I have spent hours trying & researching with very little luck. This could be my last hope.... I have a new computer with 2 drives. I purchased the Sony Vegas Movie Studio +DVD Software. My computer came with the Sonic Software. All I want to do is copy all my mini dvd's (home movies) to a single large dvd. I made some progress adn was able to copy one small dvd to a large dvd but when I went to transfer a 2nd small dvd to the same large one it would not do it. I cannot figure out - cannot locate anywhere in ANY program how to make the large dvd accept additional small dvd's. I am losing my mind. I have searched & cannot even find any local courses anywhere that teaches this. Can someone help me? I will even call you direct. HELP ME PLEASE The large DVD's are DVD-R The small DVD's are: DVD-RW and DVD-R - I have tried it with the small dvd's being finalized & un-finalized
Hi, I would suggest you try using dvd shrink in re-author mode to add several mini dvds. When you use shrink in re-author mode you will have to add the mini dvds 1 at a time. Depending on the output size which is defined by a bar (which will turn red if over 4.7 gigs) located at the upper righthand corner of the opened file space can add as many as you want. Do that by dragging your files over to the left keeping watch on that bar previously mentioned. You will have to set your target output to around 4300mb as not to burn the finished product too close to the edge and end up wasting time and blank dvds. Dependent upon the compression (strongly suggest if compression is under 70% to take one of the files off as you will get a bad output quality-wise). If you want to create menus to access each file individually you will need to use another program as re-author mode in dvd shrink does not support menus. Here is a link with some useful tutorials to include dvd shrink and a few other programs http://home.comcast.net/~bbmayo/software.htm. Hope that somewhat gives you a start of what you are wanting to do. post back if you need further assistance. By no means am I an expert so follow the linked tutorials for step by step instructions. Also check the software section to get dvd shrink.
The small discs aren't the problem. You have to be doing the burns as a compilation and not finalizing the disc you're recording to if working in segments. You may want to record your smaller DVDs to a hard drive folder and compile what you want for the larger DVD and burn all at once and finalize. Nero does a good job of burning compiled files, plus you can find guides for the software at http://www.Nero.com/ Vegas is a bit involved for most new users. Another app you may want to try is DVD2One, which is good at joining DVD files. I don't know how it would work for your task though.
Matt, Thanks for some input - still a little greek to me as I am very new to this whole copying dvd process. Yes, I do want the menu's that are on each small dvd to be on the large dvd so from what you said, the dvd shrink won't work for me. The whole compression thing kind-of overwhelms me..... As for dragging the files.my goodness there are so many different files listed on one small dvd with all different extensions that I am having a hard time knowing which ones I would need to choose. I can copy one small dvd so why won't it allow me to add more to the large dvd? Seems like it should be so simple. I am sure most people reading this are calling me some pretty choice names and I do feel like such a loser but I am really having such a hard time with this. I need some real help in layman language. I hope to get more responses. Thank you for taking the time to respond, Matt.
"You may want to record your smaller DVDs to a hard drive folder and compile what you want for the larger DVD and burn all at once and finalize" I actually did copy one of the small dvds to my hard drive to try & copy it to the large dvd but for some reason it would not do it. I have done so many things that I can;t keep track of what did & didn't work & why or why not! LOL! As for copying all the small dvds to my hard drive and "COMPILING THE ONES I WANT" - again, there are so many files on one small dvd, how would I know which files to choose with all them different extensions? I did not finalize the large disk after copying to it either - yet it does not take more info to it.
What I meant was have the single small dvd folders available on the HD. I wasn't saying to edit the individual files in each one, just being able to compile the smaller DVDs (folders) you want to add together for the larger DVD. Doing individual menus should be "fun", if you're wanting to create a menu that works for everything on the new disc. Check out DVDRemake at Dimadsoft to see if that is something that might be of help. It's more user friendly for beginners than a lot of other editing software. Sounds like you've gone about setting up a complicated project if you're new to DVD backup.
Hi, Ohiocaps this a place where we all learn and what works for some does not for others. brobear is 1 of the many veteran premiere people here on Afterdawn and is right on point with the dvdremake. As for there being so many files..what exactly do you see, something like ifo, vob, bup? I think what brobear was getting at was to create a folder on your desktop, within that have the folders from the mini disks which you want to burn as a compilation.
OK, I took 3 of the small dvd's and copied them onto my hard drive. No problem there. I took a large brand new dvd DVD-R and inserted into my E Drive (DVD-RW DRIVE) and it says "no disc - please insert disc". I tried putting it into my D Drive (DVD DRIVE) and it says the same thing. So, how do I copy the files off my hard drive onto the darn large disc if it keeps telling me there is no disc inserted? What am I missing????
OK, those are tricky questions for me ....... DVD-R JVC large disc DVD-RW are Sony small discs As for the burner.........it is a DELL 16X DVD-ROM abd 16X DVD+/-RW I have no idea what firmware is...... I also have a brand new DVD Burner Dell sent me which is a Buslynk (?). but it is not installed. I got it to replace the Dell burner since I heard negative things about it. ********** A few minutes ago it asked if I wanted to format the disc for DLA and I said "yes" but then it told me, "no, since it is a read only disc"..........(sigh) I am still trying as I read all these suggestions.....I REALLY APPRECIATE ALL THIS HELP....THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH! Please don;t give up on me.......
