Can't make playable DVD?

Toadstool

Yes, but when I said "DVD compatible" I meant (in this context) a file / format that can be burned onto a DVD in such a way that it makes a DVD that will play on a DVD player. I want to watch my movies on my big TV screen not just my little laptop screen.

I'm still confused. In Windows 7, Windows Movie Maker / DVD Maker produces WMV files, not MPEG2, but still produces playable DVDs.

And: in Videopad if I go to "Export DVD Movie" then pick "DVD Movie disc" (NOT data disc), I'd expect that to make a playable DVD - as people on this thread have said it should - using MPEG2 or whatever it needs? Is that wrong?

Also: I notice that PhotoStage (also from NCH) gives plenty of choice for file formats for DVD burning - eg, avi, wmv etc - but the list doesn't include mpeg2. It does include "mpg" though - is that the same?

borate

"MPG is a file extension for an MPEG animation in the MPEG-1 OR MPEG-2 codec. MPEG-1 was designed for coding progressive video at bit rates of about 1.5 million bits per second. It was designed specifically for Video-CD and CD-i media. MPEG-1 audio layer-3 (MP3) has also evolved from early MPEG work.

MPEG-2 was designed for coding interlaced images at bit rates above 4 million bits per second. MPEG-2 is used for digital TV broadcast and DVD. An MPEG-2 player can handle MPEG-1 data as well." (techtarget.com)

W7 DVD maker was capable of creating an MPEG2 encoded, DVD movie file. If you look on the disc at the file structure of a DVD MOVIE you won't see WMV. You will see _TS, as mentioned earlier.

DVD standalone burning capability isn't included in Windows 10. Express Burn on W10 will do it. VP should, as a MOVIE. Still won't play? Then there's something else going on.

The instructions for your standalone player should list what formats it handles. Try your discs in another standalone player.

c_major_2

"Burn disc image" is available for a clean installation of Windows 10. But if you had installed one of the burner software, they most likely will hide the menu option or replace it.

A disc image contains information for every physical tracks on a disc. If you burn two disc with one image, they will be exactly the same despite the contain of the disc.

A wmv, avi etc. are computer only video files. They can't be recognised by DVD players. What a burner software such as DVD maker, Express Burn do is to convert the video files to a DVD recognisable format and put the information on the tracks of the disc.

If you choose Export to DVD movie from VideoPad. VP should generate a DVD disc for you without the need for burner software. Alternatively instead of directly output to a disc you can tell VP to store the physical tracks information as a ISO file. You can then use tools like "Burn disc image" in Windows to put that information on a disc.

borate

c_major wrote:

Alternatively instead of directly output to a disc you can tell VP to store the physical tracks information as a ISO file. You can then use tools like "Burn disc image" in Windows to put that information on a disc.

Tested and confirmed. I had not thought of burning an ISO in that manner, which to some extent overcomes W10's loss of DVD Maker. Good to know.

The option is available as long as no other software is associated with ISO files, as Sam notes. To see the BURN DISC IMAGE option (right-click on the ISO), that file type must be associated with Windows Explorer.

Toadstool

Right-clicking on the ISO file I don't get "Burn to disc" as an option, but I do get "burn disc image". Is that quite different? Or equivalent? Should it create a playable DVD (ie playable on a standalone DVD player?) - (trying to burn a dvd tends to take hours & tends not to work, which is why I'm asking again before trying again ...)

borate

Toadstool wrote:

Right-clicking on the ISO file I don't get "Burn to disc" as an option, but I do get "burn disc image". Is that quite different? Or equivalent? Should it create a playable DVD (ie playable on a standalone DVD player?) - (trying to burn a dvd tends to take hours & tends not to work, which is why I'm asking again before trying again ...)

Yes, BURN DISC IMAGE is correct, per the graphic that Sam posted to this thread. My typing mistake.

As mentioned earlier, if you've made an ISO in Videopad, then using this Windows 10 feature should make a disc that's playable in a standalone player. That worked here.

