DVD-RAM....is conversion possible?

[ejai]

I have a Panasonic DMR-E30 and I created a DVD-Ram disk. What I want to do is copy the video files to my hard drive for editing. My problem is, is that I own a Pioneer A03 and doesn't seem to be able to read DVD-RAM disks.

What I want to know is can I copy the files to my hard disk using my DVD writer (maybe with the help of some software)?

If there is a work around please let me know.

Thanks,
ej

[thxkid]

Ouch!, no the only way to transfer is to buy a DVD-Rom that is a Ram player also,I only know that toshiba and panasonic sell them, but have not seen any locally here at our stores yet, I knew I would run into the same problem with my E20, so I bought a new E10 for $399 and now transfer Ram discs back and forth no problem, I use the 1 hour mode so I can get 2-3 transfers before I even start to notice any change in the quality of the video. I plan to buy a DVD-Ram Burner so I can use it to transfer directly to computer, I now just capture the Ram at 12,000 bitrate DVD Rez MPEG2 through my computer capture card, I don't notice any lose of quality.

[ejai]

Thanks for th reply,

I'm gonna have to do the same thing, I will eventually get a DVD-Ram reader for my desktop, that should solve my problems.


ej

[rinkel]

Hi,
I got the e20 from Panasonic and succesfully transferred a lot of recordings to my pc with a DVD-rom which can read ram (toshiba)
The problem however is that DVD and DVD-RAM are compatible. If you are making several recordings on a ram-disc you'll see just one big file and an IFO file as well.
The IFO is not readable in like IFOedit so just ditch the file.
The big file, you can rename it to *.VOB and play with PowerDVD. Every recording will be a chapter. But you cannot create a new IFO and burn it to disc, you first have to strip it.
You'll notice that when you demux it, it will be one big *.m2v file, but only the first recording will be played in an authoring prog.
There is only one tool which can handle it: VOBtool, it's very old and created by the author of VCDgear.
VOBtool will recognize each movie as a segment and you can create a new VOB file for each segment.. great

Regards

[ejai]

Rinkel, will I be able to create 1 big file by linking the vob files together? if so, how?

Thanks,

Ernest

[TuxOmatic]

Ejai -

Although I intend to do this in the future, I don't have any experience converting DVD-RAM files on the computer yet. However, I have read numerous posts about it and will point you to them.

First of all, here is a list of DVD-ROM drives that can read DVD-RAM:

http://perso.club-internet.fr/farzeno/firmware/dvd/page0.htm

There has been lots of discussion on this forum:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?s=c6ed6a61c63a6cb7bcff13bc33db90d6&forumid=18

A lot of the members there have Panasonic E20, E30 & HS2. Go there and do a search on "DVD-RAM".

Here is a quote from Vferrari in one of the threads:

Here's the process I use. The HS2 simplifies the process by allowing you to edit the recorded program on the HDD and then you can rapidly transfer the edited program to DVD-RAM (so no further editing is required). So lets start with an "edited" program on DVD RAM.

You need a PC with either a Panasonic or clone combo DVD-RAM/R burner or a DVD-ROM that can "read" DVD RAM disks (search forum for Toshiba drive) and a separate DVD-R burner such as the Pioneer A03/A04. The Panasonic combo drives now run less than $250.

From here you can go via two routes budget or prosumer:

First the budget route:

You need Pansonic's DVD-MovieAlbum software ($13 direct from Panasonic)
and some authoring software like Ulead's DVD MovieFactory (~$40)

Using the MovieAlbum software, you can extract your programs off the DVD-RAM as a DVD compliant mpeg 2 file, however, the dolby digital 2 (AC3) soundtrack is converted to mp2 (Mpeg 1, Layer 2) audio so there is some barely noticeable audio quality loss. There are also potential compatiblity problems with some standalone DVD players that don't supoort mpeg audio on DVDs, but this is rare. Extraction takes about 25 minutes for a 4GB file.

(MovieAlbum also allows you to edit your file on the PC, but that introduces some quirks during the mpeg export process. For example, each edited segment between cut out commercials is exported as a single mpeg file rather than one contiguous file, this is true also if you edit directly on DVD-RAM using an E20/30 deck. I haven't confirmed this, but a big advantage of the HS2 is that the editing gets done on the HDD, so I believe that when you export the vro from the HDD to DVD-RAM you have one contiguous vro file, so MovieAlbum can export it as a single mpeg).

This mpeg 2 file can then be imported into DVD MovieFactory, where the stock menu templates can be used to set CUSTOM chapter stops (not limited to every 5 minutes like the fixed Panasonic deck default) and menus with "eye" points and custom backgrounds and background music, if desired (this takes anywhere from 5 min to an hour depending on how fancy you want to get, you can set up custom templates to streamline the process in subsequent sessions.)

Burn your program to DVD-R and you are done (takes about 1.5 hours at 1x speed). No luma bug, no sucky menus, and custom chapter stops.

