Changing recorded RAM to DVD

[blondegirl]

I have aTV program recorded on a RAM that is playable in my toshiba lap top. I want to be able to copy it to DVD to play in DVD player to lend to someone else. I have made several attempts.....can someone help, bearing in mind I'm blonde!

[Baldrick]

what have you tried? tda can import from ram and author,burn as standard dvd.

[ahhaa]

Also, check properties; how big is the RAM file?

And- how blonde?:]

[blondegirl]

I have used TMPGEnc plus and have converted the file......but I cant get it on DVD grrrr.....Im ready to give up lol!

[discguy001]

I assume you have a single .VRO file from the RAM disk, right? Use VOBedit to demultiplex the .VRO into its elementary streams and reauthor. There is no need to convert or re-encode anything. You could use the trial version of DVDlab to author the streams.

[jman98]

If you demultiplex the VRO into separate audio and video streams as discguy001 said, you can also use IFOEdit to re-author it to DVD. It's not hard. You just tell it where the video and audio streams are and where you want the output and let it do it's thing. You might want to stay away from DVD-RAM in the future. It's arguably a dead format now. Most companies weren't interested in its "advantages". I can only speak for things here in "The Colonies" but it's pretty hard to find DVD-RAM discs in the USA and likely to get harder.

We don't have a lot of women here. Welcome to the forum. I like blondes by the way and yes I am available

[garryheather]

You might want to stay away from DVD-RAM in the future. It's arguably a dead format now.

I wish you would stop saying that - I've found at least one other thread where you've said this and a number of people have disagreed with you. Just because you don't approve of it does not make it dead.

https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=295101&highlight=dead+format <- thought you would have got the hint after this thread...
https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=299153&highlight=dead+format <- people disagreed with you here, too.

Perhaps you can explain why you're so convinced no-one should buy it - after all, one of your drives supports it, I see.

[ZippyP.]

I have used TMPGEnc plus and have converted the file......but I cant get it on DVD grrrr.....Im ready to give up lol!

Did you use TDA (the authoring program) as suggested, and not TMPGEnc Plus (the encoding program)? I suspect that is where you made your mistake. TDA will accept a VRO file for re-authoring, thereby creating a new DVD. It will do basic editing if you wish and create menus, and it will not re-encode which reduces the quality. Lots of guides around for it.

[handyguy]

You can rename vro to mpg.

[blondegirl]

thanks for all your help and advice Guys. I sorted the problem in the end by using tda. Ran the simulation just to check all was ok, which it is. When I burnt off the dvd it freezes in the picture at random places but the audio carries on playing. Anyone got any more solutions?

[samijubal]

Problems like that are usually media. I've done dozens of RAM discs with TDA and never had any problems. What DVD-Rs are you using?

[jman98]

Garryheather - While I certainly don't understand the love affair you Brits have with DVD-RAM, you are certainly welcome to disagree with me. However, I just looked at Newegg's website. Would you care to take a guess as to how many manufacturers of DVD-RAM discs they have for sale? Take a guess.

ZERO.

That's right. You CAN'T buy the discs from Newegg.

I think a lot of you simply assumed that because drives support the format that it is taking off. OK, then where exactly is the media for it? If this is some great, living format with tons of great things going for it, how come I can't buy even one single DVD-RAM disc at one of America's best online retailers?

Most DVD players, at least here in the US, don't support this format. That doesn't mean that there aren't any players that support. Of course some do. However, I think this has more to do with the trend in the industry to supporting every possible format where practical/possible and has nothing to do with the viability of the format itself.

I took a look at the Circuit City webpage as well. They are one of the US's biggest electronics retailers. I found no mention of DVD-RAM discs. I tried to look at Best Buy as well, but their website is messed up right now and I couldn't search it. Doesn't look good for you people who love this format.

[samijubal]

The discs can be bought at most places that deal mainly in media.
Shop4tech
Meritline
Supermediastore
Rima
and even WalMart.
If someone wants the discs, they aren't hard to find.

If you don't want to use RAM, don't use it. Why do you continually try to discourage people from using what format they prefer? I've got RAM discs from 2001 that still work fine, can you say that about any discs you own?

