General converting/burning problems

Sorry I couldn't be anymore specific than that, it appears I've tried everything I possibly can =P

Basically, I'm trying to get a film onto some kind of media that I can play on my telly. So, I went out and bought some DVD-Rs, came home and used DVDFlick with my avi file, that seemed to go fine then my DVD burner decides that it doesn't work. Meh.

Stage 2- gave up hope on my machine and attempted to use the burner in the office. Seeing as we don't have file sharing on the network (can't get it to work, meh) this involved downloading the file again... anyway, forgot the name of the dvdflick program I used (go me) so downloaded Avi2Dvd. Tried to convert the file, said it didn't work- something to do with the sound. Started to download another as I presumed it was a fault, converted it with something... can't remember exactly which, was probably that, and I ended up with an mpeg file that played black for hours. (missed something here?)

Anyway... the next file I downloaded was a KVCD, and after being absolutely amazed that I could burn a film to a CD I decided that was the way to go as I could do it on this machine in a room with heating. All well and good, except when I can't find any torrents in .bin and .cue format.

Next train of thought was converting to KVCD. Downloaded TMPGEnc (what kind of name is that) and the templates, got entirely bemused over the whole no-audio-but-apparently-will-be thing, followed everything all the guides said and ended up with no audio, the wrong aspect ratio (even though the avi was 16:9 in the first place and I defined 16:9) 3 extra hours of blank video and thrice the filesize that I could fit on a cd. Brilliant.

I assume .bin and .cue is only attainable through direct dvd rips and that you can't convert avi to them. If I'm wrong I'll be very happy...

yeah, anyway If anyone could shed some light on what I'm doing wrong with the kvcd I'd be very grateful, or even if they could suggest the easiest way to convert and burn avis to DVDs

thanks,
Julia

 

convert:
http://dl.afterdawn.com/vsoDivxToDVD_setup_v0.5.2b.exe
Import the file(s) (AVI, MPEG, VOB)
Output (standard DVD file format) to a folder on the HDD.
Set 'Aspect' to 4:3 (if you have a regular tv)
Set 'Standard' to NTSC (if you live in North America)

burn:
http://www.imgburn.com/

Run ImgBurn
Mode > 'Build'
Output > 'Device'
File > 'Browse for Folder', highlight on the 'VIDEO_TS' folder, > 'OK'
Click the green write button.

 

I'll try them, thanks Got the network up & running so shouldn't have a problem now.

 

Hoping you don't mind me joining in here, but I'm also having problems converting AVI's to DVD's. I've tried DivXtoDVD and found I get a decent amount of pixelation when I burn the converted DVD's. I've also tried the later version, ConvertXtoDVD, and while I don't run into the pixelation issues, I end up with sound problems (the sound is "popping" in an out / or sounds like it is skipping).

I've tested the burner itself by burning something that was not converted by me and it seems to be working fine, so somewhere, either the settings are set wrong (seems more likely on ConvertX since there are more options for me to mess something up there) or I need a different s/w - which I'm definitely open to try.

At this point, I've run so many tests I have a whole set of coasters to give my friends and loved ones for Christmas, so I would very much appreciate any help/suggestions you can give (other than go back to Nero Vision).

Thanks for any help you can lend!!
-Stef

 

I doubt that it's the conversion, more likely the burning.
Burning at 4x maximum on Verbatim is what the Nero Forum at Afterdawn say.
If you click on one of the VOB files in the folder and it plays ok, then it's the burning stage.

Run the Nero Info Tool
http://www.iomagic.com/downloads/utilities/NeroInfoTool_207.zip
Check the firmware version and update if needed.

http://forum.rpc1.org/dl_result.php?kaj=1&isces=AOPEN+DUW1608/ARR

Put your burner model in the search box.

Check the 'Configuration' tab in the Info Tool and make sure that 'DMA' is 'on' for your hard drives(s) and DVD burner.

 

Thanks for the input...
Before I posted I had even tried burning at 2x with no improvement.

I ran the Nero Tool and it looked like the DMA was on for my burner and my hard drive. It didn't say anything about a DMA being either on or off for my external drive which is where all my movies are stored, but not sure if it was supposed to or what to do about it if it was.

I've tried updating drivers and was told I had the latest for both my external drive and burner. Also went to the forum page and typed in my burner and nothing came up.

Is there anything else I can try?

BTW - thanks very much for the advice!!! -Stef

 

When you click on the vob file in the output folder, is the sound bad?

 

I'll have to reconvert another one with ConvertXtoDVD to test the sound since ConvertXtoDVD (not DivXtoDVD) was the program that produced the funky sound...and after creating several "coasters" with ConvertX, I trashed all those conversions and switched to DivXtoDVD which somehow "magically" fixed the sound problem (...strange since its an earlier version of the same program).

Once I switched to DivXtoDVD I started noticing the pixelation a few minutes into the movie and then it would happen occasionally throughout. So I tried burning again at 2x, and then I tried using a different movie and nothing solved the pixelation problem (but the sound remained fine). So I thought maybe the burner was the problem - so i burned something that someone else had converted...and NO pixelation problem. UGGGHHHH!!! Which is what led me to think it was the conversion that was causing the problem.

