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  1. Member
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    Recently I've noticed a lot of friends buying Panasonic DVD recorders. I've also noticed a few people asking about the VRO format you get when you record video to a DVD-RAM disc on the Panasonic burners (ie. the VR_VIDEO.VRO file). Many of the Panasonic models don't come with hard drives, so the option of dumping video on a DVD-RAM back to the DVD-R is unavailable. However, you can take the video off these discs and edit it on your computer, so here's a little quick primer on how to do so.

    I'm using a Panasonic DMR-E55 for what you see below. This MAY not apply to other/future Panasonic models and I have no idea whether it applies to other brands of DVD recorders. I'll be using the MPEG Tools area of TMPGEnc Plus to get funky with the VRO files.

    A. Pull The Video Off The DVD-RAM Disc

    1. Format a disc, then record your item on it. Both of these have to be done. Keep only one item on the disc - the formatting beforehand IS important. Make sure the item you record is in a compliant mode (on the Panasonic recorders, that's 1, 2, 4, or 6 hour mode, but not 8 or flexible mode recordings longer than 6 hours).
    2. Pull the VRO file off the DVD-RAM disc (it's in \DVD_RTAV\VR_MOVIE.VRO) by reading the disc in a computer with a DVD drive (most PC based DVD drives will read DVD-RAM discs these days).
    3. Rename the VRO file to an MPG file. This isn't entirely necessary but it'll make it somewhat easier for some programs.

    Note: The formatting of the disc is important, because if you record a five minute video on a disc that's previously been used to record a two hour movie, it may SAY it's only 200 megs when you read the disc on your computer, but that's not the whole truth. When you copy the file over, it'll actually copy over a huge file including what you recorded PLUS whatever else used to be on the disc. Because of this, you could be copying over a 4 gig file, as opposed to a 200 meg file. Formatting the disc beforehand will stop this from happening. Also, having multiple videos on one disc makes life difficult because they're joined together in one VRO file. Some programs have difficulty reading the VRO stream properly because of this and if the videos use different video/audio bitrates, things will get even nastier. Because of this, stick with one video on a formatted disc for the sake of simplicity and your own personal sanity. Also keep in mind that some recording modes on the Panasonic recorders are NOT compliant. On my Panasonic DMR-E55, the 1, 2, 4, and 6 hour modes are compliant, but the 8 hour mode is not (the audio compression is the problem). As a result, some things recorded in the flexible recording mode (stuff larger than six hours probably) will probably not be compliant (ie. usable) either and have trouble playing back on some players.

    B. Convert The Audio From AC3 To MP2 Format (you need to do this in order to edit in TMPGEnc Plus or it won't include the sound as it doesn't understand the AC3 audio codec completely)

    4. Open TMPGEnc Plus and go to File -> MPEG Tools.
    5. Click on the De-Multiplex tab.
    6. Browse to the VR_MOVIE.MPG file and hit OPEN.
    7. You'll see two streams listed, one video and one audio - the audio stream should note a bitrate at the end of it (ie. 256kbps, 192kbps, etc.) - write down the audio bitrate.
    8. Close that window to exit out of MPEG Tools.
    9. Go to File -> New Project and hit OK.
    10. Along the bottom of the screen, in the Audio Source area, hit browse and browse to the VR_MOVIE.MPG file and hit OPEN.
    11. In the bottom right, click on Setting, then change the birate to whatever you wrote down for the bitrate from before - if they don't match, choose the bitrate value that is less than what you wrote down, then hit OK.
    12. Click on Start in the top left.

    C. Multiplexing The New Audio To The Video

    13. Go to File -> MPEG Tools.
    14. Click on the Simple Multiplex tab.
    15. Change the Type to MPEG-2 Program (VBR).
    16. In the Video Input area, browse to the VR_MOVIE.MPG file and hit OK.
    17. In the Audio Input area, browse to the VR_MOVIE.MP2 file and hit OK.
    18. Change the Output filename to something other than VR_MOVIE.MPG (ie. VR_MOVIE2.MPG).
    19. Click on RUN.

