Some VS10 questions

[brianbrian]

Hi
Been away with work for several months and now trying to get back into VS10. Sucessfully produced a movie, but have some questions:

1. Most important question is that some frames jerk ie. don't move onto the next fame straight away, but seem to pause for a few milliseconds. Is this a VS10 setting up problem ?

2. Starting VS10 as new project then going to Share, Create Disk then loading a project file does not load the authoring part, but, loading a project file from the start e.g. from the Capture or Edit screen does include the authoring. So what use is it to be able to load a project file from the Share - Create Disk screen ?

3. If a project has been successfully compiled and say dvd folders have been created, and a dvd burned, then a few days later it is decided to burn another dvd, can we bypass the rendering stage and possibly the authoring stage and go straight to burning the dvd ? If so how do we do this - do we load the project file or do we load the vob files, and then what ?

4. It appears that loading the vob files does not result in the same thumbnails as loading the project file ? Does this mean that we have to use another programme to burn dvds via the vob files ? Also, what point is there then in loading the vob files into VS10 ?

Thanks for any help anyone can give.

Brian

[Ken Berry]

1. We need more information. Is the jerkiness evident when the DVD is played back or when you are previewing the project before the burn takes place (either in the editing stage or in the burner itself)? Have you changed the Field Order of the original video?

2. I am not sure I understand. Normally when you start VS with an empty timeline, then select Share > Create Disk (which is the only choice available if the timeline is empty -- apart from 'DV Recording' and 'Share Online'), this automatically opens the burning module. Then you use the "Add VSP" command in the top left of the burning page to open a project file within it i.e. inserting the full project into the burning timeline. Does your version not act this way?

It is not, in any case, our recommended procedure as it then requires the rendering of the project to usable video format (DVD-compatible mpeg-2) to take place alongside the conversion of the menu to video, the multiplexing of the video and audio, and the actual burning, all on the fly, which is highly demanding of computer resources. Quite often, computers simply cannot handle it. We normally recommend people actually convert/render their project into DVD-compatible mpeg-2 after the editing but before opening the burning module.

3. If you are indeed talking about true 'DVD folders', these are in fact the finished DVD as they contain the Video_TS folder which has the whole, final project compiled, rendered, multiplexed and "burned" (notionally) to its final format. All that is required is that it be actually burned to a DVD. Only the burn is necessary at that stage, no further processing.

But VS will not burn a Video_TS folder. You need a third party program like Nero to do that. If, instead of a Video_TS folder, you instead prepare a "disc image" .ISO file, it is exactly the same -- the full project, multiplexed and "burned" virtually to its final form, and only needs again to be actually burned to disc. This time, there is a module within your VS10 menu labelled "VCD DVD Disc Image Recorder" available for that. Once you have either a Video_TS folder or ISO image, you can burn as many copies of it with no further processing/rendering necessary.

4. The VOB files contain the video of the project but the way they are laid out conforms to the 'code' used by the DVD standard. The menu is contained in its own VOB file, and depending on how many separate videos are contained in your project and how big it is, you will of course have a variety of other VOB files. But none of them can be over 1 GB in size. In other words, if you have one single, long file in your project, and have burned it to a high quality single layer DVD, and it fills it, then you will have, probably, 4 VOB files each 1 GB long, plus another shorter one for the menu.

The program divides the file at 1GB regardless of whether there is a natural break there. But the code used by DVDs is such that, on playback, you don't actually notice any breaks, and the whole thing plays continuously. This DVD 'code', including the information on how many files there are, how they are broken up, what order they should play in, what the menu says etc, is contained in the .IFO files you will also see in a Video_TS folder. And in case something goes wrong with these, there are also back-up .BUP files.

Anyway, this basically is the reason why "loading the vob files does not result in the same thumbnails as loading the project file" (as you asked). The VOBs only make up the video segment of the DVD, and not all the other relevant information which is contained in the original .vsp file.

