How to burn multiple X3 .vsp files onto one DVD?

[babyleon]

Using X3, I edited and saved several .vsp project files. Then I created an mp4 file for each project via Share, Create Video File, MPEG-4, MPEG4 HD. Then I put each of those mp4 files in MF7SE through Start Project, New Project, Add Video Files. In my test case that is 3 mp4 files, 1.97GB/31 minutes 7 seconds. Create a simple Thumbnail menu. Then "Create to Disc" and DVD-Video (also Create DVD Folder). Then Burn."This action will take some time to render. Continue?" then OK. #0:40 later “Operation successfully completed” and I “Return to Start Page”.

But each of the three mp4 files is cut off partway in the final DVD, maybe at about halfway in each.

Any ideas what went wrong? And is there a recommended workflow to get multiple X3 .vsp files onto the same DVD?

Thanks.

[Ken Berry]

First, you are not dealing with VSP files. Those are not video files or a video format. They are Video Studio Project files. You have correctly produced videos of your projects. But what I am not clear about is why, if you are burning a standard definition DVD, you have produced HD mpeg-4 clips, when for a DVD you need SD mpeg-2?

[BrianCee]

Perhaps you could also confirm to us that you have played the mp4 files individually and that each and every one plays all the way through correctly before you burn them to the DVD.

[babyleon]

Thanks for the replies. I know I am starting out with project files but the mp4s that result from them and that I an adding to MF7SE are indeed video files, yes? I ultimately would like to produce an HD DVD from these but have not done that and do not have an HD player and do not know if my present one will show anything if I put an HD DVD in it. I am also new to X3/MF7SE (and DVD Factory Pro which is a complete mystery to me as yet). I am trying to figure our how to at least do the things I was able to do with VS11.5+ without throwing in too many variables. I thought I could start out step by step. But does using mp4 files to burn a standard DVD create the problem of having them cut off when loaded into MF7SE?

And yes, the mp4 files produced from the separate projects all play through to the end. They are complete but become abpout half-length when I Add Video Files to MF7SE.

One new fact since my original post: Before I went to bed last night, using one of the same .vsp projects, I created a video file using the AVCHD NTSC HD 1440 format. With that resultiong .mpg video file, in MF7SE I added the video file and it is full length at 25:18. When I add the .mp4 file produced from the same VSP project, it is only 12:39, EXACTLY half the length that it should be. Very strange....

I am going to keep playing around with these and see if I can come up with a workflow that will work for me but if anyone has come up against these same results, or if there is an established workflow for producing either SD or HD DVDs from multiple video files, I woud appreciate knowing about it.

With VS11.5+ I was able to put multiple VS Projects in the burn module to burn a DVD but from what I have read on the forum since first tryng the new X3/MF7SE set up, I gather that is no longer possible.

Thanks again for the help. As in the past, without this forum I would be totally lost and probably give it all up.

Wayne

[Ken Berry]

HD DVDs or "hybrid discs" (i.e. HD video burned on a DVD blank disc in a Blu-Ray BDMV folder) will only play on Blu-Ray players that are rated to play such discs. I use my Sony PlayStation 3 which has that rating.

I can understand you wanting to reserve the possibility of burning such a disc in future. But I am wondering why you specifically chose mp4 as the output format? Is your camcorder a HD Samsung by any chance? I ask because they film in swtraight high def mp4 format, as opposed to AVCHD, which most mp4 HD camcorders use. (AVCHD is mpeg-4 but with more information encoded in its tags. HD mp4 has less information and seems to be causing some users a heap of problems -- one of which has been loss of half the video. However, IIRC in those case this has been because the camcorder films at 50 (PAL) or 60 (NTSC) full frames a second -- as opposed to 25 or 29.97 half frames per second in interleaved video. And VS cannot yet handle full progressive 50/60 fps video...) It would be helpful if you could right click one of your output files (and indeed one of your input files from the camera) and copy all its Properties here...

