FastEZ CD and DVD Maker

A: There are three factors that determine if your created media will playback on your DVD player.

1. For Video CD, your DVD player must be capable of playing VideoCD 2.0 discs. Check the specifications page in the instructions included with your DVD player to see if the VCD format is supported.

2. Your DVD player must be compatible with the type of DVD or CD disc used to record your title. Many DVD players are not compatible with some brands of -R, -RW, +R or +RW discs.

3. Your DVD player must support the speed at which you burned your media. Many DVD player do not support discs that are burned at speeds greater that 2X. (Back to top)

A: Yes. If you set the time between slides to zero, FastEZ CD and DVD Maker will create a disc that doesn't advance automatically, but will display the same frame until you hit the 'next' button on your DVD player. This way, you can create a presentation with FastEZ CD and DVD Maker and show it in much the same way you might present an old-fashioned slide show, but without the hassle of slides or projectors. (Back to top)

A: There are two television broadcast standards: NTSC is used in the US and Japan, and PAL the rest of the world. These formats define the number of lines and frequency of a TV picture. For PAL it is 625 lines @ 50Hz, and for NTSC it is 525 lines @ 60Hz. (Back to top)

A: You may notice a difference in the resolution of displayed still images when viewing: a slide show on your PC from the FastEZ CD and DVD Maker Entertainment Center, a slide show on your DVD/TV from a CD (VCD) or DVD created by FastEZ CD and DVD Maker, and a slide show on a PC from a CD (VCD) or DVD. Usually you'll find images viewed in a slide show started from the FastEZ CD and DVD Maker Entertainment Center will have the highest clarity. However, when creating a slide show CD (VCD) or DVD, the resolution and other aspects of the images written to the CD must be converted to match TV standards. Often digital photographs are taken at higher resolutions than the TV standard, so the impact of the conversions can be quite noticable.

For example, a 2048x1536 pixel JPEG has to bereduced to 704x480 for display on a television. This is almost a 90% reduction in image pixels.

Therefore, the apparent resolution of images viewed from a slide show CD is usually lower than what you see from the FastEZ CD and DVD Maker Entertainment Center. When playing back one of these images on a TV, the image smoothing effect inherent in a typical TV monitor, combined with our expectation of TV image quality, usually makes the resolution downgrading less noticible.(Back to top)

A: In cases where your slide show skips or shows double images when played on your DVD player, be sure that the surface of your media does not contain scratches and dirt. Also, you may try burning at a slower speed. It is typically best to burn at 1x or 2x. (Back to top)

A: There is a substantial difference between CD-ROM discs and CD-R or CD-RW discs.   Because of this, there must be differences in the drives used to read these different types of media. Most currently available CD players are capable of reading CD-R and CD-RW discs, but some older models were only designed for use with commercially produced CD-ROM discs. It may be possible to play some brands of CD-R discs in these older players, but we cannot guarantee success. The best thing to do is to try a number of different brands of media until you find one that works. (Back to top)

A: In cases where your audio CD skips when played back on your CD player, be sure that the surface of your CD media does not contain scratches and dirt. (Back to top)

A: You've discovered FastEZ's drive filtering feature. When drive filtering is enabled FastEZ displays a virtual 'filter folder' at the root of every disk drive. Inside of each filter folder, FastEZ lists only files of that type and folders that contain that type of file. To turn off drive filtering and view your disk normally, just uncheck 'Filter Drives' in the 'Options' menu. (Back to top)

A: You've discovered FastEZ's drive filtering feature. When drive filtering is enabled FastEZ displays a virtual 'filter folder' at the root of every disk drive. Inside of each filter folder FastEZ lists only files of that type, and folders that contain that type of file. To turn of drive filtering and view your disk normally, just uncheck 'Filter Drives' in the 'Options' menu. (Back to top)

A: Adding an item to the FastEZ Library does not make a copy of the item. The Record in your Library is a pointer to the original file on your disk, and will not function if the original is deleted. FastEZ's advanced Media Monitor feature will automatically track your files as you move them around on disk (Windows 98/98SE/Me only) and remove them from the Library if you delete them (All versions), which is why the Record in the Library is removed if you delete the original file. (Back to top)

