volume problem with my burned dvds

[mjf705]

Hi I'm new to your forum, and I'm hoping someone can please help me in fixing my problem. I'm using a Leadtek WinFast TV USB 2 capture device to import my video, and the software I use is WinFast PVR. I have a Creative Labs DVDRW DR8420E burner. The burning software I am using is Roxio Easy Media Creator 7. When I import video to my hard drive everything is fine, but when I burn the videos to DVD the volume fluctuates up and down on the DVD. I've tried every possible setting I can with the software to correct things, but nothing works. I am going crazy. I am converting my old VHS tapes to dvd so my daughter can watch them in the car on trips. Can anyone please help?
Thanks, Mark

[sfheath]

I've not come across fluctuation before. Are you sure the sound is good on your hard drive? Could be worth checking that sound bitrate is 48Kbps, the DVD standard.

[mjf705]

I'm new at burning dvds, so anything I ask that sounds dumb please forgive me. When I watch the video from my hard drive the sound sounds good to me. I don't get the HI/LOW fluctuating problem I get after I burn the videos to DVD. How do I check the bitrate of my video files? I don't know if this will help, but my capture devise software has the default audio capture setting at "MPEG-1 Audio Layer-II and 224kbps for the audio bitrate. The minimum bitrate I can choose is 64, and max 384. I've been going crazy with this problem for several weeks, and I appreciate any help you can give me. One thing I forgot to add. When I built my computer I went with a motherboard with onboard sound, the ASUS P4S8X motherboard. I don't know if not having a true audio card would help contribute to the problem, or not. Thanks, Mark

[sfheath]

Your motherboard is better than mine grr!
I've looked at a spec for DVD and promptley confused myself!
MPEG -1 layer 2 is definitely there. It stipulates 48kHz, then says bitrate is 32 - 1536 kbps hence my confusion.
Alas the Roxio software doesn't meet much support here.
As an experiment, I might suggest you download and try out the two apps in this method I quote from Setarip:

*****
One set of procedures (other posters may/probably will suggest alternative methods) would be:

1) Use "TMPGEnc" (or "TMPGEncPlus") to convert the .AVI (DivX-compressed or otherwise) to compliant MPEG2-for-DVD format - Use "TMPGEnc's" DVD wizard/template to accomplish this

2) Use "TMPGEnc DVD Author" (a different program than "TMPGEnc") to easily create the required additional DVD files and structure (and chapters and a menu, if you wish)


**If the combined filesize of the DVD "package" written to your hard drive is greater than 4.37Gb, use DVD Shrink (or similar) to compress


If your O/S is either Win2000 or WinXP, TMPGEnc DVD Author can also burn your DVD. Otherwise, use NERO to burn in "DVD-Video" mode
(As an alternative to "TMPGEnc DVD Author", you could use "DVDLab")
******

I should point out however, that if you install Nero, you should remove Easy CD Creator as the two packet-writing softwares clash causing more problems

[mjf705]

WoW I didn't realize how much space an .AVI file takes up. The 30 minute video took up 30 gigs of space. In the past the software I used automatically converted the video to Mpeg so I never had to start with an .AVI. Anyway I tried the "TMPGEnc" program, and then did the conversion to Mpeg, and I ran into two problems. The sound would drop off (almost like mute) when there was no audio, and then come back when audio was present again. The other problem was the audio was off by several seconds from the video. Then I tried my media creator 7 program again, but started with an .AVI file and went through conversion, and burning, but the fluctuating problem came back. I was always leaning toward it being a software problem, but do you think it could be a hardware problem?

Oh, by the way, it is a nice motherboard. I've always been happy with ASUS motherboards.

[sfheath]

I've never used the TMPGEnc 2.5/Pro as I start with mpgs but you might find a switch somewhere for muting during silence so-to-speak. You might from recollection of reading other threads have a time shift option there. If not, you can do this seperately by running your mpg through VirtualDubMod.
The big issue is this fluctuation. Roxio gets a rare slating on these forums by all accounts so I wonder if the free-trial TMPGEnc DVD Author might fair better?
And yes, Avi's can be huge

[mjf705]

OK this is getting really frustrating. I tried TMPGEnc DVD Author and it is a nice program. It's easy to use, which is what I like. It didn't help with my problem though. I still have the same trouble. What do you use to capture your video with, and what software do you use to make your dvd's? I'm open to almost anything now that might help.

[setarip]

1) Have you tried using a different/higher quality BRAND of burnable media?

2) Make certain that you are not running any unnecessary programs (foreground or background) while burning

[charlypuss]

Having used Roxio for some time I have found it is great for CD's (music, data, photo's...) but is somewhat problematical for DVD's (on my machine). Had some sync problems ect. It sounds like a software problem. Have a bash with Nero. IT might save you some frustration....then again it might not.

[mjf705]

Thanks for getting back to me so fast. I've tried using Sony -RW, Fuji -RW, Fuji +RW, and Verbatim +R, all with the same results. I keep thinking that it may be in the capture software I use, but I'm not sure, and like I said earlier, I'm new to this, so I guess there is a certain amount of learning curve involved. Is there a free demo version of Nero out there I can try?

[setarip]

"Is there a free demo version of Nero out there I can try?"

Yes - Go to:

nero.com

[sfheath]

To eliminate a media problem, you could run your created structure on hard drive through PowerDVD/WinDVD "play from folder"

[setarip]

To sfheath

Re-read the INITIAL post to this thread:

"I am converting my old VHS tapes to dvd so my daughter can watch them in the car on trips."

[mjf705]

Sorry it took a couple of days to get back. I uninstalled my Roxio software, and installed Nero, but I still get the same problem. I did notice that the fluctuating problem starts in the same spot everytime on one of my videos, so as a test I tried to make a copy of some video from the DVR on my TV, but the fluctuating still happens. Could it be a form of copy protection? I've heard of it but I'm not familiar with it. Computers were suppose to make life easier?

[mjf705]

I finally got it to work!!! At wound up being the onboard sound card that was the problem. For general sound needs the onboard card was fine, but I guess it wasn't enough for advanced sound needs. I went out and purchased a Creative Labs sound blaster Audigy 2zs platinum pro, and it worked great. If anyone posts who has sound issues in the future it may be worth having them check the audio if they use an onboard sound card. Mine was the "onboard AC97 audio controller. Thanks for all your help.

Mark