Annoying placement of Dual Layer switching on dvds!!!!! - DVDfile.com forum for DVD, Blu-Ray, and HD-DVD

Crow331 · 03-12-2002, 05:46 PM

I watched Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back last night, having a good old time when suddenly Silent Bob's face freezes on a close-up in mid-reaction to a scene that just happened. The DREADED layer switch!!! This was such a major distraction that my girlfriend, who knows nothing about dual-layers, looked to me and said "was that a glitch in the dvd or did it do that in the movie"???? UGH!!!! How annoying!!!!

Why in the hell don't directors take more care with this?!?!?!?!? Or if not the directors, someone!!! Put the switch in during a scene fade to black or on a scene where it appears to be a freeze anyways like an establishing shot? There are plenty of places to "disguise" a layer change!!! FIND IT!!! Some movies I never notice the switch, others it is painfully obvious... someone really needs to address!!

Does this annoy anyone else besides me???

The Riddler · 03-12-2002, 07:20 PM

Yes, I swear I can't recall the movie, but it was in a pretty loud part....total silence (& freeze) and then continued....I was like, "Hmph!"

On the other hand, a perfect layer change DOES come to my mind & that is in Sphere! It occurs in a fading out, silent scene & the transition is NOT notable! (For those of U that have it, see if U can find it!...I thought it was that flawless!)

LBPound23 · 03-12-2002, 08:19 PM

It's rare that layer-changes are not noticeable to me, and they could be placed better. For example, I watched The Princess Bride this morning...and they picked a great time for the layer change, a fade to black...but the layer-change was a second before the fade to black and it looked awkward, unnatural, and that perhaps it was missing a scene.

A great layer change can be seen (or unseen) on Galaxy Quest.

Prancer · 03-12-2002, 08:24 PM

Does it make a difference what type of player you have or are all the layer switching the same for any players?

feldon23 · 03-12-2002, 08:37 PM

The quality of the DVD player definitely has a place in how fast or slow the layer change is. Apex is crap (As we all know). I've seen layer changes that take 2-3 seconds on them.

The layer change on Gladiator is in a good place.

The Riddler · 03-12-2002, 09:06 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by feldon23
The quality of the DVD player definitely has a place in how fast or slow the layer change is. Apex is crap (As we all know). I've seen layer changes that take 2-3 seconds on them....

I beg to differ, but the earlier Apex (and perhaps the new ones) had NO LAYER CHANGE PAUSES WHATSOEVER! I'm serious! I had one & they are the only player I knew of that played through the games without a hitch or "pause" whatsoever. I played Dragon's Lair I, II & Space Ace that are FILLED with pauses (after ever move) and they played FLAWLESSLY on an Apex.
I even tried some of the obvious layer changes on some DVDs and they played right through without a pause!!!

Back me up Apex owners!

Triple HHH · 03-12-2002, 09:17 PM

Anyone have their DVD player make more noise whenever a layer change occured? It happens on my Panasonic DV-333, and it's as if the disc is spinning faster or the player is "working" more intensely. Whatever the case, you can definitely hear more noise after a layer switch (like Gladiator).

Layer changes don't bother me too much. if you did a poll of which we preferred more: a 2-3 second layer change (but we get the whole movie on one disc), or having the movie span across 2 discs, but no layer change to be found ever. Of course we'd go for the first choice, or at least I hope you would.

Monterey Jack · 03-13-2002, 05:24 AM

The layer change on Die Hard 2 is awful. Right after the big shootout on the conveyor belt (when the SWAT team gets ambushed), there's a cut to one of them getting shocked by a defibrilator, but the damn pause occurs right there, so you can't hear the paddle noise!

orko007 · 03-13-2002, 09:52 AM

Region 4 Octopussy.. The elephant in the circus pauses as he is going down onto a flip and continues after the pause...

And ID4 Region 4.. My copy decided not to play the 2nd layer. Developed disc rot after 6 months.... I only watched the film once aswell

MARVEL · 03-13-2002, 09:58 AM

Coming from LD's I still find that layer changes are good things no matter where they are. If you ever had to wait for a side change or worse manually change sides then you would be grateful for layer changes. Consider the LD for Braveheart was spread over 4 sides so there are three breaks that last a couple of seconds each. The DVD has one that doesn't even last one second. I'll take it. I think I watched the layer change on T2 which was the first RSDL disc 3 or 4 times just cause i thought it was so cool.

But I do think the player has alot to do with the length and severity of the layer change.

