Ulead VideoStudio 8 - Output Format Problem

Pyro852 · Post by **Pyro852** » Wed Apr 29, 2009 2:31 pm

Hi all,

I recently reformatted my computer. I reinstalled Ulead VideoStudio 8 and when I went to burn a DVD, I came across a problem. I click on “Create Disc” and it brings up the menu. At the top left where it says “Output disc format” the option “VCD” was selected. I click the drop arrow to select DVD and it was not listed. There are no other options listed in the drop window besides VCD. Now, I’ve been using Ulead VideoStudio 8 for several years and DVD has always been a selectable output format. It was just this last time I installed the program that it wasn’t listed. I looked through my preferences options and project setting to see if I had to enable it someplace and I couldn’t find anything. I’ve never had to enable it before, it was always just listed as an output option along with VCD and SVCD. I looked in the help file and all it said about output format was: “Click Create Disc in the Options Panel to output your project (together with other VideoStudio projects or videos) to create a VCD, SVCD, or DVD.” – So it seems DVD is supposed ot be an option…but, it’s not. Also, the device is enabled. Under 'hardware' in device manager, the dvd writer does show up, it says it is working properly, drivers are installed, and I've already burned a disc using that drive. And yes, all that was done before installing video studio. I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling and the same problem persists. Any ideas? Thanks.

Post by **Ron P.** » Wed Apr 29, 2009 5:53 pm

Welcome to the forums,

VS8 is capable of burning DVDs. In my copy it does have NTSC DVD as an option. There are only a couple of reasons why VS would not give the DVD option. One being that it is not seeing your DVD burner. Reinstalling your burner could correct this. By reinstalling I mean just go to the Device Manager, locate your burner drive, then right-click and select Uninstall. Next restart your computer. When it boots up, it should see your DVD Burner as a "new device" and want to install it.

Next would be another program that has a utility where you can drag and drop files to be burnt onto DVDs. Ulead/Corel has one such called Quick Drop, Nero and Roxio also have similar programs. Do you have Roxio Easy Media Creator Suite, or Nero's InCD installed? These may have installed a nasty Packet Writing utility, that tend to hi-jack DVD burners, not allowing other programs like VS to have access.

With Roxio's EMCS, you can internally disable this "drag-n'-drop" utility, however with Nero's InCD you will need to un-install it through the Control Panel's Add/Remove Programs.These tend to hi-jack a DVD burner, and not allow other programs access or see it. If you have such a program, try disabling it.

Pyro852 · Post by **Pyro852** » Wed Apr 29, 2009 7:36 pm

thanks for the welcome

i uninstalled my burner, restarted my computer, and yes, the popup did come up finding the "new device." it reinstalled my burner drive fine, as it shows up in my computer. but VS still didnt allow a dvd option

i dont have any of those programs. the only other burner i have installed was CloneDVD2, but its not a drag and drop. but i uninstalled it anyway, then uninstalled my writer drive again, and restarted my computer. the burner reinstalled itself, but when i opened VS, still only vcd was in the drop down window

Post by **Ken Berry** » Wed Apr 29, 2009 8:46 pm

If you got VS8 with some piece of hardware, it is possible that it is an SE version (special edition). The older versions including VS 8 sometimes had the ability to burn a DVD crippled. It was only available in the full version. So if your VS 8 disc says VS 8 SE and not 'VS 8 DVD', that may be the problem...

Pyro852 · Post by **Pyro852** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 3:31 pm

my version can burn dvds. ive used this program for like...4 or 5 years and ive always been able to burn dvds. its just this last time that i reformatted my harddrive that its not allowing me to

Pyro852 · Post by **Pyro852** » Sat May 02, 2009 5:54 pm

any other suggestions?

Post by **Ron P.** » Sat May 02, 2009 7:56 pm

There's something on your system (which is XP I hope), that is blocking VS8 from seeing your DVD player/burner. Most of the time this is those Packet-Writing (drag-n-drop) programs. I'm going to throw some info and links up for you to try. Have you installed any/all updates and patches for VS8? Have you installed the Content Pack, not any Bonus material, just the Content Pack?

