Picture goes black with DVD Architect
 

I have a 91 gig 1440 * 1080 .avi movie (that is about 90 minutes long.) When I go to turn the movie into a DVD, using Sony DVD Architect (either 4.0 or Pro 5.0) the picture only plays for about 15 minutes into the movie, and then there is nothing but the audio playing throughout the rest of the DVD. What could be the problem?

I don't know, but for starters you should be rendering your .avi to mpeg2 in Vegas, not DVDA (for various reasons).

If, after writing your <4.5gig mpeg2 file to DVD you still have the same problem, my first question will be: Does it turn black in the same place when you play it with VLC?

I dunno though. The whole thing sounds messy, what with you trying to burn HD files to DVD.

more information is needed. First, 91gig? at 90 minutes I think you might have wanted to say 9.1 gigs? Regardless, you really want to render in Vegas. More control over render parameters. Keep in mind a standard single layer DVD is not going to hold 4.7 gigs due to formatting it will do about 4.34 with simple menus. Also you want AC3 audio since it's a smaller file size and what DVDA wants anyway.
As for not seeing video after 15 minutes? I can only thing it might be a corrupted file BUT before going off in that direction I would start by taking the original VEG or your intermediate file(s) and render to MPEG2/AC3 in Vegas using the correct bitrate. Edward has a bitrate chart in his newsletter or you can find them on the web, free of charge.
Once you do that, bring it into DVDA do your burn and see how it is. Let us know and then we can talk.

I'll have to look into those things, thanks everyone.

The file couldn't be corrupt if it is playing normally on its own, could it?

And yeah, it is 91 gigs, cause it's an HD AVI, basically.

But I will give those ideas a spin.

I no longer have the original project file for the AVI anymore, so I have to work with the complete AVI as it is.

As suggested, render the avi with vegas into mpeg 2...if you're delivering in SD. The render your audio separately. This is the suggested workflow for DVDA. Then take the mpeg 2 into DVDA.


You will have better luck. Avoid taking an .avi into DVDA...it may work sometimes, but it is not how it should be done if you want optimal results.

no one including myself asked this. what are you burning too? IOW are you burning to standard DVD or Bluray? if standard are you using single or dual layer? What is the TIME LENGTH of the project?

Those things will make a difference in workflow and bitrates etc.

DV is about 13Gig/hour so 90 minutes would be about 19Gig.

HDV is, ironically, about 13Gig/hour so 90 minutes would be about 19Gig.

So... what format does that AVI file really contain???

Actually, he said he was going to DVD, though he didn't mention if it was single or dual layer. That's why I said in my answer that it was confusing why he would have an apparently uncompressed 90 minute .avi and was trying to squash it all down to a single DVD (yikes!).

I suppose as blu-rays are being adopted there's going to be a number of mistaken posts that use the term DVD when they really mean blu-ray?

Anyway, I think we've given him his answer. He's had plenty of time now to try some renders so there's not too much more to say until we hear back on exactly what he's trying to do.

Yes, but 90 minutes is perfectly fine for a DVD. 2 hours is fine for a DVD. So he's well below any time constraints. I was just wondering what format he actually rendered to that was that big and that DVD Architect couldn't read. DVD Architect should be able to read uncompressed just fine and shrink it down to MPEG2 format.