    D. Editing The Newly Multiplexed Video

    20. Go To File -> MPEG Tools.
    21. Click on the Merge & Cut tab.
    22. Make sure the Type is set to MPEG-2 Program (VBR).
    23. Click on Add.
    24. Browse to the newly multiplexed MPG file (ie. VR_MOVIE2.MPG) and hit OPEN.
    25. Click on the filename in the list, then click on Edit.
    26. Browse the file using the slider and select the start and end of the final product using the { and } buttons (start and finish respectively).
    27. Hit OK.
    28. In the Output area, click on Browse and select a path and filename for the output - make sure it's different than the filenames you've had before this point, then hit Save.
    29. Hit RUN and wait for the project to complete.

    E. Checking The Video

    30. Playback the video and make sure the beginning and end are where you want them to be. If they're not, calculate how many seconds they're off by and re-adjust them in the Merge & Cut tool, then output again. TMPGEnc Plus may show you a frame in the tool, but the final render may be completely different so you kinda have to play with it.
    31. Keep checking the video and adjusting the start/stop times until you have what you want. If adjusting between seconds (ie. 50:37.00 and 50:38.00) isn't specific enough, halve that manually by changing the last value (ie. 50:37.50), then click on } again to make the change, then see if your new output is good enough.
    32. If you need to do fade in/out or anything else fancy with the video, you'll need to take the multiplexed MPG (ie. VR_MOVIE2.MPG) into a more specific editing program like ULead Media Studio Pro, as TMPGEnc Plus can only define and start and stop point in editing. If so, remember that the video is recorded at 704 by 480, not 720, and make sure you figure out what field order is being used. On my DMR-E55, it's B, but it could be different on other models.

    Good luck.
    Jeremy Morrow
    Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
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    The Panasonic E80H produces a VRO/MPEG2 that may not be 100% compatible with the DVD standard so I put the VRO directly into Womble Mpeg Video Wizard and save it with the automatic settings as a DVD Mpeg. Then I load that into TMPGEnc DVD Author for final processing. Womble is also better for editing as it's frame accurate and it doesn't re-encode when saving. No need to rename anything or demux/convert anything. I've been using this method for many months now...
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  3. Originally Posted by oldfart13
    The Panasonic E80H produces a VRO/MPEG2 that may not be 100% compatible with the DVD standard so I put the VRO directly into Womble Mpeg Video Wizard and save it with the automatic settings as a DVD Mpeg. Then I load that into TMPGEnc DVD Author for final processing. Womble is also better for editing as it's frame accurate and it doesn't re-encode when saving. No need to rename anything or demux/convert anything. I've been using this method for many months now...

    100% Ditto! So does the -E55.


    Teshia, if you haven't tried MPEG-VCR, download it and try it. It's a frame-accurate MPEG editor and it will handle DVD-RAM .VROs without any problems. I've transferred at least 50 DVD-RAM discs already and MPEG-VCR handled them with no problem. It completely eliminates the guesswork in Step E, and removes Steps B and C from the equation unless you need special audio post-processing. And most people don't.

    I do have a question regarding Flex Recording Mode. Any problems with Flex Recordings under six hours?
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    Originally Posted by oldfart13
    Womble is also better for editing as it's frame accurate and it doesn't re-encode when saving.
    I should note that the Merge and Cut MPEG Tool in TMPGEnc Plus also does not re-encode the video. It's just awful at being frame accurate. I haven't tried Womble, but I hear great things about it so I'll be sure to look it up and give it a try. I assume it has no problems with AC3 multiplexed MPEG? That would be a godsend for me alone, even aside from the frame accurate features.

    Originally Posted by indolikaa
    Teshia, if you haven't tried MPEG-VCR, download it and try it. It's a frame-accurate MPEG editor and it will handle DVD-RAM .VROs without any problems.
    I'll definitely check it out. Thanks for the advice.

