OT: DVD Authoring

[gstelmack]

How about some new uncharted OT discussion to get us through the next couple of days waiting for the demo?

I've been e-mailing pictures and firing off DVDs to the grandparents so they can keep up with the progress of their 9-month-old granddaughter. The problem is, I can't find a reliable DVD authoring / burning solution.

I was using Pinnacle Studio 8 for a while when I had my analog camcorder, since it worked with my old DC10Plus capture card. However, it had a lot of stability problems, crashing semi-regularly and would not let me burn more than 1 copy at a time. I could never get menus to work with it, either. So, when I got my digital video camera, I gave it and the capture card to my dad (who bought a Video Toaster for the high school class he was teaching a long time ago and loves messing around with video) and bought Roxio 6.

Roxio worked okay for a while, and is really easy to work with menus, but it has issues with slideshows (the one time I tried to add one to a DVD, it crashed while rendering, and it has a nasty habit of rearranging clips on me), is missing any titling tools, and for the last 2 updates has forced high compression on the output resulting in truly horrendous burn quality which makes it absolutely useless (the forums are full of people complaining about this, but no word from Roxio).

Next up is to try the MyDVD software that came with my Sony DRU-500 burner. But before I get involved in yet another tool, does anyone have any recommendations on software that works great for home video production that doesn't cost $500+? My primary needs are:


Digital video capture from a firewire camera
Add still images, with a settable duration for each
Add background music (mostly for the slides)
Title editing
Menu creation that can select individual clips, but continues movie from that point when clip finishes (Roxio returned to the menu for a while)
Burn to DVD


Anyone doing that with software they like?

[mckerney]

I only have experience with such on Macs and using Final Cut Pro (this program is so much easier than IMovie), though in my experience with Macs I also found they lock up and crash more often than with PC use.

[Alan T]

I have had all kind of problems with DVD compatibility issues between the various standards when I was trying to use this as an alternative backup method for some of my servers.

I ended up just sticking with Tape backup instead...

[Sloan]

You might want to try the forums here:http://www.dvdrhelp.com/forum/

There are some pretty good guides on the site too using free software, but from what I have found the free software isn't as nice as some of the commercial stuff. I'm sure the guys in the forums would have some suggestions though.

[gstelmack]

Originally posted by Sloan
You might want to try the forums here:http://www.dvdrhelp.com/forum/

There are some pretty good guides on the site too using free software, but from what I have found the free software isn't as nice as some of the commercial stuff. I'm sure the guys in the forums would have some suggestions though.

Thanks, that's a great link. I'm downloading ULead MovieFactory to give it a shot.

[gstelmack]

To resurrect a very old topic:

I ended up sticking with Roxio 6 for a while, but was never truly happy. Nothing else was much better, they all sucked at something.

I've since upgraded to Roxio 7 and it has been an absolute PLEASURE to work with. So far I've only got two gripes:

- They have the ability to set chapter points (allegedly so I can create sub-menus into a single video stream), but I have not yet figured out how to make it work.

- When copying video to the hard drive from my camera, it likes to scan through once looking for scenes, then ask me which scenes I want to copy to the drive. Typically, I want the whole tape except for a scene or two at the end from an old run (I reuse the same tape many times over). This pre-scan is slower for me, although I don't have to go back and chop off the stuff at the end any more.

Except for that, I'm really enjoying this version of their suite. Lots of customization (I can easily use my own pictures for DVD menu backgrounds and label backgrounds, plus use my own music for the menu), solid all around, and fairly easy to use. Roxio is getting it right, and is getting very close to an ideal solution for home video editing / DVD burning on the PC.

[3ric]

- They have the ability to set chapter points (allegedly so I can create sub-menus into a single video stream), but I have not yet figured out how to make it work.
I believe there's a free utility called IfoEdit that can help with that.

[henry296]

Does anyone have a recommendation on a digital camcorder or what features I should look for in a camera. Much like digital cameras, I assume MegaPixels is a major price differentiator.

Thanks
Todd

[pbot]

I have a Sony that burns straight to mini dvd disks. Have had it for about 1.5 years with no problems. Excellent picture quality. A quick search of Crutchfield.com leads me to believe that the specific model I purchased is now out of production, but the link below matches mine almost exactly.

hxxp://www.crutchfield.com/S-iIlPe8Imk4e/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?g=69700&I=158DDVD203

It is usb only...no firewire, but by burning straight to mini dvds that doesn't matter much anyway...just put the disk in the dvd drive on the pc and edit away.

[Airhog]

I use dvdlab pro for authoring. It works very well, although one of the discs I created wouldn't play in all of the dvd players I tested it on.

