Checking DVD's

[Stephen J. Williams]

How do you guys check your DVD's out of curiosity (after burning that is)? Do you let the computer verify it? Watch the entire DVD in the DVD player? Skip through chapters?

I'm just looking for a better method... The way I do it now is pretty time consuming.

Steve

[Mike Hammond]

I complete 3 DVDs for my clients so I sit down and watch through one of the DVDs all the way through. Then I'll FF through each DVD at a speed which "should" allow me to catch black frames, wierd happenings, etc.

The first DVD lets me know that the render process happened successfully. The quick views on the other discs lets me know they will play through.

Time consuming yes. But I shoot weddings so it's worth the time to check the discs. I made the mistake of not doing it once and the films had a 15 second black screen during the father-daughter dance. The bride was very nice about it and I fixed it very quickly and got new discs in the mail the very next day. It actually turned into a good thing because she told everyone how good my c/s was and I got two more gigs out of it.

[Peter Manojlovic]

I double, and triple check with my authouring software for proper playback...
Then create an .IMG or .ISO file from the authouring software..
Playback the .IMG or .ISO with DVD software (WinDVD, PowereDVD, etc...). This verifies and emulates settop playback..

Burn the image file to disk...

Any problems from this point on, is hardware related..(ie burner, CD, settop player)...
But those days should be far behind us by now...

[Stephen J. Williams]

Hey Mike and Peter...

I pretty much do the same thing the both of you guys pointed out. I just hate doing it... Nothings better then sitting down to watch an edit 5 times that you just spent weeks putting together...
I usually check the disk image on the computer,burn, then watch it 2x fast fwd. I then go back to the chapter markers and make sure the audio is synched up.
It's a time killer... But I guess it has to be done.

Steve

[Travis Cossel]

Honestly, this is one reason we farm out our disc production. Once you know the master disc works, it's a major time-saver to hand it off to another company for duplication, but we don't have to check each of those discs at that point. If a duplicated disc ends up not working properly, we just return it to the duplication company and they are responsible for creating another that works. Time AND hassle saver.

[Allan Black]

Originally Posted by Peter Manojlovic

Any problems from this point on, is hardware related..(ie burner, CD, settop player)...
But those days should be far behind us by now...

or should be Peter :) From years of experience with commercial burners, x4 is the best burning speed, the laser burns the pits with square edges .. better quality.

And after you settle on a good reliable DVD stock .. you get to know your burners and can rack 'em through. But always play the first one and the last one right through and have good reliable companies you can call up for the big runs.
Cheers.

[Ken Wozniak]

My biggest concern is disc compatibility. I check for rendering error/black frames on the PC, and then run the DVD through the four set-top DVD players I have.

1. 1999 JVC hooked up to Sony television.
2. 2005 RCA chaepie on same Sony television.
3. 2007 Panasonic hooked to Panny plasma.
4. 2009 PS3 attached to same Panny plasma.

Using the CRT has allowed me to catch field order errors that wouldn't show up on the plasma or the computer LCD.

I figure if the oldest, newest, cheapest, and most expensive players I have will play the disc, it should be good on just about anything. Of course, I don't watch the whole disc four times. I just skip to the beginning of chapters and check menu operations.

[Waldemar Winkler]

I watch the finished master beginning to end, then check all chapter links. Once satisfied everything functions properly, I spot check the dvd on a dvd player connected to a CRT monitor.

If there are no surprises, the master goes to my stand alone duplicator, which verifies each and ever disc. Bad discs are rejected.

so far, no complaints.

[Chris Harding]

I always compile the DVD to the archive drive with it's own folder so it's simple to run the Video_TS folder in Power DVD and check that the menu works and then run thru all the menu items in FF. If that passes the test I will then burn one disk and use my domestic player in the living room to also check that it looks OK on the big screen TV.

If that is all OK, then I will make copies and print!!

I learnt my lesson a while back with a tiny 8 sec intro music clip that was corrupt and it also stopped all the audio from working...I had already packaged the disks but something told me to just check them... the ceremony was fine as was the photoshoot but at the reception the audio just died as all the clips after that also had no audio. All from one little corrupt file!!

It's easier to rectify a problem early rather than go out to a furious bride who has assembled the entire family to watch her wedding and nothing works!!!

Chris

[Philip Howells]

The direct answer is to have the burning software check the master disk against the original file, then watch the entire programme back on our Yelo player (which will play anything) - the most important investment of 90 minutes in the entire process.

It is "double-verified" by spot checking on two bog-standard commercial DVD players and a Samsung Blu-ray (which notoriously fails dual-layer DVDs but we know that and expect it).

This is the disk we show the client. When approved it is signed off (literally) by the client. All copies are made from this disk which is stored carefully.

We have our own 7-up duplicator and the software checks each disk byte-for-byte against the master and any which fails is rejected and binned. Travis' experience proves that commercial duplicators don't check this way and I hate putting things right which shouldn't be wrong - plus there's no profit in it. Backup "mistress" disks are also made in this way.

This is much more reliable than fast forwarding or even playing because some machines have error correction. Data comparison finds more faults than we can so any manual check at any speed is a waste of time.

Incidentally we burn our own demos this way too (though we have a duplication house print and seal the faces first). Giving away a dud demo does nothing for our reputation.

[Rani Korkise]

Hi Phillip, interesting way of checking the discs, could you please mention which kind of software you use to check each disk byte-for-byte against the master? Because that would be a great time saver!

Thanks in advance

[Philip Howells]

Nero 8 offers you the option of checking the burn back against the original data.

When we're burning multiples we use a 7 to 1 duplicator built around an wytron controller and the software in that offers the option to check each disk in the burn against the master disk. We've found it very accurate -it will often reject disks which play perfectly well - when presumably the error correction software in the player is allowing the play to continue.

[Chris Harding]

Hi Rani

Data verification doesn't help unfortunately if the actually file has an editing error on it as the duplication software will faithfully reproduce the problem for you!!

What we really have to do to check the Master Disk physically by watching the entire DVD and then allow the verification software to make sure that the data from the master and copies are correct.

Unfortunately it IS a pain in the butt to have to watch a DVD from beginning to end but I do my DVD's without any chapters and rather compile each part of the wedding as individual files (My DVD has probably around 14 clips in it which all run seamlessly as one but can also be run individually. This makes checking a lot easier, editing a lot easier too as you are not trying to work with 100 minutes of footage!!

The REAL answer is an enthusiastic wife!! Mine loves watching weddings and will watch newly produced ones from start to finish..the perfect problem checker!!

Chris

[Noa Put]

My experience is that you need to watch a finished edit from a distance on a tv. It's like painting on a canvas from a short distance, you need to step back to see what you are doing.

Often I am certain that everything is alright after editing finishes and several times I find very small editing mistakes. It might be that the client won't notice them but I do and don't want to deliver if it's not ok. Therefore I watch the finished movie completely. Every time I see a mistake I pause the film and fix the mistake right away on my editing station which I leave running with the current project open and then I just continue watching.

I actually enjoy watching a finished edit on tv, it's like the cherry on the cake :) After all that hard work I can finally lean back and enjoy the movie.

[Steve Childs]

I'm with Travis, just let a disc duplication service make them for you. They don't cost much more than doing them yourself, and they'll even print on the discs and make em look really nice.