ConvertXtoDVD 4 gives error when authoring multiple titles

[Sikander]

Hi,
here's what I do.
1. Capture DV video from my MiniDV using WinDV, which splits it in multiple files based on the date/time the video was taken (which I like).
2. Put these all in ConvertXtoDVD 4, ask it to convert.
My problem is,
ConvertX gives me an error "Conversion failed", the log says its due to "invalid parameters" or something... sometimes it does that on the 6 title set, sometimes it will do it on the 42nd title set, there's no telling, it can be anywhere.. and the conversion fails!

I tried capturing with "Scenalyzer" thinking might be some problem with WinDV capture, but the same thing.
Next I captured with WinDV configuring it to not split the video according to the date/time and just capture the one hour video in one big file. Now when I convert that single video (or two or three big videos together, movies for example of the internet), they come out just fine.
I don't know what the problem is, I would have been fine with converting just the single huge video, but the problem is, I don't get the "date/time" in my DVD Menu then, which WinDV automatically puts with each small split video when its capturing... so I just get chapters every 5 minutes which convertX makes, without knowing the date when the video was taken.
Can anyone help me out?
Thank You.

[Sikander]

anyone?

[guns1inger]

Are you trying to create a titleset for each clip, or are you combining multiple clips into a single titleset ?

You are limited to 9 titlesets (VTS) on a DVD, although each titleset can contain multiple titles.

If you are trying to combine multiple clips into a single title then I suspect you are just pushing ConvertXtoDVD further than it was designed to go.

Regardless of the marketing, ConvertXtoDVD's primary target audience was and is people who download Divx/Xvid/mkv encoded movies and want a standard DVD. More functionality has been added over time, and it is a slick product, but the joining function is still really aimed at people who download movies. So it works fine for a movie broken into 2 or 3 parts, but trying to add 40 parts together is more than what was envisaged for the tool.

What you are trying to do is better done in a more robust authoring tool, with proper, edited video and real chapter stops. Not an all-in-one tool designed for a different audience. I know ConvertXtoDVD is easy to use and saves you a lot of work, but it isn't the right tool for this job.

[Sikander]

Thanks for your reply. Well I find this titles and titleset thing a bit confusing. Like I said, windv made about 35 different duration files out of my 1 hour minidv tape. Which I drop in convertx and ask it to convert, when I get the error. I don't get the error with fewer files.

Can you recommend any paid or free alternatives which wil do my job and won't be super complicated?or a fix maybe? Thanks.

[guns1inger]

If you want a fix, go to the ConvertXtoDVD forums and ask there. Perhaps the developers have an answer for you : http://forums.vso-software.fr/convertxtodvd-version-4-x-f34.html

Personally, when I do this type of thing, I capture as scenes (as you have done), edit it into a single file (in Vegas), output as DVD compliant mpeg-2 video and AC3 audio streams, then author in DVD Lab Pro, where I put all the chapters in manually based on the edit points. I never use the date/time stamp for chapters though.

[Sikander]

Thank you. One last question, the quality I get with convertx of my final burned DVD is the same as all authoring software or is it different? I'm sure there must be some difference but my view was that convertx gives you one of the best final results.

[guns1inger]

Again, convertX is designed to work on already heavily compressed media (Xvid/Divx primarily). It does a Constant Quality based encode with constraints to make sure it fits within a single disc size. For some material this may be fine. For higher quality material, I prefer to use a dedicated encoder that I have control over. I usually use either MainConcept (if working within Vegas) or HCEnc (if working outside of Vegas) and do a 2-pass VBR encode. This takes longer, but provides better results most of the time, and gives me other freedoms (avisynth filters etc).

[Sikander]

Hmmm all right thanks. Looks like there's no easy way out. If you want good results, you need to work hard for it. Needs time and dedication. If only I find the right tools that work for me. Will look into it thanks.