Hey all,

Just gotta vent here and ask for help with DVD burning from all of you
experts in these newsgroups. All I've wanted to do is transfer some
old home movies on VHS and 8mm video camcorder tape. I've been
running the outputs from the VCR or camcorder to a Dazzle Digital
Video Creator 150. In order to hopefully enhance the video quality, I
run the video output through a GoDVD video enhancer between the VCR/
camcorder output and the Dazzle input. The Dazzle then inputs into my
computer which is a:

Dell Dimension Desktop 4700
3.4 GHz Pentium 4 processor
16X DVD+/-R/RW (Phillips DVD burner)
1 GB DDR2 SDRAM at 400 MHz
250 GB hard drive
Operating System is Windows XP Media Center

My computer came with Sonic MyDVD software for burning video and data
DVDs. The Dazzle video digitizer also came with Pinnacle Studio 9
Quickstart, which allows video clips to be edited and output as
various types of files. My media of choice is Delkin eFilm Archival
Gold DVD-R. I have given up trying to make video DVDs because they
were riddled with various problems. Instead, I've decided to make DVD-
compatible MPEG files and store them on data DVDs. At least I can
reliably make data DVDs which I can verify as being exact copies of
the MPEG files burned.

Unfortunately, I have a series of problems in the created MPEG files,
pre-burning. First of all, Studio 9 Quickstart seems to force me to
double-encode my MPEG files. The reason this happens is as follows:
The capture step only allows me to save my initially captured video
from the Dazzle video digitizer as MPEG files. These initial MPEG
files look better than the finished ones, but I don't want to burn
these initial MPEGs onto DVD because they need to be edited and
trimmed such that blank tape captured at the beginning and end of the
tape can be edited out. Well, after I drag the initial MPEG file to
the storyboard in edit mode and trim the ends, I then have to use the
Make MPEG function in the Make Movie step to make a new MPEG with the
edits. The Make MPEG settings allows me to set a quality level of the
output edited MPEG, such as DVD-compatible, which leads me to believe
the program is re-encoding the edited MPEG, which seems rather
pointless as it is already an MPEG file. The re-encoding seems to
make the picture jerkier in the edited MPEGS, especially when the
camera moves. Isn't there a way I can just trim the beginning and end
of an MPEG file, without re-encoding the middle of it and altering the
resulting video quality? I can't seem to find a way of doing so on
Pinnacle Studio 9 Quickstart.

In addition, even some of my initially captured video MPEG files have
problems. The frames seem to be flickery and jerky at times. My
Pinnacle capture settings are MPEG (high-quality DVD) (6000 Kbits/
sec). I was wondering if maybe this is too high of a quality setting
for my computer to keep up with? If so, what would be a better
quality-level, in terms of bit rate, in light of my processing power.

I have tried everything I can think of to try to fix the above
problems, including updating Studio 9 Quickstart, Sonic MyDVD, and my
DVD burner driver, turning off my screensaver, emptying my recycle bin
and temporary files before burning, turning off my power saving
settings, checking my system for viruses, running my disk
defragmenter, not running any other applications while using my video
software, and restarting my computer right before using my video
software. Nothing seems to work.

I can't understand why I can't get this stuff to make simple MPEG
files for burning on data DVDs which are quality representations of
their respective videos. Is this technology not perfected or what?
All I have read indicates that my system should be perfectly capable
of doing all that. I've looked at other software video digitizing
equipment, but if you go on amazon.com, it seems like every such
product has highly mixed reviews, even Nero software, which seemed to
be the most highly respected video software on these newsgroups. If I
just knew what hardware and software and settings that could reliably
do what I want, I would happily try to purchase and use them.

I tried technical support from Dell, Sonic, and Pinnacle, but am still
having problems.

I'm so frustrated, I'm just about ready to give up on my whole
archiving project, which I was really looking forward to. What is
going wrong here, and how can I fix it? I tried to provide as much
information as I could for anyone willing to give an opinion or
advice.

Thank you very much in advance.

Please reply to this message on the newsgroup.

