Robin's Nest DVD Update
Greetings,
The weekend passed, and Stephanie (my quilting daughter) and I made yet another attempt to convert the file into a real DVD. But to no avail. Twice it got stuck on 'verifying the media.'
So, bright and early Monday morning, CJ got the call. He admitted to much confusion about my problems, since he said that "it should be so easy." Man, I've heard that story so many times now, I know it by heart.
As we talked about what was going on, he suggested that I put a DVD into my DVD drive and see if it played. Guess what - pictures, no sound. I tried another one. Nothing at all - no pictures, no sound.
Time to shut off the computer and regroup.
Regrouping for me in this particular instance was to call my son, the engineer who built my computer.
After listening to my tale of woe, he declared that it was really time for me to just get a new computer.
I should have known. Both he and Stephanie have been complaining for years about how slow my machine is. But, I'm a quilter who uses a Singer Featherweight sewing machine from 1950-something. Why would I need a brand new computer?
After I thought about it, I realized that my computer was built before we thought about doing DVDs. Heck, it may have been built before DVDs! After all, my son added the DVD drive last year, just as a 'nice thing to do,' not dreaming I would really come to rely on it.
So, he ordered the computer, and it is on its way.
In the meantime, I'm using this time to collect frames of video for pictures in the book, and then writing the book to go along with the DVD.
Greetings,
The weekend passed, and Stephanie (my quilting daughter) and I made yet another attempt to convert the file into a real DVD. But to no avail. Twice it got stuck on 'verifying the media.'
So, bright and early Monday morning, CJ got the call. He admitted to much confusion about my problems, since he said that "it should be so easy." Man, I've heard that story so many times now, I know it by heart.
As we talked about what was going on, he suggested that I put a DVD into my DVD drive and see if it played. Guess what - pictures, no sound. I tried another one. Nothing at all.
Time to shut off the computer and regroup.
Regrouping for me in this particular instance was to call my son, the engineer who built my computer.
After listening to my tale of woe, he declared that it was really time for me to just get a new computer.
I should have known. Both he and Stephanie have been complaining for years about how slow my machine is. But, I'm a quilter who uses a Singer Featherweight sewing machine from 1950-something. Why would I need a brand new computer?
After I thought about it, I realized that my computer was built before we thought about doing DVDs. Heck, it may have been built before DVDs! After all, my son added the DVD drive last year, just as a 'nice thing to do,' not dreaming I would really come to rely on it.
So, he ordered the computer, and it is on its way.
In the meantime, I'm using this time to collect frames of video for pictures in the book, and then writing the book to go along with the DVD.
So, while we have a moment, I'll explain what I have discovered about making a DVD. Who knows whether this is all really true. It's just what I have pieced together from my experience and asking a bunch of questions.
The Video Story Continues
In my previous blog, I described the process up to getting the AVI files.
I really have not much of a clue exactly what an AVI file is. What I know is that it is huge! My little 4 GB file exploded into a 26 GB file - and that is just for one of the DVDs that represents 1 1/2 hours of video.
Once in that format, I needed to convert it into an mpeg file - so you could watch it on either your TV or computer. No problem!
Oh, but first, I need to add a menu - so you can jump around on the DVD and look at just the parts you want.
So, I need some software to do that. Oh, now that was exciting, too!
I called around to different video places. I had already tried to find people online to help - to no avail.
Three phone calls, and I found CJ. What a guy! He has walked me through this, and has been incredibly patient.
The first thing he suggested was an Adobe program that would insert the Menu and Chapters, and then compress the file and burn it to a DVD. Sounded great!
I found the program, downloaded the trial version, and tried to install it. Got an error message. Tried again. Got the same error message. No go.
The next day, I called CJ again. He suggested that my computer didn't have Service Pack 2. Hmmm - I thought it did. Oh well, I'll try again. But first, I checked. Using the Microsoft website, I confirmed that I did have SP2 installed. Something else was wrong.
So, I got on the phone to Adobe. I got ahold of a very helpful technician who determined that my problem was that my computer had an AMD processor, and their software works only with Intel. So much for that program.
Next day, back on the phone to CJ. He told me that he had an AMD processor on his computer (at least I'm not alone here), and that he had an earlier version of the program that might work for me. Niiice.
Ran over to his shop, bought the program, took it home and loaded it up. Sure enough, it installed, I opened up my project and started to rock and roll.
This program works with Photoshop, so I could create a cute little menu and then import it to my project. That done, I added buttons and chapters, and was ready to build a DVD.
And that's were I am now. Building a DVD. Well, temporarily stopped, becuase this computer, as reliable as it has been, would prefer to take a rest and not make a movie. It's great for still pictures, but movies - well, that's apparently too advanced. Hmmm. Not really, maybe it is just that movies take up too much space.
So, the new computer should arrive next week, and we'll be off to the movies once more. I anticipate smooth sailing from there on. And with good fortune and good weather, the DVDs should be ready by September. Only a few weeks past my original estimate.
In the meantime, Stephanie and I have created 3 great packages of goodies for you - depending on what you want or need for your quiltmaking project. And as I gather everything and get it ready to go, I'm getting more excited. Can't wait to show it to you!
And now it's time to format some more photographs for the book, and get writing!
Happy Quilting!
Penny Halgren
www.How-to-Quilt.com
Inspiration and Education for Beginning Quilters
www.Rag-Quilt-Instructions.com
Fast, Fun and Funky Quilts
www.Fabric-Postcards.com
Quilt Greetings Across the Miles
The weekend passed, and Stephanie (my quilting daughter) and I made yet another attempt to convert the file into a real DVD. But to no avail. Twice it got stuck on 'verifying the media.'