[garryheather]

Agreed - if I go into highstreet stores I'm unlikely to find DVD-RAM too. But SVP always have them... http://svp.co.uk/products-list.php?bid=0&cid=80

... as do other more "specialist" or dedicated retailers.

It's not just us "brits", as I've said before a lot of business (eg CAD bureaus or printers) use DVD-RAM. Sure, it's a bit more of a niche market than the DVD-R, but then a lot of people think (or use) recordable DVD medium for video only. If that's all you want to use them for then fine, but if you're not so blinkered or have another application in mind then DVD-RAM is most certainly a viable option. The fact it is seen by the system as a hard disc to all intent and purpose, albeit a fairly slow one, is very useful in a number of cases and you don't have to worry about your data being there the next time you read it because fault tolerance and verification is built in. It's pretty much foolproof and considerably more reliable than DVD-RW without relying on flaky packet writing software that isn't compatible with anything else. And that's just PC use - there are standalone recorders that use DVD-RAM too. Not that many, but they do exist.

Just remember things are successful outside the USA. The world doesn't end at your border and you should not write off the rest of the world simply by what you see in your neighbourhood. There's a whole world out there just waiting for you to explore !!

I will disagree with you about it being a "dead format" because quite simply it isn't. I can't go into my town center and buy a missile launcher but I'm pretty sure those buggers will be around for a while yet if I knew where to look. You simply can not judge a format by how well it's stocked in the shops. They stock what they think they will sell, which in turn can dictate whether or not something is a success or not - but most stores will tell you there are too many formats as it is and it's confusing for customers already. That's the truth of it - those in the know aren't afraid to buck the trend if it's in their favour.

Case in point - just look how long you can get inkjet cartridges for your obsolete printer for, or spares for a vintage car. The consumables and parts might not be mass produced or stacked high on shelves in a warehouse but it certainly does not make your hardware "dead".

[jman98]

Supermediastore doesn't have the discs.
Meritline does.
Shop4tech does.
I don't care enough to check Rima.

Yes sir, those are some SWEET prices on these discs. If you buy in bulk, and by the way some of the discs are considered DISCONTINUED by Meritline, the cheapest price I saw was between $3-4 a disc. Prices in groups of 1-5 discs ranged from $5-11 a disc, depending on a variety of factors.

You may love DVD-RAM with all your heart, but we'll see what your story is 1 year from now. DVD-RAM has an excellent chance of becoming the Betamax of DVD formats. While it would appear that I was wrong in calling it a "dead format", I do feel that I can safely say it's in the ICU ward and the doctors don't look very optimistic

[garryheather]

But why ? Because YOU can't get the discs ? That's hardly scientific. An asteroid could hit the Earth and kill us all in a year's time, I'm not going to suggest we all kill ourselves now to save it the trouble.

I regularly buy type 8 Princo CD-R's from America because licensing restrictions mean I can't buy them in the UK. I' wouldn't say that CD-R's are in intensive care because of that... I just bite the bullet and hit e-Bay every now and again and pay a little over the odds for a few large spindles. I simply don't understand how you're so passionate about DVD-RAM's "imminent" demise when you have only circumstantial evidence backing you up when it seems to be alive and kicking outside of your neighbourhood.

[blondegirl]

Hi Sami,

Im using verbatims......

[samijubal]

I haven't used Verbatim, but from what I hear they are good discs. What speed are the discs and what speed are you burning at? I've had that exact same problem, but it was with cheapo Optodiscs.

[blondegirl]

Only burning at x2.......this is really doing my head in now lol!

[samijubal]

Discs may burn best at the rated speed. It must be in the burn process. I've had some RAM discs with small bad spots in them, they will copy to the HD, but when it goes to put it back on the HD after making menus and editing, the file is way too small, it gets to the bad spot and skips to finalizing VOB file. Try different burn speeds or different discs.

[blondegirl]

Thanks for all your suggestions....this afternoon I tried a different brand of disk and copy speed, still got a freeze in the picture!!! Grrrr!!!! Thanks anyway, but I now give up!

[samijubal]

Maybe it's the burner or player.