BluRay Burner compatible with PE7

Question

I am ready to try burning a BluRay Disc. Can you tell me what BluRay burners are compatible with PE 7. I have always burnt my standard videos to My Videos Folder and then had to use Nero 8 as my PE 3, and now PE 7, progs do not recognize my burners. Am I going to have to continue with Nero 8? I like to collect several Video clips in My Videos Folder (Windows XP Pro) and then I can make up DVD's with different combinations for different people. I do need advice on BluRay burners.

Answer 1

Ros,
The first thing that I would address would be why PE7 does not see your current burners.
You mention Nero, also being loaded onto your system. Nero is a compilation of various "modules," that perform different, though often overlapping, functions. One "module," that is installed in the default installation is InCD. This is a packet-writing module. It allows one to "drag-and-drop" files to a CD/DVD, just like you do with on the hard drives on your system. If you have this installed, and it is very likely that you do, it will interfer with any Adobe program's burning capability. All Adobe programs, that allow burning to CD/DVD require 100% control of any burner used. InCD "hooks" all bunrners at bootup and will not release the burner to any other program at 100% level*. It is best to always do a "Custom" install, and uncheck the InCD module, so that it is NOT installed. Then PE, or Premiere Pro 2, or Encore, can find the burner and use it at the 100% level.
Usually, a complete uninstall of Nero, and then a Custom installation, will allow Adobe programs to use the burners, if they are installed correctly on one's system.
An easy check for InCD is to open Windows Task Manager (Ctrl-Alt-Del) and look in the Processes Tab. Dbl-click on the Name column twice, to set the listing to alphabetical with ascending order. Scroll down to the I's in the list, and see if InCD is listed. If so, this is very likely your problem. If so, open Control Panel, and choose Add/Remove Programs. Your list might take a moment to populate. Uninstall Nero. Insert your Nero disc into the drive/burner and choose Custom for install, unchecking the InCD module. I also do not install Nero's indexing/monitor, as it has been known to "watch" burners and also get in the way.
While still in Control Panel, look at System>Device Manager. Check that your burners are, in fact, seen by Windows and that they are listed as working properly. If not, then you will want to remove them in Control Panel, and reboot. Windows should then find them, and install its drivers for each. Check in Control Panel>System>Device Manager again. Any warnings?
This should get everything set up so that PE sees your burners. I have to say that Nero can be very invasive on a system. When I uninstall any part of it, I always run a Registry cleaner to make sure that all is removed, before I do a Custom re-install.
Now, for rearranging your "scenes" from your tapes, well, that's editing. It is the work and for me the fun of using an NLE (Non Linear Editing) program, like PE. I take the material from the tapes and arrange them in the order that I wish, i.e. all of the "garden" material into one Project. In PE, you cannot have multiple Sequences (read Timelines here), so I'd just do an edit for the gardens as a Project. Same for "travel," etc. Once edited, you would just Export as a DV-AVI "Movie," and bring the ones that you wish to combine into a new "master" Project. That would be what I would output to DVD, or BD. I use Premiere Pro, which allows for multiple Sequences, and treat each Sequence as a Chapter. I use another Adobe program, Encore, to author the final disc, and just Import each "Chapter" into it. PE does the authoring in one program.
Hope that this helps you get your burners back.
Hunt
* Other programs can hook the burners, as well as InCD. If you have Quicken and use its Save to CD, it will first invoke Windows' version of InCD, which is also a packet-writing application. Once invoked, the burner will only be seen as a CD drive by the system, even if it's a multi-drive. So InCD (Nero) is not the only way that this problem can come about. Any packet-writing application will hook the burners, and Adobe cannot find them.
There can also be issues with the wiring of the burners, that will cause this too. If they are both set to Master on their controller chain, problems can arise. Usually, it's just packet-writing software, that is the culprit.