Anyway, if your intention is to eventually burn either a HD DVD or actual Blu-Ray disc, you will need to convert your project to either AVCHD (NOT HD mp4) or Blu-Ray. Then you can store it for future use. And if you produce AVCHD, I would use the 1920 option rather than the 1440 option...

But if your intention was to burn primarily an SD DVD, then in theory at least, putting the AVCHD or Blu-Ray files into MF 7 SE should allow them to be converted as part of the burning process to SD mpeg-2. That will, however, take time and could complicate the burn. You would still take exactly the same time if you converted your project straight into mpeg-2 in X3 -- as well as separately producing an AVCHD/Blu-Ray file -- and then inserted the new mpeg-2 into MF 7. Then no conversion would occur (if you have the 'do not convert compliant MPEG files' box ticked in the Options icon).

[babyleon]

Thanks for the post Ken. I am just beginning to get the smallest understanding of some of these things....

But in answer to your questions, my choice of mp4 for output was really only because that was what had worked well for me in first using X3 in terms of uploading 1080 HD to YouTube. My main camera is presently a Canon HV30 which I upload as .m2t files. I do have a GoPro camera which does create .mp4 files. Those files are one of the driving forces in my recent computer and software upgrades - I found out from the forum some time ago that VS11.5 could not handle them without some prior conversion and also that my Pentium 3 processor and 1.5GB memory would be brought to its knees if I tried to edit them in X3. By the way, right clicking on the uploaded GoPro files yields a video type of .MP4.

What I did this morning was create AVCHD 1440 files from the mp4 files I had already created. I then added those to files in MF7SE, created a simple menu and burned an SD DVD. It worked, the files are complete and it looks great. I am presently experimenting with the AVCHD 1920 option but that is still processing. I honestly don't know the difference between the result of the two options (1440 and 1920) and it will be interesting for me to see the difference.

I should add that two of the three files I successfully burned in MF7SE this morning were AVCHD 1440 files that I created from mp4 files. The third one was an AVCHD 1440 file that I created directly from a vsp project. In the resulting SD DVD, the two that were created from mp4 files look better, more defined, than the one created from the VSP project, when viewed on a 32” HDTV. I will pursue evaluating this difference.

Thanks again Ken.

Wayne

[Ken Berry]

In terms of the video from your HV30, you are making a rod to beat your own back with if you are converting your .m2t files first to mp4 and then to AVCHD. The .m2t files are already excellent and full HD mpeg-2 (I have the HV20). And, like DV format in the SD world, m2t is the easiest format to edit. Moreover, having only one set of properties across the board, when you render out again to a new HDV .m2t file, the quality remains excellent. As you may (or may not) be aware, HDV is 1440 x 1080i, but because of the algorithms used, it displays as 1920 x 1080, the same as AVCHD. File sizes are larger, but the quality is the same. Indeed, some professional videographers argue that HDV is better quality than AVCHD -- perhaps the reason why it is increasingly difficult to find a HDV camcorder at the amateur end of the market, and why the professionals are sticking to the format...

But if you are dealing predominantly with HDV, then I would render your projects into new HDV files and use those directly in MF7... or else render your project also into an SD mpeg-2 (making sure it maintains the Upper Field First of the original HDV) and insert those into MF7 (which is what I do). Either way should work just fine.

[babyleon]

Thanks for the additional guidance Ken. I definitely want to make this as easy as possible without compromising video quality. If I have my X3 project consisting of m2t files, transitions, titles, etc. and I want to render it to m2t format, which menu choices do I make in the Share menu?

[Ken Berry]

To produce HDV for later burning to Blu-Ray, choose Share > Create Video File > HDV 1080i (for HDV).

Then when you have produced that, you can either insert that into MF 7 for conversion, as part of the burning process, to SD DVD. Or else, while still in X3 and with the project still open, choose Share > Create Video File > DVD (if the project is less than an hour long) or Custom if it is longer, adjusting the bitrate downwards to fit more video on a DVD.