Being able to insert .vob files directly was a new addition to VS10+. Unfortunately, it has been inexplicably dropped from VS11+, which many of us regard as a shame. You can still use Insert DVD/DVD-VR to get the content off a DVD. But in some cases, this does not always work, and being able to use the VOB directly was one way around this.

If you can manage to transfer all the vobs to your hard disk, though, you can simply change the extension .vob to .mpg and insert it in your timeline. That usually works -- though again you have to remember that they are no more than video, and moreover, will often be video which is broken off at 1 GB, so that you will need to add, and then edit, the next vob in order to get continuity, plus possibly having a noticeable blip where the two videos are joined together to make up a single clip.

[sjj1805]

SUBJECT: Please use a subject that describes your exact problem instead of making us guess what's in your post.

Sorry if you this sounds like I am telling you off - I am not.
You can alter the title by using the [Edit] button on your first post.

The purpose of providing a meaningful title is this.
There are a number of members on the forum who try and help troubleshoot problems - myself included. In the early days of the user forum it was not too difficult to be able to read all of the posts submitted since the last time I (or one of the other troubleshooters) had logged on.

On the Forum Home page at the top right is a link
[view posts since last visit] In the forums early days this would perhaps range between 10-30 posts. Today however the board has grown in popularity and more products are now catered for including the former Intervideo products before the merger with Ulead.

There have been days when I have logged on to find over 70 new posts since my last visit. It is of course impossible to read each and every one of them and so it is necessary to look at the titles to pick out posts where I feel I am able to offer some worthwhile input.

if you are viewing perhaps the VideoStudio forum and a post is entitled
"VideoStudio" - it doesn't really give you a clue, similarly in the PhotoImpact forum a post entitled [PhotoImpact] is equally as meaningless.

Giving a post a suitable title is a means of helping us to help you.

[brianbrian]

Ken ?thanks for your very comprehensive reply.

1. The jerkiness in on the final dvd only, viewing the clips in editor mode - they seem fine ! What do you mean have I changed the field order ?

2. Since I was trying a non recommended procedure, then I wont do this again. You say convert / render the project into DVD compatible mpeg2 before opening the burning menu ?since my final product is to be a dvd, then there are two options here arent there ? either produce a PAL DVD file or an mpeg2 file ?surely the PAL DVD file is an mpeg2 file ? If so are these two options identical ? Also, what about going into the burn menu and just producing an iso disk image ?is this an alternative to the above method ?

3. You say here that to produce additional dvds you can either use the vob files and use say NERO, or use an iso file and use VS10 ?would you have any preference here ?
If you use the iso file, you say that there is a module in VS10 labelled CD DVD Disk Image Recorder. I cant find this on my version ?can you tell me where abouts it is ?

4. A new question ?when I purchased VS10, Ulead also sent me: Content Pack & Bonus Pack but no instructions as what they were or what to do with them - any ideas ?


Thanks once again for your help

Brian

[Ken Berry]

1. Most video is interlaced, which means that each image is made up of lines, and half of these lines, in alternating order, are transmitted quickly to a TV screen, followed a micro-second later, by the second half, and the human eye puts the two sets of lines together and sees them as a single image. Depending on the technology involved, either the second set of lines (e.g. 2, 4 , 6, 8 etc) will be transmitted first, or the first set (e.g. 1, 3, 5, 7 etc). This is called Field Order

Depending on where your original video came from, it will have either one of two possible Field Orders: Upper Field First (UFF --- which in effect is the first set, 1, 3, 5 etc) or Lower Field First (LFF -- 2, 4, 6 etc). Normally, for instance, video from a mini DV camera is LFF, while that from a mini DVD or hard disc digital camera is UFF. You need to right click on some of the clips within Video Studio (either in the timeline or in the library pane) and select 'Properties' and you will see what it is. That Field Order must be maintained throughout a project, including the burning stage. If the Field Order gets changed at some stage, it will not show on the monitor (whose display technology is different from a TV), but will show up in the final DVD. One of the common faults is that motion will be jerky, and another is jagged edges in rapid movement or panning shots.

