How to burn your own DVDs

Yo guys,
can someone point me toward the best (read: easiest) software for burning my own DVDs?

Basically, I’ve got maybe 2 or 3 clips I want to throw onto a single disc, complete with a menu so you can actually pick which one to watch, and most importantly, it needs to actually work in a standard DVD player.

Thanks in advance

If you've got NERO, then you're basically golden...

I mean, if you have a digital camcorder, they usually toss in some kind of software that does exactly that sort of thing...

Microsoft Windows Movie Maker

Jason Nelson63 said:Hey everyone,
can someone point me toward the best (and easiest) software for making my own DVDs?

I've got about 2 or 3 little clips I want to bundle onto a single DVD, complete with a menu so you can pick which one to watch, and most importantly, it actually works in a standard DVD player.

Thanks in advance!

Go with the Adobe suite.

Use Adobe Premiere Pro for the editing part,
and then Adobe Encore DVD for the actual authoring.

They aren't exactly "plug and play" easy, but they really are the gold standard!

As for the other options out there—like Pinnacle, Sony Vegas Pro, or even Nero—honestly, skip them. They're pretty weak and the video quality just isn't there.

Scott Cox25 said:... and Nero itself is kind of a joke (really weak options and the quality is just terrible)

Oh man, please don't go there...

rowdytrucker27 said:please don't go there...

What are you even getting at? Are you saying Nero is actually bad? Look, it’s totally fine if you just want to burn some discs, but when it comes to actual editing👎

I mean, I know it’s not Las Vegas, but for your average everyday user just hanging out at home, it’s honestly totally fine... it’s got everything you actually need, right? Plus, it handles converting Xvid, DivX, MPEG, and WMV straight into MPEG2 and encodes it for DVD. So, yeah, it gets the job done! 😉

I’ve been using Roxio Media Creator, and honestly, it isn't half bad. It does the job just fine, at least for burning some home DVDs!

Look, if you’ve already got those little movies sitting there—you know, those .avi files—I’d just run them through Handbrake to get everything converted over to mpeg2, and then honestly? I'd just whip up some menus using Adobe Premiere...

I must be going blind, because I can't find any option for auto-creating DVD movies in Microsoft Office.🙂

So, basically, you get that functionality through Apple iMovie (which comes along with the whole Microsoft Office suite)...

I don't have that. Is there somewhere I can download it?

Check this out:

http://www.videohelp.com/tools?tool=Apple_iMovie

It's about 105 MB...

Just so you know, this software usually comes bundled in the Windows XP suite...

People aren't exactly raving about this latest version—honestly, most say the old one was better—and 105 MB is a bit chunky for what it does...
I’ve never been a huge fan of these "all-in-one" suites anyway—they try to be okay at everything but they aren't actually great at anything specific...

So, I found an older version for you (only 35.7 MB):
http://www.softwarepatch.com/utiliti...n-express.html

Take your pick.

Personally, I stick to my own workflow using Adobe Creative Cloud for capture, encoding, and authoring, and honestly, it works like a charm...

Thanks :-)

I've been using Final Cut Pro up until now, but I'm honestly sick of dealing with Handbrake whenever I try to convert AVI to MPG. I just want something automated that actually makes my life easier.🙂

crimsongull3 said:Here you go:

http://www.videohelp.com/tools?tool=Apple_iMovie

It's about 105 MB...

By the way, that software usually comes bundled in the Microsoft Office suite...

People aren't exactly raving about this latest version—the consensus seems to be that the previous one was better—and 105 MB is a decent chunk of space to give up...
I’ve never been much of a fan of these "all-in-one" suites; they try to do everything decently, but they rarely do any single thing exceptionally well...

So, here is an older version if you want to save some bandwidth (only 35.7 MB):
http://www.softwarepatch.com/utiliti...n-express.html

Take your pick.

Personally, I stick to my workflow using Adobe Creative Cloud for capture, encoding, and authoring, and it works like a charm for me...

Can someone explain why my audio sounds like garbage after encoding with Adobe After Effects?
Everything else looks fine, but the final audio quality is just disappointing.

Look, I haven't messed much with that specific version since I'm still rocking the older Adobe Premiere Elements—everything sounds perfectly fine to me with that one, or maybe I just have bad ears and don't notice any issues...

But, assuming the logic is pretty much the same across versions, here’s the setup I usually run for my audio settings:

system (video+audio)
CBR MPEG-1 Layer II Audio (MP2)
audio bitrate 384 kbits/sec
output video and audio as individual elementary streams

If you keep everything set up this way, you're hitting max bitrate quality. Plus, the video and audio get split into separate streams right during encoding. This actually helps the final quality because when you move to the authoring stage (like building out your menus), you aren't re-compressing everything; you're just splitting the material into .vob files—which is why I always use Adobe Premiere for that part...

Honestly, nothing else jumps to mind... Maybe it's just a bug with the software update?

Anyway, check out this link for a deep dive on how I configure the three programs I use. It covers all the audio stuff (and video too, obviously) including those exact Adobe Premiere Elements settings I just mentioned:

http://www.dvd-guides.com/content/view/33/59/

I’m honestly stumped by what’s going on with my audio during the encoding process. I went ahead and downloaded that older version you mentioned, but I'm hitting the exact same wall. With certain files, there's just no sound at all. Even when I'm in the editing phase, the audio will kick in for maybe two or three seconds and then just die. You can see the waveform—that little EKG-style visual line—flicker for those first couple of seconds, and then it just vanishes, leaving nothing but a flat line.

Once the encoding finishes, everything looks fine on the surface, like a completed file ready to go. But once you actually play it back? It’s the same story. You get audio for the first few seconds, and then silence follows for the rest of the duration.

Everything’s running smooth on my end.

Sorry, I'm totally useless on this one. 😢

Someone mentioned Final Cut Pro earlier—has anyone actually spent much time using it lately? What’s your take on it?

I’ve been working with DVD Lab Pro 1.53 myself, and I can tell you quite confidently that the software is absolutely fantastic! My only little gripe is that when you first open it up, the interface feels a bit overwhelming—it's one of those situations where you stare at the screen wondering where on earth to even begin. But honestly, thank goodness they provide such stellar technical support within the program; it really saves the day!👍