I don't like DVD Video Software in Linux

[gregorylock]

The general idea of DVD video software is to simply take some video files and create a Video DVD out them.  I tried 4 of these programs for Linux Mint, Linux Lite, MX Linux.  And none of them work for me.

K3B doesn't make any sense to me.

Bombono DVD doesn't make any sense.

Brasero doesn't make any sense.

DeVeDeNG doesn't make much sense either.

I could easily write a paragraph about each one explaining why I don't like the program.  I had to google or watch a video just to figure out how to use these programs.

In my opinion DeVeDe was the best one of bunch.  It allowed me to customize the menus.  But as soon as they added that NG at the end of it, everything just fell apart.  About haft of the features disappeared.  And the very first DVD I made with it, the titles and the videos didn't line up.  I had to install MX15 so that I could get an older version just so that I could make one good DVD.  

I don't understand what these programs have against my files.  They are all simple AVI files from a Nature Camera.  DeVeDe complains that I'm trying to make too many titles.  It tells me that 62 is the max.  I loaded in 63 of the same files into Windows DVD on Win7, and it was able to work with them!  I looked up on Google how many titles a DVD can support.  The answer I found was 99!  Even after I tried to split the amount in half, it still threw me the same error.

There is nothing wrong with my computers.  I burn Audio CDs just fine.  I burn files to DVDs all the time.  I burn Linux Mint ISO files to a DVD to create Live DVDS and that works fine.  So what on earth is wrong with these programs!
I even tried using winff to convert the AVIs into MP4s.  Guess what these programs still give me the same errors!  uggg!

All my dad wants is for his Nature Camera Videos to be put on a Video dvd so that He can share them with a friend.  And I've been at this for 5 hours and can't figure out why these programs won't work for me.  Last night I stayed up to 3:30 in the morning trying to figure this stuff out!

[Spatry]

I really wish I could help you out with this one but I have not authored DVD in many many years. I hope someone in the community will come up with a solution for you. 

[gregorylock]

I really wish I could help you out with this one but I have not authored DVD in many many years. I hope someone in the community will come up with a solution for you.

I read your response on "I can't seem to Burn Video DVDs anymore"  This is a very confusing problem.  I'm setting up tests on 3 different computers, 3 different distros, and all the same DVD authoring software.  I'm thinking about creating some videos showing what the programs are doing...

Here is the error K3B is giving me.

Code: [Select]

ATAPI iHAP122   9 6L09 (/dev/sr0, CD-R, CD-RW, CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD-R DL, DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD+R DL) [DVD-ROM, DVD-R Sequential, DVD-R Dual Layer Sequential, DVD-R Dual Layer Jump, DVD-RAM, DVD-RW Restricted Overwrite, DVD-RW Sequential, DVD+RW, DVD+R, DVD+R Dual Layer, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW] [SAO, TAO, RAW, SAO/R96P, SAO/R96R, RAW/R16, RAW/R96P, RAW/R96R, Restricted Overwrite, Layer Jump] [%7]

K3b::IsoImager
-----------------------
mkisofs print size result: 0 (0 bytes)

System
-----------------------
K3b Version: 2.0.3
KDE Version: 4.14.16
QT Version:  4.8.7
Kernel:      4.4.0-128-generic

Used versions
-----------------------
mkisofs: 1.1.11

mkisofs
-----------------------
/usr/bin/genisoimage: No such file or directory. Failed to open VIDEO_TS.IFO
/usr/bin/genisoimage: Can't open VMG info for '/tmp/kde-family/k3bVideoDvd0/'.
/usr/bin/genisoimage: Unable to parse DVD-Video structures.
/usr/bin/genisoimage: Could not find correct 'VIDEO_TS' directory.
Possible reasons:
  - VIDEO_TS subdirectory was not found on specified location
  - VIDEO_TS has invalid contents

mkisofs calculate size command:
-----------------------
/usr/bin/genisoimage -gui -graft-points -print-size -quiet -volid K3b data project -volset  -appid K3B THE CD KREATOR (C) 1998-2010 SEBASTIAN TRUEG AND MICHAL MALEK -publisher  -preparer  -sysid LINUX -volset-size 1 -volset-seqno 1 -sort /tmp/kde-family/k3bcH5522.tmp -no-cache-inodes -udf -iso-level 1 -path-list /tmp/kde-family/k3bVr5522.tmp -dvd-video -f /tmp/kde-family/k3bVideoDvd0
DeVeDe I see no reason why this program can't do 99 titles!  Windows DVD was able to do all 63





After Removing one of the files and waiting for it to make the DVD Video structure and ISO file.  It throws me this error.  Even after removing half of the files I still get the same error.



