finalising DVDs

[debra]

I was wondering if I need to finalise all my DVD's before I can play them on my PC.

I'm currently recording to DVD-R and if I record onto it I have to finalise it before I can play it on my PC. I find this a total waste of the DVD as usually I would only have 1/2 on each.

Would using DVD-RW get me round this?

[mats.hogberg]

Yes, DVDs have to be finalized. Using RW somewhat would get you around this, as you can reuse them (actually the whole point of RW...), yes, but they still have to be finalized AFAIK.

/Mats

[debra]

finalizing isn't a problem just that a was wasting dvds using DVD-R

So I can finalize a DVD-RW then go back and record on it again?

[mats.hogberg]

Yes.

/Mats

[AlanHK]

finalizing isn't a problem just that a was wasting dvds using DVD-R
So I can finalize a DVD-RW then go back and record on it again?

I've got three DVDRWs that I use for testing -- making sure the menus work and are legible on the TV, etc. Also when I have a short feature I want to watch I just burn that and watch it. After at least 100 uses they're starting to get scratched up towards the outer edge so I'll have to replace them soon.

Note that most burning apps will offer a "quick" or "full" erase of the old data when you want to burn new files -- quick is 1-2 minutes, full can take 20 or 30 (i.e. it's writing to the entire disc) and is hardly ever necessary, except when you have a really screwed up disc due to a burn being interrupted.

Also burning a DVDRW is slower than a DVDR. Rs are 8 or 16x; RWs are usually 4x.

However, my DVD player can read unfinalised DVDR discs. I was backing up MP3s to a DVD and kept it open, and tried it on impulse and was surprised that the player treated it as a normal data disk and could play the MP3s.

[fredfillis]

I was wondering if I need to finalise all my DVD's before I can play them on my PC.

I'm currently recording to DVD-R and if I record onto it I have to finalise it before I can play it on my PC. I find this a total waste of the DVD as usually I would only have 1/2 on each.

Would using DVD-RW get me round this?

What you could do, assuming the burning and playing is happening on the same computer, is skip the burning entirely and make an image of your "DVD content" and use Daemon Tools to create a virtual DVD drive on your 'puter, mount the image and play it from there.

This would save your DVD-R until you have enough to fill a disk or spare a DVD-RW from one reuse cycle.