Fluxus · 03-13-2002, 05:06 PM

Last night I watched Session 9. One of the worst layer changes I have seen...right in the middle a fairly tight shot on a character's face (the shot looked like a bad photo...eyes closed and mouth wide open). Correct me if I am wrong, but each layer of a disc holds 2 hours, right? If this is the case why do some movies under 2 hours have layer changes? Wouldn't it be better to make the change hapen somewhere in the bonius features (like say a documentry)? That said...I'd rather a layer change than VHS.

Damitol · 03-13-2002, 05:19 PM

It's during the Flesh Fair when Lord Johnson Johnson is making his "Let he who is without sim..." speech and they are panning silent crowd. It gets to one man's face and freezes for half a second.

Now I understand that sometimes bad layer change placement may be unavoidable due to the length of a scene or other factors - but in A.I, not two minutes later, we go to a black and silent scene tranition as Joe, David and Teddy leave the Fair. Why the hell couldn't they have put the stupid layer change there instead? I can't believe giving up the few bits that it would have cost layer 1 would have been the least bit perceptible.

Oh well - in the not too distant future I will be buying another DVD player - and maybe by then "they" will learn how to make the hardware switch layers much quicker.

Oh and Fluxus - If a 90 minute movie includes a director's commentary, multiple sound tracks and languages, various audio options and subtitles, you can eat up the two hour limit pretty quickly. I read an interview with the guy who masters DVDs, and he said that adding just a DTS audio track is the equivilent of 20 minutes of video.

Fluxus · 03-13-2002, 05:35 PM

Quote:

Oh and Fluxus - If a 90 minute movie includes a director's commentary, multiple sound tracks and languages, various audio options and subtitles, you can eat up the two hour limit pretty quickly. I read an interview with the guy who masters DVDs, and he said that adding just a DTS audio track is the equivilent of 20 minutes of video.

Thanks for clearing that up Damitol. I forgot about factoring in the audio. It all make sense now...

[edited to fix the quote. chlngr1970]

03-12-2002, 05:46 PM	#1 (permalink)
Crow331 Actor Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Los Angeles	Annoying placement of Dual Layer switching on dvds!!!!! I watched Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back last night, having a good old time when suddenly Silent Bob's face freezes on a close-up in mid-reaction to a scene that just happened. The DREADED layer switch!!! This was such a major distraction that my girlfriend, who knows nothing about dual-layers, looked to me and said "was that a glitch in the dvd or did it do that in the movie"???? UGH!!!! How annoying!!!! Why in the hell don't directors take more care with this?!?!?!?!? Or if not the directors, someone!!! Put the switch in during a scene fade to black or on a scene where it appears to be a freeze anyways like an establishing shot? There are plenty of places to "disguise" a layer change!!! FIND IT!!! Some movies I never notice the switch, others it is painfully obvious... someone really needs to address!! Does this annoy anyone else besides me???

03-12-2002, 07:20 PM	#2 (permalink)
The Riddler Actor Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Where Most "Fogies" Are Discounted & Votes Often Miscounted!	Yes, I swear I can't recall the movie, but it was in a pretty loud part....total silence (& freeze) and then continued....I was like, "Hmph!" On the other hand, a perfect layer change DOES come to my mind & that is in Sphere! It occurs in a fading out, silent scene & the transition is NOT notable! (For those of U that have it, see if U can find it!...I thought it was that flawless!) __________________ "What's Green, Sits in a bathtub & Whistles?"

03-12-2002, 08:19 PM	#3 (permalink)
LBPound23 Actor Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: New York, USA	It's rare that layer-changes are not noticeable to me, and they could be placed better. For example, I watched The Princess Bride this morning...and they picked a great time for the layer change, a fade to black...but the layer-change was a second before the fade to black and it looked awkward, unnatural, and that perhaps it was missing a scene. A great layer change can be seen (or unseen) on Galaxy Quest. __________________ UltimateDisney.com: The Ultimate Guide to Disney DVD - News and views on all of Disney's movies.