Hi, This link will shed some light on your jvd dvd-r http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/226307. If you read it the ones that are not coded as TYG02 are not good and those may be the ones you have. Firmware is embedded in your hardware (in this case the burner) BIOS and tells it how to handle media. http://www.afterdawn.com/software/video_software/dvd_tools/dvd_identifier.cfm Use this link to download dvd identifier, install the software and you can tell the type of burner you have (beyond my spectrum but I believe your burner is rebadged and packaged as Dell, not made by Dell), the current firmware, and the coding off the jvc disks. This might be a media issue. If you have trouble using dvd identifier use the thread from the link I provided and you can find the info we need to get you up and burning.
Matt72 From your explanation, I thought we said the same thing about folders being compiled (joined) for a larger project. I didn't want to get into the IFO, BUP, and VOB files that a video folder is comprised off. Not exactly noob fare. With the software not recognizing the discs properly, that moves into a whole different set of problems besides editing. You have the right idea. Too many people in one help thread messes things up, so I'll leave this one to you.
Brobear I was just trying to clarify and be proactive as I saw he was drawing a blank. Sometimes I get finger happy and type too much..especially recently. Don't leave as you teach him I learn too . Ohiocaps Any progress?
I am going to try buying a different larger disc - my JVC is made in Malaysia.........perhaps it is the problem.......... I will try & do that this weekend & then try AGAIN........... I will be back with an update once I do. THANKS SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I will keep you posted!
Hi Guys, Well, here is the latest update on my problem. I bought new DVD-R discs (Memorex this time). I still have 3 of my small discs copied into my temp folder. I went into MY COMPUTER and clicked on the 3 discs adn said copy. Then I put the blank large dvd-r into the E drive which reads: "DVD-RW DRIVE (E" I put the disc in and a little icon pops up over the drive photo and it says DVD-R and it now reads "CD DRIVE (E". It then says would you like to format? I say "yes" It then says: "Format E: Sonic DLA The media you inserted in read only." It won't do anything without being formatted and it will not let me format it either..... aarrgghhh........ (BTW, I am a she and not a he...LOL!) THIS IS MY E: DRIVE: HL-DT-ST-DVD+-RW GWA4164B
UPDATE: You will love this! I finally decided to put in the new dvd burner as I felt the original one may be the problem since others have had problems with it. I called Dell and they walked me thru the removal & re-installation. All seemed fine till I looked and my 1st dvd drive is now GONE - all I have is a dvd-RW drive that doesn't work yet because I can't load the disk to activate it!!!!(unbelieveable)Oh, and I know have 2 floppy disk drives instead of just one! So, after 3 straight hours on the phone with dell, the tech dude finally says that my windows oeprating system is now corrupt, I need to back up my system then call back for help on reinstalling windows....then he hangs up......... HOW CAN I BACK UP MY SYSTEM WITH OUT A DVD DRIVE???? HELLO??????? So now I am worse off then when I started out with this post....not sure where I will go from here......could it get any worse??? There is humor in this whole thing somewhere, huh?
Well, hopefully the floppy is still working if your backup disc is a floppy, otherwise the PC should be set to boot with the CD/DVD drive and use the Installation disc with XP. Or does Dell even supply those discs nowadays? If you know how to install windows, you may as well go ahead. Hopefully you can just install over the old OS without formatting the drive. Have your serial number for XP handy. That "backup the system" assumes you have another drive, other than the boot partition to backup all your files to. A lot of people don't. Good luck. Where'd Matt72 get off to? I thought he was helping you.
Not sure where Matt72 went - perhaps I overwhelmed him or something..... I have a working floppy drive but I hear it would take too many discs to back up so..since I have only had my system since early Feb I am not going to worry about doing a system back up. I did have Dell send me the discs for my system last month - thank god! Guess, I will just have to call them & spend a few hours with them on the phone re-doing my system..... Thanks for sticking with me!
Instead of just relying on Dell, you may want to stop by a bookstore and pick up some books on your OS. I keep Windows XP Professional by Minasi as a reference. I've had some of the Dummies texts, but I only have one left, so family members have found those popular. Installing Windows is about as easy as loading any other app, it just takes longer, and then you need to do the online updates. If you're uncomfortable with doing it and don't have anyone to help locally, then a Dell tech is usually good enough to talk you through it. I'll be surprised if they wait on the phone through the entire process though.
I am back - finally have the computer resolved & reloaded and new buslink dvd rw drive installed. All is well. New drive came with nero so now I have that, sonic & sony vegas! I tried to do a disc to disc copy via nero and it would not let me. It told me I need a (large) dvd-rw disc - I put in a memorex dvd-r. I tried sonic and it would not even format the disc because it said the disc was read only. I was really hoping for better results.... back to square ONE. I cannot believe I HAVE to copy each disc onto my hard drive before copying it to a large disc.
