Which areas do i need to improve on?
 

After i had a long discussion with LS, i think its best that i get other members opinions on the good/bad points about my trading.

I know the 1st issue is using better dvd's, which i plan on getting {DV 3211} Datawrite Ricohcode (4x) DVD+R in Spindle Tubs of 50 sometime in september.

I do buy 400 dvd's a month, which is why used bullpaq. Mainly due to cost issue, which LS knows. which i can mention here if peope wish or ask LS privatly about my situation.

i know some people had complaints about this, well now is the time to voice them. Which might be why you guys don't want to trade with me much, because of the media i used.

Well this is a simply help Curtis to improve on his trading topic.

As i mentioned to LS, if you had a problem. then at least tell me about, as how am i to improve if i don't know. Which i don't know why no one voiced it to me. i am not going to bite your head off, i like to know these things, so i can improve on them. communcation!

Ignoring me for whatever reason or not communcation with me. is not helping.

Now what i need to know is the areas where i need to imporve and what you are happy with, and you can add anything else you like.

1- Any errors on my past/current sets i need to improve on.
2- My menus
3- media i used, packeting e.t.c.
4- quality of my sets. including my current direct to dvd.(manimal)
5- better equipment. i.e. dvd reocrder.
and anything else you wish to add, where i need to improve on.

I would like to say this, when i create my sets its not that i don't care or not willing to learn. simple fact is i do care deeply about the quality, and i am always willing to learn.

I do tape alot of shows, i love watching them and have a high interest of shows i like. i am a vey curious person, which is why alot of shows interest me.

the reason i havn't put out the best sets and did them better is mainly because i don't have the time to do it due to being busy and sometimes i can't grasp the programs on what to do.

But i am improving in that area, and is working on upgrading my sets.

Like with restoring, i don't mean to sound mean in this area i would ove to it. i just can't seem to grasp how to do it and don't mean to sound like an ******* in this area. so i do apoligize.

This is where you guys step, whoever have dealt with me and got sets from me. i would like to know every tiny bit about any problems you had with me and where i need to improve. even the good parts.

Its your time to voice you opinion and to help me be a better trader/set creator on this forum.

To be honest, I have never had any problem in any of the trades we have had. I think I have had only one errored disc probably out of the 30-40 that we have traded an it wasn't such a big deal. I have been very happy with the trades I have had with you.

I have had no major problems either. An occasional bad disc or two is not a big deal since you always make good on them. Btw, MANIMAL ROCKS!!!

The only things I would say is use better media, when you literally have to spend 1hr to attempt to get whats bad off the disc to the hard drive it can be a downer, usually if I can get the data off I just make myself a new disc but as you know I have gotten replacements from you before but most of the people on this board have your sets so they just go to each other for replacements which is why you probably were not aware it was an issue.

The other thing is better VHS tapes, I have not had an issue with any direct to dvd stuff but the VHS to DVD stuff you did in 2003-2004 suffers from

-Flickering, color changes, and just general VHS errors which are WAY beyond what VHS should be doing. Prime example is on the Zeo set. There is an acceptable number of errors when doing a VHS transfer just given the format but whatever brand of tapes you are using or VCR is just hurting you to the point where blaming the VHS format is not the reason its the equipments fault

-Packing more than 1 disc per sleeve, when we first started trading you had 6 discs to one sleeve and a lot of the discs were scratched. You have since fixed this on our last trade which was great appreciated.

And last but not least you need to learn that criticism is NOT meant to hurt you, a lot of us do not say anything to you because in the past you have been less than kind and retaliated with mean emails or verbal abuse as if we were blaming or attacking you when all we were doing was recommending something for you to fix.

Prime example was when you lost it on me when I mentioned that your Iron Man set has some Hiss from the VHS transfer (a complaint a lot of people had) and the reply I got was so abusive and mean spirited it almost made me never want to deal with you, it was just something I was trying to help you notice and was not meant to be anymore than that, and on the flip side you criticized my She-Ra menus as really bad and I just replied with that is up to artistic interpreation but I did not tear your head off, because it just a critique, but it highlighted the fact that at that time you were able to dish it out but not take it which I felt was unfair.

