DVD won't render - "unsupported file format"

[Jordanmphoto]

I have been making Blu-Rays just fine with a particular file using DAS. I want to make a DVD for someone who doesn't have a Blu-Ray player. I could not find a way to "Make DVD" from the file -- that option is not offered in the menu, only "Make blu-Ray". It looks like one has to start over and create a whole new file in DVD format. So I did that, choosing the file format offered me, which was 720x480 NTSC and then adding all the media and menus as before.

When I render the DVD it gets part way through and then says there was an error because of "unsupported file format". The help files don't give any useful help on this. They say something about using masks, but I don't have anything like that in the file. I have two HD MPEG clips from PE 9 that I assembled in DAS with a simple one button menu made from the playlist. As I said, it rendered and burned fine as a Blu-Ray.

Anyone know what's going on with this?

Later Note: I tried it also with a PAL format, as this allowed the 25fps that I had been using in the shoot. This time there was no error, but it did not write anything to the disk and there was no TS folder.

[Steve Grisetti]

It has to do with the way you have the properties set up, Jordan.

Go to the File menu and select Properties. Once you change the file's properties to DVD, the button will switch from Make BluRay to Make DVD and your video files will automatically be transcoded to standard resolution VOBs.

[Jordanmphoto]

Then is the default for Blu-Ray? I set up a new file for DVD format and thought that would set the properties for DVD, but let me check it out after PE 9 finishes making the DVD (I had to get it done somehow!)

[Steve Grisetti]

No. As far as I know, the default is whatever you last set up.

[Jordanmphoto]

Hi Steve,
I checked out your suggestion. The result is yes and no. As you said, I was able to change the file to DVD in the properties and the "Make DVD" button came alive. However, when I tried to render the disc I still got the message at the end which said "Warning: An error occurred while writing a file. The file is an unsupported format." (BTW, this was labeled a DVD Architect Studio error message and not Windows.)

At first I had no clue what they mean by this since I would assume they are rendering their own proprietary file that I have created and saved. Then I noticed a dialogue appeared while it was rendering and it would say it was rendering the first .M2T and then the second one. Is it possible that DAS has a problem importing high res MPEG's like .M2T and then rendering them as DVD's rather than Blu-Rays? (If you recall from the PE9 forum, I exported these M2T's from PE9 because I was having trouble producing playable Blu-Rays with PE 9).

[Steve Grisetti]

It's not likely.

Where did your source file originate? Was it prepared in Vegas Movie Studio or Premiere Elements as a DVD-ready or BluRay-ready file?

[Jordanmphoto]

It's not likely.

Where did your source file originate? Was it prepared in Vegas Movie Studio or Premiere Elements as a DVD-ready or BluRay-ready file?

I don't have Vegas Movie Studio. My intention is to make Blu-Ray discs if the client can play them and fall back to DVD if they can't. Sometimes I send one of each. I prepared the video in PE 9 and I'm using DAS to assemble the MPEG clips and burn reliable blu-ray discs. To date, the project preset for all files I've created in PE9 is DSLR 1080p24. I don't see a setting to make a file DVD-ready or BluRay-ready. I simply select DVD or Blu-Ray when I get to the Share menu (that was before I started using DAS to burn them). The preset I used for sharing DVD's is "NTSC_Widescreen_ Dolby DVD".

Also note, when I assembled these same two MPEG's into one video using PE9 I was able to burn a DVD in PE9 with no errors. The resulting DVD seems to be perfect, except for the fact that PE9 won't burn the disc menu using my own background. (we discussed this in the PE9 forum and you said it's a glitch in PE9). DAS has some nice templates that work with my own bitmapped image and therefore I'd like to use DAS for DVD's as well as the blu-rays.

[Steve Grisetti]

If you are sending a video to DVD Architect from Premiere Elements, you should choose either:

1) For hi-def/BluRay: Share/Computer/MPEG with the 1440x1080 preset.
or
2) For standard-def/DVD: Share/Computer/MPEG with the NTSC DVD preset.

[Jordanmphoto]

If you are sending a video to DVD Architect from Premiere Elements, you should choose either:

1) For hi-def/BluRay: Share/Computer/MPEG with the 1440x1080 preset.
or
2) For standard-def/DVD: Share/Computer/MPEG with the NTSC DVD preset.

I'm honestly confused. Are you saying that with DVD Architect you can't use 16:9 or widescreen frame ratio? I have been using 1920x1080 because my source, which is a Canon 60D DSLR, shoots HD only in 16:9 ratio. My 60D's "movie record size" comes in only 5 flavors: 1920x1080 30, 1920x1080 24, 1280x720 60, 640x480 60 and Crop 640 60. If I use 1440x1080 for the share export I will get either letterboxing or a truncated frame. I find myself wondering if my problem is that the DSLR video technology is new on the scene and maybe doesn't mesh with this software?

[Steve Grisetti]

1440x1080 IS widescreen, Jordan. 1920x1080 and 1440x1080 create exactly the same size video frame. The 1440x1080 uses non-square pixels that are wider than they are tall -- the television standard. Trust me. Or try it. You'll see.

I would not recommend using video directly from your camera or camcorder, if that's what you're asking. Prep or edit the video in Premiere Elements and output a DVD-ready or BluRay-ready file for DVD Architect and you should have no problems.

[Jordanmphoto]

1440x1080 IS widescreen, Jordan. 1920x1080 and 1440x1080 create exactly the same size video frame. The 1440x1080 uses non-square pixels that are wider than they are tall -- the television standard. Trust me. Or try it. You'll see.

Thanks for your patience, Steve. It's not that I don't trust you. I just have to understand how things work, right down to the nitty gritty and I couldn't visualize this because I think of pixels as a bunch of tiles with each having a specific piece of a picture on it, like the pieces of a puzzle. If you stretch or shrink a tile in only one direction it would be distorted. I have messed up bitmapped images many times when I accidentally grabbed the end of an image and pulled it sidewise without stabilizing the proportions. But Wikipedia showed me an illustration which seemed to suggest that the "tiles" in a video are not static as they are in a bitmapped image. Regardless of whether you have square or rectangular "tiles" the image will be painted across them in the same proportion, which is based on the proportion of the display you intend to put the "tiles" across. Am I getting the right idea yet?

[Steve Grisetti]

Well, if you want details and illustrations of how and why, you can always pick up one of my books!

They go into details we can't begin to cover in a mere forum post.

The combined "Muvipix.com Guide to Photoshop Elements & Premiere Elements 10" includes detailed discussions of anamorphic pixels, resolution and how to prepare files for DVD.

[Jordanmphoto]

Well, if you want details and illustrations of how and why, you can always pick up one of my books!

Well, I have read one of yours from cover to cover and they're great!

At some point, though, we all have to cease spending so much time learning and focus on EARNING. Then we'll have more dough to buy your books with .

Maybe we need a forum topic on tips about how to make money with video. (I apologize if you already have one!)

[Steve Grisetti]

Well, sort of. We do have a Business sub-forum where people list services and ask for advice.

[Peru]

Well, sort of. We do have a Business sub-forum where people list services and ask for advice.

Yes, but the last thread was from August.
Most of that kind of stuff gets discussed in the Water Cooler.
(Apologies for drifting off-topic... )