DVD creation

[DarkwingChuck]

I have some video files on my computer that I'd like to be able to burn to DVD to watch on TV. Problem is I don't actually know how. Can anyone point me to a site that explains the process and/or tell me what software I need to do it?

[finalfantasyFReak789]

Re: DVD creation

You should have a dvd burner, first off. If it didn't come with any software, try this: http://www.download.com/3001-2646_4-10449935.html

[DarkwingChuck]

Re: DVD creation

You should have a dvd burner, first off.

You mean my Discman cd player can't do it?

[finalfantasyFReak789]

Re: DVD creation

<_< ok looking back, that was a stupid thing to post >_>.

Did that program work?

[DarkwingChuck]

Re: DVD creation

I tried it but I just ended up with a DVD with avi files on it. What do I have to do to make it turn the files into something DVD player readable? Is it the ISO File thing? I dont' even know what that means.

[Rodak]

Re: DVD creation

I copied this from the help files of my current video capture device-a-majig.

I don't know if it will be of any assistance or not, but it should not hurt too much, so here it is...

I know it has a lot of information specific to the device I have, but it may tell you something.

Full-quality capture

You have two choices for the way the video data is encoded and compressed in full-quality captures. For most purposes, DV format is the logical choice, but if you are planning to output your finished movie to disc (VCD, S-VCD or DVD), you may prefer the MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 format instead.

Because of the intensive computation required for MPEG-2 encoding, older computers may not be fast enough to achieve a satisfactory MPEG-2 capture. The type of capture hardware you have and the capture quality you choose also help determine the minimum CPU speed needed. In cases where Studio is able to estimate that your computer is not fast enough to carry out a particular capture, it will advise you of the problem and give you a chance to cancel the operation.

An MPEG movie requires much less disk space than the equivalent full-quality DV movie, although thanks to SmartCapture this is not generally a concern.

DV

DV is a high-resolution format with correspondingly high storage requirements.

Your camcorder compresses and stores video on the tape at 3.6 MB/s, at a quality equivalent to broadcast video. With full-quality capture, the video data is transferred directly from the camcorder tape to your PC hard drive with no changes or additional compression. Because the video quality is high, capturing at this setting does consume a lot of disk space, so you may want to pick and choose small segments to capture instead of the entire tape.

You can calculate the amount of disk space you will need by multiplying the length of your video in seconds by 3.6, which gives the number of megabytes required. For example:

1 hour of video = 3600 seconds (60 x 60)

3600 seconds x 3.6 MB/s = 12,960 MB (12.7 GB)

Hence 1 hour of video uses 12.7 GB of storage.

To capture at full quality, your hard drive must be capable of sustained reading and writing at 4 MB per second. All SCSI and most UDMA drives are capable of this. The first time you initiate a full-quality capture, Studio will test your drive to make sure it is fast enough.

MPEG

DVD and S-VCD discs both use files in MPEG-2 format, an extension of the MPEG-1 format used for VCDs. MPEGs intended for use on the Internet will be at lower resolutions and in MPEG-1 format.

The Capture format options panel (Setup Ø Capture Format) includes a variety of options to control the quality of MPEG captures.

=====================
Output your movie to DVD, VCD or S-VCD

If your system is equipped with a CD burner, Studio can create VCD or S‑VCD discs on either CD‑R or CD‑RW media.

Your VCD discs can be played back:

· On a VCD or S-VCD player.

· On some DVD players. Most DVD players can handle CD‑RW media, but many will not reliably read CD‑R. A majority of DVD players can handle the VCD format.

· On a computer with a CD or DVD drive and MPEG-1 playback software (such as Windows Media Player).

Your S-VCD discs can be played back:

· On an S-VCD player.

· On some DVD players. Most DVD players can handle CD‑RW media, but many will not reliably read CD‑R. DVD players sold in Europe and North America usually cannot read S‑VCD discs; players sold in Asia often can.

· On a computer with a CD or DVD drive and MPEG-2 playback software.

If your system has a DVD burner, Studio can create (in addition to the above) DVD discs on any recordable DVD media supported by the drive.

Your DVD discs can be played back:

· On any DVD player that can handle the recordable DVD format your burner creates. Most players can handle the common formats.

· On a computer with a DVD drive and playback software.

Whether or not you have a DVD burner on your system, Studio also lets you save a DVD image – a set of files containing the same information that would be stored onto a DVD disc – to a directory on your hard drive. The DVD image can subsequently be burned to disc.

Studio creates your disc or disc image in three steps.

1. First the entire movie must be rendered to generate the MPEG-encoded information to store on the disc.

2. Next, the disc must be compiled. In this phase, Studio creates the actual files and directory structure that will be used on the disc.

3. Finally, the disc must be burned. (This step is skipped if you are generating a DVD image rather than an actual disc.)

To output your movie to disc, or to a DVD image:

1. Click the Disc tab to bring up these controls:



The Make Disc control panel is wider than the other output panels to accommodate an extra Diskometer-style display showing the amount of space consumed by your movie on the output disc. Also shown are the length of your movie, and a reminder of the disc-type and quality setting you have chosen.

2. Click the Settings button to bring up the Make Disc options panel. There you can select the output format for your movie, set up quality options, and configure your disc burner.

To the left of the Settings button is a Browse for folder button where you can choose a new location for the storage of auxiliary files generated during the Make Disc operation. If you are creating a DVD image, it will also be located in this folder.

3. Click the green Create disc button. Studio goes through the steps described above (render, compile, and if necessary burn) to create the disc or disc image you have specified in the settings dialog.

4. When Studio has finished the burning operation, it ejects the disc.

Quality and capacity of disc formats

The differences amongst the DVD, VCD and S-VCD disc formats can be boiled down to these rules of thumb regarding the video quality and capacity of each format:

· VCD: Each disc holds about 60 minutes of MPEG-1 video, with about half the quality of DVD.

· S-VCD: Each disc holds about 20 minutes of MPEG-2 video, with about two-thirds the quality of DVD.

· DVD: Each disc holds about 60 minutes of full-quality MPEG-2 video.


I Hope that helps.


Peace.

[DarkwingChuck]

Re: DVD creation

Well, I found the Nero software that came with my DVD burner. The problem is it says I have to buy a plugin which costs $25 to be able to burn DVDs. That's such a rip off!