Burning Blu-Ray Disc

[jdearman]

First, let me admit my ignorance on my subject. My new computer has a Blu-Ray burner. It is a multiple burner drive,i.e, CD,DVD or BD. I would like my slide shows to be in Blu-Ray. When I get to the burn command in PTE, PTE designates the basic drive but does not differentriate between the available formates, therefore, I have no idea if I am about to burn a BD. Could the answer be as simple as the computer knows what disc is in the drive and will burn that format??

Thanks for any and all replies.

Feeling dumb in Amarillo,

JD

[Lin Evans]

Hi JD,

You will have to use alternate burning software to burn your BluRay disk from the mp4 h.264 output of PTE.

Video Builder will burn DVD's but not BluRay format.

Best regards,

Lin

[Ronniebootwest]

Hello JD,

As Lin has already said, PTE will NOT burn blue ray discs. Even if you use other burning software, I think that you will need to buy dedicated blue ray discs (which are expensive).

Ron

[nobeefstu]

jdearman,

My post is not related to your current Blue Ray burning question.

I recall you having issues with PTE-VB amd your new Windows 7 as posted in the topic - For those who have problems with Windows 7 and PTE

In an effort to keep other Windows 7 users updated ... Have your issues with PTE-VB and Windows 7 been completely resolved now ?

If so, please make a comment to update the topic - For those who have problems with Windows 7 and PTE with whatever actions resolved your issues to help other users. Thankyou.

[chris]

JD

Even with a Blueray writer and using other software I have still not been able to produce a Pte show on Blueray.

If someone has any ideas I would like to hear them.

I have burned a Proshow Producer show straight from the software to a Blueray disc without any problems.

Chris

[Lin Evans]

Hi Chris,

PTE's Video Builder doesn't burn BluRay, so first you make an HD show in 1080p using PTE. This will be a mp4 h.264 format at 1920x1080 pixel resolution. Then you use 3rd party software to burn this mp4 h.264 to your BluRay media.

If you could describe the problem you are having, which type of PTE file you created, the nature of the error's and let us know which other software you are using perhaps someone can help. Also which OS and version you are using would help.

Best regards,

Lin

JD

Even with a Blueray writer and using other software I have still not been able to produce a Pte show on Blueray.

If someone has any ideas I would like to hear them.

I have burned a Proshow Producer show straight from the software to a Blueray disc without any problems.

Chris

[chris]

Hi Lin

I may be going about this the wrong way but what I do is

Create the show @ 1900 x 1080 and then produce an AVI file that I then use Vegas movie studio to produce the mp4

file to burn to the Blueray disc.

Is this the correct way?

When I play the disc in a Blueray player I get nothing.

I have also tried AVS video converter without success.

I am also using Windows 7

Intel Quad CPU Q8200 2.33GHZ

64 Bit

Nvidia GT 120 graphics card

Many thanks

Chris

[Lin Evans]

Hi Chris,

If you have the "Deluxe" version of PTE with "Video Builder" then you don't want to create an AVI file at all.

What you do is go ahead and create the show at 1920 x 1080 (not 1900) and then click on the "Create HD Video for PC and Mac" button and choose 1920x1080 High Quality which will create an MP4 h.264 file which you then can burn with whichever software you have which will burn BluRay.

I'm not familiar with the newer versions of Vegas Movie Studio. If it is designed to burn BluRay then it should work fine, but you don't want to create an AVI file at all for the purpose of creating a BluRay disc.

Check your Vegas Movie Studio specs to be sure that it's not just burning at DVD resolution which would not be interpreted by your BluRay media so would create expensive coasters.

Best regards,

Lin

Hi Lin

I may be going about this the wrong way but what I do is

Create the show @ 1900 x 1080 and then produce an AVI file that I then use Vegas movie studio to produce the mp4

file to burn to the Blueray disc.

Is this the correct way?

When I play the disc in a Blueray player I get nothing.

I have also tried AVS video converter without success.

I am also using Windows 7

Intel Quad CPU Q8200 2.33GHZ

64 Bit

Nvidia GT 120 graphics card

Many thanks

Chris

[jdearman]

jdearman,

My post is not related to your current Blue Ray burning question.

