DVD Creation Problems

[legerp01]

Hello,

I just purchased PTE deluxe and I've spent 4-5 hours trying to burn DVD to play on TV with no solution. I've created my slide shows and gone through the whole process 3-4 times. The 1st time it said it completed burning DVD with 3.1 GB but there ws nothing on the DVD, the 2nd time I tried a smaller file 650mb and error saying "Runtime Error! Program burn.exe. This application has requested the runtime to terminate it in an unusual way. Please contact the application's support team for more information."

I'm running windows XP SP3 with 4mb Ram & dual core processors. Device ID Name (DVD) is TSSTcorp DVD+-RW TS-H553A. I brought this program because it said it could burn video to dvd. I hope someone can help me with this.

Thanks.

[Guest Yachtsman1]

Hello,

I just purchased PTE deluxe and I've spent 4-5 hours trying to burn DVD to play on TV with no solution. I've created my slide shows and gone through the whole process 3-4 times. The 1st time it said it completed burning DVD with 3.1 GB but there ws nothing on the DVD, the 2nd time I tried a smaller file 650mb and error saying "Runtime Error! Program burn.exe. This application has requested the runtime to terminate it in an unusual way. Please contact the application's support team for more information."

I'm running windows XP SP3 with 4mb Ram & dual core processors. Device ID Name (DVD) is TSSTcorp DVD+-RW TS-H553A. I brought this program because it said it could burn video to dvd. I hope someone can help me with this.

Thanks.

If you would briefly list each step you are taking having completed your show "then I???????"

As you are new, it is easier to spot where you are going wrong. Are you using a new DVD-R disc for each attempt???

Yachtsman1

[Ed Overstreet]

I've had the same problem in the past 48 hours, in my own first attempts using VideoBuilder. However I am posting my problems on a separate thread in a moment, as they may be a bit different from yours. Have a look. http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index....st=0#entry66101

One issue that is definitely a partial factor in my own problem is the DVD drive being used. The NEC DVD drive on my 4.5-year-old laptop refuses to burn DVDs from VideoBuilder, returning either the same error message that you got or a "burn.exe failed" message. In either case, the resulting DVD is unreadable, whether -R or +R (and always using brand-new Sony products). However I discovered that my not-quite-so-old Apacer CP300 Disc Steno, which can be used as a USB external DVD burner, can in fact produce DVDs successfully from VideoBuilder (but only under certain conditions which are puzzling, see my own thread).

But my suggestion from all this is to try, if you can, using a different DVD drive (external one most likely) if you have access to one. I'd hesitate to recommend that you go out and buy another one to test, because I have no idea which brands and models are going to work or not with VideoBuilder. But some (older) ones clearly DON'T even using the most recent drivers for them (in the case of my NEC).

I realize this is frustration, you shouldn't have to go out and buy more hardware that costs more than Video Builder just to get the software to run for you, but that may be the only option ... Check it out if you can without spending money first, though.

If you do decide to spend some money, my advice is to get something like the Apacer CP300 (now discontinued I think but I believe Sony makes something equivalent). This device runs off a rechargeable battery as well as an AC adapter, and you can use it stand-alone (no computer attached to it) to copy onto DVDs or CDs files from your camera's flash cards, since the device has ports that will read those cards. But it also has a USB connection and cable and can be used as an external drive (several, actually; you can use it to read/write DVDs, CDs, and all standard format of flash cards). So at least you're getting a little extra for your money; if you don't mind packing a bunch of blank DVDs, the Apacer or equivalent is a handy travel companion (though there are now very compact portable hard drives like the Hyperdrive that will hold a lot more data and can be used the same as the Apacer for downloading photos, plus the Hyperdrive is a lot lighter and more compact, will fit (bulging a bit perhaps) in a shirt pocket and certainly in any camera bag). Hyperdrives also have USB cables and can be used as external hard drives for your computer, but they won't burn a DVD for you like the Apacer will ...

[Ed Overstreet]

In case you haven't seen the replies to my other thread:

there may be a simpler solution than getting a different DVD drive. Are you sure there is enough room on your system for the temporary files being created for a large project? Thanks to Ken Cox pointing me to one of Igor's replies to another thread, I've discovered that Video Builder needs about twice as much space for temporary files as the final DVD is going to require. In Igor's example, a 24-minute video DVD occupies 1.2 GB on the DVD but also needs 2.4 GB (approximately) for the temporary files. In Project Options for your project in Video Builder, go to the Program tab and see where the program is trying to store your temp files. (The default is the temp folder under Local Settings in your current Windows account, on your C drive.) Go to Windows Explorer and make sure you have enough space on the drive for all those temp files (extrapolate from the figures I quoted above to get an estimate for your own project. If your C drive doesn't have enough space on it (mine doesn't in my case), if you have an external hard drive that does have enough empty space, change the folder location in Project Options to place the temp files into a folder on that drive.

