Updating AC3 causes DVD size overflow

msmithers wrote on 2/10/2004, 10:20 PM

Hi,

I recently struck the problem of multiple instances of the prerendered MPEG video turning up in "optimize" - thus doubling the size of my project and taking it well over the 4.7GB DVD-R limit.

I found that after I completed my DVD project (including detailed scene selection pages) my prerendered AC3 file was a little short. I rendered a new one in Vegas and when I changed DVDA to use the new AC3 file, suddenly two instances of the video appeared in "optimize."

If I undo the AC3 change, the second video instance goes away.

For any Sony people watching - this is a bug. Please fix this.

Regards,
Michael

Comments

wobblyboy wrote on 2/11/2004, 12:08 AM

If you have two ac3 files with same name in the directory DVDA may be creating a video for both????

msmithers wrote on 2/11/2004, 6:25 AM

I'm not sure what you're refering to.

What I'm saying is that if the AC3 file that is associated with the main movie is changed (i.e. from audio.ac3 to audio2.ac3) AFTER the scene selection menus have been created, DVDA shows the main movie TWICE in the "optimize" list, thus leading to a size overflow.

Regards,
Michael

johnmeyer wrote on 2/11/2004, 8:55 AM

Like you, I've also had multiple instances of the same file appear in the Optimize menu. It is definitely a bug of some sort, but I've never been able to duplicate the steps needed to create it. It definitely has something to do with the scene selection menu. However, I use scene selection menus on most projects, and most of the time I only get one instance of the underlying file, and everything is OK. However, once in awhile I get the same problem that you just reported, namely that Optimize shows multiple instances of the my main video file, and therefore the project goes way over the size limit. The only "workaround" I've been able to come up with is to delete the scene selection menu from the main menu and then create a new one. This is a bummer because it usually means scrapping 10-15 minutes of work.

If you have a way to recreate this bug, please post it, because I'd really like this one to be fixed in the next release. It most definitely IS a bug. Others have reported it.

msmithers wrote on 2/11/2004, 9:26 AM

Thanks for your support.

I sent a list of steps in to Sonic Foundry tech support this morning. It's definitely repeatable but might be triggered by more than one list of steps.

1) Render 1 video and 2 AC3 files in Vegas (using DVDA MP2 and AC3 rendering profiles).
2) Open DVDA, start a new project and insert the video as a thumbnail on the main menu.
3) Open the video and under "Media Properties" "Audio" select one of the AC3 files.
4) Add chapter markers to the video then add a scnese selection submenu to the main menu.

Optimize should show only one video asset in the asset list.

5) Open the video thumbnail and under "Media Properties" "Audio" select the other AC3 file.

Optimize now shows two video assets (rather than one)!!!!

This bug also occurs if the audio AC3 file was added to the video AFTER creation of the scene selection menus.

Cheers,
Michael

wobblyboy wrote on 2/11/2004, 8:03 PM

I followed your instructions exactly and I can not get the results you predict. I am using version 1.0c build 204.

msmithers wrote on 2/12/2004, 11:37 AM

Mmmmmm....

I replicated this on three different systems running DVDA 1.0d build 230 and Vegas 4.0e build 239

1) Dell Precision Workstation 530, Dual P4 1.8GHz Xeon, 1GB Ram, Windows XP Pro
2) Dell 5150 Laptop, P4 3GHz, 512 MB Ram, Windows XP Home
3) ASUS Motherboard with P3 550MHz, 128 MB Ram, Windows 2000 & XP Pro Dual boot

As far as I can tell, the problem is inherent in the program and not a platform issue.

Regards,
Michael

wobblyboy wrote on 2/12/2004, 6:34 PM

In that case I will stick to Version 1.0c.