A: The way FastEZ lists your Records and files mimics Windows Explorer's icon view format. That is to say, your files are listed in columns. So if you've selected "User Order" your first file will be at the top of the first column and your last file with be at the bottom of the last. (Back to top)

A: The first step is to transfer your pictures onto your computer. Your camera may have come with a system to download pictures to your computer, in which case you should consult your users guide or manual. If your camera uses a SmartMedia, CompactFlash, MMC/SD Card, or Sony Memory Stick storage device, you can use one of the many available Flash Media Readers. Once your pictures are on your computer, simply launch FastEZ and use the Add to Library Wizard. (Back to top)

A: Although you cannot directly stream video from your DV camera into FastEZ, you can use other software to download the video to your computer in MPEG or AVI format and then use FastEZ to create a VideoCD using these files. (Back to top)

A: Most file formats have a very rigid and specific definition. Unfortunately, you quite often come upon files that are 'close enough' to this specification so that you can perform many tasks with them, but not all. For instance, most players (such as FastEZ or Windows Media Player) are very 'forgiving' when playing damaged MPEG files - they can correct the errors in the file well enough that they can still play. This doesn't mean that the file is correct; it just means that the file is 'good enough' for some tasks. Unfortunately, creating a VideoCD or DVD is not one of these tasks. In order to create a VideoCD, DVD or Slide Show CD in FastEZ, your files must be completely valid with no errors or corruptions. (Back to top)

A: Even though your CD or DVD recorder may be capable of recording discs at extremely high speeds, many computer systems are unable to provide data to the recorder quickly enough to keep up. If your computer system cannot supply data at the rate the recorder requires, an error called a 'buffer underrun' occurs, which typically ruins the disc. To prevent this type of error, we recommend that you record at a slower speed than the maximum. (Back to top)

A: Prior to creating a CD or DVD, FastEZ has to convert all the files involved to one common format. Depending on the type of file involved this might require just one or several conversion passes to achieve this format prior to creating the image that FastEZ will burn to the CD or DVD. During this time it might appear that FastEZ has stopped responding, (Windows Task Manager may even report the same thing) however based on experience it can take upto 80mins. for some of the more involved formats. (Back to top)

A: Unfortunately, the ability to play or preview a file in the entertainment center is independent of FastEZ's ability to decode the same file from its existing format then properly encode it on a CD or DVD. (Back to top)

A: There are many more variables surrounding the successful production of a Video CD or DVD than when creating a standard data or music CD or DVD.

The reflective properties of the media become a larger variable when creating a Video CD or DVD, due in part to the type of laser used to read it. Problems can usually be attributed to:

1.	video CD standards not met by DVD/VCD manufacturer
2.	single versus twin laser pick-up in the DVD player
3.	varying reflective properties of the recordable R/RW disc
4.	not all DVD players can play Video CD formatted discs

(Back to top)

A: CODEC is an acronym for Codern-Decoder and relates to software or hardware that is installed on PCs, enabling them to create and/or view multimedia files. For example, video editing suites such as QuickTime etc. install CODECs onto the PC that enable the User to view these files. As a general rule, if you capture your video file (for example from your DV camera) onto a PC it's best to create a FastEZ VideoCD using the same PC. (Back to top)

A: As a MPEG file can be in either PAL or NTSC format it's not possible to burn an NTSC MPEG file onto a PAL VCD or PAL DVD the other way around.

However, using software you can often convert these files into a format such as AVI that isn't PAL/NTSC sensitive, or create a MPEG file in the required format, and create your VCD or DVD as usual. (Back to top)

A: By default, FastEZ will sort by date created. You can ask FastEZ to sort differently by using the "Option->Media Settings->Sort Order" command. (Back to top)

A: The user must click once in the 'Viewer Pane' before the 'Select All' button is enabled. (Back to top)

A: You must first select the file by clicking on it before the controls are activated. (Back to top)

A: Actually, FastEZ is listing the files in alphabetical order, just not in the way you think. FastEZ displays items from top to bottom first, then from left to right. This is the opposite of the way you read, but it matches the way Windows displays items in a list view. If you look at your files in that order, you'll find that things are correctly alphabetized. (Back to top)