If you do have ample space according to the above calculations, then the problem obviously is something else But always check the simple solutions first

[legerp01]

Thanks everyone for your replies but after spending several more hours I decided to purchase another product (Roxio). I didn't have anymore time to waste trying to fix PTE's problems and "time" is money. By the way, the process creating & burning DVD using Roxio was half the time than PTE's and the file it created went from 3.1gb to 1.2gb about 2/3 smaller.

[nobeefstu]

A few points to remember when burning DVD Discs :

- Try using DVD-RW discs when first testing out VideoBuilder - Burn DVD function. This way you wont create dics coasters or unnecessary waste. Once your able to create a working DVD-RW ... use a DVD-R (+-) thats most compatable with your burner ( see your burner specs). Also note, when using a new-nonformated DVD-RW disc ... you must first format it for the burn process ( VB does not format the disc.)

- Make sure in VideoBuilder your just enabling the checkbox to Burn DVD Disc ... and not all the other file options available on your initial burn tests. The other selectable options are not required to just create a DVD disc in VideoBuilder. You can test them out later if needed ... plus remember that more options selected just increase burn and process time and add additional file size to the disc.

-Always make sure your video drivers and DVD unit firmware are up-to-date. This applies to old and newly bought units ... you be surprised how many new in-the-box units are shipped with outdated versions.

-If receiving burn errors ... keep reducing the DVD burn speed settings. ( Again, hopefully your testing with a DVD-RW first till you find a acceptable burn speed. Fast speed may be quicker ... but not better if your equipment and pc system is not up to the task. Burning quicker than your system can handle is the most issue that causes burn errors. DVD units with large MB buffers are better when trying to push the burn speed. DVD-RW discs generally have alot slower disc speed specs than that of most DVD-R(+-) discs. (Check your disc package rating capabilities)

-Make sure your harddrive has more than double the file space available than that required of the projected DVD space required.

-If your video card is not up to task of using D3D hardware acceleration properly ... test disabling it before attempting to burn DVD disc.

VideoBuilder uses hardware acceleration for video post-processing ... thus achieving quicker processing times. You can disable D3D hardware acceleration from PTE main menu bar - View|Advanced Options | Use hardware acceleration in Editor, Video, Miniplayer.

-Most times ... laptop units have more DVD burns issues than that of a desktop unit. The hardware speeds in laptop units are generally slower (mainly to reduce heat generatiion issues inheirent in laptops) and can not be pushed like their big brother desktop units.

- As for USB DVD unit hookups ... Ive never tried them. But the USB transfer speed is no match for a modern harddrive. I would just assume you need to burn at a slower speed.

-Lastly ... dont multi-task while burning any disks. This only invites any possile errors. (This includes browsing the internet while waiting for a disc to burn)

Final Note:

** Test any and all burn sequences above in no special order to achieve your units optimal/compatable burn speed to hopefully create a error free DVD disc.

[Lin Evans]

Just for the record. There is no problem with PTE's Video Builder - there are thousands of people using it very successfully.

If your file size is 2/3 smaller with Roxio, then the quality will also be considerably less. High compression means less video quality. The data doesn't magically shrink when using a different product. This may also be a clue as to the area of the problem you were experiencing with Video Builder.

You said you were unable to burn a DVD with PTE then said that using Roxio took half the time. If you couldn't make a DVD with PTE then you really don't have a legitimate comparison.

I don't know exactly what the problem may have been, but Video Builder is incredibly fast at creating DVD's compared to my other burning software including my Roxio Creator Ultimate 2009. As Stu mentioned, Video Builder uses hardware acceleration and hardware rendering so if your video card isn't up to the task this may be part of the issue and requires turning off hardware acceleration.

It's difficult to say what the problem may have been, but since there are multitudes who are not having problems, it's safe to say that it was something unique to your set-up or settings. The best way to approach this is to use rewritable DVD's until the problem is found.

Best regards,

Lin

[susanzhai]

Do you burn video to DVD? I often burn video to DVD via a simple tool, it often works perfectly for me.

[wideangle]

I have burned many DVDs without problem, and agree with Lin in saying that the speed of burning is good.

On the few occasions that I have experienced this sort of problem, it has been cured by reducing the filesizes of the slides, which I'd maybe forgotten to do.

Typically this meant that instead of a slide being say 1.2 MB it became 250 KB. I guess that probably my processor was struggling, but in any case that always cured the problem.

Regards,

wideangle

[Nix Wadden]

I'm glad to see that I am not the only one having trouble burning a DVD using PTE's Video Builder. Unlike my fellow photo club member, Ed, my problem is on a desktop. I do hope someone out there can point to a solution for me.

