DVD Burn Problem

[dearing Profile Private message]

I've have burned several coasters today trying to get a playable DVD. My show is 1 hour 11 min - burning at standard play. Seven chapters. The 3rd and 4th chapters will not play - I also cannot 'skip' to them when playing the DVD. The thumbnails all show up - they are set to 'play the show' when clicked on - and they do not play. When I click 'skip' on the 2nd chapter, it takes me to the 5th chapter.

Any suggestions on how to get this working??

[VernonRobinson Profile Private message]

I have a couple of suggestions. The first is that instead of using ProShow to burn to your disk burner, select ISO Image instead of your disk burner and then use the free software ImgBurn to burn the ISO to disk. This works very reliably and has the added benefit of allowing you to burn another copy of the disk later without having to render again.

The most common contributor to the problem is poor quality disk media. I would recommend the use of Taiyo Yuden, available via mail order. Use only reputable places to order from because there are counterfeit Taiyos being sold. I use SuperMeda Store, but there are others available. If you need good quality media fast, then I would go to the big box store like Best Buy and get some Verbatim disks. They are also very good.

If you do these two things, your burning issues will most likely go away. Another tip to remember is to burn the disk at half their rated speed ( this is especially helpful with poor media). So if the disks are rated at 16X burn, then only burn at 8X, if rated at 8X then burn at 4X, etc.

Regards,
-Venron

[dearing Profile Private message]

I did burn an ISO and was able to get my discs all done last night:) I have always used the discs from SuperMedia and have never had a problem until now. Seems like I've had more issues since the last upgrade of ProShow Producer.

Thanks for the suggestions:)

[joemav57 Profile Private message]

I only use Verbatim. Almost went through 15 blank DVD-R from Sony before I found one usable. I hate coasters

[BarbaraC Profile Private messageWebsite]

I swear by Verbatim too.

Barbara

[Fredf Profile Private messageWebsite]

I tried the ISO route, but found the resulting loss of resolution to be unacceptable.
Here is my current problem, am waiting for a reply from Photodex:

Please Help!!

I have spent many hours on this show. It is to be played on a DVD player at a memorial service tomorrow evening (Jan 29th).
When publishing to the DVD, everything goes according to plan until it comes time to burn the disk. When I reachthat part the following occurs:
The dialog box states "Please wait ProShow Producer is writing to disk."
However, no writing is being done.
The stautus bar remains at 0% and dialog states setting the book type.
Recorder states HL-DT-ST-BD-RE-BH40N which is correct for my DVD/BluRay drive
Speed states (actual)
Buffer 0% Time remaining is blank.
This condition existed for over 30 minutes with no change.
When I clicked "Cancel" nothing happened.
When I clicked the red "X", Windows title bar shows ProShow Not Responding.
Closed Producer in Task Mananger.
Try to run Producer get :
"ProShow has stopped working" also:
"A problem has caused the program to stop working correctly. Windows will close the program and notify you if a solution is available."
Another dialog states "Start Up Aborted",and "Unable to recreate default database file".
At this point attempted to restart PC, PC would not restart.
I had to manually power down by holding power button down,
Restart PC, OK
Run Producer get "Improper Shutdown" message.
All transistions are read, as if running for the first time.
Go to "Open Recent" Producer states there are none.

I tried using the "Simulate" option, there was no change, same results, as well as setting burn speed to lowest setting.

I am running a brand new Dell XPS8500
Windows 8 Professional OS
2TB Hard drive
16GB memory so space and processor speed should not be an issue.
My drive reads and writes fine outside of Producer
All other aspects of Producer have been functioning fine.
I have created youtube output, but was not happy with the resolution
I can create .wmv output that is fine and up to my expectations.
I also was able to burn an ISO file then extract the files and burn to the DVD outside of Producer, but the results are not acceptable, resolution is gone.

Please, this is of the utmost importance that this be solved asap.

[Fredf Profile Private messageWebsite]

I tried the ISO route, but found the resulting loss of resolution to be unacceptable.
Here is my current problem, am waiting for a reply from Photodex:

Please Help!!

I have spent many hours on this show. It is to be played on a DVD player at a memorial service tomorrow evening (Jan 29th).
When publishing to the DVD, everything goes according to plan until it comes time to burn the disk. When I reachthat part the following occurs:
The dialog box states "Please wait ProShow Producer is writing to disk."
However, no writing is being done.
The stautus bar remains at 0% and dialog states setting the book type.
Recorder states HL-DT-ST-BD-RE-BH40N which is correct for my DVD/BluRay drive
Speed states (actual)
Buffer 0% Time remaining is blank.
This condition existed for over 30 minutes with no change.
When I clicked "Cancel" nothing happened.
When I clicked the red "X", Windows title bar shows ProShow Not Responding.
Closed Producer in Task Mananger.
Try to run Producer get :
"ProShow has stopped working" also:
"A problem has caused the program to stop working correctly. Windows will close the program and notify you if a solution is available."
Another dialog states "Start Up Aborted",and "Unable to recreate default database file".
At this point attempted to restart PC, PC would not restart.
I had to manually power down by holding power button down,
Restart PC, OK
Run Producer get "Improper Shutdown" message.
All transistions are read, as if running for the first time.
Go to "Open Recent" Producer states there are none.

I tried using the "Simulate" option, there was no change, same results, as well as setting burn speed to lowest setting.

I am running a brand new Dell XPS8500
Windows 8 Professional OS
2TB Hard drive
16GB memory so space and processor speed should not be an issue.
My drive reads and writes fine outside of Producer
All other aspects of Producer have been functioning fine.
I have created youtube output, but was not happy with the resolution
I can create .wmv output that is fine and up to my expectations.
I also was able to burn an ISO file then extract the files and burn to the DVD outside of Producer, but the results are not acceptable, resolution is gone.

