MovieFactory 6 Trial -Loops to beginning after every segment

nhall · Post by **nhall** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 11:18 pm

Hello,

I am using the trial version of DVD Moviefactory 6 and I am having a problem creating a combination video / slideshow.

I have created a new project consisting of multiple slideshows as well as multiple video clips (AVI's and MOV's converted to AVI's). Everything works fine, however whenever I do a preview or burn a disk, it plays the first segment and then loops back to the beginning again. If I skip forward to other segments, they also play fine, but as soon as that segment ends, it goes back to the beginning again.

I thought maybe I had some bad video files or something, but I have mixed everything around and it doesn't matter. It also doesn't matter if the segment is a slideshow or video, once it ends, it's back to the beginning again.

Based on some very slightly similar problems posted here, I tried creating a menu (originally I didn't have a menu added), but that doesn't seem to matter either.

I have used these same photos & videos on Version 4 and do not have any problem, although that is on a different PC with a different burner.

Thanks for any advice. My trial is ending soon, and I really like version 6, but I can't buy it until I figure out this issue.

sjj1805 · Post by **sjj1805** » Wed Jul 04, 2007 3:37 am

Check "Clip Playback" in Project Settings

nhall · Post by **nhall** » Wed Jul 04, 2007 4:27 am

Thanks for the reply.

"Clip Playback" was grayed out because "Auto Repeat When Disk Playback Ends" was checked, so I unchecked "Auto Repeat..." and then set "Clip Playback" to "Continue to Play the Next Clip", but it is still doing the same thing -- plays the first slideshow (or whatever else I skip to), and once that ends, it goes back to the beginning again.

Again, this happens on the preview as well as the disk burn.

sjj1805 · Post by **sjj1805** » Wed Jul 04, 2007 5:15 am

What happens when you select the "Play All Button" on the DVD Menu?
The Play all button will probably look like a |> shape

nhall · Post by **nhall** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 12:18 am

I have it set to not create a DVD menu at all (my preferred way to go). One of my earlier attempts I did create a menu, just to see if it made a difference, but it didn't.

Thanks

sjj1805 · Post by **sjj1805** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 1:44 am

If you have just one video or just one slide show then I can go along with having no DVD menu - just put the DVD into the drive and let it play.

I am having a bit of a dead brain moment trying to work out when I would want a DVD with several Individual Videos and/or slide shows and NO MENU.
To me it sort of defeats the idea. You give someone a DVD and they can choose to watch all or some of it.

But.... if that is what you want to do, then the simplest thing to do is join the whole lot up as one long video (slide shows included). You could then define chapter points where each video or sideshow starts so that at least the user can skip to the next bit.

nhall · Post by **nhall** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 2:22 am

The main reason that I don't care about the menu is a bit too complicated to explain here, but it doesn't really matter either way, because even if I do create a menu, I still have the same looping problem.

Anyway, I can try to run everything together as one video, but I am still confused as to why I am having this problem. I have created these same type of compilations on version 4 without any problems, but I like some of the new features that version 6 provides, and since I knew version 4, version 6 was a breeze to figure out (except for this problem).

sjj1805 · Post by **sjj1805** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 2:27 am

The simple answer then is to keep Version 4 on your computer in addition to Version 6. See my signature block!

GeorgeW · Post by **GeorgeW** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 2:42 am

1) make sure you DO NOT check the box to Use First Clip as introductory video

2) If #1 isn't the problem, then try this -- Create a Menu, then hit the GEAR icon (lower left), and check Play All Clips First Before Menu

Regards,
George

nhall · Post by **nhall** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 12:03 pm

Thanks for the advice. I'm pretty sure I tried the settings you suggested, but I'll give it another try tonight.

etech6355 · Post by **etech6355** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 12:40 pm

Another method to pervent this from happening is highlight all the videos/slideshows on the timeline and click the JOIN Icon.
This will create a single mpeg2 file on the dvd that will be continuous.

One important point is you have to have your "Project Settings" set properly. The slideshows will be encoded to the project settings.
Another method I often use is after I join my videos together is I export them out to a new file and load this new file (removing the old project files). There are many different ways to do this. Point being if you export a dvd compliant file then the burning process goes much smoother and you have a mpeg2 file of the project to re-use again.

nhall · Post by **nhall** » Fri Jul 06, 2007 3:22 am

Thanks to everyone for the tips... Here is where I stand:

First I tried "GeorgeW"'s tips, but that didn't help (I was pretty sure I had already tried that anyway, but I tried it again).

Next I tried "etech6355"'s advice. First I tried the join, but I can't figure out how to join a slideshow. I can join videos just fine, but as soon as I select a slideshow, the join option is greyed out.

Then I tried the export option. It took some setting changes to get the audio right, but I was able to export successfully. After exporting the video & slideshows to MPEG2 video, I tried rebuilding the project in MF6, and it still did the same thing, even with the exported videos. So finally I gave up and took the exported videos and burned them with Nero, and that got me around the problem and I finally have a good DVD.

The workaround does work, and the process is fairly complicated now, but it did work. Thanks again for the tips. If anyone knows the real fix so that I can avoid the extra steps that would be great. The jury is still out on whether to go with V6 with the workarounds or just stick with V4.

etech6355 · Post by **etech6355** » Fri Jul 06, 2007 3:32 am

After exporting the video & slideshows to MPEG2 video, I tried rebuilding the project in MF6, and it still did the same thing, even with the exported videos.

When you exported the video & slideshow, this created 2 mpeg2 videos. Then you started a new project and used these 2 videos. You would have to join these 2 again in order to have only one mpeg2 file on the final dvd.

In other words in order to jump to a chapter and continue playing the complete dvd you need one continuous mpeg2 movie file on the dvd (using MF6).

nhall · Post by **nhall** » Fri Jul 06, 2007 3:56 am

I see. I didn't think of doing the join after the export. I'll give that a try.

Thanks again.

etech6355 · Post by **etech6355** » Fri Jul 06, 2007 5:29 am

To use MF4/5/6 export feature & activate the smartrender feature so there is no recoding of the video perform a search on the forum. I've posted it many times.
Basically you want to make the project settings (Gear Icon) match your source video settings. Then after joining use the "Fast Export Dvd Compliant Video" choice. Under the GEAR Icon you can select Customize, or from the timeline make custom templates to directly apply under the Gear Icon.
Basically when the project settings match the source video MF will see this and will not re-encode the video, it only re-timestamps the new file so it's a compliant mpeg2 video file. This works best with the "Fast Export Dvd Compliant Video" when joining or videos that have been edited/trimmed etc. The "Fast Export Dvd Compliant Video" uses the project settings to encode the videos. This can be tricky if you haven't edited or used the joining feature with the videos though, if the video hasn't been edited nor joined with another and is already a dvd compliant video this feature may leave the video "As Is". Not easy to explain.

The exporting features of MF are very powerful if one can master them.