Need help with DVD recording

I just bought a DVD player that is supposed to play +RW DVD's. But it won't play the ones I have made (I have this great DVD of campaign ads from the primaries). I just get an error message. I made these on my computer from the RecordNow! program, not on a DVD recorder (I don't own one; too expensive). The customer service rep. I talked to said recorded DVD's from a computer do not always read on a portable DVD player. Could the problem be that I need a new computer program other than RecordNow! ? Is there another program you recommend? Any suggestions?

I'm not 100% sure about it, but IMHO it might be a good idea to try another RW-media brand (i.e. Sony, Verbatim, ...).


Does the video play on the PC, using a DVD-only software player?

The DVD is made by TDK, and it plays just fine on the PC.

Greatest software known to man.

You will need the 120% version to deal with DVDs.

What are the file extensions of the files on the recorded DVDs?

I can take a quick look and see if it handles those file types.

A firmware update can be helpful, it makes your burner more compatabile with more brands of disks.

If the structure of the DVD is off it won't read in a player.

There is software that "forces" DVD-R compatability, offhand I can only think of the software from Liteon (my burner) for their burners.

Before burning convert the DVD you made to a Iso. If the software balks at turning it to an Iso it usually means the structure is fubar. I don't know of any free ISO converters though. :(

Uh, did you set your software to use universal disk format (UDF) instead of ISO 9660? Some software needs to be "told". ISO 9660 is IIRC limited to one gig of data.

What speed is your burner rated at? If you are using disks of a faster rated speed than your burner then you absolutely have to get a firmware update first. Note though, the update won't make your burner faster, it just let's you use disks rated at a faster speed.

Are you sure you didn't burn a PAL format DVD? The USA uses the NTSC format (Region 1) and virtually no players available in retail stores will play PAL disks. PAL is the standard for Great Britain for example. PAL disks will play on your computer with a software player though you might notice the resolution looks just a bit off.

Try burning at less than the total capacity of the disk.

Try reformatting the DVD-RW.

Do you get any error messages from your software when burning the disks and can you at least play them on your computer?

What is the source material format? VOB's or mpeg's? Are you transcoding DivX's or WMV's?



Uh, here's a great link.

http://www.doom9.net/

http://www.doom9.org/mpg/dvdr-guides.htm

I obviously don't know what I'm doing.

I don't know what fineware is. I don't know how to format a blank DVD. I don't know what an ISO is or how to convert disks to whatever that is. The DVD does play on my PC. I don't know what I'm doing here, and I think I need to go back to the drawing board.

I'm sorry my post was so obscure.

In next to no time you can learn all you need to know for your needs.

It can get tricky though when you first try some of the more advanced stuff .... the actual conversion of video.

One thing would help immensely and that's if you could tell me/us what exactly are the videos you are putting on the DVD. When you "right click" on them what does it say? Example: Kerry-campaign-1.mpg or Edward's-campaign.avi or Clarke.wmv etc.

Firmware: It's similar in some ways to the bios of your computer.

If you know the make and model of your burner I can probably point you to your manufacturers website where you can download the latest one.

It's extremely important you get exactly the right one, the wrong one for your model would likely render it unuseable ..... and you can't change it back.

Here's mine for example.

http://www.liteonamericas.com/us/download.htm

"Most DVD players that can't read DVD+RW or DVD+R discs are the older models. This version firmware allows users to modify the BookType setting of a DVD recordable media, thus enhancing the media read compatibility in older DVD playback devices. ( For relevant information, please visit the " Utility " section of this website. )"


Let me stress that you must only use the firmware for your make and model.


I haven't used this function yet. But I do have to use DVD-R disks if I want the burned disk to play on my brother's DVD player, it won't play DVD+R format disks. My burner can use either format so I just use the DVD-R disks.

Now, there are advantages to the +R format but generally speaking the advantages aren't there if one just wants to do a one time burn of a movie to DVD.

DVD-R is the official format of the DVD group. They're the ones who originally set the standards for home DVD players. Afaik anyways.

dvdrhelp.com

tons of tutorials, faqs, etc.

You'll never get 100% guaranteed compatability with a self-made DVD. The best format for compatability, I've been told, is DVD-R (as opposed to +R, +RW, -RW). Try recording it as DVD-R and see if that helps.