So many questions I dunno where to start.....

[nikkoforever]

Ok, let me explain as best as I can what I am trying to do and then get to my questions. I'm a talent manager and I need to make acting reels of my clients. The reels are generally 5-15 minutes in length and just consist of scenes from films and tv shows clients have been in. So what this means is I will need to pull specific scenes off pre-recorded DVDs and video tapes to my hard drive. Then I need to be able to edit together those scenes and burn them to DVDs that will play in any set-top player. Down at the bottom is the hardware I'm working with.

And now to my questions:

What media should I burn the DVDs on? DVD+R and DVD+RW are my two options with my burner. Which is most likely to work on standard set-top DVD players?

What format should whatever files I burn to the DVD be? AVI? Divx? MPeg Something else?

I assume all the files have to be the same format for me to edit them together. Correct?

What software would be best for converting the files into whatever format they should be burned in? What software is ideal for editing the files together?

What software can I download for free? What will I have to buy?

What does DVD authoring mean?

Since I won’t need to use very much space on each DVD I burn, will I be able to retain the original image quality?


I’m sure many, if not all, of these questions are answered somewhere on this site, but there is so much information, it’s difficult to find what I need, especially when I don’t know what DiVix, DVD5, DVD9, and all these other acronyms even are. If someone wants to point me in the direction of specific sections to get my questions answered, that would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance for your help.



3.0 Ghz cpu
1 GB RAM 400 MHz
128 MB Radeon 9600 All in Wonder
16X DVD-Rom
8X DVD+R/RW
Serial ATA 500 GB RAID 0 (dunno if I typed that right, but it's 2 250 GB drives as one big drive)

the computer also came with Sonic RecordNow Plus and MyDVD Deluxe Software . Dunno how useful that is, as I've never heard of it before.

[qlizard]

Read the guides.
<<<<over there.

[nikkoforever]

Right. Like I said, I'm just looking for ideas on which guides best answer my questions. It looks like there's hundreds of pages of information there, so if someone actually wants to be helpful and tell me which guides apply to my needs, that would be swell. Thanks.

[ktnwin]

Whoa - what you want is pretty complicated.
Most folks here do either:
1) converting video tapes to DVD (capture/convert/author/burn)
2) rip DVD, compress and burn DVD
but very few take some clip from DVD, merge it with clips captured from video tapes (then edit, add stuff like transition, title, narration, etc..)
The best way: DO ONE THING AT A TIME, until you know how to do it well enough to attempt something like this.
About the guides: yes, there are lot of guides , each for a particular software !!!
I know this does not help but that's an opinion only.

[Tommyknocker]

What media should I burn the DVDs on? DVD+R and DVD+RW are my two options with my burner. Which is most likely to work on standard set-top DVD players?

The answer here lies in the "+" and not the "R" or "RW". It is the factor that determines which DVD player will play the DVD or not. I believe "+" is compatible in 80% of the DVD players, so go from here:

DVD+R and DVD+RW
DVD+R/W has some "better" features than DVD-R/W such as lossless linking and both CAV and CLV writing.
DVD+R is a non-rewritable format and it is compatible with about 86% of all DVD Players and most DVD-ROMs.
DVD+RW is a rewritable format and is compatible with about 75% of all DVD Players and most DVD-ROMs.
DVD+R/W supports single side 4.7 GB* DVDs(called DVD-5) and double side 9.4 GB* DVDs(called DVD-10).

What format should whatever files I burn to the DVD be? AVI? Divx? MPeg Something else?

Okay, when you burn video to your DVDs, the burn program will burn in the format for the DVD. It uses file types like BUPs, IFOs, VOBs, etc. It is a little complicated for a busy man like yourself, so let's skip that for now.

I assume all the files have to be the same format for me to edit them together. Correct?

Not necessarily. Ulead programs can edit and join several types of files at once, and burn them to a DVD in the same session.

What software would be best for converting the files into whatever format they should be burned in? What software is ideal for editing the files together?

It really depends on you. Some of the Gurus here can work AviSynth like they own it, others swear by TMPGEnc DVD Author. The list goes on and on. For someone who wants to do what you want (join several clips and burn) over and over again, I would suggest Ulead Video Studio 7. Easy learning curve, edits, joins and burns all at once.

What software can I download for free? What will I have to buy?

For your tasking, I would say download Virtual Dub mod (freeware), and buy Ulead Video Studio 7 ($100.00) Use VDub mod to read the VOBs from your clients' DVDs, edit the clips from them you want into AVI files, load the AVI files into VS7, and have VS7 burn the DVD. Or have VDub mod convert the entire VOBs into AVI files, load the AVIs into VS7 and edit it and burn them there.

What does DVD authoring mean?

Authoring refers to converting video files into BUPs, VOBs, etc. so your burner can burn them into a DVD.

Since I won’t need to use very much space on each DVD I burn, will I be able to retain the original image quality?

No, you will lose one generation of quality. But I believe one generation loss will be barely noticeable to your client or producers they show the video to.

So, if you have time to learn the ropes so speak, start with the beginner's guides, then Convert, Capture (if the clips come from VHS), Edit, and then Author sections. You not need to read everything, as I sure you will realize that most of it is reference, like a huge video encyclopedia, but try to be able to find what you need if you want. Hope this helps.

P.S. Keep away from Tgpo. I do not trust that kid!

[nikkoforever]

TommyKnocker-

Thanks for your help. I truly appreciate it. I'll give all that a try and see how I fare. Thanks again.