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Hi all -

I just finished editing an old wedding VHS tape of my nephew's. The footage was really bad but a cleaned it up some. I burned the DVD. When I tried to play it in my sony DVD player I get green vertical lines and then the DVD player turns off. The segment that plays is the one I did no editing on at all. When I choose any segment other than the first onethat plays it oes to green lines and stops. The DVD will play in my computer. When I recorded it to my AVIO for editing there was such static and interference that it wouldn't record very well. I tried changing the audio from 48 to 32 and it seemed to help. It recorded okay with just a few 'no signal' breaks that I edited around.

I divided the whole tape into 3 parts and then did a highlight segment. So there were 4 segments on the DVD. I did it all from the same project. When I got one done I added it to Arabesk. Then I editd the next segment and added it to Arabesk etc. Could that have caused the problem. The problem now is that I don't have each segment saved. I just removed them from the storyboard and then started the next one - (never again)!

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

P.S. I had a DVD I made for my Uncle on the AVIO a little while ago and it played fine on my DVD player???

I'll hazard a guess here. The "static and interference" you described on the videotape of the wedding may be a sign that the tracking was improperly adjusted or that the tape is deteriorating a bit. There are few couple of things you could try.

1) Make sure that the tracking on the VCR was adjusted properly when playing back the tape. You may have to try adjusting it or playing the tape in another VCR if tracking is the issue. You could also try to locate another copy of the tape that may not have deteriorated.

2) Play the tape into your editor with a VCR that has a built in TBC (time-base correction circuitry).

If one of the above suggestions works, you could transcode the tape to a digital signal and then load it into your editor. You can do this by connecting the output of the vcr into the analog inputs of a digital camcorder. Then connect the firewire output of the camcorder into your editor. 32 or 48-bit audio should not make a difference - I would use the better quality. If you try this option make sure that the power is off when you connect the equipment. You do not need to record to a tape in the camcorder - you should be able to just send the signal though.

If you try either of these options you will find that the editing will go faster the second time around because you are already familiar with the footage and the editing decisions you made previously.

Thanks for your response Craig. I'm leaving town for a few days so I'll have to try your suggestions when I return.

Hi, I'm back from vacation. I only have one VCR & it doesn't have a TBC that I can see. I checked my camera and I couldn't find any analog inputs. Is it possible that I'm doing smething wrong in making the menu? I've made one with menus before and had no problem. I'm at the point of deleting and reloading the footage. I don't know what elseto do - unless anyone had any other suggestions. Thanks.

Hi Bonnie
What i do with poor VHS footage is play it through my Panasonic DVD recorder in to my S4000 as here in the UK they have some form of TBC and it works to a certain extent,something to try?

Bonnie,

Did it play fine from the storyboard? How about the virtual (Arabesk) dvd player?

Also, check your audio to be sure it's not red lining.

Another thing to check is the dvd burner itself. Have other dvds that you burned played OK?

Since you've erased 3 out of 4 films, you may have to reinput your footage. After editing, you could make scenes of each part and burn only one at a time to see if that helps you isolate the problem area.

Good luck!

Hi

I loaded another tape onto the AVO. Broke it into 3 films. Added it to Arabesk. Chose Menu. So I had 3 stamps. Played each film by activating the stamp in Arabesk. They all played with no problem. Burned it. Put it in my DVD player. The first film I added played from the stamp. When I tried to play either one of the others I got the green vertical lines and the player shut off. Is it a menu thing? Should I do trailer and menu? The other DVD I played in my player to check and see if my player was bad only had one film in it. It played fine. HELP!!! It's crazy. Thanks.

Hi

I just pulled out some other DVDs that I had done wiht menus before. I guess I hadn't played them before. They were copies of ones I had made over the years. All of them are doing the same thing. So....either there has been something wrong with equipment all along or (more likely) I have been doing something wrong all along and not known it. What could I be doing wrong???? thanks again,

Hi Bonnie,

I'm curious about your Sony DVD player; how old is it, how much use has it had, etc. I would try playing your DVDs in a new player - even a really inexpensive one.

Hi

Thanks Craig for saving my sanity. Due to your sugestion I took the DVD to my sister's and tried it on her player. It played fine. So it was my player all the time. So now back to editing...again.