Free and Simple DVD Authoring Program

[Todd Sauve]

Hi everyone,

What I have done is rip a concert DVD using DVD Fab. Then I turned it into a MKV using Handbrake, keeping the 2 ch AC3 as the only audio. Otherwise it has H.264 video and the chapters. I like to massage the audio with my secret formula before muxing it back into the mkv with MMG.

What I want to do is find a DVD authoring program that will turn my massaged mkv back into a DVD. I just want it to accept the mkv and spit out a perfectly fine DVD, including the chapters. I don't care about the menus, etc., as Handbrake dispensed with them and I don't want them anyway. I just want it to turn out a DVD that can be dropped into any DVD player and run, with the chapters all being intact, as well.

I am currently trying DVD Flick with my mkv but I suspect it won't incorporate the chapters I kept in the mkv.

What dead simple and free program can I use to give me the desired result?

Thanks you!

Todd Sauve

[marioval]

Freemake Video Converter is very easy for this. AVStoDVD is better but not as easy but still pretty easy. DeVeDe is good too but the interface is a bit clunky but once you use it a few times just easy as any other.

[Todd Sauve]

Ok, thanks for the answer.

But are you sure these programs will keep the chapters in the DVD they produce?

EDIT

I looked at the AVS2DVD program and it apparently does keep the chapters intact. Thank you marioval!

[manono]

What I want to do is find a DVD authoring program that will turn my massaged mkv back into a DVD.

Is there something wrong with using the video and the chapters from the source DVD, plus the 'massaged ' audio? What's the point of going from MPEG-2 video to H.264 and then back to MPEG-2?

If using the original video, Muxman is what you want.

[Todd Sauve]

What I want to do is find a DVD authoring program that will turn my massaged mkv back into a DVD.

Is there something wrong with using the video and the chapters from the source DVD, plus the 'massaged ' audio? What's the point of going from MPEG-2 video to H.264 and then back to MPEG-2?

If using the original video, Muxman is what you want.

I just don't know how to extract the audio and then add it back in using any other method. I found a tutorial somewhere on this site but it was very long and involved and left out a couple of vital steps that left me holding the bag, as it were, at the end of the job.

It is so easy to do with a ripped Blu-ray, using tsmuxer, but DVDs are clumsy to work with due to their vob file structure.

If you have a detailed tutorial that is not long and involved, and does not leave out important steps, then please direct me to it. I'll be pleased to try it out.

[manono]

I just don't know how to extract the audio and then add it back in using any other method.

So you developed that convoluted method to make a DVD with the 'new and improved' audio? OK then, here goes.

1. Put the DVD on your hard drive (DVD Decrypter, DVDFab HD Decrypter, or whatever you usually use)
2. Extract the video, audio, and celltimes.txt (chapters) from the movie in the DVD (PGCDemux, open the IFO for the VTS containing the main movie)
3. Do your magic with the audio (however you do all that)
4. Reauthor for DVD (Muxman). Be sure to load the Celltimes.txt in File->Import Chapter. Add the video (the M2V file). Add the audio. Give it a destination folder, hit 'Start', and let it create the VIDEO_TS folder when it asks.

The result will be a DVD with chapters but no menu, and the DVD will exit when finished playing.

[Todd Sauve]

OK, thanks, I'll give this a try when I do another audio massage!

By the way, do you know of an equally simple method for simply extracting the audio from a DVD and then reinserting it back into the original ripped DVD? That would be nicer, of course, but like I said, the method I was originally directed to was a big mess with missing instructions.

[manono]

No, you can't just replace an audio in a DVD. You always have to demux (described above) reauthor the video (described above) and if there's other stuff in the original DVD you want to keep (menus, extras, whatever), then you use VobBlanker to stick the Muxman reauthored video back into the original.

Remember, your original method involved reencoding the video to H.264 (thus degrading it) before then reencoding it again to MPEG-2 (degrading it again). Sometimes, of course, the intent is to reencode the video, either to make it smaller or to fix things wrong with it, but that doesn't sound like your case here (although music videos often have some of the worst video quality I've seen).

[Todd Sauve]

Thank you very much manono!

I just ran through your process and it worked perfectly. I even used DVD Shrink to take the concert down to one 4.7GB DVD. It looks and sound great!

Thanks again!

[Todd Sauve]

No, you can't just replace an audio in a DVD. You always have to demux (described above) reauthor the video (described above) and if there's other stuff in the original DVD you want to keep (menus, extras, whatever), then you use VobBlanker to stick the Muxman reauthored video back into the original.

manono,

Do you have a simple tutorial for keeping the original menus, etc., while massaging and reinserting the audio, using VobBlanker?

[manono]

After making the Muxman DVD of the video with the improved audio, open the original DVD in VobBlanker. Highlight the video in question so that it appears in the lower window. Highlight it in the lower window and hit the 'Replace' button to the right. Scroll to your Muxman authored DVD, load it, give it a destination, and process.

While you're at it you might want to blank out some of the useless stuff, such as warnings, logos, anything else you may not want.

[Todd Sauve]

OK, I followed your instructions and it worked perfectly!

Thanks once again manono!