DVD RAM format????

[pilgrimxd]

Hello I have a question about dvd ram format. I have a dv camera that records directly to dvd-ram or dvd-r. I would like to record on dvd-ram then convert to mpeg for editing. I however am having trouble getting the dvd-ram files converted. They seem almost to be proprietary to the dvd-ram camera. It's hitachi dzmv230a. Anyone who has experience with this please help. Thanks in advance.

[The village idiot]

I assume that your have a DVD-RAM drive in your computer, so what is the extension on the files it captures? You might need some kind of "special" application for Hitachi. But you might try copying a small file to your hard drive, and then changing the file extension to things like .avi, or .mpg, .mp2, .m2p, etc.... Sorry that's about all I can think of doing.

[pilgrimxd]

Sorry, I should have been more specific. I don't have a dvd-ram drive on the computer. However there is a usb port on the camera and I can copy the files directly to the computer that way. There is an .ifo and .vro . These files can be played with a software dvd player. The problem is that these files are 30 minutes long yet the files show up as 6-10 seconds in the dvd program and any other conversion sw. I will try to change the extension to .mpg (since they are mpg2) and see if I can edit them with vegas video after that. I think the problem is playback of the files are controled by another file in a lower directory on the dvd-ram disc. There is no proprietary sw that comes with the camera other than the udf packet writing sw that allows you to write to the ram disc that is in the camera. I can get to the files. I can change and copy them. They just seem to be out of the ordinary compared to other DVD formats. BTW when I film using the DVD-R discs. Everything works normal. Thx again

[The village idiot]

There was another post or 2 about the .vro problem, but I can't remember the subject line. You might try a search of the forums to find the other posts. I know that in at least one thread, there was this exact problem and solution. Sorry I can't be of more help. Damn those manufacturers for making their own "standards" for things . It would have been much more consumer friendly to make it a standard .ifo and .vob. At least then you could easily do something with the discs. You could also try to rename it as a .vob and see it that helps. If it did you could maybe use ifoEdit to chop it up.

Hell even if they would release some kind of codec that would know what the do with the .vro.... GRRRRRR ! I would expect this for Sony as they regularly screw with their users . But I thought Hitachi was above that tactic . End of rant, sorry.

[Baldrick]

You can open .vro with DVD2AVI and frameserve to for example tmpgenc.

http://www.vcdhelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=118214&highlight=vro+ram+dvd2avi

but I'm not sure how you can "convert" it to mpeg with no reencoding. Maybe if you demultiplex the vro to mpeg dvd standard using tmpgenc, www.vcdhelp.com/faq#demultiplex , if tmpgenc wont open the mpg try rename it to vob.

[The village idiot]

So just to get this straight in my own head...

When you use dvd-r you get an mpeg or .vob, but when you use dvd-ram you get the .vro?

[hrstruggle]

Search for my handle (hrstruggle) to get some answers to how to deal with these .VRO files.

I have a Hitachi 230 as well. I'm trying to figure out how to display the date and/or time on the video I produce. The camera has a date display but it's not recorded onto the video file. Anyone know how to do that?

[dgagne]

I have a Hitachi DZ-MV230A DVD-Cam. I also purchased the PC software kit from Hitachi which included a USB cable and ULead DVDMovieFactory. I've loaded all of my clips from my vacation into my PC using this software. I was successful in editing (rearranging clips, deleting a couple, splitting one, etc.). I went into scene selection and picked a template and, for the most part, left the scenes much the same as they were on the camcorder. I then burned this onto a DVD-R 8 cm disc in my camera.
When I played this on my home DVD Player, it would go back to the menu after every scene. What I would like to be able to do is play the entire disc from start to finish if I wish and also be able to use the menu to start at a particular scene and have it go to the next scene when I want to do that.
I would appreciate any help that you can provide...