So, bright and early Monday morning, CJ got the call. He admitted to much confusion about my problems, since he said that "it should be so easy." Man, I've heard that story so many times now, I know it by heart.
As we talked about what was going on, he suggested that I put a DVD into my DVD drive and see if it played. Guess what - pictures, no sound. I tried another one. Nothing at all - no pictures, no sound.
Time to shut off the computer and regroup.
Regrouping for me in this particular instance was to call my son, the engineer who built my computer.
After listening to my tale of woe, he declared that it was really time for me to just get a new computer.
I should have known. Both he and Stephanie have been complaining for years about how slow my machine is. But, I'm a quilter who uses a Singer Featherweight sewing machine from 1950-something. Why would I need a brand new computer?
After I thought about it, I realized that my computer was built before we thought about doing DVDs. Heck, it may have been built before DVDs! After all, my son added the DVD drive last year, just as a 'nice thing to do,' not dreaming I would really come to rely on it.
So, he ordered the computer, and it is on its way.
In the meantime, I'm using this time to collect frames of video for pictures in the book, and then writing the book to go along with the DVD.
Greetings,
The weekend passed, and Stephanie (my quilting daughter) and I made yet another attempt to convert the file into a real DVD. But to no avail. Twice it got stuck on 'verifying the media.'
So, bright and early Monday morning, CJ got the call. He admitted to much confusion about my problems, since he said that "it should be so easy." Man, I've heard that story so many times now, I know it by heart.
As we talked about what was going on, he suggested that I put a DVD into my DVD drive and see if it played. Guess what - pictures, no sound. I tried another one. Nothing at all.
Time to shut off the computer and regroup.
Regrouping for me in this particular instance was to call my son, the engineer who built my computer.
After listening to my tale of woe, he declared that it was really time for me to just get a new computer.
I should have known. Both he and Stephanie have been complaining for years about how slow my machine is. But, I'm a quilter who uses a Singer Featherweight sewing machine from 1950-something. Why would I need a brand new computer?
After I thought about it, I realized that my computer was built before we thought about doing DVDs. Heck, it may have been built before DVDs! After all, my son added the DVD drive last year, just as a 'nice thing to do,' not dreaming I would really come to rely on it.
So, he ordered the computer, and it is on its way.
In the meantime, I'm using this time to collect frames of video for pictures in the book, and then writing the book to go along with the DVD.
So, while we have a moment, I'll explain what I have discovered about making a DVD. Who knows whether this is all really true. It's just what I have pieced together from my experience and asking a bunch of questions.
The Video Story Continues
In my previous blog, I described the process up to getting the AVI files.
I really have not much of a clue exactly what an AVI file is. What I know is that it is huge! My little 4 GB file exploded into a 26 GB file - and that is just for one of the DVDs that represents 1 1/2 hours of video.
Once in that format, I needed to convert it into an mpeg file - so you could watch it on either your TV or computer. No problem!
Oh, but first, I need to add a menu - so you can jump around on the DVD and look at just the parts you want.
So, I need some software to do that. Oh, now that was exciting, too!
I called around to different video places. I had already tried to find people online to help - to no avail.
Three phone calls, and I found CJ. What a guy! He has walked me through this, and has been incredibly patient.
The first thing he suggested was an Adobe program that would insert the Menu and Chapters, and then compress the file and burn it to a DVD. Sounded great!
I found the program, downloaded the trial version, and tried to install it. Got an error message. Tried again. Got the same error message. No go.
The next day, I called CJ again. He suggested that my computer didn't have Service Pack 2. Hmmm - I thought it did. Oh well, I'll try again. But first, I checked. Using the Microsoft website, I confirmed that I did have SP2 installed. Something else was wrong.
So, I got on the phone to Adobe. I got ahold of a very helpful technician who determined that my problem was that my computer had an AMD processor, and their software works only with Intel. So much for that program.
Next day, back on the phone to CJ. He told me that he had an AMD processor on his computer (at least I'm not alone here), and that he had an earlier version of the program that might work for me. Niiice.
Ran over to his shop, bought the program, took it home and loaded it up. Sure enough, it installed, I opened up my project and started to rock and roll.
This program works with Photoshop, so I could create a cute little menu and then import it to my project. That done, I added buttons and chapters, and was ready to build a DVD.
And that's were I am now. Building a DVD. Well, temporarily stopped, becuase this computer, as reliable as it has been, would prefer to take a rest and not make a movie. It's great for still pictures, but movies - well, that's apparently too advanced. Hmmm. Not really, maybe it is just that movies take up too much space.
So, the new computer should arrive next week, and we'll be off to the movies once more. I anticipate smooth sailing from there on. And with good fortune and good weather, the DVDs should be ready by September. Only a few weeks past my original estimate.
In the meantime, Stephanie and I have created 3 great packages of goodies for you - depending on what you want or need for your quiltmaking project. And as I gather everything and get it ready to go, I'm getting more excited. Can't wait to show it to you!
And now it's time to format some more photographs for the book, and get writing!
Happy Quilting!
Penny Halgren
www.How-to-Quilt.com
Inspiration and Education for Beginning Quilters
www.Rag-Quilt-Instructions.com
Fast, Fun and Funky Quilts
www.Fabric-Postcards.com
Quilt Greetings Across the Miles
posted by Penny Halgren | 7:09 PM
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