#1 Burning Software

Hello,

I am evaluating StarBurn SDK for DVD +/- R[W] support in our product. I have read through this forum, the SDK API documentation, and some other outside sources but still have some basic questions about whether or not I can do what I want. (Apologies, I am also new to DVD burning in general ).

Our application currently writes to other media as follows:

* We write both very large (100MB-ish) and very small (10k-ish) blocks
* The data is constructed in memory and transfered directly to media; not represented as a file on disk due to I/O bottlenecks
* The data is trickled out to the media over time; we don't accumulate data in a staging image/area/tree and then blast out the media all at once.

The above techniques have worked very well for us in the past with Tape and DVD-RAM devices, but now we want to support DVD +/- R[W] as well.

My questions so far are:

1. Is there any DVD media overhead consumed by writing out individual files in the 10kB-100MB range?

2. Can I burn directly from memory using the StarBurn SDK API? I believe an earlier post said "no" but was hoping this ability was added since then.

3. What StarBurn technique is best for the trickle-over-time technique? The resulting DVD should have all files visible just as if they were burned as a single data track.

I have played with the sample DataBurner Wizard (C-version) and used it to burn individual files out to a media. I added about 7 MB worth of test files and then burned using Track-At-Once and single-session. It took 6+ minute to burn as if it was writing a full disk image.

I then added a new file and burned again using Track-At-Once and single-session. It again took 6+ minutes to burn the additional 2MB file but at least upon completion I could view and access all of the files safely through Windows Explorer (running XP).

I then tried adding yet another file and selected multi-session. The new file took only a couple of seconds to write but then the second session replaced the first one as viewable by Windows Explorer.

So, I think what i need is a single-data-session DVD where I can incrementally write files out to the DVD without taking a full 6+ minutes each time I do an update -- just write the new data I'm adding. Can I do this with StarBurn?

I am assuming that my questions above are fairly generic newbie questions and not a technical error requiring the StarBurn debug logs. Let me know if you would like to see the logs. For reference I am running Windows XP with a Plextor 504-A DVD+RW drive and Sony DVD+RW media...but my customers will be running on a range of Win2000+ operating systems and DVD devices.

Thanks for your insight!
Chris

1) No, there are no extra overhead for files themself (except 2KB logical block padding but I think you already know about this). For border-in/border-out (a-la lead-in/lead-out in CD terminology) it could occupy 150-10 megabytes however so less sessions - more true data from media capcacity to your storage.

2) Yes, you can. If you have already data stored in memory you can use so-called memory files. If you're generating data in the fly - situation would be a bit of difficult but doable. Please write more details about your app architecture.

3) Just use Track-At-Once with session import.

Well... What you've did it wrong. You don't need to write single session DVDs for incremental writing. Please use TrackAtOnceWithImport sample providing correct track number for session import.

Thanks!

Hi Anton,

Thanks for your prompt reply! I will investigate the TrackAtOnceWithImport technique and let you know if I run into any trouble.

Good. Let us know if you'd get any questions. Thanks!