Encore CS5 Blu-ray problem (it's burning a data blu-ray instead of a standard movie blu-ray)

[Dustin27630886m8a5]

I've tried twice now to burn a dual layer Philips BD-R as a standard movie Blu-ray that will play in a Blu-ray player, but it has burned as a data Blu-ray both times. This is the first time this has happened. I film weddings and have made Blu-ray movies for the couples, and I've also made some stunt Blu-ray movies. For this project, I've made a motion menu in After Effects and used Dynamic Link to import it into Encore as with the Premiere Pro sequence which I usuallly do as with the wedding and stunt Blu-rays I've made in the past. I just don't know why Encore is burning a data Blu-ray instead of a standard movie Blu-ray now? Don't know if it's my burner, the brand of BD-R, the way I'm importing into Encore, or what? My player still plays the stunt Blu-rays, and they were burnt on a dual layer Verbatim BD-R. Any incite would be helpful. Thanks. - Dustin

[Richard M Knight]

Have you tried exporting a bluray folder and using Imgburn to make the disc?

[Dustin27630886m8a5]

No, I haven't tried to export a folder. I did try to export an image file, but it said it was too large for the destination. But I have 400GB of free space on my computer. Don't know how large Blu-ray image files are though. And I don't know what Imgburn is?

[Richard M Knight]

https://www.imgburn.com/

[Dustin27630886m8a5]

Thanks. I'll try it out.

[Dustin27630886m8a5]

So the Blu-ray folder created successfully. But I have no idea how to use Imgburn. Was wondering if you could tell me how to burn the Blu-ray movie with the created folder in Imgburn? Thanks.

[Dustin27630886m8a5]

So I looked on their website and saw how to burn the Blu-ray movie. However, there are no supported files in the Blu-ray folder to burn the movie. The only files I see that I think could be used is BDMV and CLPI. When I click to see the supported files of Imgburn, those aren't there.

[Stan Jones]

There are many guides on the ImgBurn forum pages. This is the one you want:

https://forum.imgburn.com/topic/9512-how-to-write-a-blu-ray-video-disc-using-imgburn/

The problem is that you have a dual layer project, and it does not cover that. But my understanding is that a BD layer break is automatic/seamless. See this post from @neil wilkes:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/premiere-pro-discussions/encore-cs6-mac-dual-layer-blu-ray-authoring/...

Other ImgBurn guides here:

https://forum.imgburn.com/forum/4-guides/

Fabulous app....

Stan

[Dustin27630886m8a5]

Thanks you, Stan. The guide on Imgburn.com helped. However, there is still a problem, but I'm getting close. So the Blu-ray folder created successfully. Then I used Imgburn to burn it. It burnt just fine, but when it was verifying it, I got an error message. Something about an unreadable format, along those lines. So I put it in my Blu-ray player, and it reads it as a Blu-ray movie. So that worked. But the main menu is messed up. It's a motion menu that I made in After Effects that I imported into Encore using Dynamic Link. So it's an unrendered AE composition. It's basically just a still image with a 3 minute video playing in the background. I want the video to play with its sound in the menu. The issue I run into is having the video actaully play in the menu since I could only export one frame as a Photohop layers and then import it into Encore as a menu. It's just a still frame of the video. I found a tutorial on YouTube that said to hide all the layers of the menu in Encore, that way when I link the motion video and audio to the menu, it would show the motion menu layered underneath the buttons. Basically without the motion menu and the layers hidden, it's just a black screen with the highlighted buttons. And that's how it burnt the Blu-ray main menu (black screen with hightlighted buttons). There is the audio though, just not the video. I noticed though when I would close the project in Encore, then reopen it later, and try to preview the project, it would show just the black screen for the main menu. Then if I would mess with it and deselect and reselect the layers of the menu and go preview it again, then it would show the motion menu in the preview. So somethng is wrong in the program to not render the motion menu correctly. The video in the motion menu is a rendered MPEG2 standard SD NTSC file that I imported into After Effects. I was thinking maybe that has something to do with it. Or should I just try to render the entire motion menu out as an H.264 MP4 file or something else, and then link it to the menu in Encore (instead of using Dynamic Link)? I've attached a picture on the main motion menu so you can see what I'm talking about. The video that I want to play is in the upper right part of the frame. Thanks.

[Stan Jones]

Dustin,

Congrats on the success so far!

It is tempting to get the AE menu to work, but I think I would just go to a regular Encore or Photoshop menu and export the motion background ONLY from AE as a file. If the file comes in to Encore as Untrnascoded, just let Encore transcode it.

Do a Save As to create a test project. I would start with an Encore Library menu with video background only - I used the Crib Menu HD for testing. Set that menu as first play. Preview. You'll need to render the menu. If that works, replace the Baby Room...m2v background with your export from AE.

See if you can get that to work. Then add the background audio as a separate file.

Stan

[Dustin27630886m8a5]

Ok, so I watched another tutorial on YouTube, and it showed when you link the motion video for the menu, it should pop up behind the buttons in the menu window. I hasn't been doing that the whole time that I tried burning the discs. So I did what you said and opened a menu in the Encore Library and linked the motion video to that menu, and sure enough it popped up. So the issue has to be with the menu I made in AE. I don't know to make the background transparent to show the motion video. Like I said when I link the motion, it doesn't pop up. Just a black screen. Any possible solution? It's gotta be a setting somewhere. Thanks again.

