Newbie needs to burn.....HELP!

Newbie Forum
#1

I am capturing my home videos from a VCR and trying to burn them onto a DVD+R for playback on my home DVD player. (GE5803P which says they should play) Problem is they will only play on the computer.
I have been successful making VCD that works on both.
I have tried using Sonic MyDVD, Roxio/Dell VideoWave Movie Creator and the ULead Movie Maker 2 (downloaded 30 day trial) and attempted the ULead Media Studio Pro but that was way over my head.
I have also tried using silver and black dvd’s, read somewhere that this player may have problems with the darker colors.
Nothing I have burnt onto the DVD+R seems to work and I’m wasting a small fortune on DVD’s in my attempts.

I have a Dell 8250 with a combo drive, 200g HD and Intel® Pentium® 4 CPU 3.06GHz. Video Card 128DDR ATI Radeon 9700 TX w/TV out and 3 sound cards listed 1) MS Unimodem Half-Duplex Audio Device, 2) Creative Tech. Creative SB Live! Series (WDM), 3) Dell Comp. Corp. Dell Movie Studio Audio Device. I also have codec’s that came pre-installed and presume I have the ones needed but not sure as I don’t know where to check for them. (I am new to this)

Gosh, hope I included everything that will help you to help me but if I left anything out just let me know and I will get it.

Thanks in advance for your help and suggestions!! I am at your mercy. :bow:

#2

Try your DVD-Rs on another DVD player. Chances are your DVD player doesn’t support/read DVD-R media. Check the DVD manual on which format of DVD it supporsts, DVD-R or DVD+R.

Have you tried using Nero to master the home videos?

#3

I have checked the manual and it states it plays DVD discs, audio CD’s, VCD, CD-R and CD-RW. WILL NOT support DVD-ROM.
I am using a DVD+R. I have also checked a site that had listings for this particular DVD player and from the posts there show it will play darn near anything but can be picky when it comes to a dark colored disc. I only have the 1 player so unable to check to see if that could in fact be the problem at this time but like I said, based on everything I have been able to find and read…it should work, but won’t.
Nero? No, I have not tried that but will give it a try and let you know. Thanks!

#4

Have no need for DVD writer my man. All my DVD backups are in DivX format. It’s more economical that way. Again, I strongly suggest you bring your home movies on DVD+R to a local electronic shop (Good Guys, Circuit City, etc) and test it on all their DVD players. Those guys are so desperate for business, they’ll do anything.

#5

I think the real problem is I don’t know what I am doing. I have read much on how other people are doing this but most of what I find is how to copy a DVD or copy digital to DVD. I am using a VCR which I believe you call analog. I do not understand what format it is supposed to be captured in. I’m wanting to make a DVD so I select the DVD format then capture what I want, add a title then burn to disc. I have also tried capturing format MPEG2 then follow the same previous steps.
I read in the forum and the help articles about authoring, changing format and so on…what does it all mean? How do you know what format to capture in and what format to change it to. I have checked books at the bookstore and they give info on digital or dvd to dvd also. I cant find step by step for taking a vcr tape to a dvd. I am so confused and all I want (for now) is to figure out how to take my girls baby videos and put them onto DVD to play on the television. Can you explain or point me in the correct direction? I’m starting to believe that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks and that is REALLY DEPRESSING! :confused: (sorry, will try and keep it shorter in future)

#6

i think the most likely problem (as Stoner already suggested) is that ur standalone dvd player doesn’t support playback of dvd+r discs. what model dvd player do u have?

#7

It’s a GE5803P

#8

i tried doing a quick search on that model but info on its ability to play dvd+r is inconclusive. try playing the dvds in another player (as Stoner also suggested) that u know is capable of playing them. if u don’t have access to another player, u can probably go to any consumer electronics store and tell them that u’re interested in purchasing a player that can play dvd+r discs and that u (conveniently) have one that u wanna test. try to find an Apex dvd player to test with if u can. they are generally capable of playing the widest assortment of formats, and almost all can play dvd+r.

#9

Okay, looks like the majority rules…I will try a disc in every player Circuit City has to see if it will play. If that’s the problem, I have wasted sooo many disc! I will let you know what happens. Thanks to all of you for your help. It’s nice to know there are people like you willing to help people like myself when we run into problems. You are much appreciated and I thank you all!!