Cannot figure out how to burn a quality movie to disk with Pro 2016 on a brand new laptop running windows 7.

ehneyjm wrote on 11/25/2015, 11:52 AM

I have a movie of about 1.5 hours length. I have burned three copies to DVD's, and they are unsatisfactory. the video quality is blotchy, and the top and bottom of the screen is black. Titles and words spill into this black area occasionally, and scrolling letters are jumpy. I need to know what settings to use to get a quality production that I can show on a TV or computer screen. Help would be appreciated. I have read the instructions multiple times, but cannot seem to find specific answers to questions.

I tried encoding the movie in the directory, and it took forever, and now that I have done that I cannot figurte out how to actually burn the DVD. help would be greatly appreciated.

Billsc1

Comments

johnebaker wrote on 11/25/2015, 4:52 PM

. . . . I have burned three copies to DVD's, and they are unsatisfactory. the video quality is blotchy, and the top and bottom of the screen is black. Titles and words spill into this black area occasionally, and scrolling letters are jumpy. . . . .

We need more information:

The source video resolution and format.
The DVD preset setting you are using for export
The project settings - resolution and aspect ratio ie item 1 shown in the image below

The top and bottom of the video being black is called letterboxing. and is probably because the aspect ratio (AR) of the source material does not match the AR of the project ie the video is widescreen 16:9 AR and the project is 4:3 AR.

If you are viewing standard DVD on a HD TV then there is going to be some loss of quality depending on the quality of the upscaler in the player. This cannot be helped because you are playing video of 720 x 576 pixels (PAL), or 720 x 480 pixels (NTSC) on a screen that is 1920 x 1080 pixels resolution - the same applies when viewing on the computer if you have a HD monitor.

To save wasting discs I use DVD-RW rewriteables for the initial burns and testing, then copy to DVD-R when satisfied with the video.

HTH

john EB

ehneyjm wrote on 11/25/2015, 7:33 PM

John, thank you so much for your response. Thanks to you I think I may have found my problem, but will reply to your questions so we can be sure I have everything covered.

My video clips are 1280 wide X 720 high. They are AVI files at 29 FPS.

When I found the Project/movie settings, The box in your #2 circle was checked. In your circle #1, there was nothing displayed in the first box. (I'm thinking that should be NTIC HDV1 16.9 (1280 X720; 29.9 fps) The settings in the four boxes below that are width 1280....Ht. 720...ratio 16.9...frame rate 29.9.

I never actually put any of the finished disks on the TV, I just put them back in the computer (not HD) and played them to see what I had, and was a bit disappointed. I was caught up in the "new toy" syndrome, and wanted to see right now, but DVD-RW's are on my short list of acquisitions......☺

I am having a bit of trouble in the burning process, in that while the files are being processed, the program shifts between running and non responsive frequently. (I watch it on the task manager) I'm also not entirely sure which processing method I really should be using.

This program has a much higher learning curve than I expected, but I'm not one to turn the cat loose once I have it by the tail, if you know what I mean........Thanks again for the help.

Bill

johnebaker wrote on 11/26/2015, 3:45 AM

Hi Bill

. . . . In your circle #1, there was nothing displayed in the first box. (I'm thinking that should be NTIC HDV1 16.9 (1280 X720; 29.9 fps) . . . .

The NTSC HDTV1 setting is correct for the video resolution you have.

. . . . I am having a bit of trouble in the burning process, in that while the files are being processed, the program shifts between running and non responsive frequently. . . . .

How frequently and how long the the 'not responding' occur?

A better indication of if there is a problem is to try exporting the video as a 720p Mpeg4 file and watch the frame counter in the dialog box as the export progresses - this will give you an idea of the speed at which the processing is occurring and you should see the Frames numbers vary and possibly slow down considerably when a complicated part of the timeline is reached.

Assuming the 'new toy' is MEP 2016 - in the programs setting Import / Export tab check that the Hardware acceleration for both import and export are checked.

Is this a PC or laptop and what is its specification?

Do you have more than one hard drive fitted?

What are the programs Folder path settings.

HTH

John EB

ehneyjm wrote on 11/28/2015, 3:58 PM

John, assuming you are in the USA, I'll say I hope you had a great Thanksgiving, and did not overeat like most of my family did. We drove to our oldest sons on Thurs. am, and returned on Friday PM. He is my resident computer guru, so he and I spent most of the two days trying to beat this Magix thing.....We did manage to render the video to a folder, and can get a fair copy of it that way, but cannot get the chapter menu to burn to the disk from the foflder. We started letting the thing render about an hour before we left, and let it run all the way home 2.5 hrs. When I got home I burned a disk, which was better quality, but was still letterboxed, and the chapter menu had only the writing, no photos in it, and it did not work.

We both now are frustrated with this program, as parts of it don't seem to make sense to us.

I think I have answers to some of your last questions. My computer is a laptop. running Windows 7 Pro. Its a Dell Inspiration 5558 with an Intel(R) core 5500 U CPU @2.40GHz . I have 8 Gig.of RAM installed and it is running as a 64 pit system.

There is only one hard drive attached, although I do have a portable HD that I use to store my photos, but it does not run unless I am doing just that.

You asked for the folder path settings.....I think I found what you are looking for.....If not, I will try again.

Projects: C:\Users\Bills\Documents\MAGIX\Movie Edit Pro 2016

Exports: C:\Users\Bills\Videos\2015 Train Trip Rendered Files

Import: C:\Users\Bills\Documents\MAGIX\Movie Edit Pro 2016\AudioTemp

Recordings: C:\Users\Bills\Documents\MAGIX\Movie Edit Pro 2016\My Record

Downloads: C:\Users\Bills\Documents\MAGIX downloads

Disc images: C:\Users\Bills\Documents\MAGIX\Movie Edit Pro 2016\Disc Images

We found that the "not responding" was only occuring when the program was down loading after it had been closed. Dennis, (Oldest Son) said that was probably caused by it having to load all the clips for the project. When we exported the project as a Mpeg4 file, it ran through the whold thing, and at a pretty fast and steady frame rate.

The hardware acceleration for both import and export were and are both checked.

Once we get these settings straightened out, and can produce a satisfactory movie, will I have to change them for future projects, assuming I use the same camera?

I sure do appreciate you hanging with me so far.

Bill