Prosumer route:

Purchase Ulead DVD Workshop (ver. 1.2) - anywhere from $125 to $300. This software is expensive but has several advantages versus MovieFactory. First there is much greater flexibility/creativity wrt to the menus including motion menus, buttons, and text. But the real advantage is that the DVD-RAM vro file that contains the actual video/audio mpeg can be imported directly into Workshop simply by changing the extension from vro to mpg on the DVD-RAM. You don't even have to export it off the DVD-RAM disk, which saves additional time. Workshop also recognizes and retains the original AC3 soundtrack so the conversion to from DVD-RAM to DVD-R is truly lossless. The main drawback is that as of now, Workshop does not support playback of the AC3 audio track in the preview window during editing/authoring, but I haven't found this to be much of an impediment. Another drawback is that it does not support non-contiguous vro files (e.g., vro files that have been edited after the fact to take out commercials) though it will support vro files that have been simply shortenend by deleting the very beginning and/or end. The non-contiguous vro issue can be overcome by "remuxing" the vro using a freeware program called "Xmuxer" (search the forum) then importing the resultant mpg file into Workshop. This process sometimes introduces a-v sync problem, however.

Using the Workshop method, I can author in about 10 min (mark custom chapter stops and use a predefined custom menu template) and burn the DVD-R in about an hour and a half for a 2 hour feature length program. Compare this to two hours just to transfer an edited program from HDD to DVD-R. Plus no Luma bug, fixed chapter stops, or sucky menus. I've burned over 250 disks using the Workshop method, everything from off the air movies, to TV shows, and music videos. It works great

In both processes above, since you are not really doing mpeg 2 encoding (the Pansonic deck has already done that for you) you don't really need a lot of processing power or memory and in the Workshop scenario you only need enough disk space to hold the intermediate image files/folders during burning. So disk speed and burning speed are the most important factors.

Hopes this answers your questions. Let me know if you need more info or clarification.

Vic

[Eug]

DVD Movie Album (with the appropriate drivers) makes it easy as pie. You can buy it as a replacement software disc for about $13, from Panasonic. I got mine free with an LF-D321 I purchased for backup purposes.

The problem is that the Movie Album software will not install with out a Panasonic drive. You can use it without a Panasonic drive and indeed, I use it with my Toshiba M1612 DVD-ROM drive. However, to get it to install, I had to physically install my Panasonic LF-D311 first. After I installed the software, then I uninstalled the Panasonic drive. (I keep my Panasonic in a Firewire enclosure so that I can use it both with the PC and my with my Mac.)

If you're going the route of other software, you will probably also need UDF 2 drivers. Fortunately, you can install the LF-D311 DVD-RAM drivers, without an LF-D311 installed. That will allow your PC to understand the file format.

[ejai]

Thanks for the responses. I have all the equipment except for the Panasonic reader, but that is in the mail. They state it will come with a software CD I hope it has the Panasonic Movie Album software on it. If not I will purchase it from the Panasonic website.

Thanks for the info.

ej

[ejai]

Hey guy,

I purchased the Panasonic LF-D311, but it doesn't come with the DVD Movie Album. I called Panasonic and they don't seem to have the software by that name, what they did have was some sort of Movie Studio software.

I am not sure if this is the correct software, it goes for $7 dollars. I didn't purchase it because I'm not sure it's the right thing. If some one has the software please let me know if this is the correct item, If not please let me know where I could get it.

Thanks,
ej

[Eug]

The LF-D311 does NOT come with DVD Movie Album. The LF-D321 does.

The two drives are identical, but the former is an OEM drive and the latter is the retail drive with all the software.

You'll need to ask for the LF-D321 software disk, as a replacement item, for 12 bucks or something like that.

The DVD Movie Studio package is a different set of stuff, with the LF-D311 and other software. I don't have this package, but DVD Movie Album is not listed as part of the software. Interesting though that the software for DVD Movie Studio is only $7.

Hmmmm... For $20 you may want to get all of that software. Can't go wrong with that.

[ejai]

Thanks Eug,

I am attempting that at this moment, I called earlier and they didn't know what I was talking about. I'm gonna try what you said, and say it's for the 321 model.

Thanks again.
ej

[ejai]

Bad news again,

After speaking with Panasonic again I found they only have 1 disk available for the LF-D321 and that is "Motion Studio". There is another disk the customer support people spoke about, but will not be available until early December. This disk is the installation disk, I'm thinking it might be the one I need.

I have the worst luck in the world, I'm going to keep searching and hope I can find a copy. Thanks anyway for your help.

ej

[Eug]

Yep. DVD Movie Album is on the installation disc for the LF-D321. It's the same disc with all the drivers.

The driver disc for the LF-D311 does not include DVD Movie Album.

It's too bad the LF-D311 doesn't come with that software. IMO, it's THE program to have. It's made by Panasonic and it won't install without a Panasonic drive anyway so it's not like they're losing much by making it downloadable on their website.

I guess they want people to actually buy the LF-D321 retail package, like I did.

As for Motion Studio, it can't hurt to get that anyway...

[ejai]

Well I received my LF-D311 yesterday and ran into some problems, maybe someone might be able to give me some advice.

I installed the drive and install the XP Drivers from the installation disk. Everything went well until I tried to play my DVD-R disks, I had no sound. All the connections are correct but for some reason I get no audio. If I put a music cd in the drive it plays fine. All wave files on my system play fine as well.

I decided to try store bought DVD's and got the same results (no sound). I did notice one strange thing. I took a DVD-Ram disk that was created with my DMR-E30 and tried it and it played fine with sound, but if I tried to play that same dvd-ram disk using the explorer and clicking only on the *.vro file I got no sound. Yet if I tell PowerDVD XP to play the disk letter then it played fine.

What gives, I have no idea why the disks have no sound unless it's a DVD-ram being played straight from the disk drive icon.

I would appreciate your help,

Ernest