***DVD Authoring*** *What you need to Know*

I have found that way too many people on these boards have no clue about DVD authoring, I do know that in the http://boards.theforce.net/fan_films/b10015/21278629/p1/?75] DV?s Everything Topic
has a short section on DVD authoring but this thread is devoted to making DVDs

Section 1:
What do I need ?

1. A DVD burner
2. Blank DVD
3. Video
4. PC/Mac
5. Programs:

PC Windows and Mac OS X or Newer
http://www.adobe.com/products/encore/main.html] Adobe Encore , This is probably the best and most professional DVD authoring suites. If you use other http://www.adobe.com Adobe products, one advantage is the interface, Adobe products are very similar. Also they will integrate with programs such as After
Effects, Photoshop and Première. Also you must know that although these programs are amazing, it comes at a price:
Adobe Encore DVD $349.00, plus Photoshop, After Effects and Premiere.

PC Windows
http://www.arcsoft.com/en/products/dvdcdsuite/] Arcsoft DVD and CD suite is a product from Arcsoft that does the same as Encore, for much less a price: $129.99 this includes Showbiz, a less complicated video editing suite similar to Premiere.
They Describe the product:

?What you need to store your data on DVD or CD, make audio CDs, and capture, edit and create DVD home movies is right here! ArcSoft DVD/CD Maker? and ArcSoft ShowBiz? DVD 2 come together in this awesome suite!?


PC Windows Can be Patched for Linux
http://pcworld.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=689246/] Pinnacle Instant DVD ] personally I find this program to be too clumsy and featureless for the price, but if you also have pinnacle studio, this package is one on the cart for sure.

PC Windows

http://www.ulead.com/dmf/runme.html Ulead DVD movie factory[
I used to be completely biased about this program, until my Dad got me Encore. By far the most simple program in my experience to burn with at a mere $64.99
http://pcworld.pricegrabber.com/search_techspecs.php?masterid=1138795] Sonic My DVD ] is much inheard of and not many like its interface, new versions have not come out with the ability of Dual Layer DVDs, it is virtually off the market.

Section 2
What happens if I have the files as .ifo etc or they are too big?

Most authoring suites will burn the DVD, But if you have the files in a Video_TS folder and an Audio_TS folder you must burn them with a Package such as Nero. (see down page)

But if they do not fit on a Single layer DVD (over 4.7 GB) then use a program called DVD Shrink the developers have stopped developing it because it is obliviously illegal to copy DVDs, but lets face it: it is true anybody can copy a DVD, the technology is real, it is here. Compress the files with it and

If you have http://www.nero.com/eng/index.html Nero Burning ROM as well as DVD shrink automatically DVD shrink will burn them. Nero has also got a burning wizard which will burn the .ifo .vob etc etc to a DVD.
Of course there are other suites but the will also regularly fail. Nero is the Most consistent, proven time and time again.

 

my video_TS folder is within the limited size, so I burn it with nero. When I play it via the computer, I get just one frame, and then about 5 seconds later, I get the next frame and so on, so it kind of works, but not really to anyones satisfaction. When I try and play it on DVD player, it loads for ages, and then says "MP3-JPEG"...???

 

Sometimes if you transcode from .mov to DVD files it happpens.

 

Another thing which I forgot to mention is that CopytoDVD is also a good burner

 

I use Sonic's MyDVD Studio 6 Deluxe for authoring the DVDs but not for converting existing video files to the DVD MPEG-2 format as it sucks for that (I use Ulead Media Studio Pro 7 for that). Eh, it get's the job done.

Of course if the DVD doesn't need to be "authored" (i.e. data copied from a DVD+RW that was made on a stand-alone DVD burner to your HD) then I just burn it using Nero 6 to a DVD-R.

 

Just a thing to add which I just found out. I successfuly burnt a DVD just now, after converting from mpeg to video_TS. If you have an old DVD player, it might not work after burning. You need to have a newer DVD player

 

Same With Home-Burned CDs

 

I <3 Dvd studio pro

 

I used DVD Archetect. That's a phat program. Too bad I don't work in that office anymore... I no longer have access to it.

But, man, that's a nice piece of software... You can make phat animated, interactive menus... Plus, it's fairly brainless to learn how to use...

 

http://www.dvdrhelp.com for all your dvd authoring needs.

 

To make a video as compatible as possible, use DVD-R, and burn at the slowest speed you can. I burn every DVD I make at 1x. All my home burns play on my new players, as well as one I bought in 1999. I tested these also with 8x, and only the new player would play the DVD.

 

our DVD player is from 1998, and it plays 8x burnt DVDs just fine

 

Super. You got lucky then.

But if you plan on sharing these DVDs, wouldn't it make sense to make them as compatible as possible?