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[atomicpunk]

Hey guys,
I just got a DVD rewriter but all I can do is play cds, I can't even burn cd-r.
Is there some specific programs I should have for this thing to work?
It's a Pioneer DVR A05
I really need help with this, I've been stressing for 2 days straight :D

[jammybastard]

I know you you can use EZ CD Creator 5.x for sure for CD-R and DVD-R. I use a copy of DVD-IT PE by Sonic Solutions for my hardcore work.

[Yerfdog]

I'm assuming it didn't come with any software ????

[atomicpunk]

Quote: Originally posted by Yerfdog:
I'm assuming it didn't come with any software ???? It came with Sonic - MyDVD Video Suite and VOB - Instant CD/DVD

The VOB has a missing DLL and won't work and as for the others, I can make great slide shows etc. out of pics and clips I have on my HD but I can't play any of my pre-recorded DVDs so copying or editing them is impossible and I can't write anything to cd-r either.

I know, probably less than nothing when it comes to these things so any solution, no matter how simple it sounds might really help me out.

[rebel]

Quote: Originally posted by atomicpunk:
Quote: Originally posted by Yerfdog:
[b]I'm assuming it didn't come with any software ???? It came with Sonic - MyDVD Video Suite and VOB - Instant CD/DVD

The VOB has a missing DLL and won't work and as for the others, I can make great slide shows etc. out of pics and clips I have on my HD but I can't play any of my pre-recorded DVDs so copying or editing them is impossible and I can't write anything to cd-r either.

I know, probably less than nothing when it comes to these things so any solution, no matter how simple it sounds might really help me out.[/b] Hey bud,

I don't have a DVD burner or anything, but anytime your having hardware problems, make sure you have the very latest drivers installed, sometimes the discs that come with hardware have bugs b/c they are out of date. If you do that and it still doesn't work, you'll know it's "user" error with the software.

Hope it helps!!

[jammybastard]

Quote: Originally posted by atomicpunk:
Quote: Originally posted by Yerfdog:
[b]I'm assuming it didn't come with any software ???? It came with Sonic - MyDVD Video Suite and VOB - Instant CD/DVD

The VOB has a missing DLL and won't work and as for the others, I can make great slide shows etc. out of pics and clips I have on my HD but I can't play any of my pre-recorded DVDs so copying or editing them is impossible and I can't write anything to cd-r either.

I know, probably less than nothing when it comes to these things so any solution, no matter how simple it sounds might really help me out.[/b] First off, get to know this website: www.dvdrhelp.com.
Everything you need to know is there. Everything.
Now I'm confused...what exactly do you want to do? Make a DVD with a DVD-r?
Here's the basics: to make a DVD, like the pre-recorded ones you already have, you need to take a piece of video that is already on your hard drive, encode into a MPEG2 file, then use a program like MyDVD to create the DVD interface and write the disc with your MPEG2 file and interface.
As for copying and editing your pre-recorded DVDs...you can copy them with programs like DVD Decrypter, but be aware that most DVDs these days are larger than the 4.7gb size of the consumer grade DVD-r.
Also, you'll won't be able to edit them unless you rip the raw footage and then re-encoded it into an editable format. That's because right now there are no MPEG2 edting programs avaiable and that's the native video format for DVDs.
Most professionals edit digital video footage that is sourced from analog or digital tape formats and then, like I mentioned above, encode that footage into an MPEG2 file before vcreating the DVD.
Keep asking questions, and I'll try to answer them.