Go HERE and download the latest MS Direct-X drivers. The most current is dated March 2009. This is not included with the automatic updates, it must be manually downloaded and installed. It seems to fix a lot of issues with VS.

Try doing a complete un-install/re-install. Ulead programs leave a lot of files behind. So just doing a simple add/remove programs from the control panel and then re-installing may not correct some issues. Instructions can be found here : Re-installation of Ulead Products

Please view:
Problems Burning a DVD

Pyro852 · Post by **Pyro852** » Mon May 04, 2009 4:27 pm

if something was blocking the actual burner wouldnt the burner not show up at all when i go to burn? my F drive (the dvd burner) does show up as the drive that VS is going to use to burn the disc. it shows up as a dvd burner, i just cant select the output format to dvd

i installed the latest (march) ms direct-x drivers from the link you gave me. didnt work

then i did a complete uninstall of the program following the steps in the link you gave. then i reinstalled, and updated it with the patches listed here for VS8: http://www.ulead.com/tech/phasedout.htm. for some reason a couple of them said it couldnt find VS8 on my system...which is odd because i installed it in the defalt directory...

still, didnt work. i dont see anything listed as "content pack" in the updates section however, where can that be found?

Pyro852 · Post by **Pyro852** » Mon May 11, 2009 12:20 am

so where can i find this "content pack"?

sjj1805 · Post by **sjj1805** » Mon May 11, 2009 12:34 am

Pyro852 wrote:so where can i find this "content pack"?

The content pack is not something you can now download.
When you first purchased the program from Ulead you would have been given at least two download links which would work for a limited time period.
One link would be for the program itself
Another link would have been for the extra content.

Those links no longer exist, Ulead no longer exists and what remains of the former software company is now owned by Corel.

I can only once again stress to our members the importance of making back up copies of their software to avoid disappointment in the future when for some reason the program needs to be re-installed on either a repaired computer or following a move to a new more powerful one.
Lost Serial Numbers and Software.

Post by **Ron P.** » Mon May 11, 2009 12:48 am

Pyro852 wrote:so where can i find this "content pack"?

Ok, VS8 doesn't list or have what the successor versions call Content Packs. It has an Extra Contents install file. On my install CD for VS8 (upgrade) are the following files and folders:
Folders:
Extra Contents
Main Programs
Extra Contents Folder has;

Full_Spectrum_22k.exe
uvs8_style_pack_e_.exe
uvs8_upgrade_e_.exe

Main Programs Folder has;

uvs8_extra_content.exe
c3d3se.exe

Oh and yes it is somewhat backwards that the extra content file is found under the Main Programs folder, and the main program (uvs8_upgrade) is found under the Extra Contents Folder, but that's the way Ulead burnt the disc.

You do have those files? If so and you installed all except the Cool3D program, it should have the DVD option.

When you reformatted your system, did you reinstall Windows XP and all service packs or Vista? It could be that the SP3 of WinXP may be causing the problem, since VS8 is such an old program, written before SP2 was released. Just grasping at straws here...

Also from the Readme html file included with VS8:

To enable DMA in Windows 2000 or Windows XP:

1. Open the Control Panel.
2. Double-click the System icon.
3. Click the Hardware tab then click Device Manager.
4. From "IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers", right-click "Primary/Secondary IDE channel" and select Properties.
5. Click the Advanced Settings tab. Set Transfer Mode to the DMA if available option.

You should have the following options in Create Video File:

Create Disc:

If not than I can only think that something has happened with your installation, possibly even corrupt..

Pyro852 · Post by **Pyro852** » Mon May 11, 2009 3:06 pm

sjj1805 wrote:
Pyro852 wrote:so where can i find this "content pack"?
The content pack is not something you can now download.
When you first purchased the program from Ulead you would have been given at least two download links which would work for a limited time period.
One link would be for the program itself
Another link would have been for the extra content.

Those links no longer exist, Ulead no longer exists and what remains of the former software company is now owned by Corel.