You have since worked on all that and your sets like Ultimate Muscle have been MUCH better than your earlier stuff, you have learned that you dont need to stick 1hr on a DVD and have a 30+ disc set and have learned better menu creation as well so it shows you are trying new things.

I would just say change the brand of disc as the "occasional" bad disc seems to be a common them among all (I mean look 3 responses and all 3 had at least 1-2 bad disc, that is not a good percentage) so there should be a decent alternative for media as other UK traders can buy for cheaper or the same amount and not have to replace as many.

I understand the budget issue but at the same time this is a hobby so if you cannot afford good discs then just dont trade as much, think about it if you are having to replace 2-3 discs per trade ultimately you are using 2-3x more in the end so you are really not saving yourself much.

Hope that helps shine some light on past problems, AGAIN THIS IS NOT MEANT TO BE HATEFUL OR MEAN SPIRITED. We all have things to work on (lord knows I have to learn how to ship faster lol) and I am just putting out there some things over the last 2 years that we had taken issue with, you have worked on these things and I am glad to see you are open to some suggestions

Hi Curtis,
The only 2 problems with me is the bulkpac make, which some people find fine but I seem to have a few problems playing those discs and the amount of discs packed into each sleeve. Apart from that you are a top trader!! By the way the Pacman dvd was great and I am now looking to get the other 3 discs off you. If it is ok with you I will send you 2 Telebugs dvd's and a potsworth dvd in the next week, then you can send mine out. Let me know if this is ok?

Thanks JAMIE...

Even though you and I have gone over this in e-mail, I'll re-iterate a few quick things. I'll try to make it short, not a novel.

First, I'm gonna rat out a few folks that have gotten a large number bad discs from you (or somehow ended up with bad discs you created), and most have either complained to me, or have come to me for replacements (instead of going to you, for whatever reason).
- greenranger1
- tobal2
- markatisu
- jonathan_entertainment
- turtle_titan
- wigam
... and these are just the ones off the top of my head.

Now, like I said in our last e-mail, many of these improvements will take you little or no money. Let's work on the little things:
- Buy better media next time (for which I've given you links for both better AND cheaper blanks). Works out both ways, costs nothing extra.
- Get more opinions on menus and artwork. Costs nothing but time to ask the question and time to read the answers.
- Buy some better VHS tapes. Since you're not using more than a few dozen a month anyway, costs are minimal. If you need help, ask what to get and where to get it.
- Learn to use the best settings on the DVD recorder you already have.
- Learn about the software you already have, and if you need a certain program, ask to get something from a couple of us that are more "open" about sharing.
- Package only 1-2 DVDs in a sleeve and use a safe bubble mailer to ship discs. That way they arrive undamaged.
- As time permits, go back and fix old sets. Or better yet, re-do them with new tv broadcasts (basically start over and do it right this time around).

If and when you have a budget for a new DVD recorder and/or a new VCR (if you're doing work off VHS tapes), ask at that time. There is a lot of better equipment out there that can help a set creator tremendously. But what you have now will work, if done properly.

There are a lot of people on this board that are down in hard financial times, and most of us work with what we have. While Panasonic, Emerson and Philips are rather poor DVD recorders, used correctly (mostly meaning 2-hour SP mode only), they output decent work. Everything beyond that is rather cheap and easy (media, shipping, menus, etc).

Like mark said, nothing here is hateful of mean. It's meant to help. You are one of only a few UK set creators (that we know about, at least), and you have access to many shows that most of us do not. Take advantage of this, make great sets, and people will beat a path to your door.

I must say that you do need to switch media, I have expressed my problems with your media before, so that should be no surprise to you. I told you I had a lot of trouble getting it to play, and alot of times I could not get the discs to read at all. I do not think bulkpaq is a good brand by any means.

I also think that better VHS tapes, or even a better VCR would help improve your quality greatly. Some of the errors I have seen on your sets, I have never seen anywhere else before, especially with the color flickering to black and white for a while and back.