But then again, so should Videopad's BURN MOVIE option. If they don't succeed, I suggest that you test the disc in another standalone player to confirm that your machine is not the problem.

Toadstool

Thanks for tips & patience. As I mentioned, my DVD still plays my old Win7 DVDs, so I didn't think the problem was the machine.

borate

Using File (Windows) Explorer, examine the file structure of your old (playable) and new (unplayable) DVD discs. Are they the same?

Toadstool

Checked a couple of my unplayable discs. One has a list very much like that one, inside a folder. The other one has an ISO file, under "files ready to be written to the disc", & when I click on the ISO file it shows 2 folders, AUDIO_TS & VIDEO_TS. Inside the VIDEO_TS folder there's a list that looks like that, too.

I'll try these discs on a different DVD player when I get the chance.

My older discs still play fine. But for a while now, my Win7 machine has been making unreliable discs: they play, but they stick after a while. My Win10 laptop (with Videopad) doesn't seem to make playable discs at all. I suspect that Win 10, as well as some recent automatic update to Win7, just doesn't get on with an old VCR/DVD player like mine. I'm thinking of investing in a new / modern DVD player that will play from USB sticks as well as DVDs & maybe bypassing DVDs altogether: just store vid files on memory sticks.

Toadstool

Update: that DVD I burned from an ISO file made with Videopad: tried it in a friend's DVD player / TV, and it plays fine. Just not on mine, though mine still plays my older DVDs.

My friend's player is much newer / more modern than mine (hers also plays Blu-ray while mine also plays VHS cassettes ...) - I guess I need a new DVD player.

Toadstool

An outcome (though everybody seems to have stopped commenting on this thread): I bought a new DVD player for £29 & it does play the DVDs I made with Videopad. Looks like old VCR/DVD machines can't handle Videopad discs but modern ones can. So the problem wasn't Videopad, it was my ancient hardware.

But now a new problem: this new DVD player also has a USB port, & I'd like to store vids on a memory stick & play them through the DVD player / TV. But it ain't having it. I'll start a new thread about that soon ...

borate

Check the new player's instructions for the file types that it handles, then export (produce) a Videopad file of that type and copy it to a USB stick. It should play.

Toadstool

The (Panasonic) dvd player says files (on usb stick) have to be .avi or .xvid. Videopad can make avi files, but the player says "format unsupported". Xvid doesn't come up as an option in Videopad. I've installed the xvid codec but it makes no difference.

c_major_2

Have you tried switch to the other codec (H264/MPEG)?

Toadstool

How do you do that? mp4 or mpg come up as options under file settings for making a vid file, is it one of those?

borate

When exporting to a VIDEO FILE, using the latest VP for Windows, clicking the Encoder Options button and then on the arrow to the right of "H264/MPEG" a menu drops down with many video compressor choices...

Try MPEG4 or the DV encoder NTSC (or Pal, if that's your standard).

Toadstool

Thanks. Under "encoder options" then "compression settings" I've found "Xvid MPEG-4 codec" & went for that. But my DVD player STILL says "unsupported format".

However I see under "Xvid configuration" there are 17 options - 4 different kinds of Xvid & 13 different kinds of MPEG4. Plus, 2 different "encoding types" - single pass or twopass. Should I just wade through the lot & see if any of them work, or could you give me any shortcut tips?

The DVD manual says for playing vids from USB stick "the file extension has to be .XVID, .xvid, .AVI or .avi." .xvid doesn't seem to be an option in VP so I've been going for .avi with "Xvid MPEG-4 codec".

borate

Using VP 4.48 an H.264 encoded AVI was copied to a USB stick. It rendered fine in my three-year old Samsung Blu-Ray player.

Here is a link to that file. Click the DOWNLOAD arrow to transfer it to your PC, then copy it to the stick and give it a try.

Toadstool

Thanks. Same result: "unsupported format". Maybe there's a fault in my DVD player ...

c_major_2

Can you find any video file that can be played on the DVD player?

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