Hitachi DZ-mv270A DVD camcorder and VS 9

[jymetalwood]

I'm trying Video Studio 9. It reads my VOB and VRO files. I was able to author a DVD, and do some editing with VS 9 of my files.
I'm looking for software, that can read and process my files either on DVD-Ram or or DVD-R.

Is there better solutions available for me?

Secondly does Video Studio 8 read VOB and VRO files? It is going much cheaper on Ebay.

I have installed Pinnacel Studio Ver 9 and Movie Box USB (capture device). VS 9 doesnt recognize it.

Thanks for suggestions, I have broad shoulders.
After reading some of the messages, Maybe I should have bought a DV camera. It is too late now, the money for that is gone. I do get good quality.

Thanks for reading all this

Joe Yablonski

[Calver]

Hello Joe,

I'm doing a similar thing with VRO files from my Panasonic E-50 DVD Recorder DVD-RAM disks. I copy the .VRO to my hard drive and rename it as .MPG - its basically an MPEG-2 file.

Then I use VideoRedo (you can get a trial) to 'fix' the file. This is necessary because the file can contain multiple recordings, and strange things can happen otherwise. I also use this software to cut out the programs and scenes I want.

The resulting mpegs can then be inserted into the UVS timeline. For me UVS9 is far more stable than UVS8.

Regards,
John

[Ron P.]

I'm trying Video Studio 9. It reads my VOB and VRO files. I was able to author a DVD, and do some editing with VS 9 of my files.
I'm looking for software, that can read and process my files either on DVD-Ram or or DVD-R.

Is there better solutions available for me?

Secondly does Video Studio 8 read VOB and VRO files? It is going much cheaper on Ebay.

I have installed Pinnacel Studio Ver 9 and Movie Box USB (capture device). VS 9 doesnt recognize it.

Thanks for suggestions, I have broad shoulders.
After reading some of the messages, Maybe I should have bought a DV camera. It is too late now, the money for that is gone. I do get good quality.

Thanks for reading all this

Joe Yablonski

Joe

Use extreme caution when buying any software from Ebay. You can easily be purchasing Pirated software, or the Versions sold can be SE's (Simple Editions), VE (video editions), which most are bundled with hardware and are actually freebies. They are also not full versions, limited in what they can do.

I have bought and sold items on ebay, never had a bad experience, however I made it my policy not to buy software. It is too easy to be taken.

Now for VS8 reading VOB files, yes it can.

1. Go to File-->Insert Media-->Insert DVD/DVD-VR.
2. In the popup window navigate to the Video_TS folder where your VOB files are, and click on the Video_TS folder.
3. The Select Scenes dialog box opens up. Highlight all the scenes you want to import.
4. Click Finish.

VS will import them to your timeline...

Regards

Ron P.

[maddrummer3301]

Hi,
You can rename a VRO from the E50 but from a camcorder is a different
story. You can use VS8 or VS9 to import the dvd and use the
importing feature.
You can import the contents of the dvd-ram disk created on the recorder provided you have a ram reader in the computer.

Put the dvd-ram disk in the ram reader.
From the timeline of VS8 or VS9 right-click and select Import dvd/dvd-vr.
Navigate to the DVD_RTAV folder and click OK.

If renaming VOB's or VRO's to mpg was the correct way then ulead would simply
copy the file(s) and rename the extension. It can work but isn't correct. Mainly because that depends on how the videos were recorded.

Nero can also import the mpeg2's from these disks.

Most packages sold on ebay are the OEM version that someone has
and they are selling it. These are versions that come bundled with a hardware device. Not cool.

If you already have a dvd camcorder there's no use for the movie box
unless you connect the analog out's of the camcorder to the movie box and capture the video contents that way.
Otherwise put the dvd-ram in the reader and extract the contents.

Hope this helps,

MD

[Calver]

You can import the contents of the dvd-ram disk created on the recorder provided you have a ram reader in the computer.

Put the dvd-ram disk in the ram reader.
From the timeline of VS8 or VS9 right-click and select Import dvd/dvd-vr.
Navigate to the DVD_RTAV folder and click OK.

MD

I have a problem with this in VS9. It shows the programs and cells and even plays them, but the Import button never becomes enabled.

Any ideas?

John

[Ken Berry]

Do you actually check the little boxes to the left of each chapter you want to import?

[Calver]

Oops! I'm not having a good evening! Thank you for your help Ken.