"youarehappyhey" <youarehappyhey@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1171003042.975849.210460@k78g2000cwa.googlegr oups.com...
Can't really help you too much as I stopped using my TV card when I bought a
seperate DVD recorder (A lot cheaper now than they used to be and great for
recording Camcorder and VHS tape to DVD with no problem!)

There is also a lot of different software mentioned on this group...Video
Redo spring to mind for trimming the blank sections as you've mentioned at
the start.

Before shelling out for more software, Check the freeware newsgroup first, A
lot of the freeware is just as good as the pay for stuff!

Nero 6 would be handy as well, As there's a *Make DVD* option in the menu,
Even a Record direct to DVD (Though I have'nt tried this yet with my TV card
and somehow just hitting record and it going direct to disc!)

I can't remember the actual audio, But do know it has to be set different
for DVD compatabilty to what the usual audio settings of a TV card are also.

I kept forgetting all the settings like a jerk, hence I took the DVD
recorder route to make things a lot easier :-)

T.W.

"The Wizard" <the_wiz@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:f9Vyh.2853$mn2.2174@newsfe7-win.ntli.net...
www.VideoReDo.com should be all you need to do
what you have described. Nero is a great burning
program, but "burning" is only the process of using
a laser to burn pits in a die layer of a blank DVD.
Included with the Nero package is also "NeroVision"
which insists on re-encoding perfectly good DVD
compliant MPEG. Exposing any video to
NeroVision, is a form of abuse.

You have unfortunately ended up with a very poor
combination of hardware and software.

Dazzle has a very poor reputation.

Sonic MyDVD has been a total disaster for many users.

Pinnacle software isn't well liked either. (The more recent
Avid versions, are definitely improving pinnacle's rep.)

If you are getting acceptable MPEG from your Dazzle
hardware, then a few software changes can get you
back on track.

The one hardware addition I would recommend is a
capture hard drive separate from your system hard drive.
Since you are capturing in MPEG, it need not be a
large drive. (I use a 34GB 10k WD Raptor)

If you want to do more extensive MPEG editing,
consider the www.womble.com wizard products,
or Ulead's VideoStudio 10+.

To author a video DVD that functions like a commercial
DVD, you should use a dedicated authoring program.
My favorite for quick and dependable DVD authoring
is TMPGEnc DVD Author 1.6 (TDA), a Google may still
find a source for that version. DVD Lab Pro is a more
capable authoring program, but is more complex and costs
a little more. www.mediachance.com .

First try trimming your Dazzle captures with the free trial
download of VideoReDo, in addition to doing frame
accurate cuts and joins, it will process and improve the
audio and video timing. This will most likely fix your
jittery video.

Check out the user comments, for what you have now,
at www.videohelp.com , there is often some workarounds
mentioned for known problems, like alternate drivers or
software for your capture card.

Luck;
Ken

Good advice , Ken - I agree 100%.

I too was impressed with VideoReDo.
Quick-Stream-Fix worked miracles sometimes.
Ad-Detective actually "automatically" removed commercials from
DVR recordings of TV satellite stuff. It zapped ~ 95%+ of them,
which is amazing. It just looks for the black fade-in & fade-out
frames to know where the commercials are located, which means
that some night scenes are mistakenly removed. The grandkids
never knew if some of the toon was missing, and never lost their
train-of-thought when interrupted by commercials - worked the
same with me too :-)

FYI - I had a long chat with one of their employees over the phone
a few weeks ago. I was complaining that all I want to do is this:

1. Place a DVD-+RW in a DVD (USB2) burner on my PC & close the door.
(This DVD+-RW contains from 2 to 6 hours of TV programming, with
commercials)

2. Place a blank DVD-R in the 2nd DVD burner (IDE)

3. Run VideoReDo and select an option that would write out a new
finalized DVD-R with all commercials removed, then open both
DVD drive doors & ask me if I want to place in two more DVDs &
do it again - all with ZERO operator intervention. The DVD would be 99%+
full.
This is not rocket science, but the software companies
can't seem to understand that some of the public just want simple
solutions. I could care less about editing scene by scene, etc. in
this case.

