Doesn't anyone use the guides before posting "how-to" questions?

Thanks cryptdigr. You are a treasure!

 

Thanks cryptdigr. You are a treasure!

 

I believe that ALL newbies (not excluding myself) should be forced to read this thread, in its entirity before being allowed the privelage to post. It has answered questions i've had, just not posted yet.

Kudos to this thread and the information therein!

 

Nice to see some people get it.

Welcome to AD 7thsinger

 

@bbmayo

thank you. glad to be here!

 

Does it matter, cryptdigr? 9 times out of 10, I can read till I'm blue in the face, not find the answer to my particular set of problems, post a query on one of the so-called help forums, and not see a bloody byte of help. So, obviously, no one is really put out, are they?

 

spam removed

 

A 'commandment' from someone that lies about a e-mail address?

Why is it all thinking shall ignore not only this post but all others from this ... ... ... person.

 

Thanks bbmayo. I had forgotten that.. will come in very useful one day.

 

Instead of back-reading these 500 or so posts, I will just give my two cents to the inital question about this thread. Since Im a newbie also, I dont know what all this site is about. Maybe someday I'll take the time to browse it and figure it out but when I have a question about something, i dont want to spend hours upon hours looking for answers to my questions when I can just cut to the chase and go to the forums and ask my question. Im usually the type that hates answering and answering questions over and over again, but sometimes you gotta put yourself in other people's shoes too.

One more thing, is it really a bad thing to have to answer the question more than once? Like I said, sometimes I dont like it but about the same time I decide to refrain from saying anything about it is when I stop thinking about myself and wonder that maybe the person who just asked a particular question was already talked about and answered a week ago for example and they didnt feel like going to through mountains of old posts and threads.

 

I remember that I nodded my head approvingly when I read the beginning of this thread some time ago. For me, the rule "Read the instructions before asking questions" comes right after "Engage brain before opening mouth."
A few months have passed and I've been reading the guides - not always with the expected results.

This time, the intention of my deliberations is not to ask a specific "how to" question but to share my experience with (one of) the guides.

I'm still a newbie, and I don't think there's any remedy for this condition. I'm not trying to climb Mount Everest. The things I'm trying to do are, to my newby mind, pretty straightforward. (Heck, if my 12-year old greatnephew Dennis can do it, why can´t I?)

I've managed reasonably well to produce playable DVDs from the .avi files that made their way onto my hard disk, but then I ended up with a few films in the VIDEO_TS/AUDIO_TS format. Now, my greatnephew would have done the whole thing inuitively, without ever leaving the chat room, but I've passed the age of intuition and headed looked for a guide that would tell me step by step, how to do it. Sure enough, I soon found one about "How to burn a DVD Folder with ImgBurn".

First, the guide tells me to switch into Build mode, which I do. Then it talks about Device settings and the accompanying image clearly shows a tab entitled "Device", except that my version of imgBurn doesn't offer me that tab. At least not while I'm in Build mode - but that's something I only found out much, much later. Before I arrive at that conclusion I wonder whether the guide has been invalidated by a recent software upgrade. I wonder whether it's time to hit the forums with another "how to" question. But my great-nephew Dennis wouldn't do that, so I plod on, and, after a lot of unsystematic clicking (and switching into "Write" mode) I get to the the screen that's shown in the guide. I follow the instructions and eventually I burn a DVD.

I forgot to mention that there is also a long discourse about the "BookType", a recommendation to set it to DVD-ROM and instructions on how to do this. As a result (my interpretation), I end up with a DVD in a format which both my computer and my DVD player refuse to recognize. I checked some DVDs that I produced earlier and noticed that they all have a BookType of DVD+RW. So I since switched the BookType back to its original setting, burned the DVD again and it seems that the result is usable. (At least it works on the computer - haven't checked it yet on the DVD player.)

The point of all this is: Yes, I'd love to use the guides. But: wouldn't it be great if they helped rather than hindered? There's a big difference between knowing how to do something and being able to explain it to a simpleton like me.

