DDP masters on DVD

[Siwan]

I am writing DDP files on a Pyramix v5 system which include cd-text and then burning the files onto DVD-R using Nero.

Things have been working fine until lately when one of the pressing factories says they cannot read the master because of a 'subcode error' on their mastering machine. I usually write DDP v2 files but I have now sent them v1 files too just in case this works. Can anybody expand on what a 'subcode error' is? I did notice that there were brackets () used in the cd-text so I've taken those off, and also sometimes there is no title to the cd (which seems to give errors in some factories as they think the cd-text is incomplete) so I've filled that field in. Are there any other things to look out for when compiling the cd-text?
Any suggestions are welcome!

Siwan Evans
siwan@sainwales.com

[Lucas Fender]

Ask them for the "Eclipse error report". It should have a more detailed error message listed. Reply back here once you have it.

Thanks,

[Siwan]

This the reply I got from the factory:
"The eclipse system is not rejecting these masters it is the Mastering Laser beam recorder’s data processor called ACE100 encoder - it just will not run these jobs and only reports a generic sub code fault"
Can anyone enlighten me as to what fault this indicates?
Could a faulty batch of DVD-Rs be the problem?

[Lucas Fender]

What's happening is that DiscWrite is using one Subcode format and the ACE100 encoder is using another (Sony and Philips). Ask the factory to loosen up the rules, disregard the Subcode error and run the encoding anyway, or send them a CD-DA (disc). Here's some more information... This is from the EclipseSuite user's manual:

Rule ID: 223
Subcode format comparison error
This rule is invoked in ImageVerify if the Source and the Target contain different Subchannel timing formats. The timing format refers to the RTIME decrementing to either 00:00:00 or 00:00:01 during the Pause of a track (Index 0 to Index1). An example of this would be if th Source uses the Philips format and the Target uses the Sony format.

Background
RTIME is specified to decrement during the index 0 region of a track. The Philips format is such that it decrements down to 00:00:01 and doesn't reach 00:00:00 until the first frame of index 1. At that point, it begins to increment. On a disc with the Philips Subcode format you'll only see one RTIME of 00:00:00 at the index 0 to index 1 transition.
The Sony format is such that it decrements down to 00:00:00 during index 0 and repeats the 00:00:00 in the first frame of index 1. At that point, it begins to increment. On a disc with the Sony Subcode format you'll see two RTIMEs of 00:00:00 at the index 0 to index 1 transition.
...
The encoder (or CD-Rwriter) chooses the Subcode format that is used on a disc when the disc is written. Whether a disc uses Sony or Philips Subcode format is of no importance to th proper functioning of a disc.

[Siwan]

Thanks for your reply. This is a bit over my head as I don't really understand the glass mastering process. So what you're saying is that I can't really do anything to my DDP masters to get rid of this error (except send an audio CD master) as the disc write programme used by Pyramix uses one subcode format and their encoder uses another format?
I'm not sure if I can convince the guy in the factory to ignore this error (as he couldn't tell me what it meant)!

[Lucas Fender]

This is a tricky one...

[Graemme]

With all due respect, DON'T mess with the options that Lucas suggested. They have specific uses and in my experience, fixing an LBR <-> media protocol issue isn't one of them.

Get yourself, Merging tech support and the factory in contact. Other DDP issues with DiscWrite have been successfully solved this way and please keep us informed of your progress.

Best,

Graemme