The good news from the conversation was that the employee at VideoReDo
"hinted" that VideoReDo would soon have "BURNER" code implemented into
the next release. He would not be more specific than that, but an
"All-in-One"
with some dumb features per above would make them rich, IMHO. I would
buy a copy for sure. TMPGEnc could also easily write this type of
application,
if they wanted to do so. Either company could grab the lead, but it's a
management
decision. My best guess is that these companies are still controlled by
coders. It's like the old TI, where the engineers selected the products to
sell -
you get wonderful technology that is not user friendly, or marketing savvy.

Another dumb all-in-one app that I want is to simply plug my camcorder
into the PC via firewire, place in a DVD-R & come back to an opened
DVD tray containing a finalized DVD-R that has been verified via
rewinding the tape. The DVD-R would contain the tape (whatever the length)
and would have no more than 1% unused capacity - that is, the
maximum quality possible for this specific tape of unknown length.
Geesh, this should be a piece of cake - all the code is out there now.
Unfortunately, it's not all in one program yet. But it's only a matter of
time...:-)

BTW - while I'm thinking ~ fully automating repetitive PC tasks, would
someone post a link to a freeware program that records your mouse & keyboard
clicks & generates a batch file thing for running multiple Windows apps?
Some
years ago, I had what was called a "Keyboard Macro Recorder" that worked
great for repetitive tasks, but I lost it along the way. I did a Google, but
did not
find anything that looked good, and free:-) I'll pay, but there should be a
lot of
free stuff out there by now - just can't fine one.

Thanks,
Gene








"Ken Maltby" <kmaltby@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:PqOdnbrvdrH9zVHYnZ2dnUVZ_sSmnZ2d@giganews.com ...

On Feb 9, 8:38 am, "Gene" <g...@wildblue.net> wrote:
Workspace Macro, http://www.tethyssolutions.com/product.htm is a good
macro recorder. It is not free but of all that I have tried it is the
best. I actually use their Pro version. Pro version allows editing
etc.

-Derek

FWIW, Pinnacle products are notorious for not working right (I spent many
hours beating my head against an earlier version of Studio), and when I
tried Sonic --it came bundled with video editing software-- it wouldn't work
at all. So I'd say you need new software, like the others have recommended.

On Fri, 9 Feb 2007 04:25:27 -0600, "Ken Maltby"
<kmaltby@sbcglobal.net> wrote:

captures - cutting out commercials, joining files, etc. As far as TV
capturing and converting VHS tapes, I use a Hauppauge WinTV PVR2 USB
unit which does an vary acceptable job of encoding the VHS tapes input
to MPEG2 files. As I'm sure Ken will agree, you will perhaps get a
better result if you capture to uncompressed AVI and then do the
encoding to MPEG2 in another program such as TMPEGEnc Plus but since
my unit only allows capture to MPEG1 or 2, that's the way I go. And
Ken's suggestions as to DVD authoring programs would also be mine with
one alternative added. While I do use TMPEGEnc DVD Author for most of
my TV serial captures, I generally opt for either DVDLab Pro or Sony
DVD Architect to do more extensive authoring projects. But as Ken
states, the learning curve for these two alternate programs can be
rather daunting and one will have to devote some time to learning the
intricacies of each program before one can really appreciate all that
they are capable of doing.

OldTimer

You mentioned Sony DVD Architect.

Have you found a way to "automatically" insert
chapters every 5 or so minutes? I have read &
read and have not found a way to use Sony 7 and
Sony DVD Architect to do a simple DV to DVD-R
with chapters. LOL - you would think that a package
this expensive would have a simple way to do a quick &
dirty copy and "automatically" generate skip points.
I can do it manually, just can't find an auto way like
VideoReDo , NeroVision, etc. uses...

Thanks,
Gene




"OldTimer" <oldguy@noddingoff.com> wrote in message
news:aipps2djj2mk4b9eddb4b2ck1ncv7rs76t@4ax.com...

"Gene" <genes@wildblue.net> wrote in message
news:ks1zh.3$Yb7.192699@news.sisna.com...
I never use the Ad-Detective feature, it is just too easy to do
with out it.



You Sir, are the Devil! I have no problem with someone making
"Idiotware", "One Button" programs, just leave our useful tools
alone. It is not "user friendly" to remove, or make hard to find,
the controls that a knowledgeable user can use to great advantage.
You seem to feel that technical software should be made to
address the attention span of the "Stoned Slacker" generation.