I recall you having issues with PTE-VB amd your new Windows 7 as posted in the topic - For those who have problems with Windows 7 and PTE

In an effort to keep other Windows 7 users updated ... Have your issues with PTE-VB and Windows 7 been completely resolved now ?

If so, please make a comment to update the topic - For those who have problems with Windows 7 and PTE with whatever actions resolved your issues to help other users. Thankyou.

[/quote

My post about burning a Blu-Ray disc falls under the category of wishful thinking and advance planing. I still have a problem. Actually I always have. Specifically, I can open PTE and set up a show without any difficulty. After I click create, I go up the large drop down menu and select "DVD-Video Disc" I immediately get a pop-up that says that my PTE deluxe has expired. Previously, I had asked for a key and I just load the key and I am told that it loaded successfully; so I continue.( I don't think this is part of my problem as I think I have an up to date copy of PTE, however, I do not know why I have to go through this loading a key each time, which I guess,in itself, is a problem also??) Following this, I can set up the title page just fine, however, when I go to the following page in prep to burn a disc, everything is "grayed out" and I can go no further. The only option available to me is to "X" out of the page. The message I get is "video builder did not respond." To add to my confusion, My problem is not always consistent. On several earlier attempts, I was able to actually burn a disc. One other thing that happened is a software pop-up window comes up and says" the burn process is complete, click ok to eject the disc" Clicking OK will not eject the disc, nothing happens.The green % of completion slider reads 99% and never goes higher. I have to manually eject the disc, which still leaves the software program open. The only option remaining is to "cancel". Doing so does nothing and the only exit from the software is to "X" out. In this example, in every case the disc was burned correctly and I could play it to the TV without problems.

I have rambled on for too long. I hope this is of some help to you.

jdearman

[nobeefstu]

jdearman,

Thanks for the updated info. I had thought since you were in VideoBuilder and trying to burn in Blue-Ray fornat you had overcome your issue burning in the normal DVD-format.

I suspect since you have a new PC with a brand new multi-format burner ... the current version of VB DVD burning library files have no instructions to specifically identify and configure your new burner. When there is no specific instructions available the burning process usually resorts to default settings in a hopeful attempt to burn a disc. However, this is like shooting in the dark and one never knows exactly what the end result will be.

Igor subscribes his DVD burning library and once they update their library files to him ... they are usually included in his next version releases.

Your Key issue appears to be a different and somewhat isolated issue related to just a select few PTE users.

[Guest Yachtsman1]

Re Chris's post above, is Proshow Producer part of Proshow Gold?

Here I go again, suppose I should look for myself.

Yachtsman1.

[fh1805]

Eric,

No, it's a different product from the same stable.

regards,

Peter

[chris]

I have had to admit defeat on trying to burn a Blu-ray disc with PTE. I have tried different combinations including the one Lin suggested but still to no avail.

I have now done the same show in Producer and burned a Blu-ray disc within minutes and the quality is stunning. I am not knocking PTE in any way as I think for producing shows for computer playback there is nothing to touch it.

Thanks to Lin for your reply

Chris

[potwnc]

Chris,

Take a look at this list of free BD burning software: http://www.techmixer.com/free-blu-ray-burning-software-to-burn-blu-ray-disc/.

If none of these works try a Google search on free blu ray burning software.

Ray

[Lin Evans]

Hi Chris,

Do try Ray's suggestion and use alternative burning software. I'm not certain which version of Vegas Movie Studio you have, but the best info I can come up with is that they suggest other burning software so perhaps this is the whole issue?

Best regards,

Lin

I have had to admit defeat on trying to burn a Blu-ray disc with PTE. I have tried different combinations including the one Lin suggested but still to no avail.

I have now done the same show in Producer and burned a Blu-ray disc within minutes and the quality is stunning. I am not knocking PTE in any way as I think for producing shows for computer playback there is nothing to touch it.

Thanks to Lin for your reply

Chris

[Ronniebootwest]

I have had to admit defeat on trying to burn a Blu-ray disc with PTE. I have tried different combinations including the one Lin suggested but still to no avail.

