Is it possible to circumvent memory limitation in DVD Architect 7 (build 100)?

As I said in my previous reply, using the online Bit Rate calculator will help a lot, so you don't have to guess.
dvd-hq.info/bitrate_calculator.php#Calculator

What I use to do, was add up the TOTAL length in time for ALL videos that would be put on the disc.
Example: Video 1 = 10 minutes, Video 2 = 20 minutes, Video 3 = 50 minutes
Total time = 80 minutes
Lets say for an exmaple that total video time = 80 minutes.
I then would use a 5 to 10% buffer, so lets say a very conservative buffer of 10% = extra 8 minutes.
That means I enter 88 minutes into the Bit Rate Calculator.

For extra stuff like Menus and Still pictures, you can enter some MBs into the Other Assets field.

Another thing to remember with the Bit Rate Calculator is that VEGAS Pro use Bits in the Custom Bit Rate fields, so you have to add an extra 3x zeros (000) to bit rate values the calculator spits out.

You then use the same Bit Rate Setting for rendering ALL your videos.

Using my example (see screen shot), the calculator predicts the total file size to be 29GBs - well within 50GB disc size.

 

There was also something you said in another reply that concerned me, about importing Audio Tracks into DVD Architect.
DON'T DO THAT.
You only have to import Video Files only.
The separate Audio files you rendered, will be picked up automatically by DVDA.
Just remember to keep all matching video and audio files, to use the exact same file name in the exact same folder location.

There was also something you said in another reply that concerned me, about importing Audio Tracks into DVD Architect.

My phrasing was probably just a bit clumsy earlier. When it comes to inserting media, I've been simply adding the video files and then DVDA will automatically add the wav files with the same name that are in the same folder. That said, I've now been experimenting with adding background videos/audio to my project for the menus, and in those cases I've had to add the video and then the audio file; I'm not sure what that's about.

Also unfortunately, I'm now running into another error when I try to prepare an ISO. Now instead of "video buffer underflows" (which was popping up when I tried mainconcept .avc files) this apparently has something to do with "graphic buffer underflows." I'm not sure what that means.

File name: 00000.m2ts
Status: mscorlib.dll::ThreadHelper::ThreadStart_Context::Graphics buffer underflows. - 

I've also noticed that DVA7 is re-encoding the background media even though those videos are also mpeg-2 files. Is this something the program has to do to deal with the menu highlights? 

Does anyone have any ideas about what's going on here with this "graphic buffer underflows" error message?

Given that the program is already reencoding the background media for the menus, I guess I could try giving it files that include both the video and audio together? Maybe that would mean the program is dealing with half as many background media files? I'll give that shot when I have a chance.

Never seen this type of error before and I burnt a lot of Blu-rays, way, way back when I use to do this. Don't anymore!!!
In 2026, I stream all my media on my local network, using Plex to manage my library of videos.

I can't diagnose your problem without knowing every single thing you are doing.
Without knowing everything, I am just guessing and I don't have time to keep guessing (Please note, I do not mean this in an agressive way. Just being honest.)
That being said, I have one last guess and suggestion for you.

Keep your project as simple as possible!!! Focus on just burning a disc with your main videos first, and don't try anything fancy. That way you will elliminate possible problems and indentify causes of actual problems. Once you get the basic project working, then try making it more complex.

Every time you do a new experiment, move the project into a NEW FOLDER and give it a NEW VERSION NAME, so that youy don't accidentally use older videos, files.

When adding videos to use as background media on menu screens, add videos that have audio attached to them.
These videos need to use low bit rates.

I suspect the error you are seeeing is being caused by one or all of your videos being encoded with a Bit Rate that is way to HIGH.
DVDA will not like any videos that have crazy high bit rates.
Try re-encoding all videos with more conservative bit rates.

Also, it might be an idea to only Prepare your project with DVD Architect and generate an .ISO file.
Then use Windows only to burn an actual disc using the .ISO file.
It has been noted in very old forum posts on the internet, that sometimes it is better to burn .ISO files outside of DVD Architect.
Personally, I never had a problem with this, but for some reason other folks did have a problem with this.

