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From: John S on 24 May 2010 23:11
Just an update to my original post asking for advice on producing a DVD
from Windows Media Player file (produced from Microsoft Photostory
slideshow).

I've now tried the various helpful suggestions offered, and successfully
made a DVD for my elderly friends - so here's some feedback on what
happened, for anyone that's interested.

Summary of advice I received was:-

try dvdflick to convert the wmv file and author as DVD
try DeVeDe as an alternative
try Any Video Converter to convert to mpeg2 then use Simple DVD creator to
author DVD.
try Koyote Soft free video converter as alternative to Any Video Converter.

I downloaded all the suggeested software except DeVeDe (noted some comments
on DeVeDe web site about people having trouble with it on Windows XP, and
also found no direct download link - latest version apparently available
only as a torrent which I know little about and feel nervous of using).

Results:-

Installed Simple DVD Creator (and used it later to author the DVD) - during
installation it asks "if you want to use the edit feature where is the
Cuttermaran or MPEG2Schnitt installed?" Didn't know what this meant, and
couldn't recall seeing any reference on the web site, but just proceeded
with the install anyway. Sounds like the edit feature might be useful.
Anyone know what I need to do, to enable it?

Installed Koyote Free Video Converter. During installation opted NOT to
set Yahoo as default search, and NOT to install the Dealio toolbar.
After installation the programme tried to connect to a web site, but I had
the phone connection switched out, so the attempt failed.

After installation, attempted to convert the Photostory .wmv file.
However, after starting the process Koyote just hung with no further
progress, no movement along the progress bar, and no error message.
Produced a zero byte .vob file. Tried a few times with same results.
Maybe something went wrong with the install, and I should have let it
connect to its web site?

Installed DVD Flick and attempted to convert the wmv file. DVD Flick
popped up a message saying that the photostory 2 file format isn't
supported.

Installed Any Video Converter, and used it to convert the .wmv file, using
the default settings. It produced an .avi file which I couldn't get to
play, using GOM player or VLC player (said "error opening file").
Tried again, this time selecting in the Profile slot "DVD video PAL movie
(*.mpg)". The resulting file seemed OK - played OK in VLC. It was slow to
produce as I selected 2 pass for best quality. (Video run time is 9 minutes
and the conversion took about double that time).

Then, using Simple DVD Creator I processed the file to author a DVD.
Output from Simple DVD Creator was two folders - AUDIO_TS (containing no
files) and VIDEO_TS (containing some .vob, .ifo, and .bup files.

Used ImgBurn to make an .iso file from the two folders mentioned above,
then burned the .iso to a DVD disk, which played OK on my friends' DVD
player.

Guess it will be pretty obvious that I don't really understand what I'm
doing, but I learned a bit from the exercise and got the desired result.

So thanks again for the advice and help.

Any comments on where I could have done things better?

Cheers,

John S
From: M.L. on 25 May 2010 00:20

On Tue, 25 May 2010 15:11:59 +1200, John S <gorblimey(a)invalid.invalid>
wrote:

>Just an update to my original post asking for advice on producing a DVD
>from Windows Media Player file (produced from Microsoft Photostory
>slideshow).
>
>I've now tried the various helpful suggestions offered, and successfully
>made a DVD for my elderly friends - so here's some feedback on what
>happened, for anyone that's interested.
>
>Summary of advice I received was:-

>try Any Video Converter to convert to mpeg2 then use Simple DVD creator to
>author DVD.

>Results:-
>
>Installed Simple DVD Creator (and used it later to author the DVD) - during
>installation it asks "if you want to use the edit feature where is the
>Cuttermaran or MPEG2Schnitt installed?" Didn't know what this meant, and
>couldn't recall seeing any reference on the web site, but just proceeded
>with the install anyway. Sounds like the edit feature might be useful.
>Anyone know what I need to do, to enable it?

I've never used either editor and the editing prompt wasn't available
when I downloaded Simple DVD Creator months ago. However, since Simple
DVD Creator incorporates ImgBurn into its task flow to burn DVDs, I
suppose you could download one of the editing apps separately and tell
Simple DVD Creator where it's located to allow its use within the app.

>Installed Any Video Converter, and used it to convert the .wmv file, using
>the default settings. It produced an .avi file which I couldn't get to
>play, using GOM player or VLC player (said "error opening file").

The avi didn't play because you either lack the appropriate codec for
playback, or you didn't choose a compatible codec from the dropdown
menu. There was no need to convert the wmv to an avi file anyway. DVDs
are born from mpeg2 files.

>Tried again, this time selecting in the Profile slot "DVD video PAL movie
>(*.mpg)". The resulting file seemed OK - played OK in VLC. It was slow to
>produce as I selected 2 pass for best quality. (Video run time is 9 minutes
>and the conversion took about double that time).

Depending on the horsepower of your computer, that could be normal
processing time for 2-pass encoding.

>Then, using Simple DVD Creator I processed the file to author a DVD.
>Output from Simple DVD Creator was two folders - AUDIO_TS (containing no
>files) and VIDEO_TS (containing some .vob, .ifo, and .bup files.
>
>Used ImgBurn to make an .iso file from the two folders mentioned above,
>then burned the .iso to a DVD disk, which played OK on my friends' DVD
>player.

There was no need to create an iso file since ImgBurn can burn the
video_ts folder directly to a compliant DVD.
From: John S on 27 May 2010 01:52
On Tue, 25 May 2010 19:40:55 +0000 (UTC), WhItE RaBBiT wrote:

> John S <gorblimey(a)invalid.invalid> wrote in
> news:47bbodeh3fk.sq3mk5cq3sg9.dlg(a)40tude.net:
>
>> Used ImgBurn to make an .iso file from the two folders mentioned above,
>> then burned the .iso to a DVD disk,
>
> Unless you prefer an ISO, IB will burn those files directly.
>
> http://www.afterdawn.com/guides/archive/burn_dvd_folder_imgburn.cfm
>
> Note: You may know this; converting files between formats reduces quality.

Thanks,

Looked at the tutorial. Seems I need to get a later version of ImgBurn -
(I have 2.3.2.0).

Seem to remember some negative comments about the latest version recently -
is there a "best liked" version people tend to favour?

Thanks,

John S
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