VS10+ CAN'T BURN DVD - DISC TYPE EMPTY

[Cliffmg]

Hi All - I've never been on a forum before, so please be gentle with me if I slip up on the etiquette side of things. However I am in a VS10+ fix.

Basically, at the burn stage I cannot get VS to recognise that I have a blank disc in the drive. The disc type shows as 'Empty' displayed in red. I have tried DVD-R, DVD+R and DVD+RW discs. Also further down the screen it shows (in red) that disc space available is 0 bytes.

I have previously used Roxio Creator 7 (never an easy ride) but have burned DVDs from last six hols/weddings etc.. Then changed to VS10+ due to far better/smoother editing and far, far fewer crashes. Now with my carefully created 1 hour project on trip to Australia (inc split screen overlays) I'm stuck at the last hurdle. No amount of saving the project to hard disc or similar will help if VS can't spot that I've put a disc in the writer. Can anybody please help me?

PS I have removed Roxio (and the dreaded Drag to Disk thing) but still no joy.

[Ron P.]

Hi All - I've never been on a forum before, so please be gentle with me if I slip up on the etiquette side of things.

Well why haven't you been on This Forum before now? You may not be in the pickle that you're in if you had been.. Just kidding..

Welcome to the forums Cliff..

It would appear that the Burn module thinks that your discs are full and or closed and not usable. With your +RW discs have you tried or does it provide you with the option to Erase them? If so you could try to erase the disk and see if you are allowed to burn to them.

I tried an experiment, placing a closed DVD-R into the tray, and VS done as you suggest, show 0 bytes available in Red. I then put a DVD+RW that I had used to make a video DVD, and it did not show it in red, meaning that I could reuse it. I also noticed that with newer versions the burn module drivers tend to be over-written. Since I have DMF6+ which is capable of BD and HD, clicking on the About in the burn module reflects this. VS10+ does not have the BD capability.

So since you did have Roxio installed at one point, uninstalling Roxio may not have removed everything, and there is something there that still has a hold on your burner. Try doing a "Repair Install" of VS10. Make sure you have everything in the Libraries that you need to keep backed up first. as they will be overwritten.

If that does not work, then you may need to do a clean uninstall/reinstall to make sure that all new drivers etc get installed. Directions can be found here:
Re-installation of Ulead Products

[Cliffmg]

Ron,
Many thanks for your speedy and comprehensive repy. I have to leave my desk and PC now but will return this evening (UK time) to follow your leads and advice. Many thanks again. Will be in touch with results.

[sjj1805]

This may or may not be the reason for your problem.

Make sure you haven't fallen into the trap I did when DVD Burners first appeared on the market and I ended up giving away dozens of what I thought were faulty discs to a friend who kept asking "Got any more of them faulty discs I can have?"

Must have cost me a fortune before the penny dropped as to what i was doing wrong.

Unlike a computer Hard drive you do NOT format a CD/DVD disc.
Just drop it into the DVD drive straight out of the wrapper and you are ready to burn.

The option to format a disc is when you use what is termed packet writing software and your disc is treated rather like a conventional hard drive.

If that was not the problem then please view
DVD burning/playback problems

[Cliffmg]

Gentlemen - we have progress (well some anyway).

If, in Create a Disc and save the project first; then load a +RW disc, then Erase..... (but it doesn't like going straight to burn at that point).... but if I open the drive tray then close it again and then click Burn.... it burns!

This might not be the best way... but it works for me - so for the time being I will stick with this procedure! (I suspect there is some hangover from Roxio as I was using +RW then)

Sorry to ask a supplimentary - but I am also having problems with Chapters and Menues:- I have a 1 hour completed VS10 project (trip to Singapore/Australia/Bangkok). I have found the Main Menu and have customised that (with Ayers Rock as a background)... but I can only get one scene window to appear within the Main Menu. I really want three (one for each country).

I marked three Chapter Points on the way through my project, but I can't see how these now come into play in this latter stage.

All help really appreciated. Many thanks.

CLIFF

[Ron P.]

Cliff,

Here are some links to a tutorial done by Steve, that should help answer your questions.

The entire tutorial is From Camcorder to DVD with VideoStudio. Just as the title suggests, it covers the entire process.

This one goes to a specific part of that tutorial Chapters. It demonstrates creating chapters and menus.

[Cliffmg]

Many thanks again Ron. You really are a star!

I have read the relevant part of the Tutorial (and I will read it all later) but the part I am stuck on is the sentence 'From the Main Menu there will be 3 buttons'. How did they get there?

I have created what I thought was to be my screen after the Main Menu. I put 3 thumnails as chapter starts etc... But when I come to play the result, it goes from Main Menu straight to running the whole project. It just ignores my three chapter page.

Any thoughts?

CLIFF

[sjj1805]

Take for example this menu



If you click the small button at the bottom right I> it is a play all button and plays everything one after the other. If you click the thumbnails, any that have a chapter menu will bring up that chapter menu. Any that do not have a chapter menu will play that particular video.

[Cliffmg]

Thanks Steve.
I think I understand. I guess I am trying to run before I can walk. I was trying to put a single screen at the start ie 'Our Trip' then click through to a second page which has the three thumbnails (plus the l> arrow for 'play all'). Otherwise I am confused as to the role of Main Menu.

Thanks for your patience.

CLIFF