DVD not playable

[joelme333]

I am burning my video project onto a DVD-R. After it displays "Burn complete", I insert it into my DVD player - but it says not playable. Is another step needed to finalize the disk? Any common problems?

I am using PE14.

[Steve Grisetti]

Can you play the DVD in your computer's disc drive after installing the great free program VLC Media Player?

You do not need to finalize a DVD that's been output from Premiere Elements. However some disc players do not play home-burned discs well and some brands of home-burned discs are not as reliable as others.

But first see if the disc will play on your computer with VLC Media Player. After that, we'll help you troubleshoot the problems.

[joelme333]

Thanks Steve. I installed VLC Media Player. It plays the DVD -- sort of -- not well. It sputters, stops, and hums.

I'm using a new blank Verbatim disk.

[joelme333]

Any responses??

[Peru Bob]

Try burning at a slower speed or try a different disc.

[joelme333]

I see no way to adjust speed in PE. I burned again at lowest quality, and still does not play on my DVD player (new, good quality).

However, it will play on my computer so I will be trying another player to test mine.

[Peru Bob]

If it plays on the computer OK, then it is not a burning problem.  It may be a matter of disc compatibility with the player.

[Steve Grisetti]

I agree with Bob. It's not a software issue.

Though I'm  concerned that it doesn't play well in your computer. More often discs play fine in a computer but one or two disc players have trouble playing it.

[joelme333]

Please try to figure this one out...

I burn DVD-R with PE and accept all defaults - and it will not play on my DVD player. But it plays fine on my friend's player. So it seems something is wrong with my player, NOT the software.

I burn it again (same type of disk) with other software (Corel videostudio) and play it on my DVD player. It plays perfectly, so it seems like the problem is with the software and NOT my player.

What do you think?

[Peru Bob]

Was the disc from the same package as the other disc?

[joelme333]

Yes, the same package of disks. I tried to burn with PE 11 times, all same package, all not playable.

[Peru Bob · Accepted solution]

Well, maybe instead of trying to figure out why, you should just go with what works in this case.

[joelme333]

Yes, I think so!