I think that you need to stop using the plastic DVD sleeves, and stick with the paper ones, also putting no more then two discs per sleeve. It will help to prevent scratches.

I havent seen any of your direct to DVD work, so I cannot comment on that, but you yourself told me it was a major improvement over using tapes, so Im sure that it looks much better.

Also it never hurts to ask for advice, and usually results in a much better end product. I have learned a lot myself from the people on this board, especially Mark and LS. I think maybe Ive passed on a few things to them too.

I hope this helps.

Curtis,
You may or may not remember but I traded for your 22 disc MASK set when you first offered it for trade. When I got it, 4 discs were corrupted. It was on Bulkpaq media and I suspected that to be the problem. When I contacted you for replacements, you told me I would have to send it back to you. Very costly from Hawaii to the UK. I ended up getting replacements from Maskfan by trading for them, much cheaper for me. My point is that you should be more trusting of people on this forum. I have never asked for traders to send back to me discs that I needed to replace.

mmm..Can't remember which ones.. probably because i was getting a load of discs from you :D. I have had a few duds from Curtis in the past but he has replaced them, again the bulkcrap media.

Curtis, i think you are improving, your menus are getting better.
You probably need to invest in a better vcr, i seem to remember you have a phillips?

Better media? Check out svp.co.uk. I just bought some datawrite grey 100pack for £20. Prodisc F01 dye. There are other good media there too.

Not sure what dvd recorder you have. I have a couple of the jvc ones and love them.

Thanks guys for everything, i appreciate the response. Mbates & tekken thanks for the kind words, but if their is any problems in the future please let me know.

As for my responses:

Markitsu: I would like to first apoligize for my attitude towards you, i do apoligize about biting your head off about my iron man set and anything else. I do sometimes take things the wrong way and i apoligize for that.

VHS wise, i have actually stopped using that much now. I do use TDK tapes, but i have since got a new TV so that area should improve. I am using tapes less and less now.

I have recently been doing direct to dvd more and more. The current shows that i have been doing direct to dvd is Automan, Manimal, Power rangers, black hole high, funky cops, martin mystery, archie's weird mysteries and the new show A.T.O.M.

I actually have 20 memorax dvd+rw, so that is no problems using it more and more. Mainly because it took me a year to discover the timer program on my dvd recorder.

The flicking, color e.t.c. I have actually noticed that quite a bit on my sets, When they do re air i will re do them as direct to dvd instead. I am also using official sources as well when i get them.

Packting: Guilty. I did in the past pack 3+ in one sleeve, i have recently stopped that and now only do 2 per a sleeve. which i have started with what i sent to tekken.

I have recently brough 200 paper sleeves with the window, so that is one area i have started to improve on.

Your not being mean, and i guess i did take the critism too far. I apoligize, i do sometimes have a hard time accepting that about my sets.

which is why i ask now, i don't mean to bite peoples head off. i guess i seriously need to learn to take it with a pinch of salt and need to improve on what you say.

I appreciate you being honest and i apoloigize for biteing your head off.

orko2k: e-mail me with which discs you need and i will get replacements sent out and thats fine for the trade

Lordsmurf: Well as discussed i will be using better media when i next buy them, using the datawrite dvd's instead as you suggested.

Menus: i will post them here more often before i make the 1st disc, so i can improve on that area.

DVD recorder: Well the only mode i use is M2 Mode (2hr mode), i will defiently look into getting a better dvd recorder when i have the money.

Fixing sets: I see this is an area i have to fix. so i do plan over time to do that for each of my past and future sets.

Software: well the only problem i have is using soundforge, since i have to pay via credit card to download the program to import mpeg fles. Since i havn't got a credit card, i am unable to do that.

But i will ask advice on what i need to do, so i can do that or if someone can help me so i can get it to run on soundforge if they have the file and can send it my way?

Greenranger1: As mentioned i plan on using better media, so hopefully i won't have that problem in the future.