I highly recommend you read some old forum posts here on the MSZ Forum.
All of these old posts talk about different things that can help when creating and burning .ISO files.
Check these search results out:
www.moviestudiozen.com/forum/search-forum?query=burn%20.iso%20file&searchdate=all&childforums=1
On PAGE 1, there are many different posts about different things worth checking.
On PAGE 2 of these search results, I show how to burn an ISO file with Windows.
 

Well, it's clear that something with my subtitles is the problem now. I was able to create an ISO of the full project with the subtitles removed and everything worked fine. It's difficult to say what's causing this. Although I'm hesitant to trust its judgement with regard to DVD Architect, chatgpt suggested that this might be a kind of cumulative effect (long video file - two hours and thirty eight minutes - combined with complicated subtitles). I momentarily thought my use of the "♫" symbol might be the problem, but I was able to create an iso of a project containing only a 3.5 minute video with about a dozen ♫ symbols in the subtitles just fine. The short vidoe iso also worked with chapter markers overlapping the subtitles (another thing chatgpt suggested might be the issue). So I've removed any instances of chapter markers overlapping subtitles in my full project, but the "graphics buffer underflows" error showed up again just now (although oddly this time it appeared in less than ten minutes; in previous attempts it's taken at least 45 minutes to show up).

In any event, of course I understand that people don't necessarily have the time to examine all of this. The help you've provided already has been very useful, MSZ-Derek, and beyond that I just appreciate that this forum exists.I figure I may as well post this, though, in case anyone comes along with any tips, and because it may end up being helpful to somebody else down the line.

I'll fool around with these subtitles a little more to see if I can crack the issue. Then again, if it's too much trouble, I may just have the leave the hearing-impaired in the lurch on this one. At this point I'm only planning to make twenty five of these anyway. 

(As an aside, none of the videos I'm using are set higher than 23mbps, with 20 as the minimum, and 30 as the maximum).

Update: after consulting chatgpt and following up on several wild goose chases it presented me with, it looks like I've solved my issue. It eventually recommended I try moving my subtitles two frames to the right. I moved them one frame to the right, and now it appears that I'm able create an ISO with subtitles.

I've got no idea why this worked, but if someone else comes along and runs into subtitles that cause a "graphic buffers underflow" error, then perhaps they'll find tying this useful.

Pleased to hear you've solved your problem but please clarify what exactly you mean by "moved them one frame to the right".  Are you talking about their position on the menu page in your DVDA7 project or something else?

I mean in the DVDA7 timeline for the video they're on. If I'm not mistaken, I right clicked on the ruler just above the subtitles, set the option to "absolute frames" selected all of the subtitle events, and moved them all to the right (forward in time) by one frame. Since then I've been able to create an ISO. Initially I moved them to the right and changed the font size to 12 instead of 14, but after that I was able to do the same thing again by only moving them to the right by a frame and keeping the font at size 14.

Thanks for the clarification.  I don't use subtitles so won't encounter the problem but your solution may help anyone in the future that has the same problem.

It's good to have various records of issues and how they might be resolved online.

Now I'm running into another issue, though.

My ISO works just fine, except the subtitles are on by default when I test it in VLC Media Player. Neither using my menu button to turn them off or my menu button to turn them on works to turn them off. In the preview in DVDA7, the subtitles are not turned on by default, and both my button to turn them on and my button to turn them off work just fine.

I am able to turn the subtitles off when I play the movie itself in VLC by going to Subtitle -> Sub track -> Disable in the VLC menu at the top, but it sure would be nice if the the subtiles were just off by default and could be turned on and off with the menu buttons I've made, like they do in the preview in DVDA7.

It's unclear to me whether this is an issue with DVDA7 and the way it's created the ISO (or some some setting that I've got wrong? Strange that it works just fine in the preview, though), or an issue with VLC and the way it's interpreting the ISO.