But, just now, I did check the VOB on the DivXtoDVD conversions, like you suggested, and they're not pixelated...so I'm stumped. Why would my conversions pixelate on burn on not someone elses?????

BTW - I can run a conversion test w/ConvertX and check the VOB sound but I'll have to sign off for an hour or so, but happy to do so, if having that data point would help.

Speaking of which...Help????

Thanks Very Much!!!! -Stef

 

Using the folder containing the files,burn the dvd with 'ImgBurn'

http://www.imgburn.com/

Run ImgBurn
Mode > 'Build'
Output > 'Device'
File > 'Browse for Folder', highlight on the 'VIDEO_TS' folder, > 'OK'
Click the green write button.

 

...No luck ...another coaster

...the only other thing I can think of is that the problems I'm having with the DivXtoDVD conversions are hardware related. It's the only answer that makes sense since I've tried everything else. I've called Dell (...I have gold tech support through my company) and they're sending me a replacement burner. I'll see if that solves it.

In the meantime, do you have any advice on the ConvertXtoDVD funky sound problem I experienced (sound was popping / skipping)? I think it's something different then the DivX burn issue (ie one of the settings may be set incorrectly) since I don't get any sound problems when I use DivXtoDVD.

I'm going to run a test conversion with ConvertX just to check the ConvertX VOB, but if you can think of any settings I may need to check / uncheck to fix the sound, I'd appreciate it since I'd really prefer using ConvertX (more control over menus, etc.) to DivX

Again...thanks so much for sticking with this!!! I can't tell you how much your advice is appreciated!!
-Stefanie

 

New version came out May 19.

http://www.vso-software.fr/products/convert_x_to_dvd/history.php

You could post one of Nero's log files to the Nero Forum here at Afterdawn.
The logs cover a lot of territory and the people there can read them and perhaps see something happening on the PC at the time of the burn.

 

At the risk of contradicting myself (and ticking off Dell), I may have to take back that I think it's hardware.

I ran another test w/ConvertX using the same movie I converted before using DivX and IMG for the burn. Not one moment of pixelation - just the sound skipping.

Soooo I don't see how it could be the drive causing the pixelation and/or the sound problems. And the problems are consistent no matter which burning s/w I use (Nero burning ROM or IMG Burn). If I encode w/ConvertX I get sound "skipping", if I encode with DivX I get pixelation... AAARRRGGGHHHH

BTW - Both VOB's look and sound fine before the burn, so is it possible something in the encoding causes it to have these problems only when it burns???

Have you ever heard of anything this strange??? I'm pretty much ready to toss my computer out the window.

Thanks for not giving up (even when I'm ready to)! -Stef

 

Is the DVD burner/player internal or external?

 

Internal...

 

The VOB file in the output folder (which plays o.k?) and the burned files on the DVD use the same filters in the PC to produce video and audio.

The difference, is that the data in the first case is coming off the hard drive and in the second case is coming off the media via the DVD drive.

If the media was poor quality or burned improperly it should show the same symptoms in a standalone (or different PC) player.


IMGBurn can do a verify after the burn which compares the data on the burned DVD to the source, which would tend to eliminate the media and the burner as the source of the problem, inasmuch as it writes to the DVD then reads from it.

 

I've gone through the verify stage and it seems to give me the thumbs up...

I think at this point it probably makes sense to wait until tomorrow and see if the replacement burner makes any difference. I'll let you know what happens.

Thank you sooo very much for all your patience & help tonight!! Have a good night!!

Stefanie

 

My advice is just use WinAVIvideoconverter, thats the only program
I use to convert my avi's to DVD's that you can play on a regular
tabletop DVD player. It's fairly quick program takes about a hour
to convert an AVI to DVD and I've never had any sound or pixelation
problems while using this program.

 

Thanks very much!

Actually I found the problem seemed to be somewhere in the burner, and once I replaced it, then all the problems disappeared (still weird how 1 type of problem showed up with ConvertX and a different problem with DivX but given that its fixed, I'll take it)

...I'm still finding it takes about the length of the film to burn (i.e. 2 hours to burn a 2 hour film, etc). I'm going to give WinAVI a try, but I'm guessing its more a question of my system's capabilities than which converter I use. I've tried "end-it-all", a great little utility which shuts down everything you don't need running in the background, so you can burn more efficiently, but I'm still slow. If anyone can think of anything I can do to speed things up (short of getting a new computer - which is not going to happen for some time), I'd appreciate the input.

Thanks to everyone for all your help & for hanging in with the conversion problems I ran into...especially when I was ready to quit!

-Stefanie

 

Post a Nero log in the Nero Forum.
Two hours to burn a DVD is unacceptable.

 

Im actually having the same issues as well. Right now, im trying to convert an AVI file to DVD using WinAVI Video Converter. When thats done, what do i have to do next? Ive never done this before so any help would be appreciated. I have the disc in now that the movie is on. Im using that to convert to DVD. So when thats done and i want to burn, do i have to put in another disc or how does that work? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Be gentle because like i said, ive never done this before.