For my direct to dvd, when i do the 1st disc of power rangers i will send it your way, so you can have a look at it.

My first direct to dvd is my manimal set, which both tobal and tekken have recieved so you could ask them about it.

Lordgoat666: Regarding replacements, well i do have a trust issue. which is why i do have a hard time trusting people. its a long story and i have basically been too trusting in the past and have been burned in that area.

I do trust quite a few of yu guys on cps, their is only a few outside i don't trust. This partly why i only do if you contact me first, then you send first. as its my way for me to trust other people.

Sometimes i don't trust people untill after the 5 or so trade. don't take it the wrong way, i do have a major issue with it. But i have learned to trust some people. who have gained that trust.

I am more in with people on cps, that you don't need to send the discs back to me. i just send them out to you, its really only people outside cps i do this to.

So sometimes it does reflect on you guys, and i

SoundForge is a WAV editor. You do not want to use it for MPEG work, it'll mess up your video. You have to take your MPEG file, and separate the audio and video. Then you convert the audio to WAV. Then you fix it as a WAV file in SoundForge. Then you save the WAV. Then you convert the WAV back to AC3.

So.
1- Get your MPEG file.
2- Open in the MPEG TOOLS function (file -> MPEG tools) of TMPGENC.
3- Demux (separate audio and video)
4- You now have two file, an audio and a video
5- Convert the AC3 or MP2 audio file into WAV, using Besweet
6- You want to use the BESWEET GUI. This is not hard to do.
7- Convert to STEREO WAV
8- Open the WAV in SoundForge
9- Fix audio
10- Save WAV
11- Open WAV in Besweet again, and convert back to AC3

Be careful on your settings when saving and converting.
WAV needs to be 48kHz stereo
AC3 needs to be 256k bitrate 48kHz stereo

I did try to use besweet, but for some reason it wouldn't work for me. I can do the first part with tmpgenc easily, but i can't seem to use besweet. even when you simplified it for me, i just couldn't get it to work.

is their another program that i can use instead of besweet to make it easier?

You can use Headac3he to take the mp2 or ac3 (it will also handle mp3 decoding) and convert it to wave for use in Soundforge, its free and I can email you the files, it has the same options as besweet but you dont really want to mess with the advanced settings

When you are done you can use the ffmpeg based program ffmpeggui to make an ac3 from the wave (I can email you the files, its freeware, it has a graphics interface that wraps around it that has an easy in and out interface), been using it for 2 years now with no problem, same options as Besweet as far as bitrate and hz, never had an issue with the audio when its demuxed to streams or combined back into the mpg

I use this setup more often than besweet, even more than Apack on the Mac and never have had an issue at all. Never had an out of sync or incompatible stream in either TDA or Apple DVD Studio Pro

This hobby is all about having alternatives and different methods, maybe this one will work for you, in the end its about what works, not everything we do works for everybody but there are always alternatives it just depends on how much you are willing to try to get the end result you want

Thanks markatisu, if you could e-mail me the files and how to use it then that will be of great help and i would appreciate it.

Curtis- I just emailed you both programs in a zip file as well as the instructions.

The instructions are also posted here for easy reference. If you have any questions or problems just let me know

http://www.tvpreservation.com/cartoo...?TOPIC_ID=1441

With regards to the datawrite brand is one thing. Look at the media code which is the most important thing. SVP is good since it lists the media codes for each product. The bad thing about the site is that they stock the bad with the good.

Some of the datawrites are CMC media; avoid these. Some are a mixture; avoid these since you don't know what you are getting.

I have a jvc m10 and a jvc drmh-20 dvd recorders. The latter has a hard drive which i find useful when i'm not in. Its much more versatile than the panny in that you can do the standard SP recording and also cap at 3hr mode which is half D1. It doesn't suffer the artifacts of the panny. Although if you use the EP mode it will do lol

I just used pricerunner and kelkoo to search for a good price. Check them out to see the latest prices. The M10 has been superceded by the M100 i believe.

The DataWrite I suggested are the RICOHJPN media codes.
Found at svp.co.uk