Can't make playable DVD?

Toadstool

I can burn DVDs then copy the Video TS folder from DVD to a memory stick & it'll play them: though it breaks them down into smaller VOB files that have to be played one at a time. It won't play MOV, MPEG4, WMV, AVI, & I'm not going to try converting them into every other imaginable format on the off chance that one might work. It's going back to the shop. It plays DVDs fine, though.

The manual says the file extension (for USB) has to be either .avi or .xvid. Is there even such a thing as .xvid as a file extension? None of the format conversion apps I've looked at has it as an option. I downloaded the xvid codec & "xvid MPEG4 codec" shows up in VP. Tried using it & it makes files that won't even play on the computer (it plays the sound only) & not at all on the DVD player.

borate

Give that file I posted a USB test on another player. If success, then indeed you might be headed to the shop.

Toadstool

Wondered if you could tell me anything about vid files with extension .xvid though. Do they exist? I haven't found a converter that will make them. No clear info anywhere on internet.

borate

XVID is a codec (compressor/decompressor), not a file extension. More here.

Toadstool

Yes I've found articles like that one. Maybe Panasonic got it wrong in their manual then.

c_major_2

AVI is a container file format. Meaning that you can compress the video with any codec and put inside an AVI.

The DVD player can extract the video stream from an AVI file but probably can't decode it since the codec is not supported.

Even with the same codec, the player might not support all the settings and therefore unable to play it.

I think if you can find a video that plays on that DVD player. We can analyse that video file see what the DVD player supports.

[deleted]

Hi Toadstool

I can't see why you shouldn't be able to save a playable DVD

This what I find works using VP PC version 4.48.

Using a DVD+RW disc. (So not wasted in the event of failure)

Project on the timeline ready for exporting.

Disc in PC drive and cleaned of previously burned data using Windows menu option for DVD drive.

In VP Click down arrow on the "Export DVD Movie" button on taskbar and select "DVD Movie Disc"

VP checks for drives and then displays "Export Video" window.

Enter name for your disc

Select burner (if more than one). Take default otherwise.

If in the UK/Europe select PAL

Select format (e.g. Widescreen 16:9)

Click the "Advanced" button

Select "Calculate bitrate automatically" (Probably default entry) Click OK

Back into previous window click "Create"

Now create a menu if required. (Didn't have this on earlier versions of VP....so a nice addition )

This is pretty straightforward...Add title/text/background image etc.

Click "Save menu"

Add chapters option but just leave as-is ("Continue without Chapters") if it's just a test, otherwise return to VP main screen and add them if required.

Click "Just Burn It"

VP now encodes menu and burns disc.

Here I think there may be a bug ....as the"Creating your Movie" window and the "Writing to disc" prompt did not stop and the blue moving progress bar continued to scan left to right which gave the impression that the disc was still being burned. It displayed "Waiting for drive to finish operation" However the drive had stopped spinning and the processor usage had dropped back to 3% so I simply opened the drive and removed the disc. (VP continued to display the window!)

This DVD played perfectly (with its menu) both in VLC on the PC as well as with a Toshiba video player connected to a TV.

Nat

Toadstool

Yes I can burn a DVD - though curiously, I always get a message that it's failed, even though it's produced a perfectly OK DVD.

What I can't do is make a vid file that will play from USB memory stick on my new Panasonic DVD player/TV (which I want to do because my TV screen is much bigger than my PC screen, & because I want to save backups on memory stick rather than DVD).

Indications are that this is a Panasonic issue rather than a VP issue. Manual says USB plays .avi files & .xvid files. It won't play avi's & everyone's telling me there's no such things as .xvid files (xvid is a codec not a file extension). I've messaged Panasonic & I'm waiting for their reply.

c_major_2

Here I think there may be a bug ....as the"Creating your Movie" window and the "Writing to disc" prompt did not stop and the blue moving progress bar continued to scan left to right which gave the impression that the disc was still being burned. It displayed "Waiting for drive to finish operation" However the drive had stopped spinning and the processor usage had dropped back to 3% so I simply opened the drive and removed the disc. (VP continued to display the window!)

Thanks for reporting this. I'll try it out.

borate

Just to chime in, this behavior has been seen in past versions here, and occasionally noted in this forum.

[deleted]

I may be wrong but can Panasonic DVD players handle +r discs. I am sure I saw somewhere that they can't.

Nat

Toadstool

My Panasonic can handle +r DVDs. My problem isn't with DVDs, it's with USB files. "The file extension has to be .xvid or .avi" ...

borate

As you now know, XVID isn't a file type...and AVI is a container for many different encodings.

An earlier post linked to an AVI with H.264 encoding. Here's one encoded with MPEG4 in an AVI wrapper. Download it, then copy to your USB and test in the player.

As with the H.264, the MPEG4 USB plays fine on the Blu-Ray/DVD Samsung unit here.

Toadstool

Aha - THAT one does play on my DVD player, from USB stick. So How did you do it? I've just tried to replicate it - exported a VP project to Video File, choosing .avi as File Format and "MPEG4 Native" as Video Compressor. But the DVD player again says "Unsupported Format". What am I doing wrong?

borate

These were the settings. Note that "constant frame rate" is not enabled. File was exported directly to the USB stick.

Toadstool

Thanks for patience. I've tried again, this time exporting direct to usb stick, but same result: unsupported format. Then I gave it another go, & at "create" I get "the preview & export aspect ratios differ" & the choice of "crop edges" or "resize to fit". Whichever of those I pick, I then get "failed". I've tried both PAL & NTSC (the DVD manual says it can play both).

So I don't know why the file you sent me plays, but the ones I make just don't. Or, why I now can't make them at all (just "failed".)

borate

Upload one of your files that was made exactly as above, but won't play, to Dropbox, Google DRIVE, MS OneDrive or the like.

Make the link public and post it here.

c_major_2

@[deleted]:

Would you mind let's see your Compression Settings?

@[deleted]:

Please check your resolution settings. Did you use the same resolution as above(720 x 304)? Also please make sure use MPEG4(Native) instead of XviD MPEG-4 Codec.

Toadstool

Dropbox link to one of my mini AVIs: https://www.dropbox.com/s/t4txhn3lrfgr4es/cricket.avi?dl=0

C-major: I forget what the resolution was - if I remember, the resolution in the file you sent me (the one that does play on my DVD player) wasn't available as an option when I exported from Videopad.

c_major_2

Thanks for sharing the file, I'll have a look and get back here when I find something.

wasn't available as an option when I exported from Videopad

You can type in any resolution by select "Custom" in the pull down list.

« Previous Page Next Page »