Burn problem with Premiere 4

[Kerrie]

I experienced a strange problem last night. I was burning a 45 minute video onto disc. When I hit share--burn disc, I got a window that said: Burn error: unable to burn disc project. I then hit OK and then it would bring me to the screen to set up burning, so I set everything and hit burn. When it came to 93% encoding, under the progress bar (not sure what to call it) it said "error" and then everything stopped. I tried my internal and external burner 4 or 5 times. Sometimes I would get to the 93% encoding and sometimes the error would occur right away. Everytime I tried to start burning I had that inital window of burning error.

Out of despiration due to deadline I opened up premiere pro CS3, which I have never used. Somehow I managed to import my d-avi and export it (it went through Encore...) and I made a disc without a problem. So, I am thinking the problem must be somewhere in Premiere 4? Has anyone every experienced this? Any thoughts why it would not work? I am glad to know I have the backup of pro but I am much more comfortable with 4 at the moment and want to resolve this burning issue.

Thanks!

[Bobby]

Kerrie, try sharing to a disk image, rather than directly to the DVD - see if that works.

[Chuck Engels]

Burning to a folder as Bobby suggests is a good test and will help troubleshoot the problem.

Could be a blank space on the timeline toward the end of your project, or a bad transition, could be lots of things.
The fact that you could export an AVI to import into Premiere Pro is a good sign.

Personally Kerrie, now that you have used Encore maybe you should just stick with that.
And you didn't have to put the video into Premiere, just directly into Encore would have worked just fine.
If you need any help we are right here for you

[momoffduty]

Another option is to use that exported dv-avi in a new PE4 project. I make my projects in Pro, but sometimes burn in PE to a folder or in Encore. Just depends on what Menu is used and if it is basic.

[Kerrie]

Thanks Bobby and Chuck. It really is strange. When I burn to DVD I always have the whole video in d-avi. I know having a gap or space in the timeline can cause problems, but is it strange that it didn't work in 4 but did in encore? Great tip Chuck just to go to encore to burn. Do you use the elements program to create videos and then just export to encore to burn? The pro and encore program are over my head...very intimidating. I have a lot to learn. I am just thankful to get this video done before today's deadline!

Kerrie

[John 'twosheds' McDonald]

......Encore.....over my head...very intimidating. I have a lot to learn.

Take a look here:-

http://www.adobeforums.com/webx/.59b61015

then you'll have no excuse for not using Encore! .....and if you do have problems, Bill Hunt can help you right here on Muvipix.

(Sort of landing you in it there, Bill )

[Chuck Engels]

I export an AVI from my Premiere Elements project and import that into Encore. I will make it a point to do a beginner tutorial on how easy that really is.
You can use the Premiere Elements menus in Encore if you don't want to create your own. It is really easy to open the Menus in Photoshop Elements right from inside your Encore project.

Setting menu markers is easy, creating playlists is pretty easy too. Adding motion menu video and adding audio is pretty simple. Getting the button routing down is sometimes a little tricky but you have lots of help here.

[Kerrie]

Wow, thanks for all the helpful replies. Your link Twosheds was great. Bill looks like the man for encore! I am definitely going to spend more time reviewing it. A tutorial for beginners/encore would be awesome Chuck. By being forced to use that program I have opened many new doors! Looking forward to learning the new programs...and with great help just a few clicks away. Thanks!

I still will try burning to a file and retrying to burn in 4....I just want to figure out why it didn't work!

[Bill Hunt]

Chuck,

I think that tutorial on starting with PE and also PSE (something that I do not have, and do not know), would be a good one.

Because most of my work is done in PrPro & Encore, I am still learning the ins-and-outs of PE (ver 4 in my case). After having used Encore, I see no need, other than to educate myself, to use PE for the final Project burn, but it will help others. I do not even know the details of burning directly from PrPro2, the last PrPro version that did that, without Encore. I think I did it once, years ago, but everything that I wished to do was unavailable, until I took the Project to Encore.

For a good book on Encore, I still recommend Jeff Bellune's "Focal Easy Guide to EncoreDVD2," Focal Press. Niney-five percent of what he covers, still pertains to Encore CS3 & CS4. About the only thing that has changed is the linking between PrPro CS3 & CS4 and Encore. All the rest is there, plus plenty of good explainations on the how and the why of DVD authoring. He takes the thousand plus page "DVD Demystified," and distills the necessary parts into a few chapters. It's rather like your and Steve's book, on "Premiere Elements 2 In a Snap," which still is relevant for PE3, 4 & 7, for the most part. The basics have not changed, only the GUI, some terms and the location of a few icons, buttons and menus. Heck, I still refer to some of my books on Photoshop 3, because there are good tips in them.

Hunt

[RJ Johnston]

If you get a "low on memory" warning and ignore it, you can get an error message at 93%. You can also get an error message if you minimize Premiere Elements while you are burning a disc. Do not minimize it while burning.

[Kerrie]

RJ, come to think of it, I did get a low memory early on. It would happen when I was rendering. I thought I fixed it by shutting down the computer and starting over. So, I still need to take care of this problem? Suggestions to fix it (is there a link out there)?

Thanks!

[RJ Johnston]

Kerrie,

I think when you got the "Burn error: unable to burn disc project" message, that was an indication that Premiere Elements was in an unstable condition. You said in your initial post that you hit OK and that brought you to the screen to set up burning. That was probably when you should have exited Premiere Elements and restarted your computer. But instead the burn process continued until it got to 93%.

[Kerrie]

Thanks RJ. I am going to try a burn again and see what happens. If I get that message, I will do a restart and see if it helps the problem. I appreciate all your help!