I have now done the same show in Producer and burned a Blu-ray disc within minutes and the quality is stunning. I am not knocking PTE in any way as I think for producing shows for computer playback there is nothing to touch it.

Thanks to Lin for your reply

Chris

Chris,

Can you provide a link to 'Producer' please.

I guess that it is the name of a software program but I have not heard it mentioned before.

Ron

[chris]

Ray

Thnaks for the link, I have tried it but still no luck.

Lin

I use Sony Vegas Platinum 9 for all my HD videos without any problems burning to Bluray.

Ron

I should have said Proshow Producer by Photodex. I do not like to go on about it on a PTE forum but it does the job from within the software with excellent results.

Chris

[Lin Evans]

Hi Chris,

The problem is one of two possibilities: Sony Vegas Platinum 9 can't burn mp4 h.264 to BluRay or you do not have a proper mp4 h.264 file output from PTE. The burn software has to be able to convert mp4 h.264 to BluRay before the burn. I'm guessing that Sony Vegas Movie Platinum Studio does not do this so that your mp4 h.264 is not being properly converted.

There are numerous people making mp4 h.264 files with PTE and burning to BluRay so perhaps trying a different burning software which can convert may be the solution. Just because Sony Vegas Platinum can create HD media and burn to BluRay doesn't mean it can properly handle an MP4 h.264 file. I don't know the specifics about Vegas Platinum 9, I have a much older version of the Sony Vegas Video suite which doesn't deal with BluRay, but I do know that it's very easy to make BluRay discs from PTE mp4 h.264 files which were created with Video Builder at 1080p resolution using other software.

I would download other software and try it to let you know which works, but I don't have a BluRay burner. I have several friends who use PTE to make BluRay discs all the time so I can tell you that it works very well.

If you are not creating an HD original mp4 h.264 out of PTE's Video Builder it won't work, but if your burn software can't convert the mp4 h.264 it won't work either. Could you tell me exactly your workflow? Which choices, the setting you are using, etc., to create your mp4 h.264 file with PTE? Also could you tell me the brand and model of the BluRay burner you are using? You can get this info about the burner by running dxdiag from the run command. It's built into all versions of Windows.

Here's a link to one software which does burn mp4 h.264 to Bluray - it might be worth trying this to solve your convert and burn issues:

http://www.ripbluray...to-blu-ray.html

Best regards,

Lin

[potwnc]

Chris,

The only explanation I can think of has to do with a post I made a long time ago. I use Sony Vegas Pro 8 (which must be based on the same underlying software as Sony Vegas Platinum 9 when it comes to burning Blu-ray format). When rendering HD Video for PC and Mac (H.264, mp4 file) PTE uses a high-compression format that uses I- and B- frames in a way that Sony Vegas Pro 8 cannot even read the output file. When I render the same PTE project instead as a .avi file (1920x1080, PTE codec), Sony Vegas Pro 8 reads it without a problem and can render it in Blu-ray format without a problem.

You said earlier that you had already tried this, without success. Can you confirm that you leave PTE up and running when you open the output .avi file in Sony Vegas Platinum 9?

Also, have you tried this same procedure with any of the free software in the link that I posted?

Ray

[Ronniebootwest]

Here's a link to one software which does burn mp4 h.264 to Bluray - it might be worth trying this to solve your convert and burn issues:

http://www.ripbluray...to-blu-ray.html

Best regards,

Lin

Hi Lin,

I downloaded the software from the link that you posted. It produced brilliant results when I converted my mp4 files made with the PTE HD option. I converted 5 separate slide shows and burned them to a standard DVD with the software that you linked to (I don't have a blu-ray burner yet) and they all played perfectly one after the other.

A question for you - is it posible to create a DVD menu structure so that each of these shows can be selected from the menu?

Thanks for the link! I reckon I will now invest in a blu-ray burner and see if that will increase the, already excellent' quality.

Ron

[chris]

With everyone's help I have finally managed to burn a BluRay disc.

Ray is spot on regarding the PTE h.264 file cannot be read in Sony Vegas and so I went back to using an avi file and this time it actually worked. This is rather strange because that is the way I tried in the first place.

Lin.