    Originally Posted by indolikaa
    I do have a question regarding Flex Recording Mode. Any problems with Flex Recordings under six hours?
    Nope. I've tried using FR setting MPEGs that were 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours in length and had no compliancy problems. Seems to be that if FR detects you going above six hours, it switches to an audio codec or bitrate of somekind that is playable on the recorder, but falls outside of compliancy and rules the video out on most players. Mind you, the quality of the video is so crap around six hours that I've never had to worry about it yet(not sure what bitrate that is, but if 2 hours is 4500-5000 bits, I shudder to think what it's set at for 6 hours).

    Every time I've filled up a disc, it's always come out to just under 4 gigs. Doesn't like to write more than that. Not sure if this is a specification of the DVD-RAM or something, but I doubt it. I'm assuming it's leaving extra space to allow for VBR expansion, but I'm not entirely sure. The nice thing about that is that people who use Windows 98 won't have trouble pulling off VROs if their Windows systems can't handle file sizes above 4 gigs.
    Jeremy Morrow
    Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
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  5. I first heard about the 4GB barrier from other people here. I suspect (and I believe it was FulciLives that first mentioned this?) that its a way to protect novice DVD enthusiasts from inferior media, since A LOT of DVD problems tend to happen between 4GB and the end of the disc.

    MPEG-VCR does not re-encode the stream unless you change the video or audio settings. If all you are doing is 'commercial=removal editing' and such, it leaves the encoding rates alone. That's what makes it such a great program; it can save a 4GB file in about 8 minutes on my machine.

    For some reason, I thought the 6-hour and 8-hour modes were MPEG-1...
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  6. Member lacywest's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by oldfart13
    The Panasonic E80H produces a VRO/MPEG2 that may not be 100% compatible with the DVD standard so I put the VRO directly into Womble Mpeg Video Wizard and save it with the automatic settings as a DVD Mpeg. Then I load that into TMPGEnc DVD Author for final processing. Womble is also better for editing as it's frame accurate and it doesn't re-encode when saving. No need to rename anything or demux/convert anything. I've been using this method for many months now...
    A lot was written above but ... WHY ... bother with all that.

    Is it because of financial reasons. I stoped using Tmpgencoders ... months ago.

    Just transfer the VRO file ... rename it to ... whatever.mpg.

    Use Womble mpeg-vcr to edit the commercials out ... very very accurate. AC-3 audio is no problem. Use TDA to author your DVD.

    The good things being said about Womble mpeg-vcr ... are true.

    Also to mention ... Canopus ProCoder Express ... handles VRO files with AC-3 audio ... no problems at all.
    STOP THE PRESSES .... NO ... Canopus Procoder Express does not handle the AC-3 audio.


    What Canopus ProCoder Express does do well ... for me ... I can convert a AVI video with it and the DVD compliant mpg file will have the correct perspective [TV 4:3]. The other mpg encoders I've used ... the end results are usually tall bodys ... skinny faces.

    I use Womble mpeg-vcr ... to snip out the commercials first.
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    Can anybody help?

    All the above makes sense BUT for some reason I can not read the file VRO in my PC DVD RAM drive. I have checked there is no protection on the Panasonic DMR E55.

    Thanks

    Alan
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    Alanparrott, you need software designed to take the video from the DVD-RAM and transfer it to a readable format on your hard drive. I do this myself for disc's recorded on my Panasonic DMR-E55. I have been using Ulead's DVD MovieFactory 3 to do this. To edit out commercials I have been using Womble's mpeg-vcr. Also Mpeg-Vcr seems to handle the AC3 audio quite well. Ulead's DVD MovieFactory 3 is available direct for $49.95 & Womble mpeg-vcr is available for $69.95. Both are available for download as free trials. Please note that I don't know if the trial version of DVD MovieFactory will be able to transfer the A/V file from the DVD-RAM disc intact or at all since the trial version is listed as not supporting AC3.


    http://www.ulead.com/dmf/runme.htm

    http://www.womble.com/
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    KTH thanks for that.

    I have now managed to get it working, it would seem that since I loaded Win XP SP2, I needed to upgrade my Nero software and InCD. I did this becaues every time I ejected the RAM DVD it rebooted the system, the recommended cure was via Nero which as I say seems to now let me read the files into MPEG-VCR.

