DVD Flick - Menu options

[dakkytsd]

I have had till now quite a satisfactory experience with DVD Flick, particularly the AVI files. In its recent version, in the menu options, 'enable menu' has been disabled. Now, when I burn more than one film on a DVD, and play it on DVD Player, I am unable to select the film I want to see - the moment I click the select title, the DVD jumps to the first film and starts playing it. On earlier burns, when I used to click on 'select title', the films on the DVD will be listed and we can choose the one we want to see. There must be a way around this. Am I missing something while setting the options? Can someone help me.

[orsetto]

Some earlier versions of DVDflick had the menu option as an automatic default, so that every DVD you created would always include a menu of your choice. The current (and final) version, 1.3.0.7, defaults every new DVD project to "no menu" unless you manually click on the MENU button at the top of the project window, uncheck "none" by choosing a DVD menu style from the list underneath, click the "Auto Run Menu?" checkbox at the bottom, and hit the "Accept" button to dismiss the menu options window and lock in the menu. You must do this for EVERY new DVD project in v1.3.0.7.

Note DVDflick 1.3.0.7 often crashes at the very end of creating the DVD files, at the "Generating Menus" stage, with a useless "Error 52: File Not Found" alert. This occurs more often under Windows 7 than it did under Win XP. The workaround is to change the thumbnails for one or two of the videos, change the DVD size dropdown from Auto to Custom and enter a size like "4410," change the menu style to something different, and run the project again. The second run usually works, although I have had some projects which would stall at "Generating Menus" three or four times until I finally tweaked the custom settings enough to jolt it thru completion.

DVDflick is convenient and easy once you get the hang of it, but the program is quirky and hasn't been properly updated since 2008. It gets more obsolete by the day, which has altered its operation from "easy for beginners" to "you really need to know how to work around its limitations and quirks."

If you have been using it on full automatic until now, and are not really familiar with the different settings, I suggest reverting back to whatever version you were using previously. The "improvements" from version 1.3.0.5 to 1.3.0.6 to 1.3.0.7 were not that big a deal and would not affect the majority of users. If you were happy with your older version and it still works on your PC, uninstall the new version and reinstall your old one.

[dakkytsd]

Thanks a lot Orsetto.

I always click the 'the Party' menu from the menu option. Don't exactly remember if the auto-play menu was clicked or not. I'll test out clicking the auto-play menu button after having chosen the menu display (orange LED, the party etc.). Of course will click on the accept button to move to the next function.

My experience with DVD Flick has been quite good. I don't load mkv files on it. Takes unbearably long time. Am using Avi2DVD for mkv files which also takes take time, but relatively less. I am unable to burn two parts of the same film in a single ISO image with it. AVS2DVD refuses to accept the output folder drive you key in and automatically goes to C drive. Hence dropped it. Yet to try out Devede.

As you have rightly suggested, will first try choosing the party menu and clicking the auto-play menu option. Else, will use the older version for burning films on DVD.

I find that compared to earlier versions 1.3.0.7 takes less time to create an ISO image.

[orsetto]

You seem to understand how the program works, dakkytsd, so if clicking the "Auto Run Menu?" checkbox doesn't solve your problem the most likely cause is version incompatibility (1.3.0.7 malfunctions on your particular PC, while previous version does not). Even when functioning reasonably well, I find 1.3.0.7 much buggier than previous versions. As you say, it seems somewhat faster, but in my use it crashes or hangs more often than older versions and is more picky about source files (it will occasionally take five hours to encode the audio in a random 20-minute MP4, which is ridiculous). I have not experienced the slowdown problems you've mentioned with MKV files. My workflow uses DVDflick to create VIDEO_TS folder instead of an ISO file, because I find the program more buggy in ISO mode.

The best alternative to DVD flick is the AVStoDVD you mentioned trying. It is a more advanced tool, with many more options, and the developer is very active and responsive to questions posted on VideoHelp. Unfortunately some of us just don't like it for personal reasons (interface mostly). While I don't love AVStoDVD, I certainly respect it, and when DVDflick finally stops being viable on newer PCs I will probably migrate to AVStoDVD.

[dakkytsd]

I have so far used DVD Flick only for avi files, hence fortunately spared of the bad experiences. Sometimes it is quite fussy about accepting sub-titles, especially non .srt ones. On such occasions, I go to opensubtitles.com and download an srt file. Except for one film, the synchronisation has been good.

Tell me, in AVStoDVD, how to set the output folder drive and make it accept it. I have very little space left in C drive and therefore use the external hard drive for burning. I found that after I had set the output folder, it still burns it in C drive and complains about lack of space. Then, I like setting chapters every 5 minutes. In AVS2DVD what will be equivalent setting (since, if I remember correctly, chapters have to be set in bitrates or something like that). I am not tech-savvy and did not have answers for many of the queries it posed. I preferred to go for the default option. Bu then, its insistence on burning on C drive made me uninstal it.

To get back to the original question, I recall that after choosing the menu options in DVD Flick, I went to the preview and checked. It showed the party menu and the title of the two films I had loaded. After finding that the DVD jumped the first film straightaway, I tried to play the ISO file on my PC with media player. The moment I took the curser to 'select title', it flashed a message 'disabled' and went to the first film on the disc. So, this could be a compatibility problem as you have said.

[Calidore]

AVStoDVD output: My first thought is that possibly your AVStoDVD wasn't ignoring your output folder setting, but was writing the temporary files used to create the DVD to C:. Newer versions (I'm using 2.5.1) let you set the path for the temporary files as well as the final DVD under Preferences | Paths.

Chapters: Nope, chapters are set by minutes under Preferences | Authoring/Burning

[orsetto]

I don't have AVSto DVD installed at the moment, dakkytsd, so can't check on those questions for you.

The answer posted by Calidore sounds correct to me, but if this does not work I suggest you send a VideoHelp private message (PM) directly to the AVStoDVD developer, _MrC_. He is very responsive to questions, in fact I'm surprised he has not yet posted on this thread hinself (I believe he monitors VH for any mention of AVStoDVD so he can offer help wherever needed).

[dakkytsd]

You were right, Orsetto. I finally got the hardware guy to take a look. Looks like the video card is out.

Calidore: Will bear in mind what you have said when I try AVStoDVD.

Thanks both of you for the response.

[_MrC_]

To have AVStoDVD using *only* the external drive (I assume it is called F

1. Go to 'Preferences'/'Paths'

2. Select "F:" for 'DVD Output Path', 'DVD Assets Path', 'Temp Files Path'

3. Toggle on 'Save current preferences as default'

4. Click OK



Bye

[dakkytsd]

Thanks - I got foxed only because of this issue. I can't have the burning done in my C drive. I appreciate your coming on the Videohelp to guide. Shows continued interest and commitment. Keep up the good work.