Creating 'commercial' DVD's

[Don Tolson]

I've been creating DVD-R disks which work well with my 3 year old Toshiba player, but I've noticed when I take the same disks to friends or parents with one of the 'cheaper' DVD players, the video skips and jumps.

I think this is due to the cheaper players not being totally happy with the DVD-R or MPEG-2 format.

I've noticed local video houses offering to convert old 8mm film to DVDs and those seem to play OK on even the cheap players.

Is there any software/options in existing DV editing programs to produce something closer to the 'commercial' DVD disks that will play in even the cheap players?

[Jason Dunn]

There are a lot of potential variables here:

1) Type/brand/quality of DVD discs
2) Type/brand/quality of DVD burner
3) The type/brand/quality of the DVD player
4) The video being burned (which is what you're asking about)

Because there are so many variables, it's really difficult to nail down what the problem might be. There are certainly higher end DVD burning programs (Sonic DVDit comes to mind), but I have no data to support the theory that the DVDs it creates are more compatible, all other factors being equal.

Sorry to be so completely unhelpful. ;-)

[backpackerx]

I notice this some too but for me it always comes down to the player. I use Pinnacle 8 and burn usually with Nero. The disks almost always turn out fine but when I play them on my PlayStation 2 DVD player (I know, asking for trouble) they occaisionally skip and jump but sometimes they play completely fine.

They have always worked no problem though with the other two DVD players I have put them in so obviously the disk is fine and it's my one DVD player that has trouble with the disks.

[Don Tolson]

I think it may be something else, too. I have a DVD-ROM drive on my laptop which will absolutely NOT read the DVD-R disks I produce at home. No problem there, I would expect that.

HOWEVER, it will read and play this 'home movie conversion' that comes from a video-house in town. In fact, every DVD player I've tried plays this disk just fine. So, the question is, what did this guy create? (a regular, commercial style DVD?) and how did he do it?

[Jason Dunn]

I think it may be something else, too. I have a DVD-ROM drive on my laptop which will absolutely NOT read the DVD-R disks I produce at home. No problem there, I would expect that.

Umm...no, that's not normal. A DVD-ROM drive should read all types of DVDs AFAIK.

In fact, every DVD player I've tried plays this disk just fine. So, the question is, what did this guy create? (a regular, commercial style DVD?) and how did he do it?

It might be worth asking him, although he might not want to reveal his trade secrets. ;-)

[Don Tolson]

My mistake.... according the Fujitsu T3010D specs, the accessory drive is a DVD/CD-RW drive, not a DVD-ROM drive.

OK, so that's one out of the way (although I don't understand why a DVD-RW drive can't read a DVD-R, but that's another topic...)

I think you're right, Jason. I'll give this guy a call and see if he'll let me in on his 'secret' for burning DVD's.

BTW -- Give Adobe's Premiere Elements a try. Its restored my faith in video editing software.

[Don Tolson]

OK, so I phoned the guy that produced the DVD. Surprisingly, he was VERY helpful.

He says he uses DVD-R's, but he found there were significant differences in compatibility between different brands of media. Currently, he uses a 'no name' brand available from 'The Tape House' in Vancouver, B.C., but he says he has good results from Memorex as well.

He uses a 'Casablanca' machine (apparently a standalone video editing unit) for editing, then transfers the rendered output to an old Panasonic DVR for actual burning to the disc. (BTW, if any of you are interested, he has a Casablanca he wants to sell for between $1500 and $2000 CDN) He said he had real problems getting consistently readable discs using the burner in his PC.

HMMMM, very interesting. You'd think that a DVD was a DVD was a DVD and that WHAT burned the digital data onto WHAT media shouldn't really matter. Either the disk is readable, or it ain't.....

[Jason Dunn]

HMMMM, very interesting. You'd think that a DVD was a DVD was a DVD and that WHAT burned the digital data onto WHAT media shouldn't really matter. Either the disk is readable, or it ain't.....

Actually, the brand of DVD is surprisingly important - every DVD maker uses a different type of dye, and that impacts how reflective the surface is, which has a huge impact on the laser reading the data. You'd be surprised...

[Don Tolson]

So, maybe we should have a poll to see which media people are having the most success with, in terms of multi-unit readability.

[Jason Dunn]

So, maybe we should have a poll to see which media people are having the most success with, in terms of multi-unit readability.

We could, but the problem is the sheer number of brands out there, let alone the "no name" brands that are around for a month then disappear...about the best you can hope for is to try a few brands and find one that plays on all the DVD players you need it to.

[Don Tolson]

Well, I have more info now, and unfortunately, it seems to point to the problems I was having with Pinnacle Studio 9 as the culprit.

I changed media from Maxell to Memorex, and output from Adobe Premiere Elements seems to play just fine on my laptop and the DVD player @ home. (I haven't tried it yet on my Mom&Dad's DVD player, but will this weekend).

I tried a Memorex I had burned using Studio, and it wouldn't play at all (wasn't even recognized) on my laptop, which is the same symptoms I saw with the Maxell disks. So, it doesn't appear to be media specific.

Once I try a Premiere Elements disk on my Mom&Dad's machine, I'll be sure of my results.

Thank goodness we bought a good DVD Player (for the time -- about $400) and it's able to work around the problems with the Studio burns.

The downside is, I either have to recapture and re-create all the stuff I burned with Studio, or find someway to pull it off the disk in 'clean format' , then reburn using Elements or something else.

Any suggestions??