03-12-2002, 08:24 PM	#4 (permalink)
Prancer Actor Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Baltimore, MD-USA	Does it make a difference what type of player you have or are all the layer switching the same for any players? __________________ "I hope that when the world ends, I can breathe a sigh of relief because there will be so much to look forward to…”

03-12-2002, 09:17 PM	#7 (permalink)
Triple HHH Actor Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Governor of California	Anyone have their DVD player make more noise whenever a layer change occured? It happens on my Panasonic DV-333, and it's as if the disc is spinning faster or the player is "working" more intensely. Whatever the case, you can definitely hear more noise after a layer switch (like Gladiator). Layer changes don't bother me too much. if you did a poll of which we preferred more: a 2-3 second layer change (but we get the whole movie on one disc), or having the movie span across 2 discs, but no layer change to be found ever. Of course we'd go for the first choice, or at least I hope you would. __________________ With fronds like these, who needs anemones? Last edited by Triple HHH : 03-12-2002 at 09:20 PM.

03-12-2002, 08:37 PM	#5 (permalink)
feldon23 Actor Join Date: Oct 2000	The quality of the DVD player definitely has a place in how fast or slow the layer change is. Apex is crap (As we all know). I've seen layer changes that take 2-3 seconds on them. The layer change on Gladiator is in a good place.

03-13-2002, 05:24 AM	#8 (permalink)
Monterey Jack Wants to be John Smith Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Walpole, MA U.S.A.	The layer change on Die Hard 2 is awful. Right after the big shootout on the conveyor belt (when the SWAT team gets ambushed), there's a cut to one of them getting shocked by a defibrilator, but the damn pause occurs right there, so you can't hear the paddle noise! __________________ Lol VHS forty dollars??? more like dvd's 5 dollars hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha skip a long to blu ray disc and get with the freakin program!!!!!!!! LOL -ty_guy123321@hotmal.com

03-13-2002, 09:52 AM	#9 (permalink)
orko007 Actor Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: AUSTRALIA	Region 4 Octopussy.. The elephant in the circus pauses as he is going down onto a flip and continues after the pause... And ID4 Region 4.. My copy decided not to play the 2nd layer. Developed disc rot after 6 months.... I only watched the film once aswell __________________ does the godfather collection count as 1 blu-ray or 3 or 4 with the bonus disc? -

03-13-2002, 09:58 AM	#10 (permalink)
MARVEL Actor Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: 30 miles north of Cinderella's castle, FL	Coming from LD's I still find that layer changes are good things no matter where they are. If you ever had to wait for a side change or worse manually change sides then you would be grateful for layer changes. Consider the LD for Braveheart was spread over 4 sides so there are three breaks that last a couple of seconds each. The DVD has one that doesn't even last one second. I'll take it. I think I watched the layer change on T2 which was the first RSDL disc 3 or 4 times just cause i thought it was so cool. But I do think the player has alot to do with the length and severity of the layer change. __________________ F-L-O-R-I-D-A S-T-A-T-E Florida State, Florida State, Florida State, WHOOOOO!!!! You've got to Fight Fight Fight ........

03-13-2002, 05:06 PM	#11 (permalink)
Fluxus Actor Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Kingston, Canada	Last night I watched Session 9. One of the worst layer changes I have seen...right in the middle a fairly tight shot on a character's face (the shot looked like a bad photo...eyes closed and mouth wide open). Correct me if I am wrong, but each layer of a disc holds 2 hours, right? If this is the case why do some movies under 2 hours have layer changes? Wouldn't it be better to make the change hapen somewhere in the bonius features (like say a documentry)? That said...I'd rather a layer change than VHS.

03-13-2002, 05:19 PM	#12 (permalink)
Damitol Actor Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Dallas, TX	A.I. It's during the Flesh Fair when Lord Johnson Johnson is making his "Let he who is without sim..." speech and they are panning silent crowd. It gets to one man's face and freezes for half a second. Now I understand that sometimes bad layer change placement may be unavoidable due to the length of a scene or other factors - but in A.I, not two minutes later, we go to a black and silent scene tranition as Joe, David and Teddy leave the Fair. Why the hell couldn't they have put the stupid layer change there instead? I can't believe giving up the few bits that it would have cost layer 1 would have been the least bit perceptible. Oh well - in the not too distant future I will be buying another DVD player - and maybe by then "they" will learn how to make the hardware switch layers much quicker. Oh and Fluxus - If a 90 minute movie includes a director's commentary, multiple sound tracks and languages, various audio options and subtitles, you can eat up the two hour limit pretty quickly. I read an interview with the guy who masters DVDs, and he said that adding just a DTS audio track is the equivilent of 20 minutes of video. __________________ I am photoactivated, cursed with the Morning Person gene. This would be fine if I didn't live a Night Person lifestyle. So I find myself a Doesn't Sleep Much Person. – Laia Salla Last edited by Damitol : 03-13-2002 at 05:24 PM.

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