[Yerfdog]

Quote: Originally posted by atomicpunk:
Quote: Originally posted by Yerfdog:
[b]I'm assuming it didn't come with any software ???? The VOB has a missing DLL and won't work [/b] Lemme know what the missing DLL is, and perhaps a little about your system via private email and I'll see what I can do. ;)

[atomicpunk]

Quote: Originally posted by jammybastard:
First off, get to know this website: www.dvdrhelp.com.
Everything you need to know is there. Everything.
Now I'm confused...what exactly do you want to do? Make a DVD with a DVD-r?
Here's the basics: to make a DVD, like the pre-recorded ones you already have, you need to take a piece of video that is already on your hard drive, encode into a MPEG2 file, then use a program like MyDVD to create the DVD interface and write the disc with your MPEG2 file and interface.
As for copying and editing your pre-recorded DVDs...you can copy them with programs like DVD Decrypter, but be aware that most DVDs these days are larger than the 4.7gb size of the consumer grade DVD-r.
Also, you'll won't be able to edit them unless you rip the raw footage and then re-encoded it into an editable format. That's because right now there are no MPEG2 edting programs avaiable and that's the native video format for DVDs.
Most professionals edit digital video footage that is sourced from analog or digital tape formats and then, like I mentioned above, encode that footage into an MPEG2 file before vcreating the DVD.
Keep asking questions, and I'll try to answer them. Say somebody trades for a VH show on dvd (US Fest. for example)
When they receive it how do they pass it on/copy to another disc?

This is what I meant by pre-recorded discs (incase you thought I meant the movies that you buy or something).

What I'm also trying to do is record tv shows from my cable box onto dvd-rw then put it in my pc (transfer to the HD if needed) edit out unwanted commercials, make a menu screen or something then burn to dvd-r for a permanent copy and re-use the dvd-rw for the next episode etc.

Is this possible?

I can't even watch my dvds in my pc which I'm sure you're supposed to be able to do with a dvd drive.
All I get is a window like My Computer with 2 folders in it and the files inside are called things like:
video_mn.dat
video_mn.ifo
video_rm.bup
and when I click on these it says "open with" and a huge list of progs.
Aren't they just supposed to play when you put the disc in like cds?

[jammybastard]

Quote: Originally posted by atomicpunk:
Quote: Originally posted by jammybastard:
[b]First off, get to know this website: www.dvdrhelp.com.
Everything you need to know is there. Everything.
Now I'm confused...what exactly do you want to do? Make a DVD with a DVD-r?
Here's the basics: to make a DVD, like the pre-recorded ones you already have, you need to take a piece of video that is already on your hard drive, encode into a MPEG2 file, then use a program like MyDVD to create the DVD interface and write the disc with your MPEG2 file and interface.
As for copying and editing your pre-recorded DVDs...you can copy them with programs like DVD Decrypter, but be aware that most DVDs these days are larger than the 4.7gb size of the consumer grade DVD-r.
Also, you'll won't be able to edit them unless you rip the raw footage and then re-encoded it into an editable format. That's because right now there are no MPEG2 edting programs avaiable and that's the native video format for DVDs.
Most professionals edit digital video footage that is sourced from analog or digital tape formats and then, like I mentioned above, encode that footage into an MPEG2 file before vcreating the DVD.
Keep asking questions, and I'll try to answer them. Say somebody trades for a VH show on dvd (US Fest. for example)
When they receive it how do they pass it on/copy to another disc?

This is what I meant by pre-recorded discs (incase you thought I meant the movies that you buy or something).

What I'm also trying to do is record tv shows from my cable box onto dvd-rw then put it in my pc (transfer to the HD if needed) edit out unwanted commercials, make a menu screen or something then burn to dvd-r for a permanent copy and re-use the dvd-rw for the next episode etc.

Is this possible?

I can't even watch my dvds in my pc which I'm sure you're supposed to be able to do with a dvd drive.
All I get is a window like My Computer with 2 folders in it and the files inside are called things like:
video_mn.dat
video_mn.ifo
video_rm.bup
and when I click on these it says "open with" and a huge list of progs.
Aren't they just supposed to play when you put the disc in like cds?[/b] Ok, you need to get some DVD playback software. The DVD-r burner is just hardware, and it needs some help to play discs. My Pioneer A04 caame with a program called PowerDVD. Not the best but it works. If you hop on KaZaa you can find copies for download. Again, at www.dvdrhelp.com they might have a link to free playback software.

