Burn errors

Yep....SmartRipper, DVD2AVI & TMPEGEnc is a *terrific* combo for making your own vcds.

But where do those errors come from? Do you only play the vcd files through WMPlayer, or have you tried burning them to disc for use on a standalone dvd player? (If you've created .dat files, I assume you've been making vcd discs). Do the errors only show up in WMP, or can you also see them thru your dvd player/TV combo? The errors you see *may* come from your original video source. (Do you see anything similar on the original dvd?) Also, you *may* have some small setting-or-other incorrectly set in TMP.

Getting a perfect copy can sometimes be a labour of love with certain dvds because the images can be stored as either Progressive, or Interlaced, Or, particularly irksome, as *both* interlaced *and* progressive at the same time, OR, to further muddy the waters, first in Prog, *then* in Interlaced, *then* back to Prog again, then..... (as with some Star Trek DVDs).

Since you're getting most of it right Steve, just keep experimenting. No two dvds are exactly alike and usually require a bit of individual tweaking (TMP) to get things to come out just right. Sometimes, just *ripping* them using different methods (SmartRipper) - MOVIE mode, FILE mode, BACKUP mode, can make a huge difference.

-- Mike --

 

if your burner is only capable of 4x, try burning at 2x.. if it is capable of much higher speeds, try increasing the speed a little. Sometimes, high speed burners are not really meant to burn slowly since the lasers were not calibrated for slower speeds.. on the other hand, a 4x burner that was made several years ago and could possibly be a 2x drive that was "overclocked" (for a lack of a better word).

The only other suggestion I would have is to think about a CDRW upgrade. I recently upgraded my burner less than a year ago, because my old Creative Labs 4x2x24 drive was burning every other disc correctly, and even then they had problems.. sometimes, the drive just gets old and needs to be replaced.

best of luck.

 

Steve,

How is it that you are creating .dat files?

If you are using SmartRipper/DVD2AVI/TMPEGEnc., you *should* be creating .mpg files. Specifically, the last program in the chain (TMP) is outputting mpeg-1 files. The .dat files which you say you are burning, should only originate as a result of your vcd burning software - by decree, vcd burning creates .dat files, a part of the vcd spec.

I was going to offer an alternative suggestion as to why you are getting 'glitches'. These glitches can *most certainly* occur if you are playing your newly-created VideoCDs on a *standalone* dvd player - (my old Sanyo standalone often gave me glitches from a burned vcd, which I *know* were not there on my original, burned vcd), simply because many dvd players do NOT handle self-made video cds very well. That is, some players play back self-recorded cdrs with mixed success. Some are great. Some suck. Others give 'glitches'. In your case however, you seem to be using only your computer for playback. In *that* case, you should most definately NOT be getting glitches.

I will have to re-examine..... If you will, please describe how you are creating .dat files instead of standard vcd-compliant (normal) .mpg files with TMP.

P.S. Unless the files on your HDD are exceptionally broken up, I think you can safely rule out lack of defragging as the culprit which are creating your glitches.

-- Klingy --

 

VCD format uses .dat files, that is the correct format.. I thought you said before that you had the same problem playing back these burnt VCD from your PC ?? in that case, that would rule out the DVD player as being the problem.

Another thing you can do is create the cd image using VCDgear, and then opening this image file using Daemon-Tools, which creates a virtual DVD rom drive on the pc, allowing you to mount the .bin/.cue image file and play from there..

Doing this will allow you to rule out your burner as being the problem if you still have this problem using only the image file.

I personally use Nero to burn the .mpg file directly to VCD using their software.. in the end, this also creates a VCD using .dat file, but eliminates the extra step of having to create the image file using VCDgear.

Sounds like you have a bit of troubleshooting to do in order to find out the root of the problem, but the good news is that after this is over, you will be an expert! Then you should be able to start helping others with their problems.. hehe

 

I would have thought the reason for your glitches is fast burn speed. Try just normal 1xspeed recording with something like Nero and burn only files which have been 'converted' from MPG1 into VCD Compliant MPG files. This is best done whilst chopping the video into 70 minute chunks. I am sure that the problem will be with the burner burning too fast, or poor quality CDRs.

Good Luck.

Paul.

 

Not boring, interesting.. kinda like putting the pieces of a puzzle together, slowly but surely as you wittle away at it, you start to see the whole picture, and you only have so many pieces left to try, so then you know the answer is near.. don't give up, I have a problem I have been working on for the past week and just found a solution for.. it was frustrating as hell, but worth it in the end.. I learned quite a bit during the troubleshooting process !!

Best of luck!

 

The most frustrating thing would be that your mpegs play fine off your hard disc, but not off a burned cd.

Steve, it is a waste of time to convert your vcd-compliant .mpg files through vcdgear, to turn them into .dat files. That isn't going to solve anything. Personally, I would just burn those .mpgs as a s_t_a_n_d_a_r_d VideoCD, then (try) to play the vcd back on your computer. This way, you will have an already-made vcd for when you DO get your own dvd standalone player. Your burning software, whatever flavour it is, will automatically convert your mpgs to .dats anyway, it isn't necessary, or recommended, to use vcdgear to do it manually.

A .dat file is not so different from the original .mpg file that TMP creates. It is a little larger in size because (I think), it contains 'header information', that is, the dat file contains some information about the mpg file itself. It is *still* the same video file.

The reason your brother's dvd player "prefers" dat files is simply because it *must* have .dat files to play as part of the vcd spec. (It can't play a vcd any other way). Specifically, an original .mpg file, as produced by (say) TMP might be, "Star_Trek_TNG_Episode_Six.MPG". Your burning software will automatically convert this file to, "AVSEQ01.DAT" on the blank disc. It is this avseq01.dat file which your brother's dvd player *must* find before it can play the file back. (or avseq02.dat, avseq03.dat, etc., for subsequent tracks).

The 'blockiness' you refer to is not something you can eliminate from playback on *either* your PC, *or* a standalone player. Those macroblocks are, unfortunately, a result of the mpeg-1 files themselves, which are caused by a fixed, low-bitrate of 1150 kbps CBR. You can't get around that - it IS the white-book vcd spec.

I would simply burn standard VideoCDs from my mpg files Steve, and use them (for now) on my PC, and later on, in a standalone dvd player.

-- Mike the Klingy --

 

Oh, I almost forgot.....just as a comment to mashfanuk's post.

Don't ask me why, but I can burn a perfectly good videocd, while simultaneously running two copies of TMP in the background, (doing up both halves of a movie), and visiting this website (answering posts), all *without* buffer under- runs. No, this is not an adviseable practice, but I like to live life on the edge. <gg>

-- Mike --

 

Heh, another satisfied customer!

(We should have him stuffed!)

Paul.

PS, oh and Klingon, why would you want to put your PC through all that strain?

 

I just re-read the entire post, because I was not aware that anybody even explicitly told you to ditch NTI and use Nero.

Hey guys, we found ourselves a winner!! he even knows how to troubleshoot and think for himself..

Bravo steveb!

 

We need more newbies like this!

Good on you.

Paul.