IDVD burned disks are not readable on some DVD players

[Mary H]

I have made a DVD using FCE4 and iDVD. Everything went fine. I proofed the movie before burning the disk and everything was fine. I tried out the first disk on our DVD player (a fairly basic Toshiba player - nothing fancy and fairly inexpensive) and it worked fine.
I made about 20 DVDs for others. Some of them there has been no problem but now I have had several of the individuals let me know the DVD is not working in their player. In at least two situations the movie is playing about half way through and then stops. It won't skip ahead to a new chapter or anything. It just stops there. I gave the one individual new DVDs and it still happened. I tried those new DVDs on our player and, although I didn't play them through (it's almost an hour long), I was able to skip through every chapter and let it play for a few seconds without any problem.

Is there anything else I can do to make sure these work. Both individuals can play other DVDs on their players without any hangups.

I have an iMac 2.16 GHz Intel Cor 2 Duo, running Mac OS X V. 10.4.11
I have iDVD '08 V 7.0.4 (1116)
My disk burner is a Matshita DVD-R UJ-85J

Thanks,
Mary

 

[MisterMe]

...

I have an iMac 2.16 GHz Intel Cor 2 Duo, running Mac OS X V. 10.4.11
I have iDVD '08 V 7.0.4 (1116)
My disk burner is a Matshita DVD-R UJ-85J

Thanks,
Mary

Mary,

This is the nature of DVD-Rs. You have three considerations—your DVD burner, the DVD player, and the media. As you have seen, not all combinations work. The element of the combination that you have some control over is the medium. If your creations are to be used in multiple players, then you need to find DVD-Rs that work with the greatest number of players. Generally, these are expected to be of higher quality [and more expensive]. The media that works for you can only be determined using trial and error by you.

Word to the Wise: Commercial DVDs store data as pits in an aluminum film. They are extremely robust. Home burned DVDs like yours store data as changes in reflectance in an optically sensitive film. They are very delicate. Because your data is optically sensitive, exposure to light can turn your DVDs into coasters. As soon as each DVD burn is complete, you should put it in a slip or case to protect it from extraneous light.

 

[huntercr]

I have made a DVD using FCE4 and iDVD. Everything went fine. I proofed the movie before burning the disk and everything was fine. I tried out the first disk on our DVD player (a fairly basic Toshiba player - nothing fancy and fairly inexpensive) and it worked fine.
I made about 20 DVDs for others. Some of them there has been no problem but now I have had several of the individuals let me know the DVD is not working in their player. In at least two situations the movie is playing about half way through and then stops. It won't skip ahead to a new chapter or anything. It just stops there. I gave the one individual new DVDs and it still happened. I tried those new DVDs on our player and, although I didn't play them through (it's almost an hour long), I was able to skip through every chapter and let it play for a few seconds without any problem.

Is there anything else I can do to make sure these work. Both individuals can play other DVDs on their players without any hangups.

I have an iMac 2.16 GHz Intel Cor 2 Duo, running Mac OS X V. 10.4.11
I have iDVD '08 V 7.0.4 (1116)
My disk burner is a Matshita DVD-R UJ-85J

Thanks,
Mary

For those people that DVD-R's don't work, you can try and burn DVD+R's instead. They are different encoding schemes. Generally one of the 2 will work.

It's not iDVD that's the problem, as MisterMe said, it's inherent in burning DVDs.

 

[Mary H]

Okay, thanks
I will go browse through the DVD R section of the electronics department and see what I can find ....

 

[spinnerlys]

Okay, thanks
I will go browse through the DVD R section of the electronics department and see what I can find ....

How did it go with the subtitles by the way?

 

[Mary H]

I finished the original movie the day our kids arrived home for Christmas. I was too busy being a grandma to work on the subtitles.
Will probably get to them next week now that the holidays are over.