    Now my problem is how do I write back to it to play on the Panasonic using the RAM disk. I realise this is not the best way but I am only trialling it and dont want to use DVD-r its only other supported format. All my other media is +R/RW.

    Also do you know if this can be made Region Free?

    Thanks
    Alan
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    If I understand you correctly you want to take a DVD-RAM disc that was recorded on your Panasonic DMR-E55 and put this in your computer DVD-ROM drive and transfer the VRO file to your hard drive for editing. You then want to transfer the edited file from back to the DVD-RAM drive in the VRO format for playback on your Panasonic DMR-E55. Is this correct? If this is what you want to do I have no idea how to convert the edited file back to the VRO format especially in a structure that will work on the Panasonic. Maybe someone else here has an idea? If you just want to do simple editing out of commercials why don't you just do it using the Panasonic E55 itself. This unit has this capability on DVD-RAM disc's. In answer to your question about whether this disc can be made region free. Any disc recorded on the Panasonic should already be region free. As far as I know Panasonic DVD Recorders do not put region codes on disc's recorded on them.
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  11. Member FulciLives's Avatar
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    Since you want to test this why not burn to a DVD-RW or DVD+RW instead of trying to burn it back to a DVD-RAM disc?

    If you don't have any DVD-RW or DVD+RW discs then just "waste" a DVD-R or DVD+R for your test.

    The things are cheap enough these days!

    - John "FulciLives" Coleman
    "The eyes are the first thing that you have to destroy ... because they have seen too many bad things" - Lucio Fulci
    EXPLORE THE FILMS OF LUCIO FULCI - THE MAESTRO OF GORE
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    KTH/John, thanks for the replies.

    First I am not sure when and which Redorder I will buy, so was just checking what I could and could not do? Sometimes with this approach you stumble across things you had not expected.

    As this unit only accepts RAM and -R and it was Sunday and I only had RAM, and +R, +RW I had no option; I was not being a cheap skte. It is Monday now so I may have to go buy! Still interested about writing to RAM tho.

    Re the Region setting I was thinkuing about disks bought in the US (I am UK R2) but now see there is a special remote for hire that can convert to Region free.

    Once again thanks to you both.
    Alan
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    Out of interest, the Panasonic the DMR-E55e does PLAY DVD +R & +RW despite it NOT being shown in the manual.

    Cheers
    Alan
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  14. I recently started using TMPEGnc DVD Author (1.6). This will open the VRO file and allow you to edit, after edit I burn back out to my DVD Burner or save the resulting VOB files and burn later. So far I have not had any problems. I use the Panasonic E85. I have also joined a TV series using DVD2One after I create the VOB files with TMPEGnc DVD Author. This seems to be the best for me, I can't be sure if any of this will work for for anyone elese.

    Bud
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    Having followed most of the above advice I still have a few comments/questions:

    1 MPEG-VCR seems fine providing on saving I switch the audio to MPEG 44Hz 192, not changing it results in NO sound when I need to use TMPEnc

    2 Does anyone have any ideas on this - I want to save a TV Series, each episode is scheduled about 55 mins but without ads/intros etc is about 45 mins. I would like to capture on DVD-RAM, edit on PC and then burn 3 episodes on to one DVD. Its an old series so not much complaint on quality. In order to do this I have recorded each episode to DVD_RAM in 1 hour mode transferred to PC and edited via MPEG-VCR...so far so good. I assume in order to do what I want they have to be re-encoded, which I have done but the combined 3 episodes took 14 hours on a fast PC using TMPEnc.

    I guess I could record in the first place in 2 hour mode but not sure then whether after editing I could squeeze 3 on to one. OR should I be doing the editing on the Panasonic itself? OR am I missing something (ie being stupid again)!!

    Look forward to any comments/ideas.
    Alan
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  16. Member Schmendrick's Avatar
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    1.: If you want to have your final DVD structure compatible you should keep the sound at 48000 Hz sampling frequency when converting it to MPEG audio.