You must also not mix LFF and UFF video in one project. The result for one set of clips will be that their field order will be wrong if you choose either LFF or UFF, so those clips in the final DVD will show the same faults described above.

Still images are in effect Frame Based, but you can include them with either LFF or UFF video witout problem.

2. 'PAL DVD' as a choice will definitely produce a DVD-compatible mpeg-2, but choosing 'mpeg-2' will not necessary produce a file which is DVD-compatible, and that is the important thing here. Mpeg-2s can be used for a variety of things, including for example, SVCDs which have a frame format which is not DVD-compatible. Choosing the pre-set 'PAL DVD' template is really just to ensure that newbies, or people happy with the properties of that template, choose (without thinking) properties which are definitely DVD-compatible.

But if, on the other hand, you learn about the many variations of properties possible which will still produce a DVD-compatible mpeg-2, you will have a much greater degree of flexibility. And of course, it is also important here to know which properties will *not* produce a DVD compatible file. Otherwise, VS will force a rendering in the burning module, and that is something you want to avoid, both because a second rendering of an mpeg-2 entails quality loss, and also because it often causes VS to grind to a halt.

3. An image file (.iso) is NOT an alternative to a DVD-compatible mpeg-2. An .iso is a *final* product, whereas a DVD-compatible mpeg-2 is only the intermediate step required to produce a final product. An .iso image file is really only another format containing the full structure of the final DVD, and is otherwise identical to the Video_TS folder, only requiring a program capable of reading the code in order to be able to burn it to an actual DVD.

My own personal preference is to 'burn' a Video_TS folder. (Please get out of the habit of calling this just 'the vob files' -- A Video_TS folder contains much more than 'just' the vob files.) I choose this because most software DVD players (like, say, PowerDVD or WinDVD), will be able to be pointed to a Video_TS folder on your computer hard drive, and will play it like it was an actual DVD. This allows you to check whether everything seems OK on your project before you possibly waste a blank DVD only to find the project has some fault in it. Few software DVD players can play an ISO image file -- though no doubt people will jump in here and say there are.

But as I said, it is a matter of personal choice, and part of that choice must be based on convenience. Video Studio cannot burn a Video_TS folder, even one it produces, to a final DVD. You need a third party software package like Nero or Roxio for that. On the other hand, VS *can* burn an .iso image file to DVD (as can Nero and Roxio etc). So if you don't have Nero or Roxio, this would be the logical choice.

To find that special VCD DVD Disc Image Recorder, you have to use the XP menu and go to wherever you normally go to find VS10. In the same drop down menu where VS10 is found, the Disc Image Recorder should also be listed.

4. However, that brings us to the Extra Content and Bonus Pack files. If you have not loaded *all* the Extra Content, your version of VS10 will be missing an awful lot of features, including not the whole range of templates and transitions and possibly also the Disc Image Recorder. I simply cannot remember where that is located, but seem to recall it may in fact be in the Bonus Pack (which also contains an older version of WinDVD and the very useful program Cool 3D which allows you to produce very ...er ... cool animated 3D titles for your videos). You can choose what you like from this Bonus set of files as their absence does not affect the operation of Video Studio itself.

Not all elements of either the Extra Content or Bonus files are auto-installing. Samples like additional video files, still images, masks, audio files etc can be just copied and pasted either to the sub-folders of VS10 which use similar files, or else to a central folder on your computer where other editing or authoring programs can find them easily. The Disc Image Recorder should have its own entry and should have a set-up or executable file for its installation.

[brianbrian]

Ken - thanks very much for the time you have spent answering my questions - you've sorted everything out and I now have a little bit more understanding of what actually goes on in VS10.

Brian

[Cody Boldy]

since i can not make a new topic i'll just post it in here

how do i make sure...

when i go to finalize the video on the "share video" thing

that it'll come out in wide screen like

meaning those 2 black bars at the top and bottom staying there

it might be easy but im having a hard time doing it

edit: im using version 10