How do I make an auto run DVD

[CarrieNAshley]

I have had a lot of trouble converting my avi to dvd, but assuming I am successful, how do you make a dvd? I have Nero Burning ROM, do you just write the converted avi to the dvd? If not, can you please tell me in simple terms what I need?

Thank you



Carrie

[theDruid]

Have a look at the guides under How To... Author over on the left.

I presume you have a DVD-burner? (sounds like a silly question, but people have asked if they can make DVD's with their CD-RW etc.. in the past).

Nero is one of the tools people use to make their DVD's. There are others (some free) though.

cheers,
mcdruid

[CarrieNAshley]

Yes (lol) I have a DVD-RW.

So Nero Burning Rom is all I need? ANd do I just burn the file to the DVD, or do I need to look into the help files to figure all of this out?

I have looked through all of the forums but there does not seem to be any simple 1,2,3. I am not looking for detailed information, just "use this program to make that, then use this program to make that, then burn it", or whatever.

I know computers very well, this is just a completely new area for me.



Thanks

Carrie

[dcsos]

No for DVD you need an intermediate step called AUTHORING

this converts the MPEG-2 file made from the .AVI into a FORMAT "DVD" for burning

The spec "DVD" consists of two folders One AUDIO_TS and one VIDEO_TS folder..

When the DVD player (software or set top) sees this ARCHITECTURE on the disc produced by the AUTHORING APPLICATION. IT AUTO PLAYS the DVD

perhaps the NERO contains an authoring application inside, but if you're a computer expert..you'll want a better authoring app than NERO..
You need:
REEL DVD (top choice)
DVD ARCHITECT (next best)
DVD LAB (excellence on a budget)
or TMPGDVD AUTHOR (OK also)

[theDruid]

It really depends on what you mean by your 'file' - what's your source?

There's a different process depending on whether you start with an avi (a DivX for example) or whether you're backing up a DVD.

Nero can do most of the stuff with only a few clicks - but as a video encoder it's not up to much.

I'm not just copping out, or trying to be evasive by pointing you towards the guides, but there are so many different ways of making a DVD depending on your source etc.. that it would be impossible to give you a 1-2-3 process that does it all.

Use the search functions on the guides to see the different ways of making DVD's from different sources.

Finally, it often seems like a bit of a sledgehammer to crack a nut to use 5 or 6 different bits of software, where a one click tool exists - but in most cases, it's worth it in terms of quality. You also learn a lot more about the whole process.

cheers,
mcdruid.

[daamon]

Hi CarrieNAshley,

I capture home shot footage from my DV Cam onto my PC, edit it to look how I want, encode from AVI to DVD compliant MPEG2 then author and burn to DVD (in the architecture mentioned above).

See this link (more so the latter part)...

https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=190482&highlight=

...for the process I use, and the guides I've referred to.

As you don't give much detail (where you got the AVI from, whether it's DV / Divx / Xvid etc.) I don't know if it'll be of help, other than just enlightening you to the type of things you need to do and possible tools.

"theDruid" is right - there's many ways depending on the source material.

Hope this helps to some degree... Good luck.

[overloaded_ide]

As others have said much depends on your source, and also your choice of programs.

Basically convert your soure file to a DVD compliant mpeg2 file, then author that with a program like Tmpgenc DVD author which also includes a built in burner program that works great. It's a easy to use program, free trial that fully works for 30 days. I would begin with this, then if you want more advanced stuff try a different 30 day demo like DVD-lab till you get all the features you want.

My method I use most often is capture directly to mpeg2, author in tmpgenc DVD author, burn with same program. Works extremely well for me, though I am trying more fancier stuff too, but a great way to start and learn.

SO basically convert your files to mpeg2 and get Tmpgenc DVD author for the rest, at least till you learn the basics, you'll get great disks fast and learn how it works before getting into the really hard to learn programs

[CarrieNAshley]

All great answers, thank you very much.

I am using a Sony DV camera, and capturing the video with a Miro DC30 card. I know it is a little outdated, but I spent $800.00 on it two years ago and I want to try to work with that.

So far, I have been able to caputre and make my project in Premier 6.0 with no problems. I have output to video also with no problems. The video looks great.

Now, I am trying to convert project to an .avi. I have been successful using Microsoft DV codecs, but when I transfer the .avi off the Windows 98 Miro Capture computer to a Windows XP computer, it seems to loose 90% of audio quality. The opening music is fine, very good quality, but when a person talks it is deep, quiet and almost completely un-understandable. I assume it has to do with the miro drivers loaded on the other computer.

I have purchased DVDit PE, Cucusoft avi to dvd and I have Pinnacle Studio.

So I have a completed project. I may be using the wrong output in premier to make my avi, I do not know. (Compressor, Microsoft DV - 720x480 - D1/DV NTSC - 29.97 frame rate - Depth, 100% - Audio, 48000, 16, stereo, uncompressed.)

The avi I make on the Miro computer plays perfectly.

So, maybe that is too much information, but I REALLY appreciate the help.



Carrie

[daamon]

Hi CarrieNAshley,

It might be worth raising a separate specific topic in the "Audio" forum.

If you do, could you be kind enough to paste a link to the URL in this topic - I need to export AVI's using the DV codec and may encounter the same problem. It'll save me (and possibly, in the future, others) searching for the info. Cheers.

Good luck...

P.S. It's better to have too much info rather than not enough.