    2.: Your final DVD with three 45 min episodes will be 145 minutes altogether. So my advice would be to record at the FR mode set to a maximum recording time of 135 minutes. This usually means that you will have 352x576 pixels video resolution (half PAL D1) which still is DVD compatible as you said that video quality is not that much of a concern to you.

    When I am doing something similar like you want to do I am cutting the video using Project-X either directly or together with MPEGSchnitt.
    The video clips then are either authored with a multi-title version of IFOEdit (the quick and easy way) or multiplexed with bbmpeg, merged with Project-X and then authored with IfoEdit.

    By the way the Panasonic DVD-recorders are also able to play DVD structures from a DVD-RW even though the manual is quiet about this.
    (at least on my DMR-E30)

    CU
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    Originally Posted by Schmendrick
    Your final DVD with three 45 min episodes will be 145 minutes altogether. So my advice would be to record at the FR mode set to a maximum recording time of 135 minutes. Schmendrick
    Schmendrick thanks, I assume you mean record one episode on one RAM disk at 135?

    Thanks

    Alan
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  18. Member Schmendrick's Avatar
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    Schmendrick wrote:
    Your final DVD with three 45 min episodes will be 145 minutes altogether. So my advice would be to record at the FR mode set to a maximum recording time of 135 minutes. Schmendrick

    alanparrott wrote:
    Schmendrick thanks, I assume you mean record one episode on one RAM disk at 135?

    Yes, you are right! (145 was a typo) By this method each episode is encoded by the DVD-recorder in a suitable bitrate so that three episodes together are smaller than 4489 MB and thus fit on a DVD+/-R/RW.

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    Originally Posted by Teshia

    1. Format a disc, then record your item on it.

    Note: The formatting of the disc is important, because if you record a five minute video on a disc that's previously been used to record a two hour movie,
    Just a note, you should quick erase instead of reformatting after the first formatting of the disc.
    I have reformatted a dvd-ram disc a few times and it basically destroyed it after a few times. will not even register anymore in anything.
    https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1102957#1102957
    but the others i have only formatted once and have had no problems with them. macleod has also had the same problem.
    Just a thought 8)
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    Hi Guys, I am not sure if I am making 2 steps forwrd and 3 steps back!

    I have found a quicker way to re-encode (or transcode?) by just using DVD shrink to get 3 in to 1. Takes 14 hours with TMPGEnc and 4 with DVDShrink. This works fine HOWEVER I find whatever I use I still get bad audio sync (sound delay after picture) it is just too much to be annoying.

    This is probably not the forum for it but any advice or direction to others would be much appreciated.

    As I said I am learning AND making progress, but want to make more.

    Cheers

    Alan
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  21. Member Schmendrick's Avatar
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    @alanparrot:
    Why do you re-encode or transcode? If you record at an appropriate bitrate like I have described before and then you just cut out the clip you want you do not have to reencode at all. Especially if you can use two harddrives on the same computer to always store the produced clip or demuxed video/audio on a different drive than the source file you should be able to finish your DVD-structure from the DVD-RAM discs in by far less than one hour without loss of quality and video and audio in perfect sync.
    Project-X is able to correct any difference in time code between the video and audio tracks so that the seperate tracks can be multiplexed in perfect sync.

    CU
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    Originally Posted by Schmendrick
    @alanparrot:
    Why do you re-encode or transcode? If you record at an appropriate bitrate like I have described before and then you just cut out the clip you want you do not have to reencode at all.
    OK Schmendrick, I take your point and I will give this a go. However I find by trying things, I get to learn things I didn't know I was trying to learn! In this case I had thought, initially, I would be better to capture to DVD RAM in the best quality and as a result of that thinking I had already recorded 6 episodes and was trying to save doing them over.

    Originally Posted by Schmendrick
    @alanparrot:
    Especially if you can use two harddrives on the same computer to always store the produced clip or demuxed video/audio on a different drive than the source file you should be able to finish your DVD-structure from the DVD-RAM discs in by far less than one hour without loss of quality and video and audio in perfect sync.
    Are you saying basically that it will be faster using 2 disks? I try to do this anyway as I have 2 x 160gb SATA drives, with a 3g PC and 1g mem. Just double checking your reasoning here.