[Eaglesfan27]

What demo are we waiting for?

[AgustusM]

What demo are we waiting for?

I was wondering the same thing

[Eaglesfan27]

I just realized how old the initial post is. Could have been quite a few things.

[Daimyo]

I bought a Sony DV Handicam a few months back and was able to capture the video from tape to AVI with no problem (except it gets split into 2GB chunks, but I can live with that). However, when I tried to burn the video to DVD with Roxio 7 the audio and video gets out of sink pretty quick and gradually degrades throughout the video. Looking at their forums and various reviews it seems to be a very common problem with Roxio (I use it because its licensed through work -- otherwise I hate it).

I've thought about purchasing Sonic (added advantage of TivoToGo support) or Nero, but I've heard they have similar issues, although less frequently. I'm willing to spend up to $100 on software or put several hours into using freeware/open source tools.... any suggestions?

FWIW, the PC I use for this is a Sempton 2400 with 1 GB of RAM running XP pro if it matters. I do the mastering/burning with no other apps running. I have no issue throwing better hardware at the problem if that is what's needed...

[stevew]

What demo are we waiting for?
FOF2k4?

[Cuckoo]

I bought a Sony DV Handicam a few months back and was able to capture the video from tape to AVI with no problem (except it gets split into 2GB chunks, but I can live with that). However, when I tried to burn the video to DVD with Roxio 7 the audio and video gets out of sink pretty quick and gradually degrades throughout the video. Looking at their forums and various reviews it seems to be a very common problem with Roxio (I use it because its licensed through work -- otherwise I hate it).

There's a program called vso DivxtoDVD that's free. It converts the AVIs to a DVD folder for burning and does a darn good job of it. Then you can just burn the DVD using Roxio or whatever, and odds are it'll take care of your audio/video problem.

[moriarty]

I've thought about purchasing Sonic (added advantage of TivoToGo support) or Nero, but I've heard they have similar issues, although less frequently. I'm willing to spend up to $100 on software or put several hours into using freeware/open source tools.... any suggestions?
.

There's several decent video editing tools that now come with DVD burning (so you can capture, edit, and burn). I've used SONY Vegas Movie Studio + ( Windows ) with good success and made some sweet DVD's. Pinnacle 9 and Ulead are also good choices ... all available for <$100.

All three have demo versions you can download for free. I'm not sure what the demo limitations are, but I'd try one or more out.

[henry296]

I just realized how old the initial post is. Could have been quite a few things.

Sorry for the confusion of bumping an old post, but it was one of a few that had some commentary on digital camcorders. Maybe I just have just started a new post.

[Eaglesfan27]

Sorry for the confusion of bumping an old post, but it was one of a few that had some commentary on digital camcorders. Maybe I just have just started a new post.
No problem. I eventually caught on ;)

[moriarty]

Does anyone have a recommendation on a digital camcorder or what features I should look for in a camera. Much like digital cameras, I assume MegaPixels is a major price differentiator.

Thanks
Todd

Todd, check out this site: Camcorder Info (http://www.camcorderinfo.com/bbs/index.php) .

There's tons of info, reviews, and a forum to ask questions. The biggest differentiator in camcorders now is whether to get a DVD camera (burns to mini-disk) or a Mini DV camera (records to tape). The general consensus is that if you want to watch unedited or cut/paste content go with a DVD camera as it's easier (just pop the DVD in a player), but if you're going to do video editing ... cuttting/splicing scenes, adding music/effects, you're still better off going with a MiniDV format as it's easier to work with the video editor software packages I listed above.

[Daimyo]

There's a program called vso DivxtoDVD that's free. It converts the AVIs to a DVD folder for burning and does a darn good job of it. Then you can just burn the DVD using Roxio or whatever, and odds are it'll take care of your audio/video problem.

Sweet... sounds exactly what I'm looking for. I don't mind using Roxio to burn ISO's or image files, just need something to do the mastering. I'll check it out tonight.

[Cuckoo]

Sweet... sounds exactly what I'm looking for. I don't mind using Roxio to burn ISO's or image files, just need something to do the mastering. I'll check it out tonight.

Yeah, I've used it several times - it's really simple and works well. It lets you put several AVIs into one DVD folder as well. They have a pay version now, but the old one is still free.

You can get it at Download.com (http://www.download.com/VSO-DivXtoDVD-Converter/3000-7970_4-10376028.html?tag=lst-0-1)

Edit: I should add that this is simply a converter. It doesn't do menus or anything like that. But it does a nice job of turning the AVIs into a DVD folder. I find myself using about four different programs when putting a DVD together, from repairing the AVI (if needed) to converting to DVD folder to creating menus/chapters and finally burning.