And you are welcome to it, just leave us tools that allow us
to make use of our understanding of the technology.


I just Googled "keyboard macro" and there seems to be a
number of such programs, many are free.

Or you could learn a little simple scripting.

Luck;
Ken

"youarehappyhey" <youarehappyhey@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1171003042.975849.210460@k78g2000cwa.googlegr oups.com...
As others have told you, Pinnacle software is not good. I spent many
frustrating hours with Pinnacle Studio 9 before I gave up in despair.
My only attempt at using VideoReDo also ended badly as a bad synch problem
arose between the video and audio streams on my output.
The only software that consistently works for me is Ulead Video Studio. It
will co-exist happily with other software, runs happily while I'm doing
other work and has never failed to produce exactly what I wanted - trimmed,
edited, effects, titles and menus added.
Badger

"OldTimer" <oldguy@noddingoff.com> wrote in message
news:aipps2djj2mk4b9eddb4b2ck1ncv7rs76t@4ax.com...
I most certainly do NOT agree with that. There is no benefit to
having TV video spend any time as DV-AVI, on its way to
a DVD.

"Badger" <nunaya@bizness.com> wrote in message
news:45ccff85@dnews.tpgi.com.au...
VideoReDo is famous for FIXING problems with A/V
stream sync. In addition to its automatic improvements
in that area, by how it treats MPEG timing data; there is
a tool to allow you to make manual adjustments.

Every incident I've heard of VideoReDo adding to A/V
sync problems, it was do to an excessive number of very
damaged video and audio frames, causing the need to
reject too many, so as to bring the rest of the video into
sync. This is most often a capture problem.

Luck;
Ken

Thank you everyone for all of the great advice. I am taking it all
into consideration and will be following your advice.

"Ken Maltby" <kmaltby@sbcglobal.net> wrote:

<snip>

Ken:

You make this point frequently, but do you have (current) hard
evidence please?

In response to earlier similar criticisms, I emailed them and
challenged them about your warning that NVE re-encoded unnecessarily,
and posted their reply here:

Newsgroups: alt.video.dvd.authoring
Subject: Re: Nero 7
Date: Tue, 31 Oct 2006

Here's an extract from that post:

---------
"It is definetly not true that Nero Vision Express 3 recodes
everything needlessly.
Nero Vision Express provides a feature named "Smart Encoding".
If activated Nero Vision Express will check your file and only recode
if needed.
The feature can be found this way: Start Nero Vision Express and click
on "More"->"Default Video Options"

I haven't yet tried this, but aim to revisit NVE soon and give it
another chance. On balance, during my early brief exploration I found
it a well-integrated program, with an intuitive interface.
---------

I never had any response from you or anyone else here to that post.

--
Terry, West Sussex, UK

"Gene" <genes@wildblue.net> wrote:

<snip>

I use two. One is Stiletto, but that's now long obsolete and replaced
by Power-Pro. But the other is Macro Express, from
http://www.macros.com

--
Terry, West Sussex, UK

"Terry Pinnell" <terrypin@dial.pipex.com> wrote in message
news:bk2rs2526pjkbrvvibpcdilhqlq21lm6kv@4ax.com...
The latest Nero package I have is 6 Ultra. If they are saying
that it works correctly in 7 or some patch to 6, fine I would like
to know that myself. Let me know how your revisit goes.

Luck;
Ken

"Ken Maltby" <kmaltby@sbcglobal.net> wrote:

I have Nero 6 too. More specifically, here's what the Nero Information
Tool says I have under the 'Software' tab, on this XP SP1 Home PC:

Program Version
------------------------- -----------
Nero Burning ROM 6, 6, 0, 16
Nero StartSmart 2, 0, 0, 26
NeroVision 3,1,0,16 <---
Nero ShowTime 2, 0, 0, 44
Nero Recode 2 2, 2, 6, 17
Cover Designer 2, 3, 0, 47
Nero BackItUp Application 1, 2, 0, 54

I don't think the 'Nero' version, 6 in our case, is directly related
to the NVE version. But then, I've always found Nero's program naming
and updating/upgrading rather confusing.

