problems saving a finished file

[lariveesl]

I am a new user of "Windows Movie Maker" application.




Problem that I need help with:

I am feverishly trying to save my meticulously edited and finally completed
digital movie to my computer, but I get an error message that says my "4 gb
Fat 32 file is too small" whatever that means?

I also tried to bypass a 'saved file' on my computer by burning the finished
work to a DVD-R directly...........that also did not work, can't remember
the error message.



My computer is a 5 year old Sony PCV-RS430G

Operating system:

Windows XP, Home Edition Version 2002, Service Pack 3

CPU is a Pentium 4 @ 2.8 ghz

Onboard RAM is 2.0 gb

Hard drive is a 120 gb with 54 gb free

W. Movie Maker version is 2.1.4026.0

My chosen DVD discs to burn are the DVD-R type.

My computer's "File System" is NTFS.



I am told that the best way to render/create a good working DVD and also
make copies is from a "saved" file on my computer, then use that file as the
master to make playable DVDs...IT's NOT Working!!!



When asked to by the "save to computer" drop down list I chose to save the
completed movie file using "AVI-NTSC" "Audio Video Interleaf" - "National
Television Service Code"- which I was told would be the best compatible to
most all random public DVD players and maybe computers too, but I'm more
interested in the home DVD players.



To render the file to be saved is taking up to 4 hours, seems rather long to
me.



Question:

Can anyone shed light on why I can't save my great movie to my computer????

If and when I ever get the movie work saved then dare to create disc copies,
should I be using a DVD+R?

Are there preferred manufactured Disc's over others?



Thanks for your time,

 

[John Inzer]

Where exactly are you trying to save your movie?

Are you positive that your file system is NTFS?

Go to...My Computer...and right click the icon
for your C: drive...choose Properties...does it
say...File system: NTFS?

It's possible that your project is too large and
complex and you may have to split it into
two or more separate projects.

--

J. Inzer MS-MVP
Digital Media Experience

Notice
This is not tech support
I am a volunteer

Solutions that work for
me may not work for you

Proceed at your own risk

====================

 

[lariveesl]

Thanks for your help.

I am trying to save my movie to my hard drive and then put it on a DVD. I
would like to hand out DVDs to a number of friends so they can see the
movie. My file system is definitely NTFS.

Since yesterday, I have been able to save my file in another format. The
original was about 35 gigs which I realize I could never get on one DVD.
That was in an AVI, NTSC format. Last night I save it as a HI QUALITY NTSC
format and it is "only" 1.7 gigs. The problem with the smaller file is that
the audio is choppy when I play it from my hard drive.

Is there a file format inbetween? I would like to keep it under 4.7 gigs to
get it on one DVD but not unnecessarily compromise the video and/or audio
quality.

Thanks again for your time and help.

 

[LVTravel]

Thanks for your help.

I am trying to save my movie to my hard drive and then put it on a DVD. I
would like to hand out DVDs to a number of friends so they can see the
movie. My file system is definitely NTFS.

Since yesterday, I have been able to save my file in another format. The
original was about 35 gigs which I realize I could never get on one DVD.
That was in an AVI, NTSC format. Last night I save it as a HI QUALITY
NTSC format and it is "only" 1.7 gigs. The problem with the smaller file
is that the audio is choppy when I play it from my hard drive.

Is there a file format inbetween? I would like to keep it under 4.7 gigs
to get it on one DVD but not unnecessarily compromise the video and/or
audio quality.

Thanks again for your time and help.

There is a misconception on your part. The size of the AVI file does not
matter in putting a file on a DVD. It is the length of the movie which is
normally limited to about 1 hour for a single layer and 2 hours for a dual
layer DVD. The large size of an uncompressed AVI file is caused by all the
information that is placed in the file. It is converted to a form of MPEG
during the burning to the DVD to fit in the time allowed. The video file
you created that is only 1.7 GB is a compressed version of the full video
(some loss of video and/or audio quality will occur.)

As for your NTFS vs. FAT 32 issues. The message indicates that there is a
FAT32 drive on the computer that WMM is trying to access. Double check on
the file format of all the hard drives in the computer that may be storing
the temporary files from WMM and the drive that is storing the final (35 GB)
AVI file. Open My Computer (or Computer in Vista) and right click on a a
hard drive's drive letter. Click Properties. Ensure that all hard drives
are listed as NTFS and none are FAT 32. One other thing to check when doing
this is to ensure that you have plenty of free space 35-40 GB on all of your
drives (especially the C: drive where most temporary files are stored.)

 

[PapaJohn]

If you're heading to a video DVD, the 35 GB DV-AVI file will need to be
converted to an MPEG2 file that will fit on the disc.... assuming your DVD
making software has the 'fit to disc' option.

 

[lariveesl]

Thank you, both, for your input. I will look into each one.