I can only once again stress to our members the importance of making back up copies of their software to avoid disappointment in the future when for some reason the program needs to be re-installed on either a repaired computer or following a move to a new more powerful one.
Lost Serial Numbers and Software.

weird. as i said before, i still have the original disc. ive reinstalled it many times, as ive had two computers since i first got this program. ive reinstalled it after reformatting before as well, and ive never had this problem

vidoman wrote:
Pyro852 wrote:so where can i find this "content pack"?
Ok, VS8 doesn't list or have what the successor versions call Content Packs. It has an Extra Contents install file. On my install CD for VS8 (upgrade) are the following files and folders:
Folders:
Extra Contents
Main Programs
Extra Contents Folder has;

Full_Spectrum_22k.exe

uvs8_style_pack_e_.exe

uvs8_upgrade_e_.exe
Main Programs Folder has;

uvs8_extra_content.exe

c3d3se.exe
Oh and yes it is somewhat backwards that the extra content file is found under the Main Programs folder, and the main program (uvs8_upgrade) is found under the Extra Contents Folder, but that's the way Ulead burnt the disc.
You do have those files? If so and you installed all except the Cool3D program, it should have the DVD option.

When you reformatted your system, did you reinstall Windows XP and all service packs or Vista? It could be that the SP3 of WinXP may be causing the problem, since VS8 is such an old program, written before SP2 was released. Just grasping at straws here...

Also from the Readme html file included with VS8:
To enable DMA in Windows 2000 or Windows XP:

1. Open the Control Panel.
2. Double-click the System icon.
3. Click the Hardware tab then click Device Manager.
4. From "IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers", right-click "Primary/Secondary IDE channel" and select Properties.
5. Click the Advanced Settings tab. Set Transfer Mode to the DMA if available option.
You should have the following options in Create Video File:

Create Disc:

If not than I can only think that something has happened with your installation, possibly even corrupt..

i dont have any of that stuff on my install cd. when i browse the disc, i get:
Document - folder
Driver - folder
Setup - folder
setupdir - folder
Autorun.inf
AutoRun.exe
CountryCode.dat
data1.cab
data1.hdr
data2.cab
engine32.cab
Info.ini
layout.bin
setup.exe
setup.ini
setup.inx
setup.boot
TVsystem.dat
ulAR.cfg

that is the complete list. i looked through all the folders and didnt see any of the ones you mentioned

i went through the "enable dma" instructions you gave me also. dma was already selected under transfer mode in device manager.

aaaah, i bet its sp3. when i reformatted, i reinstalled windows xp, including all service packs. before this, i had sp2, and everything worked fine. once i reformatted, windows live update upgraded me to sp3. and now vs8 wont burn dvd. i bet thats what did it. so...now what? can i downgrade to sp2 somehow? or am i stuck with having to buy a newer version of vs?

Pyro852 · Post by **Pyro852** » Tue May 19, 2009 4:01 am

^ bump

Post by **Ron P.** » Tue May 19, 2009 4:29 am

Unfortunately I'm not at home where I can check some things on my XP machine. You might look in the Control Panel, under Add/Remove Programs to see if there is an uninstall for SP3 update. You'll need to have the checkbox selected for Show Updates, located at the top.

I'm just grasping at straws now, but try creating another user account, and see if by chance under the new account VS8 shows DVD as a burning option. If you're comfortable in opening up your PC, try shutting it down, and re-seating the power and IDE (ribbon cable) plugs on your DVD drive. You might even try unplugging it and plugging it back in just to make sure you get them seated tightly. Also check the IDE plug that goes to the motherboard.

The CD install disk I have is not really a full install disc, but a back-up disc ordered from Ulead, along with the ESD download. So it has the install files, but not all the files needed to use it as an installer, ie; the autorun..

When you re-installed did you go through and remove any and all remnants of VS8? If not you can try that, that way when you install, VS will not use existing files on your system, but be forced to write all the files fresh.

sjj1805 · Post by **sjj1805** » Tue May 19, 2009 5:16 am

Regarding XP Service pack 3 you might be interested in this link:
Anyone got a problem with XP SP3 and MSP8 ?