PLEASE HELP - I'm trying to find the best SW to author a DVD

[carolin8282]

If anyone can help me with this question, it would be greatly appreciated. I'm kind of an amateur videographer. I have a MiniDV camcorder that I love to use. I have a 9 month old & I try to capture all the important moments of his development. I've downloaded the [unedited] video files to my PC. I now need a recommendation for stellar editing software to make a nice home movie. And I don't want just an editing software - I will author the DVD at the end as well. Is there decent software that does both?! I've used InterVideo, which is OK I guess. I've had some issues with it before, so I'd like to try something else. I'm using a Windows PC, btw. I've used Windows Movie Maker in the past [before I knew what I was doing], and I almost went insane trying to get the finished product on to DVD. If anyone can offer any suggestions, I would really appreciate it. Thank you!

[mwkurt]

I would recommend Vegas Video and DVD Architect. Vegas has a fairly easy learning curve and Architect is similar to moving files around in Windows Explorer. A mighty fine package for the price. Stay away from Pinnacle Studio 10.
Mark

[carolin8282]

OK, I'll give it a shot - thanks Mark!

This leads me to another question - if I'd like to make a copy of a copyright protected DVD that I own, how could I do that? I've googled it & I see it's kind of in debate & many programs are no longer offering that feature. I just want backups of my DVDs in case my kids break the originals! Let me know if you know of any good programs...

[FulciLives]

DVDFab Decrypter is freeware and really all you need to RIP a DVD with copy protection to your HDD.

After that you have all kinds of options but ImgBurn is the best DVD Video burning software and if the original DVD is dual layer and you want to compress it down to fit onto a single layer DVD recordable then start with DVDShrink ... and read alot!

What I mean to say is that DVDShrink is more often than not "good enough" but you do have other options when it comes to compressing a dual layer DVD down to single layer size and sometimes those other options are better than DVDShrink.

Of course dual layer DVD recordables do exist.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[lordsmurf]

For a DV shooter, for nice editing and authoring all in one, I highly suggest Adobe Premiere Elements 2.

And if you need help using it, visit www.wrigleyvideo.com

[carolin8282]

Wow, people have a lot of good things to say about ImgBurn! AND it's freeware?! I hope it's not too good to be true! So, if I have .vob files and I want to burn to DVD, ImgBurn will do it for me?? Does it support other video files like .mpg or .avi? I can't wait to get home and download it!

OK, I've heard of DVDShrink, but does it matter that it is no longer being updated? Is there a better program that compresses a dual layer DVD down to single layer size? What would be your recommendation?

Thanks for all the info!

[carolin8282]

Lordsmurf, I've used Adobe Premiere Pro and also went insane trying to figure it out. I went to wrigleyvideo website, among many others to get tutorials, but it's just too complicated. I want something simple yet powerful - in my opinion, Premiere Pro is powerful, but certainly not simple!

Thanks for the suggestion though!

[FulciLives]

If I am not mistaken then Adobe Premiere Elements 2 is a slightly "watered down" home version of the full Adobe Premiere and should therefore be easier to use.

VEGAS is the full product but they also make a "watered down" home version that again is not only cheaper but easier to use.

Or so I've heard ...

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[carolin8282]

What's the "watered down" version of Vegas called?

[FulciLives]

Vegas Movie Studio

Never used it myself but I've heard it is a good (and much cheaper) alternative to the full blown version of Vegas.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[normcar]

The Tmpgenc products are very good. Tmpgenc Author is a very good program, and I believe fairly easy to use. It is payware, but the Tmpgenc products are the only products I bought. I think they are worth the price.

[FulciLives]

I do like TMPGEnc DVD Author and although it lacks some features ... most of them are stuff you really don't need (like optional subtitle support or DTS support).

For MPEG-2 DVD spec encoding though I prefer CCE to TMPGEnc Plus

I've never had a need to really do any real fancy editing but my guess based on things I've read etc. is that VEGAS MOVIE STUDIO would be a good choice or as LordSmurf said perhaps ADOBE PREMIERE ELEMENTS 2 because afterall the lil blue guy knows his stuff

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[Chuck Gary]

Roxio Easy CD & DVD Creator is my advice. Clean, professional and intuitive.
Hapy Video Productions!

[FulciLives]

Roxio Easy CD & DVD Creator is my advice. Clean, professional and intuitive.
Hapy Video Productions!

Damn.

