what am I doing wrong?

Phil P · Post by **Phil P** » Wed Jan 09, 2008 10:36 am

I am using the trial version of MF 6+.
I captured HDV video from a Canon HV20 camcorder through firewire to my computer.
The source parameters are as follows:
Video: MPEG-2, Upper Field First
24 bits, 1440x1080, 16x9
29.97 fps
25000kbps
Audio: MPEG Audio layer 2 files
48000 Hz, 16 bit, stereo
384kbps

I matched the disc template to the above parameters with video data rate at variable max 18000 kbps.
I set the project to hd dvd hd standard 15g.
I cut the video to be about 17 minutes, added 4 chapters.
Everything looked fine in the preview.
I checked normalize the audio.
I then burned the project to a dvd-r at 4x with burn completed successfully.
Tried to play it back on a samsung bd-up5000 hd dvd blu-ray duo player.
The disc plays and the video picture looks very good but the video is very choppy, stalls, restarts.
The audio sounds like its coming on then off, loud then soft.
The menus look and sound very good.
Any recommendations to fix this?

etech6355 · Post by **etech6355** » Wed Jan 09, 2008 2:25 pm

I matched the disc template to the above parameters with video data rate at variable max 18000 kbps.

Make your "Project Settings" under the GEAR Icon -> Change Mpeg Settings -> Customize to match your project settings.
I would not check ON to normalize the audio to eliminate that as a problem.

What type of disk did you burn, a DVD-R or a DVD+R dvd.
If you used a DVD+R dvd then I would try using a DVD-R dvd.
I've had similar problems using DVD+R dvd's yet the DVD-R's work properly.
The stuttering is usually a disk read problem, the playback HDV from a standard dvd they player has to read the dvd at 3X normal speed. So you must use compatible media with the player (and burner).

Phil P · Post by **Phil P** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 12:22 am

I did use the customize under the gear icon to match the project settings to the original source video. I did use a dvd-r disc. I will try doing it without normalizing the audio.

Would I be better off changing the video data rate to something less or to constant?

etech6355 · Post by **etech6355** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 2:35 am

All mine use the same as the source videos which is 25MBS (25,000kbs).
Tha'ts for playing back in a Toshiba HD-DVD player.
Yours should be the same, I can't say that for sure though, haven't tried any of my disks in the hybrid player.

Phil P · Post by **Phil P** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 5:27 am

I tried burning my project without normalizing the audio and matching the project settings to the source video( that is video rate variable 25,000 kbps).
I keep getting an "unspecified error" after the total progress changes from "convert menu" to "prepare output content". Any advice?

etech6355 · Post by **etech6355** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 5:37 am

The HV20 captures 25,000kbs Constant Bit Rate (CBR), not Variable bit rate.
Shouldn't make a difference except that the video needs to be re-encoded.
Since the video needs to be re-encoded how did you capture the video, and were there any errors or file splitting that you didn't expect.
It sounds like one of the HDV files may have some corruption in it, usually this happens because of an error on the tape.

Phil P · Post by **Phil P** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 11:00 am

I captured the video using MF 6 trial version with firewire between the camera and the computer. I did not get any errors. I cut off the video around 17 1/2 minutes to make it fit on the dvd-r disc and made 4 chapters. Everything seemed to work well in the preview. I will try with constant bit rate.

etech6355 · Post by **etech6355** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 2:44 pm

After you capture video in MF6+ you can trim it using the Multi-trim video or right on the timeline (step 1).
To smart-render the video to a new file then "Export Selected Clips -> FAST EXPORT".
Then remove the original capture, make chapters & burn.
Under the GEAR Icon make sure "Do Not Convert Mpeg Compliant" is checked ON.
The video is already compliant & shouldn't require re-encoding. It should be passed through the encoder & immediately multiplexing process (after creating custom menus & all).

Phil P · Post by **Phil P** » Thu Jan 17, 2008 9:55 am

Just a follow-up. I ended up buying an entry level Toshiba HDDVD player. It turns out that all five dvd-r's that I made with MF6 Plus Trial version, which had trouble playing back in my samsung duo hddvd blu-ray player, all played fine on the toshiba player. Thank you for all the advice and help. I have already bought the real version of MF6 Plus.

etech6355 · Post by **etech6355** » Thu Jan 17, 2008 6:36 pm

It's probably a bit-rate limitation of the Samsung Dual format player.
This is a common problem with putting High Definition mpeg2 @ 25MBS on a standard dvd, it has to spin or access the data at 3X normal dvd spec's.
This is why many are switching to the newer avchd disk which has the same quality and uses about 1/2 the bit-rate of mpeg2.

What you may want to try is the HD-Add-On pack for MF6+ ($20.00), on the ulead website it's under ADD-ON's. It adds Blu-Ray authoring and avchd disks.

With the add-on pack you can create avchd disks (avc/h264).
Using the source videos from the HV20 make the project settings to:
1440x1080 Upper Field First
Dolby Audio 5.1 @ 448kbs
Compression /Quality = 100%
Variable Bit Rate 18,000kbs (18MBS)
You can also make a custom template and use that.

The samsung is also a Blu-Ray disk player so the avchd disk should playback in it (I would think). All the AVCHD disks I've made play on the Sony Blu-Ray players. I did hear of a problem with avchd disks on samung players, something about firmware updates, not sure.
You can get more than double the amount of HighDefinition video on a dvd-r using avchd @ 18MBS Variable bit-rate than a single layer HD_DVD.
The average bit-rate of the avc/h264 high definition videos end up about 12MBS or less. The quality is excellent.
Like I say though, not sure about the Samsung Blu-Ray players.
I've heard you can use the Blu-Ray disk format (Blu-Ray disk module in the MF6+ add-on pack), when burnt to a dvd in UDF 2.6 format it plays in some of the samsung players, yet Blu-Ray on dvd doesn't play in the Sony players, avchd disks do.

Phil P · Post by **Phil P** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 3:06 am

Does putting High Definition mpeg2 at a lower bit rate decrease the video quality? Would it make it more likely to play on a bit rate limited player?

etech6355 · Post by **etech6355** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 10:30 pm

Reducing the bit-rate of the mpeg2 video file will decrease quality.
This is the advantage of the avc/h264 codec which uses a much lower bit rate but still retains the high definition quality.