Burning BD in Photostory 2014 Deluxe

katherine-nelson wrote on 2/15/2017, 8:32 PM

I am running Windows 10 on a 2014 Dell, Intel R Core computer.

Am trying to burn a BD with an LG Ultra Slim Portable Blu-ray Writer, which I then want to play on a Samsung Blu-ray Player. (The burner and the BD disk player were both purchased brand new - late in 2015. The TV is HD and only a couple years old.)

I have burned it on a BD (verbatim BD-R disk) using standard settings and NTSC but neither the player or my computer can read the BD disk.

I have burned it on a DVD+R and it will play, but the resolution is awful.

I have burned it as a BD on a DVD+RDL and that disk cannot be read either.

In the burn program, the sizes of the photoshow is listed as follows: 917MB for a DVD, 4350MB for BD, the saved version on my computer is in MP4 format and is 1.44GB.

I read in the manual that the program prefers the +R to the -R, but when I go online, I don't see any BD+R discs. That's why I tried the DVD+RDL - everything I read says it will play back as in HD, but it didn't play back at all.

I have had this Magix product for two years and have tried to burn and show a BD on other equipment - nothing has worked. No error number shows up, it just says it cannot read the disk. DVD's are fine, but with such poor resolution, they are basically useless. Any idea why the BD will not burn?

Thank you - Katherine

Comments

emmrecs wrote on 2/16/2017, 4:29 AM

Katherine, I don't own/have never used Photostory, but there a number of comments to make about what you have tried.

The fact that neither your computer not BD player can read your BD-R strongly suggests that you have not actually "exported" the project. This is the process by which Photostory creates the files in the standard BD format. You cannot simply burn the files to a disc; that process simply copies them without creating all the additional files that any BD player needs in order to play the disc.
Your mention of the version on your computer being mp4 might also suggest you are not creating the disc properly. MEP needs to export that file in BD format.
Does the DVD+R disc you created play in your player? If so, that would suggest you are exporting that correctly. As to the resolution problem, a common misconception is that DVD format is High Definition; it is not, it can only ever be Standard Definition. (But see my point 6 below.)
You cannot burn in BD format to DVD+R DL. The actual discs are physically very different so I am not surprised that did not work. (There are BD+R DL discs available, but certainly not needed for your project. A standard single-layer BD+R can hold about 25GB, a dual-layer about twice as much, but since your project is only about 4GB one of these would be somewhat overkill!)
I think there is no such format as BD-R, hence you cannot buy one. The general consensus is that DVD-R is more suitable and reliable for DVD video projects; clearly, such a situation is not applicable to BD.
Your comment about "I tried the DVD+RDL - everything I read says it will play back as in HD, but it didn't play back at all" suggests a misunderstanding of the ability to use DVD discs to create "HD" video. Reading some information on-line about Photostory I am unclear whether it offers a facility that MAGIX' video editing programs offer, the ability to burn HD to DVD but with the proviso that the maximum program length is about 20 - 30 minutes. If Photostory does have this facility then, yes, given the apparent size of your project, it might allow you to export and burn to DVD-R.

I'm sorry I can't offer rather more "helpful" advice as to how to achieve your desired output but hopefully you have some more information to help you diagnose and solve your problem.

Jeff

johnebaker wrote on 2/16/2017, 7:17 AM

@ Jeff

. . . . I think there is no such format as BD-R . . . .

Do you mean BD+R ? I use BD-R for movies over 30 mins long - good makes I have used are Verbatim, Sony and RiDisc (printable and my preferred make - never had a coaster yet from this make) .

. . . . Reading some information on-line about Photostory I am unclear whether it offers a facility that MAGIX' video editing programs offer . . . .

Photostory uses the same burn engine as MEP - Magix Speed3 BurnR so yes you can burn BD to DVD discs, however I would not try it with DVD DL discs - the results may be unpredictable.

@ katherine-nelson

. . . . BD on a DVD+RDL and that disk cannot be read . . . .

As this is both on the computer and the BD player, I think the DL disc may be faulty or the write was not successful in creating the second layer correctly.

Check that the Samsung BD player supports rewriteable discs ie DVD-RW or BD-RE - if it does and the movie is:

less than 30 mins long on the timeline - try writing to rewriteable disc first - I use Verbatim DVD-RW
more than 30 mins long on the timeline - burn to BD-RE disc (rewriteable) first - again I use Verbatim.

Using rewriteables for the initial burns and testing saves you disc wastage and money, I often pick up small changes that are needed when seen on the 'big screen' and re-edit the movie and burn again to the rewriteable.

Once the movie is as you want it on the rewriteable disc you can then copy that disc to permanent disc using the programs disc burning capability - File, Additional programs, Magix Speed BurnR, Nero or ImgBurn (freeware) There is no need to do the rendering and burning again.

HTH

John EB

emmrecs wrote on 2/16/2017, 8:01 AM

Hi John, thanks for the corrections! Yes I do mean BD-R. Talk about a senior moment!

Interesting comment on the reasons for Katherine's DVD DL failing; from my own experience I would never use MAGIX to burn directly to dual-layer, it seems to fail rather too frequently, don't know why. (Given that you cannot obtain DVD DL RW discs, this can get expensive!) My route now is to create a DL disc image and then use ImgBurn to create the actual disc; its facility to select the point of the layer break and even "adapt/alter" that point if necessary means that, over a period of several years of using it I have never had a DL disc fail to burn and later play correctly.

Jeff

katherine-nelson wrote on 2/16/2017, 2:29 PM

Thank you so very much for responding. You have both given me a few things to think about and to continue to grow my knowledge, I would like to clarify a couple points.

What I really want to do is burn my photoshows (generally about 20 minutes in duration on the timeline) in HD to a Blu-ray disc. Because the manual suggested that the program preferred a +R, I burned to a DVD+R as a test and it works on the TV (although I understand a DVD will never give me the definition I want) and I tried to burn as a BD on the DVD+RDL only because it was a DVD (plus) R. So let's skip those attempts - they were just my experiments for testing purposes to see if the "plus" or "minus" was a big issue. Since BD only come in "minus", I'm assuming it's a nonissue.

I suspect that the exporting may be a better lead? The Photostory Deluxe clearly says it will burn to BD and there is a burn section there specifically to do that. They give a choice between DVD, BD, and AVCHD. If i chose the DVD, it works. So it would seem to be that choosing the BD and having a BD-R disc in a BD Burner, it should work also - as the steps are the same. Any ideas why the burn is unsuccessful?

The photostories will export (using the export portion of the Photostory program) to a thumb-drive, but its in MP4 format - the TV will accept a UBS, but the show did not have sound. So that isn't an option either.

I will go back to the "burn" portion of the program and try everything I can think of, but frankly, I'm not optimistic. I might add that a few years back I was using a laptop and a different BD burner, and the photostory projects would not burn either. It's great software for making a show so I hate to give it up. Any further suggestions you have are appreciated.