I have been using PTE 5.0 Deluxe software, and its Video Builder feature to burn DVDs, for a year or so, and it ran like a charm until this week. Trouble came when I got together a set of 10 shows, totalling 50 minutes and 2.9 MBs, and started to burn them on to a DVD-R, the same kind of disc I have been using. Then I got the unwelcome message : "The application requested the Runtime to terminate it in an unusual way. Contact the application's support team." There was also a notification: "Microsoft Visual C + + Runtime Library - Runtime Error. Abnormal Program Termination. Error 3"

First question - is there such a thing as the application's support team, and if so how do I contact them?

Three or four new disc burning attempts, varying the recording time and the few project option variables that might have mattered, only produced the same result. All the program options in Video Builder were set back to default. But nothing changed. Thinking it could be the large number of shows, I experimented with only two shows, and resorted to using DVD-RWs, where the recording speed was really low, but nothing worked.

We are running Windows XP with 256 MB video card and have 149 GB of free space. Shutting it down, rebooting, running check disc, and taking it back to a restore point two weeks previous, had no effect. We're building up a nice stack of silvery coasters which are practically useless because they do not absorb water.

The Video builder DVD process, when it works, is just what I need, so please, someone, how do I fix it?

Nix Wadden

[Guest Yachtsman1]

Is the 149gb of free space on your C drive? I had a similar problem & moving files on my C Drive to another drive solved it.

Yachtsman1

[Nix Wadden]

Is the 149gb of free space on your C drive? I had a similar problem & moving files on my C Drive to another drive solved it.

Yachtsman1

Yes, on the C drive. Surely that is enough free space?

[Lin Evans]

Hi Nix.

First, it would be very helpful and more economical to invest in a small quantity of rewritable DVD's just for this sort of situation. Here in the states we can buy them in quantities of 10 or 15 in a package. This will eliminate your unusable "coasters."

Was your slideshow really only 2.9 megabytes, or was it 2.9 "gigabytes?" I assume that it was actually gigabytes. Actually, 2.9 gigabytes is well within the acceptable for standard DVD's and over 140 gigabytes of free space is plenty.

Approximately how many DVD's do you think you may have burned on your DVD burner? The reason I ask is that they do have a limited life of about 300 to 400 burns per DVD burner. It "could be" that your DVD burner is responsible for this issue and not a computer hardware issue or software issue. Video builder works quite well for so many and you haven't had problems in the past so the first thing I would do is borrow another DVD burner, buy some rewritable media and try it again. If it doesn't work with another burner then you know the problem is likely a corrupted DVD driver or similar situation. If it does work with another burner it's likely that yours simply has exhausted it's limited burn life. Unfortunately, DVD burners, though they can "read" practically forever, do have a very limited burn life - something that the manufacturers don't tell you. We burn commercially and have replaced dozens of DVD burners from HP, Sony, Plextor, etc., over the past years when they fail. The most I've ever gotten from a burner before failures was 430 complete DVD movie burns (full disk over 4 gigabytes).

Best regards,

Lin

[Nix Wadden]

Hi Lin

Thanks for that. I meant of course 2.9 Gigabytes.

It seems unlikely that my DVD burner is burnt out already, since it was installed less than two years ago, and I have probably burned no more than 50 DVDs and about the same number of CDs.

Of course, anything is possible, but could it be that there is some other explanation?

[Lin Evans]

Hi Nix,

Yes, of course there may be other issues such as corrupted drivers, etc. Just to be certain, if it's possible to borrow an external USB DVD burner to burn a PTE show and rule out a mechanical issue with yours, that would be helpful. If that isn't possible, the next thing I would try is to possibly download a free DVD burn software and try burning any DVD or CD to assure that your burner is working properly. If it doesn't work with the other software either, then try downloading and installing drivers for your burner. These are generally available at the website of the manufacturer. A corrupted driver could definitely cause this type error.

Best regards,

Lin

[Nix Wadden]

Hi Nix,

Yes, of course there may be other issues such as corrupted drivers, etc. Just to be certain, if it's possible to borrow an external USB DVD burner to burn a PTE show and rule out a mechanical issue with yours, that would be helpful. If that isn't possible, the next thing I would try is to possibly download a free DVD burn software and try burning any DVD or CD to assure that your burner is working properly. If it doesn't work with the other software either, then try downloading and installing drivers for your burner. These are generally available at the website of the manufacturer. A corrupted driver could definitely cause this type error.

Best regards,

Lin

[Nix Wadden]

Hi again Lin

I have just burned a PTE show on a CD using the same burner and it worked just fine, so this may not be a burner problem. Burning was done using Nero software.

One thing that I have not tried is to re-install the PTE 5.5 software to see if that could make a difference. Really reluctant to do so unless absolutely necessary, because re-installation of an older version of PTE a few years ago was a bit of a nightmare.