    Originally Posted by Schmendrick
    @alanparrot:
    Project-X is able to correct any difference in time code between the video and audio tracks so that the seperate tracks can be multiplexed in perfect sync.
    Thanks for this I am sure it is something I may need. As a general rule are you saying that encoding/transcoding is a cause of poor syncing or just one of many?

    Kind Regards

    Alan
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    I have taken a 24 hour breather!

    I have no problem capturing to the DMR-E55 DVD RAM from my UK Sky+ box via Svid, whether using MPEG-VCR to edit and then re-encoding via TMPEnc or not re-encoding using Author and burning.

    I do however have some issues regarding Audio and probably this is down to my ignorance, but any comments experiences etc would be appreciated. My wife says I am paranoid and she thinks there is nothing wrong with most of my efforts with regard to Audio Sync BUT I definately notice it and it is difficult keep doing comparisons to find out where the problem is.

    1 For those of you who know Sky+ there is occasionally some out of sync audio, but I dont think the problem is here.

    2 Using the DMR55 to RAM and repalying seems OK but is there a slight drag there?

    3 When outputting resulting edited file from MPEG-VCR what Audio settings should I use? The output parameters are greyed out and I assume this is AC3, so should I leave this alone? This is OK if not re-encoding using TMPEnc, so then I would use the MPEG button, at 48?

    4 When I have just authored and burned the resulting files, leaving AC3 alone seems OK.

    However I have tried so many combinations I think I have confused myself, all the above post excluding the originater do not mention these settings.

    Any help appreciated. I do understand the replies to my previous posts re NOT re-encoding but would still like to understand the process better.

    Alan
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  24. Member lacywest's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by alanparrott
    Having followed most of the above advice I still have a few comments/questions:

    1 MPEG-VCR seems fine providing on saving I switch the audio to MPEG 44Hz 192, not changing it results in NO sound when I need to use TMPEnc

    2 Does anyone have any ideas on this - I want to save a TV Series, each episode is scheduled about 55 mins but without ads/intros etc is about 45 mins. I would like to capture on DVD-RAM, edit on PC and then burn 3 episodes on to one DVD. Its an old series so not much complaint on quality. In order to do this I have recorded each episode to DVD_RAM in 1 hour mode transferred to PC and edited via MPEG-VCR...so far so good. I assume in order to do what I want they have to be re-encoded, which I have done but the combined 3 episodes took 14 hours on a fast PC using TMPEnc.

    I guess I could record in the first place in 2 hour mode but not sure then whether after editing I could squeeze 3 on to one. OR should I be doing the editing on the Panasonic itself? OR am I missing something (ie being stupid again)!!

    Look forward to any comments/ideas.
    Don't bother using the TMPEnc Encoder.

    Transfer the vro files to your computer.

    Change the "vro" extension to "mpg" ... to make things easier ... I do.

    Snip out the commercials with Womble mpeg-vcr [very accurate] and then load them into TDA. Or load the vro files into TDA and snip the commercials [not very accurate].

    Ignore the warning about how huge the end result will be and just do it. After it is done ... Shrink with DVD Shrink ... or make it smaller with DVD-Rebuilder [I haven't tried that yet]

    You may need a different version of DVD Shrink to shrink it ... I believe DVD Shrink 2.3 ... works.

    It's that simple. Nothing was mentioned about audio because audio is fine just the way it is. It is already compatible ... don't mess with audio settings.

    Yes ... TDA audio settings can be tweaked ... I try to use AC-3 as much as possible. For the version of TDA I have ... I can encode with AC-3.

    But for the menus I make ... I wont have any sound if I don't use LPCM ... so sometimes I have to make some little videos with LPCM audio and use them for my motion videos.