I emailed the debugging data to the developer.  It is too long for me to post in these forums.

Post Merge: June 05, 2018, 03:17:49 PMI've been trying to create a Video DVD on Linux for 3 days.  And I'm not making any progress.  You'd think all of these programs would be intuitive enough that you wouldn't need documentation.  But I just might need to print off pages and pages of documentation.
Today I thought I maybe I could get Bombono DVD to work.  I tried to load in 63 mp4 files and it only created the first 2.  Piece of Crap!

[Spatry]

Does any of this software give you the option to make an ISO rather than burning to a disk? If you are able to at least get an ISO made you might just be able to use a separate burning software outside of the DVD creation platform. 

[fchaos]

I can't really give you much advice...

I have never really authored a DVD. The closest I have come is to simply use Bombono to burn a full length movie onto a DVD... I didn't add any titles or graphics or any of that, but once I figured out to tell the program which file I wanted to burn and get the settings for the burn right, it did the job without a hitch.

I think, and this is just what little I can remember, that when I first tried it, I wasn't selecting the file properly. I believe there might have been some issue where you did not only have to select it in the list, but that I had to move it to another window, like a second list of the actual files that needed burned... perhaps something similar is happening here? Maybe you have to select the files in the window where your folder is opened, then paste them into another window that shows what files you want to write out? It seems like I had to do something like that with Bombono...

But I could be wrong, as I did that burn more than six months ago, and haven't done any others so far.

[aDewil]

i found couple more apps to dvd authoring, so try out:
ManDVD
DVDStyler
'Q' DVD-Author
Mistelix
KMediaFactory
Tovid
Polidori
Open DVD Producer

[Spatry]

i found couple more apps to dvd authoring, so try out:

Thanks for chipping in aDewil... Lets hope one of these will solve the problem.

[gregorylock]

Does any of this software give you the option to make an ISO rather than burning to a disk? If you are able to at least get an ISO made you might just be able to use a separate burning software outside of the DVD creation platform.

This is exactly how DeVeDe is supposed to work.  In the past I could get it to make the ISO.  But now I can't.  When I say I can't, I really mean I can't.  It's not just a problem on one computer it's a problem on multiple computers.  That is why I know it's the program.

It does seem that K3B, Bombono DVD, and Brasero is supposed to make an ISO as well.  But for some reason they refuse to do it or won't do it correctly.  Again it seems to be an issue on multiple computers.

I thought maybe my file formats were incorrect for the programs.  I tried converting the AVI files to MP4 with winff.  But that didn't even help.  So I took the original AVIs and tried them on Windows 7 running the stock Windows DVD program.  Windows DVD took no issue with the format and created a disc for me.  The DVD actually plays on 2 different DVD players so far!

I can't really give you much advice...

I have never really authored a DVD. The closest I have come is to simply use Bombono to burn a full length movie onto a DVD... I didn't add any titles or graphics or any of that, but once I figured out to tell the program which file I wanted to burn and get the settings for the burn right, it did the job without a hitch.

I think, and this is just what little I can remember, that when I first tried it, I wasn't selecting the file properly. I believe there might have been some issue where you did not only have to select it in the list, but that I had to move it to another window, like a second list of the actual files that needed burned... perhaps something similar is happening here? Maybe you have to select the files in the window where your folder is opened, then paste them into another window that shows what files you want to write out? It seems like I had to do something like that with Bombono...

But I could be wrong, as I did that burn more than six months ago, and haven't done any others so far.

I looked up a Tutorial for Bombono on youtube.  The man only burned one Video to a DVD.  Also it looked like I was doing everything exactly like He did.  The Best I can get out of it is just 2 files out of the 63 that is selected.  Again Windows DVD wins the race.

i found couple more apps to dvd authoring, so try out:
ManDVD
DVDStyler
'Q' DVD-Author
Mistelix
KMediaFactory
Tovid
Polidori
Open DVD Producer

This is best help I've received so far!  I will try and get these installed and tested.  Then I will report back.


