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Is there any way to produce a DVD set of files that can be played off a network drive ?

The reason I ask is that authoring on a fairly powerful modern PC using windows 10 and a recent version of Power Director 14+ is creating Discs that break up badly and freeze during playback.

I've wasted no end of discs.

I need to produce something from the Power Director that will have chapters so that for example a week's holiday you could select Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday etc

Jumping to points rather than having to fast forward the whole film is of course a big advantage of DVD's.

Hope someone can help - power director don't even reply or if they do nothing they suggest works.

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    You could create a HTML page which has buttons that references the parts (Chapters) of a video file on a network drive
    – Adam Mann Pro
    Jul 23, 2018 at 9:39
  • ↑ this. Interactive menus on a network is kinda what HTML was invented for
    – stib
    Jul 26, 2018 at 10:27

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Check the format and bitrate that you are burning your DVDs at, it should be "MPEG-2 DVD" format, maximum video 9800Kbps, maximum audio 912Kbps. Buy a small package of rewritable DVDs to practice, and burn DVDs that you know you don't want to keep for a long time.

First save a backup copy. Edit your "C:\Users\your user here\AppData\Roaming\CyberLink\PowerDirector\10.0\profile.ini" file and change these parameters:

PowerDirector Parameters

See Cyberlink's "Burning" and "Quick Guide to Choosing the Right Video Output Format" or Apple's "Encoding Video Materials for DVD" for more information on choosing formats and rates.

PowerDirector University's YouTube channel has this video: "CyberLink PowerDirector 13 Ultimate | DVD Menu & Disc Authoring Tutorial" along with many others, as does Sharper Turtle's channel: "PowerDirector 15 - How to create and edit chapter titles.

A video is a better format for explaining the intricacies of DVD menus and chapters, rather than a StackExchange answer with an endless series of menu screenshots each explaining one way.

Once you have created your .ISO file save it to your network drive rather than burning it to DVD, and use a Player that doesn't object to reading .ISOs off of a storage disk rather than a DVD.

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  • Thanks. The key for me was that I didn't realise I could use a media player to play the .iso file. Once I knew that I settle for VLC on the computer and Chromecast the desktop then a bluetooth keyboard remote with media keys. They the skip would return to the Main Menu and the chapters could be navigated. The bluetooth keyboard was a big improvement on the need for constant use of the laptop itself.
    – user11187
    Aug 3, 2018 at 19:36
  • Glad to be of help. Creating a really beautiful Menu is an art. You can create really nice ones that play videos in the background (like out-takes, or previews of the Chapter) along with a music track. It depends on how much spare space you have left over. Maybe in the months to come you'll get even better answers. VLC reads almost anything.
    – Rob
    Aug 3, 2018 at 20:04

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