 Converting VHS to DVD:
| DVD X MAKER turns your collection of old home videos into dazzling DVD movies.
Convert your VHS tape to DVD in spectacular fashion!
Produce, direct, create, burn and share exciting DVD movies with DVD X Maker. | |
FAQS:
Can I create a dual layer DLT (digital linear tape) with DVD X Maker to send to a DVD replication company?
Answer: DVD X Maker does not support writing to DLT. However, most replication companies now also accept DVD-R/RW formatted DVDs with the DVD image file (*.IMG) on it. DVD X Maker creates this .IMG file when it builds a DVD. Users can write this using the DVD writing application that is included with their DVD burner. Does DVD X Maker support Dolby Digital AC-3 audio? Answer: No. DVD X Maker is geared to consumers and prosumers, neither of which typically can produce Dolby Digital audio. DVD X Maker does support Mpeg 1, Layer II, audio, which is a very high quality compressed audio format. Most people cannot discern the difference between AC-3 and Mpeg1, Layer II. Of course, DVD X Maker also supports uncompressed PCM/WAV audio files as well. DVD X Maker converts noncompliant 44.1 KHz PCM/Wav files to 48 KHz. Will this effect sound quality on the DVD? Answer: All re-sampling will cause some distortion in the original audio. The perceived amount of distortion will vary depending on the frequencies in the original audio signal, training of the listener, and the quality of the converter. DVD X Maker uses the standard Microsoft PCM converter for this audio operation. Every time I insert a blank DVD or CD, another application is launched. Why does this happen? Answer: You should turn off the Auto Play feature -
Windows XP:
Right-click on the drive icon for your CD-ROM, CD recorder, or DVD writer, and select Properties.
Choose the AutoPlay tab, and choose the desired action for each type of CD.
Windows 95/98/Me:
Right-click on the My Computer icon and select Properties.
Choose the Device Manager tab.
Open the CD-ROM branch, and select the entry for your CD-ROM drive.
Click Properties, and then choose the Settings tab.
Turn off the Auto insert notification option.
Click OK, and then OK again. You'll have to restart Windows for this change to take effect.
I encoded a movie in an external encoder, and I am getting a bit rate error when adding that movie to a project. Answer: The external encoder may be using binary units rather than decimal units and you have exceeded the DVD X Maker maximum bit rate limit of 8,000,000 bits/sec. Set the maximum bit rate of the external encoder to 7.8 MB or below. I hear static or a clicking sound when I play back my movie on my computer. What is wrong? Answer: You must get the latest drivers for your sound card. These generally are available from the web site for the manufacturer of your drive. I've changed my Default Answer: For safety reasons, DVD X Maker requires that the DVD Video Path end in "\DVD-Video\". The files in this directory are deleted and rebuilt when you build and burn a DVD. DVD X Maker will not automatically erase the files in that directory unless the proper naming convention is used. The correct pathname for that directory would default to: ..\My Documents\321 Content\DVD-Video\ Go to the main menu, Tools > Options > Default Directories... > DVD Video Path and fix the path accordingly. Is the speed of my processor causing my video frames to skip? Answer: Your processor speed is probably not the cause. The CPU merely moves video data through the 1394/FireWire to the hard drive. If you are seeing dropped frames during capture, your drive/bus may not be properly configured. Alternatively, some process or condition in your system may be interfering with the high speed continuous use of the hard drive. Make sure you have no other programs running if possible when capturing video. If you have an antivirus running, temporarily disable it, the real-time scanning can slow disk access. My DVD-RW or DVD+R/RW 4.7GB disc isn't playing on my consumer DVD player. What could be wrong? Answer: Some older DVD players are missing support for newer formats such as DVD-RW and will not be able to read these discs. Check with your DVD player's manufacturer for information about supported DVD formats. This information may also be available at http://www.dvdplusrw.org/. The images I selected for my Menu or Label look squished, what's wrong? Answer: The aspect ratio of the select image is determined by the shape of your crop selection (if any) and the shape of the target image location on the menu or label. If your image looks squished on the menu or label, check that your crop selection is the same basic shape as the target image. If the target is tall and thin, select a tall and thin crop area. If the target is short and wide, select a short and wide crop area. When the target is complex like circles and hearts, imagine the smallest target rectangle that includes the entire circle or heart, etc. as your target crop shape.The Motion Menus on my DVD disc don't loop