 

don't sell yourself short man, its like anything else you do a new job, putting something together, the first time you try it takes awhile then after you do it a few times you get better and faster same thing with backing up DVDs. On the media stick with Taiyo Yuden or Verbatim burning at 8x max. If your using the DVD plus R format and it doesn't work booktype to DVD-ROM or use the DVD dash R format, if the DVD plus R format works great like the old saying goes "If It Ain't Broke Don't Fix It"

 

i had a look arounf the guides, but they were rather hard to follow in places.

 

heres a one stop thread that has most of them'

http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/622748

 

Well, actually the comments about my ineptness were meant as an ironic comment, tongue-in-cheek. I thought that was better than saying "these guides are a load of crap".

To wrap up my participation in this thread:
I first found out about afterdawn.com when I was looking for a way to convert an .avi file into a playable DVD. I found a similar question in answers.com and somebody answered it by recommending DVD-Flick. "Easy peasy lemon squeezy," where the words that somebody used. To be honest, that's how if felt like on my first attempt. A few clicks and I had achieved what I wanted - but that was before I'd read any of the guides. My second and third attempts (both including subtitles) were less successful.

When I reported my problems (sound comming out in short bursts followed by long silences - no subtitle selection included in the menu options) I was reminded of the spade of "lightbulb" jokes that used to make the rounds some years ago. They were all based on the question "How many [xyz]s does it take to change a lightbulb?" The answer for "programmer" in place of "[xyz]" was "None. It's a hardware problem."

What I was told in answer to my posts was that I was probably using the wrong media, or maybe my DVD burner wasn't up to the task, and that I shouldn't use my PC for other tasks while the program was running. Nobody even considered the possibility that the program might be doing something wrong. It's always the user who's inadequate. Just to pick up on the two makes of DVDs you mention: where I live (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) nobody's ever heard of those brands. So I'm doomed because I can't live up to the software's requirements.

Times have moved on. I've found out that there are better ways of creating DVDs from .avi files than DVD-Flick, and for doing the same thing from VIDEO_TS folders than ImgBurn. Not only are they much easier to use, they're also consistent in producing usable results each time. And they don't turn up their nose at the media I use.

What's left is a certain puzzlement about this site. It appears that it is populated by professionals who are extremely knowledgable in their field, but who produce/use crappy software and produce/use guides which don't reflect how the software works.

Unless I should run into some serious emergency in the future, I'm outa here.

Gato

 

I feel compelled to continue your discussion GatoMedio.

I beg to differ. Being a part of more than one Message board for technichal assistance, i find these guides to be more helpful than some of the more advanced ones out there. They're made to be a newbie friendly introduction...not an all inclusive set of FAQs.

And rightly so. I went back and read the thread you were talking about. Many of us would've suggested the same thing. Quality blank media solves more playability problems than you may think. Believe me, we've all seen it plenty of times.

Which is why websites like Supermediastore.com exist. To provide quality media to your doorstep if it's not readily available in stores. No one's fault but your own for not ordering some to check out the validity of the advice you were given.

You see Gato...if you ask for advice to solve a problem, and it's given freely to you, and you don't take it; it seems redundant to come back at those who gave...complain, then take your ball and go home, so to speak.

If you've found something you prefer over the progams mentioned, good for you. Personal preference doesn't always mean better though. And Dvd Flick is one we often recommend based on the fact it is a fully functional freeware. There are a few pay programs that work a little better, i agree. ImgBurn however, i've found to be a fantastic burn engine.

It's a shame you feel that way. I personally (and i don't think i'm alone on this one) Feel that we do a fine job here. I know i'm sitting on over 2500 wonderful back-up copies and various video compliations created by the software, utilizing the same steps in those guides you feel necessary to refer to as crappy.

In short, i personally feel we do a good job helping people here.

 

i believe the guides are a very good....they have help me a great deal in past and present.so have many people here...
if it was not for those guide i would still be lost....
Keep Up the good work members...
due to brain farts i cant remember much anymore..lol

 

After reading this threads first few posts i get the same feeling as our new friend thats one of the reasons i have even started lurking myself to post day after day the same answers to the same questions. Kudos to our new mate. although he seems not to be with us anymore.

I do feel we maybe want to put this as a welcome note to all new users

 

im new at backing up my movies i was wondering if any one knows how to dvd decrypter to burn.i have dvd shrink as well