John

[maddrummer3301]

Calver,
When the process works it's great. That is the correct method to extract the mpeg2 files from its "Container" (The VRO file).

Some tips to know about working with the mpeg2 videos created in dvd recorders.
The must know the "FrameSize" used. Also all the other video properties need to be known and then you save the files with the exact same properties.
The fielding for those files should be "Upper Field First" -> "Field B".

Panasonic is famous for 704x480 ntsc and 704x576 pal framesizes.
So if your editing any mpeg2 files you must set the "Project Properties" to equal the source file(s) properties or things don't work properly and re-rendering the files will take hours to convert.
The defaults for VS is 720. When working with my panasonic dvd recorder files sometimes I forget the framesize is 704. You can tell right away when saving the file because it can't smart-render it then and the process goes like molasses.

If you have recorded in a EP or LP modes the framesizes are smaller, called "Half D1".

Almost all video(s) recorded onto a dvd-ram disk are recorded in the -VR mode. The -VR mode is editable video(cut/trim on the disk. The +VR mode is non-editable video on the disk.

The term "VR" stands for "Video Recorder" (DVD Video Recorder). They are mpeg2 files.


Hope this helps,

MD

[Calver]

MD,

Thank you for your reply - the whole business is a lot clearer now.

I've just done some test recordings on DVD-RAM with the Panasonic, so I can see exactly what's going on.

After importing with UVS9 I looked at the file properties for Frame Sizes...

XP - 704 x 576
SP - 704 x 576
LP - 352 x 576
EP - 352 x 288

However, when I start a new project and insert the first clip, and get the 'settings to match' prompt, it reports...

XP - 720 x 576
SP - 720 x 576
LP - 352 x 576
EP - 352 x 288

Is this a bug and should I change the settings back to 704 x 576 for XP and SP?

Also, the Display Aspect Ratio is reported as 4:3 whether its a Widescreen 16:9 or Normal 4:3 recording. Should I always keep it as 4:3 ? This is the aspect I have a mental block with at the moment

Regards,
John

[maddrummer3301]

Hi,
When working with Mpeg2 files you make the "Project Properties" equal to the source video properties.

Hitting <ALT><ENTER> will hotkey to the "Project Properties settings". From that screen you can change the settings.
Change them to match the source video(s) properties.

The files you have imported are already dvd compliant.
So if you want to convert the videos to a standard dvd and use them as is then you can use this method:
After you have imported the video(s) and they are on the harddisk.

Start VS. Make sure the timeline is empty. (A clean project).
Goto Share - Create Disk.
The Create Disk module is a "Separate" module within VS8/9.
So you are going into creating a dvd with a Blank timeline (no videos).
In the Create Disk module the first thing you do is set the "Working Folder" (It defaults to a different directory than the timeline settings).
Import the dvd compliant files from the harddisk.
Make sure the setting "Do Not Convert Mpeg2 Compliant Files" is Checked ON.
Create Chapters, a menu(s) and burn.
I don't usually burn a disk direct and uncheck burn disk.
I usually create dvd folders on the harddisk from the burning module and play the dvd folders using 'Power Dvd" or WinDvd or the Ulead DVD Player. That feature is available by clicking on the drop-down arrow on the right of the screen (displays additional burning options).

If everything works properly then I'll use a program such as Nero or MF4 that will burn a "Dvd-Video" disk from the dvd folders created on the harddrive.

The dvd creation process of VS9 or MF should go very quickly as long as you import dvd compliant files.

MD

[maddrummer3301]

The aspect ratio may be a problem. Not sure about that yet.
I have a method to correct the video's aspect ratio that's working for me.
I know if I import some true 16:9 dvd-vr's the aspect ratio gets tagged
as 4:3 and I have to correct them.
I don't think your doing anything wrong. Using a dvd recorder
if you record via analog inputs on the recorder it may not be recorded
as 16:9. I can on a Sony recorder but that is assigned manually in the recording settings menus. Panasonic doesn't appear to have this feature.

When i record using the panasonic firewire (DV) connector a 16:9 DV recording
from the camcorder it's recorded correctly onto the dvd-ram disk and
displayed as 16:9 Aspect Ratio.
I don't know why VS or MF is assigning 4:3 to these dvd's.
They are correctable though.

MD

[Calver]

I'm mainly recording to the DVD-RAM via a Sky digital box. After importing and burning a DVD they appear to show properly on the TV. I think 'do not convert compliant files' is the key to it.

Thank you again for the explanations.

Regards,
John