Meanwhile, I have filed a bug report on all this with the PTE support centre, and am told we could get a response within 24 hours.

Thanks for your help.

Nix Wadden

[Lin Evans]

Hi Nix,

Actually, the latest release of PTE is version 5.64 and it shouldn't be any problem at all for you if you just take the defaults. The program will "not" overwrite the older versions of PTE which will remain in your Windows Program Files folder. Just let the newer version create an icon and it will be available along side your earlier version. This way you can test to see if perhaps a file has become corrupted in 5.5. If it doesn't work you always have the option of using 5.5 which will remain on your drive. So let me reiterate that it's quite O.K. to simply "install" the latest version of PTE without uninstalling your current version. Perhaps in the past you may have uninstalled when it really wasn't necessary.

Best regards,

Lin

[Ken Cox]

if you have a shortcut on your desktop rename it before installing a newer version

ken

[Nix Wadden]

Hi Nix,

Actually, the latest release of PTE is version 5.64 and it shouldn't be any problem at all for you if you just take the defaults. The program will "not" overwrite the older versions of PTE which will remain in your Windows Program Files folder. Just let the newer version create an icon and it will be available along side your earlier version. This way you can test to see if perhaps a file has become corrupted in 5.5. If it doesn't work you always have the option of using 5.5 which will remain on your drive. So let me reiterate that it's quite O.K. to simply "install" the latest version of PTE without uninstalling your current version. Perhaps in the past you may have uninstalled when it really wasn't necessary.

Best regards,

Lin

Hi Lin

Want to take you up on suggestion tp upgrade to PTE 5.64, but don't really know how to do this correctly. The WnSofgt.com site seems to offer either a trial version or a download that calls for payment as a new customer. Have already paid twice for want of knowing how to avoid this.

Cheers

Nix

[Lin Evans]

Hi Nix,

Just download the "trial version" and install. This will be recognized as the full version upon installation when the software will read your keycode in the registry on your computer.

Any upgrades are handled this way. The installation will automatically read your registry and find your keycodes and install as the full version. You should email Igor about the double payment.

The basic package of PTE comes with free lifetime upgrades. VideoBuilder which comprises that portion of PTE which is the "Deluxe" version has a two year upgrade cycle. That is all upgrades are free for two years and after such time you pay an upgrade fee only for another two years.

Best regards,

Lin

[Ken Cox]

if you already paid for it

and

installed the the deluxe version c/w the registration

you will not have to pay again for 2 years

just download it and install it

ken

[Nix Wadden]

Hi Nix.

First, it would be very helpful and more economical to invest in a small quantity of rewritable DVD's just for this sort of situation. Here in the states we can buy them in quantities of 10 or 15 in a package. This will eliminate your unusable "coasters."

Was your slideshow really only 2.9 megabytes, or was it 2.9 "gigabytes?" I assume that it was actually gigabytes. Actually, 2.9 gigabytes is well within the acceptable for standard DVD's and over 140 gigabytes of free space is plenty.

Approximately how many DVD's do you think you may have burned on your DVD burner? The reason I ask is that they do have a limited life of about 300 to 400 burns per DVD burner. It "could be" that your DVD burner is responsible for this issue and not a computer hardware issue or software issue. Video builder works quite well for so many and you haven't had problems in the past so the first thing I would do is borrow another DVD burner, buy some rewritable media and try it again. If it doesn't work with another burner then you know the problem is likely a corrupted DVD driver or similar situation. If it does work with another burner it's likely that yours simply has exhausted it's limited burn life. Unfortunately, DVD burners, though they can "read" practically forever, do have a very limited burn life - something that the manufacturers don't tell you. We burn commercially and have replaced dozens of DVD burners from HP, Sony, Plextor, etc., over the past years when they fail. The most I've ever gotten from a burner before failures was 430 complete DVD movie burns (full disk over 4 gigabytes).

Best regards,

Lin

[Nix Wadden]

Maybe I can resolve my problem with Video Builder by upgrading from PTE 5.5 to 5.6, so I would like to do this. However, I cannot seem to find on the WnSoft.com web site an obvious way to do so without having to pay in full once again. What am I missing?

Help, please.

Nix Wadden

[Lin Evans]

Hi Nix,

You must have missed my post above..... Click on this link:

http://www.wnsoft.com

Click on "Download Trial."

Install the trial version taking all the defaults...

On your computer the "Trial Version" will be the "Real 5.64 Version" because it will read your keycode which is already in the registry.

Best regards,

Lin

Maybe I can resolve my problem with Video Builder by upgrading from PTE 5.5 to 5.6, so I would like to do this. However, I cannot seem to find on the WnSoft.com web site an obvious way to do so without having to pay in full once again. What am I missing?

Help, please.

Nix Wadden