    Unless this audio sync problem you mentioned is really bad. I guess I can be glad I live in California.
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    Originally Posted by Noahtuck
    Originally Posted by Teshia

    1. Format a disc, then record your item on it.

    Note: The formatting of the disc is important, because if you record a five minute video on a disc that's previously been used to record a two hour movie,
    Just a note, you should quick erase instead of reformatting after the first formatting of the disc.
    macleod has also had the same problem.
    Just a thought 8)
    Is there a quick erase on the unit or do you mean on a PC? I did that on my PC and the Panny said it was unformatted. Next I tried the Erase on the unit which is quick! Is that OK?

    Cheers

    Alan
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  26. On my Panasonic E85H, I press the play button on the remote, just as it starts playing I press the Erase button. The unit will ask if I want to erase, I select Yes. Thats it, quick and simple, at least on the Panasonic E85H.

    Bud
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  27. Hi guys,

    Need some advice. I need to find a program (freeware preferably) that can convert mpeg video on my PC over to .vro files so I can burn to a DVD-Ram disc on my external Iomega Super dvd drive so I can watch it on my Panasonic E85.

    Also, I have Media Center 2004 which records tv as dvr-ms files. Is there a way to convert those files to .vro as well?

    Right now, all I can do is record these mpegs and dvr-ms files via Sonic MyDVD onto a dvd-rw disc, which I can then insert in my E85 and dub it back to my Panasonic's hard drive (it sees it as a dvd-r disc), but it only dubs it at 1x speed. I'd love to burn these files from my computer to a -RAM disc so i can end up high speed dubbing it onto my E85 instead and save a lot of time. Please help. Thanks.
    Panasonic E-85 & Panasonic E-55 dvd recorders
    Gateway 510XL with Media Center 2004
    External Iomega DVD-Superdrive (writes DVD-Ram)
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  28. allanparrott:

    the quick erase is actually on the panny, not the pc.
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  29. I have a DMR-E50 and sometimes I get the following problem when playing the VRO (renamed to mpeg) on my PC:
    It starts playing nicely and suddenly the screen is split in half (either vertically or horizontally). This makes the file unusable in TMPEnc as it complaints about there being 2 different standards in one programme. A friend had the same problem. I sent a sample to Panasonic's support but have not received a reply yet although they seem at least interested. Has anyone got any ideas on how to fix these problems? BTW, the Panasonic and PC DVD players seem to play the file without any problems?!?
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  30. Member FulciLives's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by petersu
    I have a DMR-E50 and sometimes I get the following problem when playing the VRO (renamed to mpeg) on my PC:
    It starts playing nicely and suddenly the screen is split in half (either vertically or horizontally). This makes the file unusable in TMPEnc as it complaints about there being 2 different standards in one programme. A friend had the same problem. I sent a sample to Panasonic's support but have not received a reply yet although they seem at least interested. Has anyone got any ideas on how to fix these problems? BTW, the Panasonic and PC DVD players seem to play the file without any problems?!?
    Simply renaming the VRO to MPG/MPEG is a poor method IMHO.

    This could be the problem.

    You are best using a DVD authoring program that can read straight from the DVD-RAM disc. TMPGEnc DVD Author is good at this as is Ulead Movie Factory 3. I'm sure there are others.

    Another possible issue ... in the menu of the Panny stand alone DVD recorders is an option called something like HYBRID VBR and this should be set to OFF because IF it is set to ON then that can cause the resolution to change within a single recording. It will change from 704x480/576 to 352x480/576 and back and forth. That causes HAVOC when you then attempt to re-author it on the computer. So again make sure this option is set to OFF.

    - John "FulciLives" Coleman

    P.S.
    A friend of mine recently bought a Panasonic DMR-E55 and the default setting for the HYBRID VBR was OFF but I know older models (and I think this applies to the DMR-E50) had this option set to ON for the default. My best guess is that having this set to ON is causing the issue. Unfortunately I don't think you can "fix" anything already recorded that way but at least you know now for future recordings.

    One last note ... leaving HYBRID VBR to ON only affects SOME recordings (usually those done over 2+ hours) only.
    "The eyes are the first thing that you have to destroy ... because they have seen too many bad things" - Lucio Fulci
    EXPLORE THE FILMS OF LUCIO FULCI - THE MAESTRO OF GORE
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