I tried the software you gave me a link to and it did burn a disc but there was no sound.

Ron

I have produced many DVD's with PTE without any problems but you will need some authuring software if you want to do multiple shows in Bluray.

I am also glad I have been using rewritable Bluray discs because there would have been an awful lot of coasters flying about.

Best regards to everyone

Chris

[Carol Steele]

I am also glad I have been using rewritable Bluray discs because there would have been an awful lot of coasters flying about.

Best regards to everyone

Chris

It's getting better now that BD's are down in price (if you know where to buy them as many places are still retailing them at £5 to £7 per disk). I buy mine from ]MaxMedia Supplies Ltd. where you can buy full face inkjet printable BD's (4x speed) for just over a £1 per disk (10 disk pack) - but you need to order £50 worth of goods. However, like yourself, when I first started Blu-ray projects over a year ago, I bought myself a couple of the RE disks so I could just erase all my mistakes and try again on the same disk later

For authoring menus for Blu's, it is unfortunate that Adobe stopped selling Encore as a standalone product and bundled it inside Premiere so I use Pinnacle Studio for this - and this burns HD slideshows onto BD's without a problem - it can even burn HD shows onto DVD disks in AVCHD format which can be read and played on most Blu-ray players (especially on newer BD players). It can even produce HD-DVD format disks on standard DVD disks if your show is not too long (around 40 mins max).

[Lin Evans]

Everyone keep in mind that you can burn a BluRay format disk on a standard DVD media blank with a standard DVD burner; you just need the right software and a BluRay player to play it on an HD television or computer.

Several companies make software to do this with. Pinnacle Studio 12 or later can do this as can some versions of Nero and other software. It's possible to get about 15 minutes of HD at 1080p resolution on a standard 4.7 gigabyte DVD media blank. You regular DVD burner can, with the proper software burn a properly formatted BluRay file on regular DVD media.

Generally, our PTE slideshows are not longer than 15 minutes, so spending money for legitimate BluRay media, even at the discounted prices is not necessary.

Best regards,

Lin

[Lin Evans]

Hi Ron,

I can't tell you how to create a DVD menu structure with the software from the link I suggested trying because I don't have a BluRay player to test it with. However, Chris said he tried it and didn't get sound. That "may" be a problem with the software or it could be settings - I can't say, however, you don't need a BluRay Burner (they are quite expensive) to burn files to BluRay format. Software like Pinnacle Studio 12 can format and burn a standard 4.7 gig DVD blank to BluRay with a standard DVD burner. You can only put about 15 minutes of slideshow on a 4.7 gigabyte DVD blank, but that's usually more than the length of "most" of our slideshows anyway.

What you might want to do if you don't already have one is to get a BluRay player (some as little as $100 U.S.D.) and download a trial of Pinnacle or other software having the capability of formatting and burning standard DVD media as BluRay. It might save you a good chunk of change.

Best regards,

Lin

Hi Lin,

I downloaded the software from the link that you posted. It produced brilliant results when I converted my mp4 files made with the PTE HD option. I converted 5 separate slide shows and burned them to a standard DVD with the software that you linked to (I don't have a blu-ray burner yet) and they all played perfectly one after the other.

A question for you - is it posible to create a DVD menu structure so that each of these shows can be selected from the menu?

Thanks for the link! I reckon I will now invest in a blu-ray burner and see if that will increase the, already excellent' quality.

Ron

[Carol Steele]

....... Several companies make software to do this with. Pinnacle Studio 12 or later can do this as can some versions of Nero and other software. It's possible to get about 15 minutes of HD at 1080p resolution on a standard 4.7 gigabyte DVD media blank.............

Best regards,

Lin

Correction Lin, you can get much more than 15mins on a 4.7GB DVD disk simply by reducing the quality, I have burnt HD AVCHD on standard DVD disks with slideshows of 30mins and longer without serious deterioration in quality, certainly far superior quality than a standard DVD slideshow, you simply need either a Blu-ray or HD-DVD player and suitable HD television to view them on. However, because I sell both DVD and Blu-ray slideshows (of weddings), then if people go for the Blu-ray version I only think it fair that I supply them with a genuine Blu-ray disk.