 1 hour" setting)? As MysticE noted, I would like to stay with a simple solution. But if there is a good program to burn the VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS folders, I could try that.

I'm using a toshiba TS-H542 burner if that helps. I've burned on both Memorex and Taiyo Yuden disks. Any thoughts about the burner? Recommendations for a burner that will give better results?

Thanks!

[MysticE]

But a friend with a good dvd player (don't know the brand) was able to play them

It seems that almost all newer DVD players should play burns, especially the cheap ones. You don't necessarily need 'good' to play burns (but you do get better remotes, reliability, and better vid processing circuitry with the more expensive players) just new. Look on the box and they will list what they can handle.

Here's some limited info on yours.
https://www.videohelp.com/dvdplayers?DVDname=HT720&Submit=Search&Search=Search&dvdporta...y=Name&hits=25

Here's the complete list.
https://www.videohelp.com/dvdplayers

Are you using -R media?

If you have ripped VIDEO_TS files you could try running them through DVDShrink using the 'Open Files' option. If DVDShrink accepts them they should be good, as Shrink can be picky about non standard structure. As long as your files fit on a blank (look for 100% under Compression Settings), change 'Automatic' to 'No Compression' and when you hit Backup change the output to 'ISO Image File'. You could then use either DVDDecrypter or ImgBurn (both free) to burn the ISO to a -R (as it appears that -R is what your player needs).

As is often noted in these forums it could be a media problem. Your Memorex may be CMC which are problematic for some (my NEC 3520 does not like them) and your Taiyo's may be counterfeit (a very common problem). If you feel it's time for a new burner you could check out some of these reviews.

http://www.cdfreaks.com/article/search/B/

Pioneer, NEC, LG, Benq are some good popular choices.

[sacajaweeda]

Go get IMGTools Classic.
http://coujo.crion.de/Classic_0.91.6.zip

Config it to burn your created images with DVDDecrypter.

Enjoy the ease and effortlessness of it's mass-compatibility.