when played on my consumer DVD player. What could be wrong? Answer: Some hardware players have been known to show this problem if the audio and video media are significantly different in size. For example, if you've created motion menus of 15 seconds and used 30-second audio files. All themes that ship with DVD X Maker have audio files for menu music which are exactly 30 seconds long. If you add your own music, and you want motion menus, make sure your music is also exactly 30 seconds long. The MPEG Layer II Audio on my DVD disc isn't playing on my consumer DVD player. What could be wrong? Answer: Some older DVD players are missing support for MPEG Layer II audio. You can use WAV format for your audio instead, though this will require more space on the DVD for the audio. When you make your DVD you will be given the option to use MPEG Layer II or WAV audio. The sound seems to be dropping out when I play a movie I captured with the Preview Sound option on. What is wrong? Answer: The capture process is very CPU intensive and some configurations or computers with lower CPU speeds cannot handle previewing sound while capturing video. Turn off the Preview Sound option and try capturing the video again. You can monitor the sound while you capture video by plugging speakers or headphones directly into your camcorder.
The sound seems to be dropping out when I play back a movie in the DVD Simulator. What is wrong? Answer: On some computers with certain sound cards, you must reduce or turn off Audio hardware acceleration. Go to the Control Panel and in the advanced options for Sound or Audio; turn off Audio playback hardware acceleration. You can also try turning off DMA on your hard drives. This may be preventing the audio card from using the PCI bus. Go to Windows Help and type DMA in the search box for more information on how to do this. When I build a motion menu project, the application crashes or hangs. What is happening? Answer: Check Tools > Options > Menus & Labels Tab > Motion JPG Quality. Valid settings for this option are between 2 - 50 (2 = best quality, 50 = fastest). When I changed my display resolution, DVD X Point stopped responding. Why is this? Answer: In most cases DVD X Maker will handle a change in display resolution properly, but it is best to avoid switching resolution if the application is busy such as playing back a video, auto generating a menu, or loading the DVD Simulator. If the application stops playing video, try switching views in the workspace. If that does not respond, you will need to close the application with the Task Manager and reopen it. When I try to add an AVI as a motion background, this video doesn't look very sharp. Why is this? Answer: This was a problem with some video cards that can't scale vertically by half properly in hardware de-interlace. The fix implemented is to simply not to de-interlace if the card can't support it, rather than failing. The result is that menu backgrounds may look low quality if they are not de-interlaced and the video has a lot of quick horizontal motion. When I try to play back a video in DVD X Maker, I get a warning about could not set decoder properties? Answer: Your video decoder is an old version. It was probably overwritten by another video editing or playback application that uses the same decoder as DVD X Maker. Reinstalling DVD X Maker should solve this problem. Why can't I capture video through my video device that is plugged in to my 1394/FireWire card along with another device? Answer: You should only have one device plugged into your 1394/FireWire card while you are capturing video. Unplug any other devices and restart DVD X Maker before continuing. Why can't I open DVD X Maker's Help?
Answer: You must have Internet Explorer 4.01 in order to view the Help file. The current version of Internet Explorer can be downloaded from Microsoft. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/default.aspWhy do I see lines or other video anomalies at the bottom or edges of the video I have captured? Answer: This is called NTSC "crawl" and is normal. The area your television displays is less than the full frame and the anomaly will not be visible on it.
Why is DVD X Maker taking so long to encode the Movie? Answer: DVD X Maker gives you the option of good quality encoding in real time, or superior quality encoding at a slower speed. When you purchase the product, the encoder speed/quality setting is set to "Best Quality". With this setting, the encoding time will be approximately two times the length of the movie. You can change this setting to "Faster Performance" by going to Tools > Options in the main window. Why isn't my screensaver activating during long build or burn processes? Answer: Because DVD X Maker needs your full system resources during time-critical phases of DVD building and burning, your screensaver is temporarily disabled. When these processes are complete, your screen saver is re-enabled.
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