I nearly choked on my drink.

I never heard ROXIO and PROFESSIONAL in the same sentance before

Anyone reading this would be best to avoid this garbage suggestion.

I mean really now ...

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[Chuck Gary]

Carolin wrote (if you bothered to read the initial post): "I now need a recommendation for stellar editing software to make a nice home movie. And I don't want just an editing software - I will author the DVD at the end as well. Is there decent software that does both?! "
All the girl needs is to make a nice home movie! Ok go up one level in spending money: Cyberlynk's PowerDirector for Editing and Nero for Burning!
Let's hope the undead don't choke on this one! :P

[edDV]

I'm assuming these videos are important to you for now and into the future.

First advice:

Don't erase the original DV tapes. These can be used in the future to get much better results.

You might say, the DVD looks good enough to me on my HD DLP. But future generations (and the kid you are shooting*) will find the DVD lacking when importing into their 2020 holographic instant 3D|Pod (you know, the one with the cool acqua glasses!). Keep the original tapes in a safe cool dry place and experiment with the computer DV-AVI transfers for now.

Second:

I understand you don't want to get in as deep as Premiere Pro 2 or full Vegas. That is why both companies made their "lite" versions (Elements and Moviestudio) for normal humans and included tutorials for amateurs.

Don't waste time on anything free. Free means hard work to get inferior results. Some of the better free stuff is great if you first wear the learning curve hair shirt. You would only go this route if you were looking for "street creds" in the forum world.

There are other programs that are good. ULead Video Studio comes to mind, but Premiere Elements is best for internet tutorials and forum support. Vegas Moviestudio or Ulead Video Studio are perhaps better if your goal is to advance to the next level.


* more likely their future spouse or you.

[carolin8282]

OK, so I think I'll go with the lite Vegas version. Like I said, I have the Premiere Pro, and I decided to uninstall it because it was way too complicated. Thanks for all the good advice!

Now back to a question that was left unanswered - Is there a better program [besides DVDShrink] that compresses a dual layer DVD down to single layer size?

[FulciLives]

Now back to a question that was left unanswered - Is there a better program [besides DVDShrink] that compresses a dual layer DVD down to single layer size?

It's not that simple.

There are many ways of doing it.

You can do a movie only back-up. You can shrink the extras but not the movie. You can split it out over 2 single layer DVD discs. You can remove some parts of the DVD but leave other parts in.

There is no clear cut answer here.

That's why I said start with DVDShrink and read the forums for more.

Many programs exist for different applications based on user experience and the content of the DVD etc.

The easy answer is use DVDShrink or buy Dual Layer DVD recordables so you get 100% quality.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[mwkurt]

For a program to shrink down a DL DVD to a SL DVD try DVDrebuilder. They have a free version that uses ffmpeg, I believe. If you have a better encoder such as CCE it can use it also. DVD Shrink will transcode the DVD whereas DVDRebuilder will actually reencode the whole thing using enough bitrate to fill a SL DVD.
Mark

[carolin8282]

OK, so walk me through the process. I have a store-bought DVD that I want to make a copy of. First, I use DVDFab Decrypter to bypass the copy protection and rip the DVD to my HD. If I have a dual layer recordable, then the next step will be simply to burn it using say, ImgBurn?

[FulciLives]

OK, so walk me through the process. I have a store-bought DVD that I want to make a copy of. First, I use DVDFab Decrypter to bypass the copy protection and rip the DVD to my HD. If I have a dual layer recordable, then the next step will be simply to burn it using say, ImgBurn?

Some store bought DVD discs will be Single Layer so you can make a 100% back-up using a standard Single Layer Recordable DVD.

Some store bought DVD discs will be Dual Layer so you can make a 100% back-up using a Dual Layer Recordable DVD or you can use DVDShrink (or some such similiar program) to reduce the size down to that of a Single Layer Recordable DVD.

As mentioned DVDrebuilder is ... in many instances ... a better choice than DVDShrink ... but it is also much more difficult to use for the newbie.

In fact all of this stuff is so complicated that to guide you step-by-step is not a reasonable request as one would have to write a mini book to do so.

There are a variety of guides on this website (see sidebar on the left) that do contain step-be-step directions. That is where you should be looking now.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[SingSing]

The Tmpgenc products are very good. Tmpgenc Author is a very good program, and I believe fairly easy to use. It is payware, but the Tmpgenc products are the only products I bought. I think they are worth the price.