Anyway, on the point at issue, my 'revisit' of NVE was some time ago.
As far as I can tell it *doesn't* re-encode existing DVD-ready MPG
files.

On the Burn Options page, use More > Video Options > General and
ensure 'Enable SmartEncoding of video and audio material' is checked.

--
Terry, West Sussex, UK

Thank you, kind Sir :-)

I vaguely remember the name Stiletto, but it was not
in my old source program data base (I usually keep a copy
of ever version of code that I have ever used on a PC to
the 198x's) - but it looks like I will not need it.

I just successfully downloaded pwrpro47.zip from
http://powerpro.webeddie.com/ and added it to the source
file folder.

In that it seems to be the premier product, and is free - I'll
play with it first, then go to Macro Express if needed.

Hopefully, I can take Power-Pro and create a batch file thing
that will allow me to "automatically" create two finalized 1.5hr
DVD-Rs directly from one MiniDV or D8 tape . The goal is to
plug my camcorder into my PC via TI firewire, place two blank
DVD-Rs in two attached DVD burners (USB2 & IDE) and start the
macro playback at bedtime. I hope to awake to a rewound camcorder
and two open DVD burner trays containing two finalized DVDs
(preferably verified) both DVDs will be stuffed to at least 95%+
capacity. Each of the burned DVDs will have a very simple menu,
and chapter (skip) marks inserted every 5 or 6 minutes. All done
automatically, while I sleep:-)

It's sad that there are no current software All-in-One packages that will do
this simple task, that is, be 100% automatic from start to finish. It's of
no help if you have to get up at 2:00AM to select an option, being the SAME
option that you select each & every time you perform this simple job.
However,
I have reason to believe that a software producer somewhere will "ADD" this
simple
feature to their existing package. Please understand that this software
provider
would never take away an option that you like. This would be an ADDITION,
and
not a replacement, for the old way of manually doing the job with multiple,
and
unrelated PC programs, etc.
LOL - you can still get up at 2:00AM if you are a perfectionist - I choose
to sleep:-)

Again, THANKS for your help!

Gene










"Terry Pinnell" <terrypin@dial.pipex.com> wrote in message
news:4u3rs2pn1m0naq2a1q6ra50t7i4mkgfrsg@4ax.com...

"Gene" <genes@wildblue.net> wrote:

Stiletto is a powerful program. I have it running permanently and I'd
be lost without it. PowerPro is even more versatile. But I had a major
investment in Stiletto and unfortunately the automatic conversion of
my configuration proved problematic, and I didn't want to start from
scratch. So I've reconciled myself to using the obsolete product. It
has a scripting facility and I'm sure the PowerPro equivalent will be
well up to the project you have in mind.

I share your enthusiasm for automating complex tasks! And if you
succeed in your DVD project I'd be grateful for a copy of your script
or macro command listing, as a basis for attempting something similar.

For me, Macro Express has the advantage of being simpler to use for
developing more complex macros. I've turned to it only recently.

However, I've found that with both of these (and other macro/scripting
programs I've used, and VBA with Word and Excel), the development of
extensive macros like the one you've outlined inevitably pose all
sorts of issues and pitfalls. Just when you think you have one running
sweetly, it's apt to run amok. Usually when you've gone for a coffee!
So I'll be keen to hear of your progress please ;-)

--
Terry, West Sussex, UK

Yes, I will be happy to post the final results in here -
assuming I remember, age you know :-)

Yeah, KB & mouse, etc. macro generators can work great,
but if you have a tape / disc error, power glitch, etc. - it's a
50/50 bet that you will be successful.

Having said the above, "this is the BEST vehicle out there
at this time".

I have briefly read some of the PowerPro help files, and
it looks like a GREAT program - MUCH better than I expected.

I will probably use it for a lot of things that I have not given thought
to, like eBay timers to watch auctions, etc...

Anyway - THANKS for the help!

Gene




"Terry Pinnell" <terrypin@dial.pipex.com> wrote in message
news:bv0ss2tdh04kdokvckmm3oeb8rp7ubus8v@4ax.com...