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Info: The general 'How-To' questions and reference request thread...

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 (Edited)

I made this a general help thread rather than just another random single question on one subject (trying to be helpful!)

I’m trying to use Windows DVD Maker to burn a single MP4 video onto a disc. In order to do this it needs to be in WMV format, I’ve tried using VLC media player to convert it but each attempt has produced a corrupt file. I’d prefer to use a free program as I only need to do this once so can anyone point me in the direction of something that can convert an MP4 into a file Windows DVD Maker will understand (or some other DVD maker for that matter!)?

Many thanks.

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Try DVD Flick, this was my default program on the PC for such tasks and it recognises nearly every format and to top it all, is free - really free, no adware or spyware.

http://www.dvdflick.net

“Logic is the battlefield of adulthood.”

  • Howard Berk
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This looks like exactly what I need, thank you for that. I’ve spent a long time searching and only found trial versions and adware-filled free software - I was beginning to get frustrated!

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You’re welcome. Glad to be of help. 😃

“Logic is the battlefield of adulthood.”

  • Howard Berk
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I’ve been looking for a Blu-Ray burner that I can use with my laptop. I found this one and it honestly seems like exactly what I’m after. Not being an expert on such things I thought check what you guys thought before I ordered it.

Is it a suitable investment for a casual anateur looking for a general use (reading/writing/ripping etc) machine?

I’d appreciate any suggestions for other burners too!

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So.

Can a fella connect a standard blu ray player to a laptop as a mock “external drive” so he might, with the help of software, rip his discs? Or would this fella be better off purchasing an actual external drive? And if he should do that, and keeping in mind he lives in the U.K., what should he be looking for? How do all the fan editors here rip their sources?! Please and thank you.

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Big lol at me writing the last post because I wrote the previous post to that last year too… and I was asking the same thing! Totally forgot!

Help though guys, please 😀

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Mark’s Down On Your Syntax said:

So.

Can a fella connect a standard blu ray player to a laptop as a mock “external drive” so he might, with the help of software, rip his discs? Or would this fella be better off purchasing an actual external drive? And if he should do that, and keeping in mind he lives in the U.K., what should he be looking for? How do all the fan editors here rip their sources?! Please and thank you.

I wish I had an answer for you, but I always just used an internal drive for this. But I’ll bump this for your question and for mine:

Kind of a random mystery, but I was digitizing some home movies (VHS-C) and ran across one labeled on the box and on the tape as being from 2003. However when I played it, the content was wrong. At this point I would just assume that the original content had been overwritten, but the new content had a burned-in timecode of FEB 6 2000.

What could be going on here? I have the same sort of tapes that are accurately timecoded up through 1999, so could it be that the camcorder glitched in 2003 and displayed the wrong date, or did my parents screw up both the box and the tape labeling? But if that was the case, I’d have another tape with that missing content but it’s nowhere to be found.

Very mystifying.

You probably don’t recognize me because of the red arm.
Episode 9 Rewrite, The Starlight Project (Released!) and ANH Technicolor Project (Released!)

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I just noticed you replied to my post, NeverarGreat!! Yay, finally somebody replied after all that time 😉 We actually sorted the situation ourselves when our pc was upgraded because the new one came with a recordable blu-ray drive. Quite an easy solution actually!

As for your question… Was there a description on those tape labels as well as the date? Because if the content had a date that preceded the label’s date then I’m sure it’s just a case of somebody mixing things up. Lots of tapes sat around all looking similar and lots of labels with different dates on them would make mistakes almost a certainty I think!

If the label was misapplied and you don’t have any other tapes with the correct content on then perhaps it was either damaged and thrown out or leant to a friend or relative and they mislaid it?

Well, it’s that or Gremlins.

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I am going to try my question:
I am using FreeRapid Downloader version 0.9u4 (according to the title bar anyway), and I have successfully downloaded everything else up to this point, and used 7zip to extract the rar files successfully and played the movies to test, but this one URL won’t download.
http://www.uloz.to/x6rMSmVb/harmy-deed-vi-v2-5-avchd-multipart-part09-rar
I have tried closing and re-opening FRD as well as rebooting my computer, as well as waiting a day in case I hit download limits. Regarding download limits, I have hit roadblocks downloading the NJVC Custom Bluray Set, but waiting resolved those problems, and I can keep on going, but this strategy is not working here with, let’s call it part09. I have tried validating the URL in FRD (right click, ‘validate’), I have tried going to part09’s URL directly in a web browser taking me to a page all in Czech I presume, and used my intuition to find the appropriate download button and download there, but I get an error saying “That didn’t work out very whale. An error occurred. Take a break and try again later”

Do I still need to just wait again? I have tried searching these forums to see if someone had a similar error, “error starting download” and I did not find anything, perhaps I did not search hard enough. Also I hope this is the correct discussion to post something like this. I can’t say I am a veteran at this whole process, but I have downloaded harmy’s DE before.

Also please let me know what other information could be helpful to those willing to help, I don’t know what information would be beneficial and what is unimportant. Also the link seems to think the file is 524 MB instead of 500 MB like all the other files

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I got a problem with streaming videos on web browsers today. Instead of being centered and having black bars on top and at the bottom, the 2.35:1 video stays on the bottom of the screen and all the black space is on top of it. Restart worked this morning but not anymore. It’s the same on Edge and IE. Firefox doesn’t always play the videos so I can’t always use it. Anyone know what might cause this and how to resolve it?

And in the time of greatest despair, there shall come a savior, and he shall be known as the Son of the Suns.

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If you have an ad blocker and the video you’re watching has an embedded ad at the top, that might explain it.

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ChainsawAsh said:

If you have an ad blocker and the video you’re watching has an embedded ad at the top, that might explain it.

That probably explains the Firefox problem of not showing the videos at all but Edge and IE don’t have ad blockers. 😕

And in the time of greatest despair, there shall come a savior, and he shall be known as the Son of the Suns.