Devede, a video DVD creator

FAQ

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Generic

1. I installed Devede using the DEB package, but it doesn't work fine. I miss some features explained in the instructions.

   To install the DEB version you must remove first any version installed from a TAR.BZ2 package, or they will interfere. You can do it just running sudo ./uninstall.sh (from the TAR.BZ2 package) and then installing the DEB package.

2. I created a PAL disc, and the final movie is played slightly faster, but older versions of Devede converts them at the right speed, but with a little jump each second. Why?

   This happens only when the original file has 24 frames per second (like classic films), and you create a PAL disc, which needs 25 frames per second. In older versions Devede converted the original 24 fps to 25 just by repeating one after 24. Unfortunately that produces a noticeable "jump" each second, because the picture, literally, stops during 1/25 of a second.

   To avoid this, in this version Devede does the same that does a TV station: plays the movie at 25 fps instead of 24fps. That means that it's played about a 4% faster. That means that the pitch will be higher. Usually you won't be able to notice it, unless you compare the original and the new sound.

3. I added a VOB file and marked the option "This is already a DVD/xCD-suitable MPEG file", but Devede fails.

   The VOB files aren't fully suitable for DVDAuthor. In order to get the right file you can repackage it (without recompressing, so you will not loose quality) just marking the option Repack audio and video without reencoding.

4. Why can't I use a VFAT/FAT32 partition to create my DVDs?

   VFAT and FAT32 file systems doesn't understand uppercase/lowercase letters, and shows everything in lowercase. Unfortunately, the creation of a DVD tree is case sensitive.

5. I adjust the bitrate to use the 100%, but the final size is smaller.

   Unfortunately is impossible to accurately predict the disk's final size, because you specify a bitrate, but Mencoder can decide to use an smaller value in certain parts if it can compress it more without quality loss (like in very static scenes). That means that the final size can be smaller than the estimation made by Devede, but never bigger.

6. What about using VRC_MINRATE to ensure that the final size is mucho more acurate?

   I added that option in Devede 3.7; unfortunately the result was that, in a lot of cases, the final size was bigger than the predicted size, so I removed it in version 3.9.

7. When I add empty titles, the disk usage grows. Why?

   Each menu can hold up to 10 titles. If you create more titles Devede will need more menus, and each one needs some disk space.

8. What kind of disk is CVD?

   It stands for China Video Disk. It's an alternative format to SuperVCD, using a resolution of 352x480 (or 352x576 in PAL), which can result in better image quality in some players, because the widht and height are compatible with DVD standard (SuperVCD uses a width of 480 pixels, which can result in some picture artifacts in some players).

9. In some fast scenes the picture is jerky. I use bigger bitrates but it doesn't work. How can I fix it?

   Try to deinterlace your video. You can find the deinterlace options in the Properties window for that file, choosing the Quality tab.

10. Fine, but... what is the better deinterlacing filter?

    That's a good question. In guru-multimedia you can find a comparison. The YADIF in Devede is "yadif=0", without adding "mcdeint".

11. Why I can't add more than 61 files in a DVD?

    Because the DVD standard allows to put up to 128 commands in each menu. The current menu system needs two commands for each file, and six extra commands, which leaves only 61 files.

    The limit for VCDs, sVCDs and CVDs is 99 files.

Subtitles

1. I preview a video with subtitles and the text looks bad (text colors are inverted)

   Don't worry, it's a bug of MPlayer when showing DVD subtitles from a file instead of a true DVD. In the final disk they will look fine.

2. I preview a video with subtitles, but it doesn't show the subtitles...

   Some Mplayer/Mencoder versions seems to fail to show the subtitles when you watch an MPEG file from hard disk, but they are there. SVN versions seems to have this fixed.

3. I dislike the font used to render the subtitles. How can I change it?

   Just choose a TrueType font you like and copy it in $HOME/.spumux directory, renaming it to devedesans.ttf.

4. I tried to create a DivX file with subtitles, but in the tab it says it's not possible. How can I add subtitles to a DivX?

   DivX format doesn't allow embedded subtitles, but nearly all software players (MPlayer, VLC...) and a lot of hardware players can render them on-demand if you put the file with the subtitles in the same directory than the movie, and rename the former with the same name than the later (this is, if your movie file is MYMOVIE.AVI and your subtitles are in .SRT format, just put the subtitles file in the same directory and rename it to MYMOVIE.SRT). The player should allow you to enable/disable them with the same button used for DVD subtitles.

Menus

1. How can I add a menu to a VCD/SVCD/CVD?

   Currently you can't with Devede.

2. The menus created by Devede are simplistic. Will you add a menu editor to allow to create more complex menues?

   Probably not. My intention is to maintain Devede as an easy-to-use tool. If you want to create complex menues you have excellent tools like DVD Styler, Q DVD Author or PoliDori.

Bugs

1. When I try to create a DVD, it fails at the very start.

   Try to change the audio codec used for the menus. Some AVconv and FFmpeg versions have trouble with that, so if you was using MP2, change to AC3, or vice-versa.

2. I created a DVD and my DVD player is unable to play it, but other players can.

   Go to Advanced options->Misc, and be sure that you have marked the option Use a GOP of 12 frames.

3. I created a 5.1 DVD marking the Create DVD with 5.1 channel sound option, but the channels are out of order.

   If your source video file has AC3 audio, use the This file already has AC3 sound instead.

4. Devede still fails. How can I report a bug?

   You can ask everything you need in the Devede Forum, at http://groups.google.com/group/devede-forum/

   If asked for a dump of Devede's output, just copy the text in the debugging data part of the error window.

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