[Stan Jones]

The Encore reference files are still here:

https://helpx.adobe.com/encore/archive.html

I looked at CS6; I think CS5 is similar. Page 102 "Using After Effects to enhance menus."

Pay close attention to whether layers are visible or not in AE vs in EN.

I always found this confusing. When you are only animating a background - not button images themselves, etc - and this includes having a static image with video playing in part of it - I see little advantage to using AE at all. You are creating the ACTUAL menu in Encore or Photoshop. You are creating a motion/background movie where EVERYTHING IN THE MENU that is text or images is in the movie. You can do that in AE or PR. In the end, all AE provides is a movie of the visible menu and background, and Encore puts the (mostly invisible) button subpictures on top.

In the reference file, I don't see an instruction on naming the background layer. My recollection is that that layer MUST remain named "Background" (and it is locked in Photoshop). If you rename it, Encore does not know which layer to replace with the motion video. Also, if you add a still image background in another layer (e.g. one layer up from the "Background" layer at the bottom of the stack), EN will replace the "Background" layer with the video, and then ignore it because your image covers the entire frame.

Stan

[Dustin27630886m8a5]

Ok so here's an update. I went ahead and used a menu in the Encore Library and deleted all the buttons and other assets on it. Then I linked the motion video and audio to it and added my own custom buttons. From there, I rendered the motion menu and previewed it. It worked fine, HOWEVER I have a 4 second transition that goes from the main menu (the motion menu) to the first page of chapters. Well, with the menu I created in AE, the transition worked fine in the preview window. But with the Encore Library menu, it doesn't. It just plays the beginning of the motion video without audio for those 4 seconds of the transtion and then jumps to the first page of chapters. Any insight on how to fix either the menu I made in AE or the fix the transition problem would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Stan Jones]

> I have 400GB of free space on my computer. 

Encore creates temporary files much larger than the actual export/burn. And these might be located on a hard drive without as much free space.

How do you know it burned as a data BD?

Stan

[Dustin27630886m8a5]

I tried to play it on my Blu-ray player and when it loaded it said data BD. And when I tried to play it, it just took me to folders.

[YANNA26705213grl5]

DVD's used to be DVD-R ( recordable )

or DVD-RW ( re-recordable ) so you can erase and record NEW stuff on it.

NOT ALL PLAYERS CAN READ DVD-R AND DVD-RW....but most computer disc drives can.

FOR BD the same holds true but with different designation....

BD-R is recordable

BD-RE is re-recordable....same thing but different letters.

Difference is that DVD is basically old TV broadcast standard definition and BD is high definition.

Anyway, what I do is test a 'movie' burn on the re-recordable discs so I don't waste them if something goes wrong. You can't re-use a disc that failed to record correctly...it's trash.

Secondly, Encore was never good at burning actual discs but would work fine by exporting an ISO (image file ) and using something like IMAGEBURN to burn the actual disc into a movie.

Third, Verbatim always had the best reputation for having good disc surfaces that burned well and kept a long life afterwards ( due to oxidation etc. some discs become non functional over time ).

Use something like file explorer to see if there is really anything on your disc....anything at all...you can figure out how to do that by searching for help on HOW TO READ FILES ON DRIVES.

good luck

[neil wilkes]

Sorry I am so late to the party on this one - been away on other stuff and only noticed this thanks to a message from Stan (thanks, chap).

For the OP - how exactly - step by step, if it do ya - did you burn the disc that turned out to be a data disc?

[Dustin27630886m8a5]

Hi Neil. I'm the one that tried to burn a Blu-ray movie, and it came out to be a data BD. Pretty much after testing and messing around with things in Encore. The problem I'm having is the main menu as a motion menu. When you click on the "Chapters" button in that menu, a 4 second transition video is supposed to play which slides the entire main menu from left to right into the first chapters page. When I have the motion video and audio linked to the main menu, render it, and try to click "Chapters" in the preview window, it doesn't work right. It just starts the motion video in the menu over to the beginning and plays without audio for the duration of the 4 second transition video that's supposed to be playing, and then just jumps to the first chapters page. It works fine when the motion menu isn't rendered, when it's just a still image with the audio. Here's a link to another post that I posted yesterday. It's more current of where I'm at with the project.

Re: Encore CS5 motion menu and transition problems... - Adobe Support Community - 13434720

You kind of have to scroll down a ways. The top is this thread that I put in it so that I didn't have to retype it all.

[neil wilkes]

I cannot help out with your Motion Menu problem simply because we don't use Encore to create Blu-ray, and have no idea how to do what you need - we use BD-J under Scenarist BD. I will take a look & see if I can see anything untoward though.

What I can probably help with is the whole data disc issue if that needs sorting out still?

Getting back to your menu issues though, give the following a try:

1. Create your full-length video background in Premiere, and render this to an H.264/Blu-ray file.

2. Render your audio at the same time.

3. Bring these assets into Encore, which always works best when fed with spec-compliant assets.

4. Forget all about importing a PSD file.

Linking it all up:

Make sure you exported a set of markers out of the Premiere sequence. NAME THEM (or you will get lost)

Where your button points to a different section in the background video, simply aim it at that chapter point.

This ought to work - the biggest problem will be setting menu button subpicture highlights, and this I cannot help with as stated earlier.