DVDSanta vs Nero Vision Express!!

[sonofisis]

Ok, I have both of these programs and i was debating on which i should use, and i won't be able to decide unless i ask this question or two..

Ok, I have a Mad Dog DVD Burner and I use the typical $25 - $30 per 50 Pack 4.7 GB DVD Blanks..

I've burned about 70 movies, most of them were usually AVi/divx, and i encoded with DVDSanta and set the target file size to default, which was 4.4 or a tiny bit more. I've burned the encoded files with Tmpgenc's DVD Writer tool at max speed..

Now, virtually every movie that i've burned, freezes or skips during playback.. some wil stop in the middle of the movie, and go back a chapter!! when i figured that it was the Tmpgenc, i encoded with santa then Burned with Nero Burning ROM.. but, the first movie i burned with that does the same thing.. So i tried to encode with Nero Express Vision 3 instead, But as soon as it got to 12 minutes from finishing, it stopped, and displayed an error message, and didn't explain in the log what the error was, so i prefer not to use nero for encoding..


But, i have a concern.. Is it the burn that is making my frames freeze and skip, or is it the encoding process that messes it up..
I'm leaning towards proper burning, because the encoded files playback fine on the computer in the same places it messes up on my DVD player.. if so, either way..

out of Nero and DVDSanta, what burner, and what Encoder should i use?

Example: DVDSanta as Encoder, Nero Rom as Burner?
or Nero Vision as Encoder (Tho i'm relunctant) and Nero as burner.. or even DVDSanta as Burner, and what speed should i burn in, and what target size should i shrink files to?

[alewis]

maybe it isn't the conversion process, but the recording process (try recording at slower speed), or the media.

I suggest you first try burning at 4x or even slower (15 or 30mins of your life just to test is well worth it). If that works, you have a solution.

If not, then buy some higher grade media... ie Datawrite Classic (no idea what its called in the 'states tho). DC is pretty good at the lower end of the market, and much better than the bulk unbranded.

Also try a single high quality disk.

next thing. Burn less data. There is no need to convert a film and fill the whole disk. If you use G-Spot, you will see the bit rate of a 700mb .avi to be between 800kb and 1200kb/sec (depending on length). Converting with a bitrate of, say, 4000kb/sec doesn't necessarily make a better picture, and actually makesit look worse if padding is used to maintain the bitrate. Often, 2500kb/sec is adequate (esp when using vbr) to maintain the quality.

This can often help when playing back a DVDR on a set top box.

[sonofisis]

Thanks, you explained it in terms i could understand, and you gave me different potential reasons as to why i have this problem.. one of them have to be right, in solving my prob, thanx a lot man..

[Danlock]

I also use DVD SANTA. But you could use DVD Santa to encode the vid, then use some other program to burn it, and vice versa to which one is the problem. I have found that very rarely are disc media the problem when I do something wrong. But I'm still fairly new to all this so....

[jblitz277]

which one is better convertx or dvdsanta i have both