Now, for the rest....
If you want me to make a copy of a DVD I have, here's the process I've gone throught to get it to you:
I ripped a copy of the US FEST DVD-rs onto my hard drive. I used DVD Decrypter to do the rip and I saved the DVD "image" as an ISO file. That means I save an exact copy of the whole disc on my hard drive without unpacking all of the elements that make up the DVD.
Then, I take your blank and again using DVD Decrypter I write the ISO file onto your DVD-r.
All I'm doing is copying the ISO file from the hard drive to your disc using the same program I ripped it with. Very simple process, takes about 25min to burn a full DVD-r.

As for recording directly from cable...
I know it can be done with a PC, but it requires a few steps. (Usually people buy the stand alone units to do this that sit with your other TV componants. You'll see why in a sec.)
First you need to be able to input your cable video signal into your computer. Usually this is done through your video card.
Next you need to be able to save the video signal into a file format that you can edit.
(BTW- you'll need a big hard drive. 1 min of vid = 9MB of space)
Then you need to have an video editing program to edit out the commercial. Then you have to convert the edited footage into an MPEG2 file.
Finally you asseble the DVD with your menus and index, etc...in a program like MyDVD and burn your disc.
Sound like fun huh?
That's why most people buy a stand alone box for recording TV shows or transferring old VHS tapes. Usually it's one touch recording and your off.
With a DVD burner in a PC you are entering the realm of the pro-sumer or professional video producer who knows and has all the software to do the job.
Again, snoop around www.dvdrhelp and the rest of the web. There are smarter people out there than me who have alrady covered all this in better detail and can consequently help you better than I can.
Good Luck.

[Yerfdog]

Quote: Originally posted by jammybastard:
takes about 25min to burn a full DVD-r.

Exactly what speed are you copying at ????

[jammybastard]

Quote: Originally posted by Yerfdog:
Quote: Originally posted by jammybastard:
[b] takes about 25min to burn a full DVD-r.

Exactly what speed are you copying at ????[/b] As fast as the A04 will go, which I *think* is 4x. Is that slow or fast by your account?
Again, I'm burning an ISO, essentially duplicating the master DVD-r, so I'm not demuxing the files or any of the other stuff that takes a lot of time.

[atomicpunk]

Quote: Originally posted by jammybastard:
My Pioneer A04 came with a program called PowerDVD. I don't suppose I could trade for a copy of those programs or would that infringe on someone?

As for the big HD, I have cleared one almost empty to 1.73GB but the others are almost full.
Is that enough?

[jammybastard]

Quote: Originally posted by atomicpunk:
Quote: Originally posted by jammybastard:
[b]My Pioneer A04 came with a program called PowerDVD. I don't suppose I could trade for a copy of those programs or would that infringe on someone?

As for the big HD, I have cleared one almost empty to 1.73GB but the others are almost full.
Is that enough?[/b] Like I said, you could very easily download it off KaZaa. The WWW is a very large place where you can find almost anything you need.
1.73GB? To be honest, that's pretty small.
I'm an extreme example, but I have 3 RAID arrays that equal 750GB on one machine. All for video storage. My point is that you may need to buy another HD for just video storage, especially if you want to record alot of material.

[atomicpunk]

I downloaded Power DVD from Kazaa and got it to work but now I get the message:

Quote: "Your CD/DVD-ROM driver does not support DMA mode.
Please update your CD/DVD-ROM driver first" Can I download drivers from Kazaa or do I have to buy and manually install them? (see I told you I don't know much)

[jammybastard]

Quote: Originally posted by atomicpunk:
I downloaded Power DVD from Kazaa and got it to work but now I get the message:

Quote: [b]"Your CD/DVD-ROM driver does not support DMA mode.
Please update your CD/DVD-ROM driver first" Can I download drivers from Kazaa or do I have to buy and manually install them? (see I told you I don't know much)[/b] Download them from the DVD-R makers website, Pioneer in your case.
Whenever you install new hardware you should always check to see if there are new drivers available and then update them regularly.

You'll need to do a firmware upgrade, which may solve part of your problem. Find it HERE.
Take a look around there for the drivers too.
If you are still confused call their ustomer service.