The systems I'm using for testing is.
Hardware:  i5 with 16 gigs of ram running Linux Mint 18.3.  2 core with 4 gigs of ram running Linux Lite 3.8.  and another 2 core with 4 gigs of ram running MX17.

* My laptop is an i3 with 4 gigs of ram, running Windows 7.

[sapphire]

Oh my, maybe I've to avoid all list the op ranted to.
Choosing cd burning tool that works fine is still important for pre-install in my distro.
sometimes usb has more trivials annoying issuse than CD.
So what cd app did OP choose that worked best from aDewil's list?

[gregorylock]

Oh my, maybe I've to avoid all list the op ranted to.
Choosing cd burning tool that works fine is still important for pre-install in my distro.
sometimes usb has more trivials annoying issuse than CD.
So what cd app did OP choose that worked best from aDewil's list?

If all your doing is burning files or an ISO file to a CD or DVD then just use fxburn.  If you want to create an audio cd and don't care about track labels just use fxburn.  If you do care about track labels then try brasero.

The thing you need to understand is authoring a video DVD and actually burning a DVD is two different things.  When you Author a Video DVD the program builds a menu and then it takes your video files and transcodes them into the Video DVD directory structure and format.

What I'm having trouble with is getting the listed programs to create the Menu and Transcode the files.  I found the documentation for 3 of the programs on my original list.  I read the documentation on Bombono DVD and Devede.  I still have K3B to read about.  I'm wondering if there is something I'm not doing right.

I also need to try and install and test the ones on aDewil's list.

* This is a real puzzle because just 2 or 3 years ago I watched a video about Devede.  I was Authoring Video DVDs on Devede, and things were working for me.  Then about a year ago devede came out with devedeNG.  Then I ran into an issue.  I reported the issue on the devede forums.  It took them about a year to write me back.  In the mean time I haven't been making anymore Video DVDs.  Just lately there was a need to do so, and I found myself pulling my hair out trying to find something that worked for me again.  Ended up doing it on Windows just so that I could get the job done!  Now I'm just trying to figure out how to do it again on Linux in case I ever need to do this sort of thing again.

[sapphire]

@gregorylock
Thx, maybe I can't get away from default xfburn after all.
I used to pre-installed both xfburn 0.5.5 & bombono 1.2.4 latest version in my Debian Xfce 9.4 respin.

Say, aDewil list kinda interesting even I hoard 2400+ of crossplatform
O still missed some of these. I should thx aDewil on behalf about these list.

[gregorylock]

@gregorylock
Thx, maybe I can't get away from default xfburn after all.
I used to pre-installed both xfburn 0.5.5 & bombono 1.2.4 latest version in my Debian Xfce 9.4 respin.

Say, aDewil list kinda interesting even I hoard 2400+ of crossplatform
O still missed some of these. I should thx aDewil on behalf about these list.

As I'm writing this response I'm currently on my Linux Mint 18.3 Xfce 64 bit machine.  i5, 16gigs of ram.

The list provided by aDewil does not appear in the repos according the synaptic package manager.

ManDVD - not sure how to install it.  I did a search for a PPA it does not appear to be one for ubuntu 16.04.  google search

DVDStyler - ppa for 16.04 DVDStyler

DVD-Author - Doesn't appear to be a ppa for ubuntu 16.04 google search

Mistelix - doesn't appear to be built for ubuntu 16.04 mistelix

Kmediafactory - doesn't appear to be built for ubuntu 16.04 kmediafactory

Tovid - I will try adding the ppa and see what happens.
Installing tovid

Code: [Select]

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:grepper/ppa

** (mintSources.py:7231): WARNING **: Couldn't connect to accessibility bus: Failed to connect to socket /tmp/dbus-8o6oAd1hMm: Connection refused
'This PPA does not support xenial'
Cannot add PPA: ''This PPA does not support xenial''.

Polidori - doesn't appear to be one for ubuntu 16.04 google search

Open DVD Producer - website
Post Merge: June 07, 2018, 04:50:17 PM
I got these two installed.








Post Merge: June 07, 2018, 06:42:08 PM
It seems that I'm still doing something wrong.

I tried DVD Styler and got the same results as Bombono DVD.  The manual is 34 pages long.  I'm printing it so that I can read it.

For Open DVD Producer I didn't find a manual.

If I don't find a solution soon, I'm giving up on this.