Please, this is of the utmost importance that this be solved asap.

[DickK Profile Private messageWebsite]

I tried the ISO route, but found the resulting loss of resolution to be unacceptable.

The resolution has nothing to do with whether you made a DVD directly or made an ISO. It will produce exactly the same output, only the process of getting the information on the DVD media is different.

If you have the output choices set for highest quality when creating the DVD then that's going to be the best you can do--the limit is in the format of a DVD and not in ProShow. Standard DVDs are, by today's standards, a low resolution format. What it looks like is then dependent on how the player and/or TV handle it and especially how big the TV is (or projected image). A really big TV will tend to make it look bad--too few pixels in the video frames spread across too big an area. To get a higher resolution output you'll need to change output types--which one to use is mainly a matter of what method will be used to play the show. A Blue-ray disk is higher but you need suitable write-capable hardware in the computer and a suitable player. Various video types or an EXE can be used but that requires a computer to run the show and a compatible monitor/TV/projector.

But the bottom line is that if you're not happy with the DVD it may simply be that the DVD is the wrong output type.

Dick

[Fredf Profile Private messageWebsite]

I'm comparing what is on my pc screen before and after creating the iso file and then burning that to dvd. The difference is like night and day. My sharp images become fuzzy and out of focus looking. Certainly not up to professional standards, and therefore not salable.
I never had a loss of resolution problem when burning directly to dvd with either proShow Gold or Producer 4.
The problem is Producer 5 will not function as it should and burn to the dvd.
Also, the sound quality gets degraded as well. My into music that plays during times the menu is displayed ended up with many annoying pops etc.

[DickK Profile Private messageWebsite]

In which case you are comparing what's on the computer screen, presumably in preview mode, to what's on the DVD. You are comparing two completely different things--there's no way a DVD can ever look that good, it simply doesn't have the resolution that your monitor has. I don't know what your monitor is set for but the DVD has a maximum resolution of about 720x400 pixels. Most recent monitors are several times that many pixels. How the DVD ends up looking is heavily dependent on the player--a good upscaling player will make it look pretty good but some players or TVs do a poor job with standard def input. You may not like the answer or even believe it but those are the facts.

There are settings in ProShow that will get the best out of a DVD that it can do but if you want a higher resolution output then choose another format--an EXE, various video files or a Blu-Ray disk.

Dick

[gpsmikey Profile Private message]

One thing to remember about ISO images - this is not something Photodex "invented" - ISO images are images of the disk that would be created of all the files and file structures that would be on the disk and they are identical (not close, but identical) to the original disk. ISO images are a common way of distributing various operating systems (especially in the Linux world) as well as other types of data (including bootable disks). I can download an ISO of a Linux distro for example, burn that ISO to the DVD with something like Imgburn and when I do a checksum (or other types of error checking) of the files on the disk, they will match EXACTLY with the original files when the ISO was created. If you are comparing the preview with the DVD, you will obviously see the difference - a SD DVD is limited to 720*480 by definition (not a Photodex issue). If you want higher resolution from the DVD, you basically have two choices - you can either create the output file in MP4 format for example and write that to the dvd as a data file which some players can handle or you can go blue ray, but the SD DVD is limited in the resolution by it's spec (which you can easily find on the web in many places).

mikey

[caprice Profile Private messageWebsite]

Yes, it's a shame that proshow has trouble burning discs which most of us bought it for in the belief that that is what the program is capable of and we now have to rely on third party programs to complete what Photodex can't do!
Maybe it's time Photodex rectified its problems!

[gpsmikey Profile Private message]

For many folks it does burn multiple disks, HOWEVER, there are a number of advantages to the ISO route (like having a copy of the show you can burn any time you want another disk) as well as making it easier to troubleshoot problems when you do it in two parts. Amazing how many times people have gotten all upset at Photodex about burning issues when the real problem turned out to be either cheap media or a burner issue (not always, but in many cases). I do it the same way (ISO then burn with Imgburn) from Sony Vegas. Makes my life simpler (and makes troubleshooting issues easier too).

mikey

[caprice Profile Private messageWebsite]

And for many folk it doesn't burn multiple discs according to this trouble shooting forum. I would think it beneficial for Photodex if all their customers were happy, not just some. I have proven that it is not the media by burning the best available and there is nothing wrong with my burner because imgburn, the FREE program had no problem burning to them. Having a copy is an advantage but that is all it should have to be used for and if you believe using two programs to do the job one is supposed to do is easier, well I'm sorry but I beg to differ. Also, imgburn doesn't do multiple discs as I would like which would make my life easier. Again, time Photodex stopped blaming everything else and set about creating the necessary repairs to their software! That would make everyone's life easier don't you think?

[debngar Profile Private message]

And for many folk it doesn't burn multiple discs according to this trouble shooting forum. I would think it beneficial for Photodex if all their customers were happy, not just some. I have proven that it is not the media by burning the best available and there is nothing wrong with my burner because imgburn, the FREE program had no problem burning to them. Having a copy is an advantage but that is all it should have to be used for and if you believe using two programs to do the job one is supposed to do is easier, well I'm sorry but I beg to differ. Also, imgburn doesn't do multiple discs as I would like which would make my life easier. Again, time Photodex stopped blaming everything else and set about creating the necessary repairs to their software! That would make everyone's life easier don't you think?

I'm sorry you've had trouble. Since I have no control over what things Photodex is able to fix along the way, using Imgburn has become my choice for burning copies of my shows.

I don't know what version of Imgburn you're using but every version I've used of that program for years now has had option to burn multiple copies of my ISO files to DVD. It's worked ok for me many many times. I don't think I've EVER had a problem burning to DVD using Imgburn since I've gone that route.