what are project file (*.iso) files for? VS11

jmcm · Post by **jmcm** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 4:25 pm

I can create a .iso file, but how is it used to create a DVD?

Trevor Andrew · Post by **Trevor Andrew** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 4:28 pm

Hi

There is a Disc Image Recorder installed as part of the VS software

Go to Start-Programs-Ulead Video Studio-Disc Image¡K¡K¡K

jmcm · Post by **jmcm** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 4:36 pm

Thanks! Never saw that in the manual.

Black Lab · Post by **Black Lab** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 4:37 pm

Was that included in v11? For some reason I'm thinking it wasn't, but it is included with earlier versions, if you have one.

jmcm · Post by **jmcm** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 4:48 pm

I have it from VS10, actually. But I just tried it and it creates a disc that won't play or read. It makes my DVD drives appear as CD drives, but the symbol shows DVD-ROM. When I try to browse the drive, it thinks there is no disc.

PuzZLeR · Post by **PuzZLeR** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 5:23 pm

It's all about emulation - emulated discs and emulated optical drives.

ISO files are not VideoStudio files. They are standard disc image files that can be used in many applications. Another similar one is NRG generated by Nero products.

Think of it as a CD or a DvD, but not a physical one - a digital one. Yes, an abstract thought, but it will make sense. It's a bit like a .zip or .rar file that holds the contents of a full and finalized CD or DvD without having to burn one physically. You keep these on your hard drive.

The way they work is with something called an image drive. Think of an image drive as another CD/DvD optical drive on your computer, but not a physical one - a digital one.

When you have an image drive installed on your PC, it is recognized as a separate CD/DvD drive in My Computer. There is plenty of software that installs an image drive for you if you do a search.

When you activate an image drive it will ask you to load a "disc". This "disc" is actually an ISO or NRG file it needs - the digital disc. When you load the ISO/NRG file your PC will act as if a real CD or DvD is loading. It will actually think that this is a "real" drive loading a "real" disc.

Then, when loaded, you will see it in the disc icon of the disc image drive, NOT your physical CD/DvD drive. If you right-click and Explore you will see the contents of the "disc".

Then you can copy it to disc with any burning program to a "real" disc. (The source will be your image drive and the destination will be the physical drive with the disc.)

The use of this stuff is mostly for testing or archiving discs without having to make an actual disc. It's also used for temporary purposes too - having an image of a real disc to burn later. It's also great if you have an authoring program that makes the menus, etc. for you but you wish to burn it with another app. It's an emulated disc on your hard drive and ready for burning if you ever need it.

Hopefully it makes sense.

Post by **Ken Berry** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 11:22 pm

With respect, in fact you don't have to 'mount' the ISO file before burning it to DVD. I have used the Ulead VCD DVD Disc Image Recorder and simply pointed it to where my ISO file is located and successfully burned a DVD which moreover plays in a variety of stand-alone DVD players.

However, I prefer to use the Nero Back-up > Burn Disc Image command. And again, you simply point Nero to where the ISO file is located and it does the rest.

The essential point is that you need this special burning capacity to burn an ISO file to disc in a format which can be read. Just copying the file to disc, using say a Windows command, will not work.

PuzZLeR · Post by **PuzZLeR** » Thu Sep 06, 2007 4:41 pm

Hello Ken,

Yes, you are indeed correct. I have been using them so long now that I didn't realize that software has adapted to their popularity and cut out a few "mount" or "load" steps in between since the last few years.

I was still stuck on the concept that you always had to load them like real discs. Thanks for pointing this out to me.

heinz-oz · Post by **heinz-oz** » Fri Sep 07, 2007 12:37 am

I always create an ISO file of any of my video projects and store them on an external HDD to archive. They are easily and quickly burned to disk using NERO. Also my music CD backup is done that way, using the nrg format.

That way I have a copy of my media in a few minutes and don't need to read the original disk first. Burning an image file to disk takes a fraction of the time it takes to copy a physical disk. In case of your own video/DVD productions it is not advisable to copy a burned disk because of errors compounding. Every blank burnable disk can and usually does have production faults which can cause data errors. DVD players are usually capable of compensating for a certain amount of errors and you will never know. Copying a disk with errors on it to another disk which may add further errors is bound to cause some problems sooner or later and is best to be avoided.

You can burn as many copies as you like from a disk image without compounding disk errors.