DVD is Skipping After Burning

Hmmm. A good disc image generally means something is going wrong in the burn process, and typically the problems are solved with good media and slower burn speeds -- both of which reduce errors introduced in the burning process. Skipping is generally a consequence of bad media and/or burning errors.

So, you're trying the typical recommended solutions -- Verbatim is a generally known for good quality media and you're slowing down the burn speed. Have you tried your other Mac's burner? (the disc image is self-sufficient and can be transferred like any other file)

Otherwise -- try some good, non-archival disks? Also, try a burn speed about half the max rated speed of your burner (if you have an 16x burner, try it at 8x). There's a school of thought that higher-speed burners actually have more errors if you slow them down too much, but I've not heard anything definitive. If you're experimenting with cheaper, good quality disks (ie, non-archival), there's less at stake with each burn.
John

You're welcome. I'm wondering if it's somehow related to the archival DVDs - perhaps Verbatim is using a particular dye or construction technique that your Philips player doesn't like. Try burning the existing project to the Memorex media (Memorex has a subpar reputation around here, but it's easily available to you).
John

Based on your findings, I would say that #2 is probably the right inference. Also, DVDs have a rated speed on them, so you want to ensure that you don't exceed the rated speed on the DVD. Would also recommend no multi-tasking (or background apps) when the DVD burn is in progress.
Another thing I found with my external drive is that it typically reports spurious "bad areas" on the discs especially when the drive gets hot with prolonged use. I let the drive cool down a bit, and voila, the bad disc is magically fine!

Hi,
I experienced skipping, stuttering type areas on my burned DVD's (Verbatim) yesterday when playing them back on DVD recorder/player. So what I did was WAIT for at least 20 minutes in between each burn session before inserting another disk. TSilverX5 was SO right about prolonged use heating the Mac up, and skipping problems occurring that may occur because the machine needs to rest a tad between burn sessions. I don't know if this will help. Good luck.

Hi John,
Thank you for taking the time to reply. Gosh I'm not sure exactly what the problem was. My project was 600 still images with trans and effects and special sound effects, Elephants trumpeting on the second audio timeline. So it was my largest project to date. I've never had problems burning DVD's before but they were always under 200 images. It was shocking to me to watch the DVD skip on playback in my good DVD player/recorder so immediately I suspected the DVD (Verbatim) NEVER my Mac. I always use Memorex and have never had problems, but the Verbatim seemed to have more depth of color so I chose to go with Verbatim this time. My Mac was running warm (from fan heat blowing out back) and I slowed down the time in between each disk burn 20 minutes or even longer so the Mac could cool down a tad. My DVD's burned fine after slowing down the burn process but technically I'm not advanced enough to know what the reason actually was.
Cheri

Generally the -R discs are the most compatible with older DVD players, and Apple's original Superdrives only burned DVD-R. Even though Verbatim has the reputation, I think the evidence is pointing at problems with that batch of Verbatims, or possibly something different that Verbatim did with their archival discs.
John

Gentlemen,
John thank you very very much your information was completely helpful for me. Thank you. And TSilverX5 thank you for the invaluable information your post supplied us. And ComputerWhiz, thank you for the descriptions of how you were ferreting out this awful problem, thank you. I'm sticking the entire page to the side of my drafting lamp! ComputerWhiz I sure hope you can track down and solve your problem.
Cheri

Just to add to this discussion, generally Memorex disks have not been recommended because they have thinner layers and may produce some skipping or poor playback,and may not last as long as other brands. However, when I was looking for cases at Office Depot, I noticed that the newer Memorex disks looked completely different. Maybe the newer ones are made better.
If you had not noticed a difference in the burns of the different brands, I would have suspected your DVD player, since the playback of DVD players is so variable, depending on the age, brand and type of player.

Maybe you just got a bad batch of Verbatim disks. I always use Verbatim archival gold disks, DVD-R, burn at 4x or less and have never had a burn issue with them.....well, except for something I did.....or the problem with iDVD not recognizing changes to iMovie after iMovie is already in an iDVD project and messing up chapter markers. (But that is another thread!).

Hi Beverly!
Thanks for the additional information! For me, I think I bought a bad batch of Verbatims even though I got them to burn successfully on my PPC G5 and play perfectly on the year old Sony DVD Player/Recorder on the 3 year old Bravia Sony TV. I was SO taken with the quality of the images, nice clean colors with really nice depth -- especially the very dark areas where pixels can pop up when least expected. ugh Anyway, I'm sold on Verbatim now and will go hunt down some Verbatim archival gold disks and very much appreciate the info on what type Verbatims you use. I've been reading that John uses Sony, and TSilverX5 recommends Verbatim and Taiyo Yuden. Thanks much Lady.
Cheri

You are very welcome. I order Verbatim disks (Ultra LIfe Gold Archival Grade, DVD-R) from a company I found online CDW (CDW Mac Warehouse) http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/default.aspx?EDC=1029616

They are more expensive, but supposed to last longer. You may be able to find them elsewhere for less.

Those other brands--Sony, Taiyo Yuden and Maxell-- are also good and give good burns.