noob question about making dvd

[ghola]

I tried to burn a dvd with imgburn but when I put the dvd in my dvd player it only played the first file over and over in a loop and wouldn't let me skip forward.
when I put the dvd in my bluray player it said "data" and wouldn't play it.
all the files were mp4 that were converted to dvd format using freemake. each file's folders (video and audio ts) are contained in one large folder.
is this the wrong way to go about it?
I see an option for "make image file" but is that necessary?

[hech54]

The VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS folders cannot be in another folder.

[Kerry56]

Try importing your mp4 files into AVStoDVD. Don't put more than 2---2 1/2 hours of running time on one single layer DVD.

You'll want a menu, so click on DVD Menu in the controls for AVStoDVD after you have imported the mp4 files and then set up the menu the way you want.

AVStoDVD is free to use.

[ghola]

The VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS folders cannot be in another folder.

I worded that poorly.
each mp4 was converted to dvd using freemake, which put the video ts and audio ts into a folder for each file.
I then put all the folders into another folder marked "dvd" and added that big folder and burned a dvd with imgburn.
my laptop won't play it as a dvd either, although I can access and open each folder to play the videos as before when they were simple mp4s (obviously not my intent with this... I had hoped to make a playable dvd)

do I need to make an "image file" first? (I don't even know what that is)

so avstodvd can do this... imgburn can't? or is there just some basic thing I'm overlooking?

sooooooo much to learn!!

[davejavu]

No, what you are doing is not correct. There can only be 1 VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS folder for a DVD within which you can have multiple video titles. You seem to have converted each MP4 clip to a DVD of its own, and then bundled them all together in another folder.

What you need to do is import each video clip into your DVD creation software as separate titles, with a menu to let you select which title to play, and then convert/author them to a single set of VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS folders. You can then burn this with ImgBurn, whcih should recognise that you are burning a DVD video disc and make the appropriate settings to get DVD players to recognise it as a DVD.

[ghola]

No, what you are doing is not correct. There can only be 1 VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS folder for a DVD within which you can have multiple video titles. You seem to have converted each MP4 clip to a DVD of its own, and then bundled them all together in another folder.

What you need to do is import each video clip into your DVD creation software as separate titles, with a menu to let you select which title to play, and then convert/author them to a single set of VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS folders. You can then burn this with ImgBurn, whcih should recognise that you are burning a DVD video disc and make the appropriate settings to get DVD players to recognise it as a DVD.

ahhh...

is this "importing, menu selecting, converting to a single set of folders" something that freemake or imgburn can do? or do I need (like someone suggested) something like avstodvd for those steps before burning with imgburn?

[davejavu]

ImgBurn only burns the files to your blank DVD, it does not convert.

I have never used FreeMake but a quick google search suggests that you can add multiple video files to be converted and create menu's as well. After you have added 1 video just repeat the process to add the next and so on, but don't try to put too much on the DVD in terms of video running time, no more than about 2 hours of video or the quality will not be very good. The more you try to get on the dis the lower the quality will be.

I don't know how easy making the menu will be, it might be something that FreeMake does automatically, but the best thing you can do is try and see what happens.

[Kerry56]

AVStoDVD is easily the best choice among the free tools for building a DVD-video from several different video files. Give it a try. And as I mentioned before, make a menu, so that you can select each individual video.

One other tip. Use the HC encoder that comes with AVStoDVD and set the program to use a two pass encode for best quality.

[ghola]

ok, thanks for the info.

[theewizard]

start over one, which ever you like
freemake dvdstyler avs2dvd
add/import your mp4 files into that program, watch your run time, aka 4 videos 30 min each or 1 video 2hrs, or some combination there of
author/create your DVD, be sure you use the menu function options to layout your menu choices
you get a DVD folder with ONE video an one audio folder

use imgburn to create image file , and choose your DVD folder
the out put will be a file DVD.iso or whatever_name.iso
then use imgburn
select Write Image
choose your iso file
imgburn will burn that to your DVD disc

any DVD can have only one set of video and audio folders and it has to be in the root,
no other vts folders, no root folder not named video.ts
you can NOT take 4 separate sets of folders and stick them in one folder
its not about file size, it about file structure
if you want multiple small videos on one DVD, like cartoon segments etc
you make only one DVD folder that has all files, loaded , they are separate titles in ONE menu
do not make 4 dvd folders, one for each mp4, and then stick them inside another folder, that does not follow dvd design protocol

[hech54]

The VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS folders cannot be in another folder.

I worded that poorly.
each mp4 was converted to dvd using freemake, which put the video ts and audio ts into a folder for each file.
I then put all the folders into another folder marked "dvd" and added that big folder and burned a dvd with imgburn.

I know.....that is still WRONG. Like I said:
The VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS folders cannot be in another folder.

[ghola]

I burned a dvd successfully using freemake.
imported the mp4s, chose the menu, the destination (my lg burner) and then sat back and...
waited. a looooooooooooong time. overnite long.
but in the morning it was done!
so I had the tool all along: freemake.
thanks everyone for the tips.