Create and burn dvd's and cd's.

[pmjokes]

I am very new to dvd burning, just bought a used laptop from the pawnshop, so I could create and burn dvd's and cd's.

There is already quite a few programs on this laptop that I been using.


Cyberlink PowerDirecter is the one I been using to create all sorts of dvds.


1) burning funny videos as titles for the kids to watch on their TV
2) burning various music videos as titles for myself and the kids as well.
It seem you can get 8-12 videos this way.
3) even took whole music albums, converted them to one huge mp4, imported the mp4 into Cyberlink and created a chapter for each song, I did that for a friend that doesnt have a decent music player and now he can listen to his fav bands via his bigscreen, its what he asked of me, its not an actual video though, just has the album art that shows up while the music plays., I even added his fav music video to play as the default start up video.




However, I came across a 3 1/2 concert I tried to burn to DVD, figured it would fit because its only 2.4GB mp4 but even with the smart fit checked its well over the limit, so I decided to just cut it in half in CyberLink and burn it into two parts.


I then decided to google this, no clue why a 2.4GB mp4 wont fit on a 4.7 dvd disc, still have no clue, but after reading a few posts on the board, I conclude that movies over 2 hrs shouldn't even be burnt anyway as it will loose much quality.


But now I am totally confused on some advice given here to others.


I see people saying to reauthor with this, reencode with that, convert to this or that etc.


I basically just take the format the videos are already in, which is usually mp4, but I have burnt various formats at once, such as a few AVI's, FLY's,MP4's, and they seem to play fine on various DVD players.
I have also used XiliSoft Video converter to convert them all to MP4 sometimes as well, don't really see any difference in doing that.


Can someone shed some light on this, am I doing this right or could I actually fit more or better quality results doing something other than what I am doing now by converting them first.


BTW, I also have NERO on this laptop, I used it first, took like hours and the dvd wouldn't even play on any DVD player.
CyberLink only takes about a half an hr to 45 mins to burn what ever I throw at it.
Is there any even faster than Cyberlink?




Thanks in advanced.

[hech54]

I then decided to google this, no clue why a 2.4GB mp4 wont fit on a 4.7 dvd disc, still have no clue,

Because a playable DVD is MPEG2(and can only be MPEG2)....not MP4.
https://www.videohelp.com/dvd#tech

[pmjokes]

I then decided to google this, no clue why a 2.4GB mp4 wont fit on a 4.7 dvd disc, still have no clue,

Because a playable DVD is MPEG2(and can only be MPEG2)....not MP4.
https://www.videohelp.com/dvd#tech

I dont follow what you are meaning, nearly 90% of all the dvd's I am making are from mp4's, I assume they are being converted to the proper format in CyberLink right?


So are they actually getting bigger than?


Plus, that isn't really my biggest concerns, I am wondering if I should be converting my videos outside of Cyberlink, before adding them in, so they are smaller(compressed) and I can fit more on a DVD and/or them be of higher quality.

[hech54]

I assume they are being converted to the proper format in CyberLink right?

Yes...to MPEG2 with a VIDEO_TS folder.

So are they actually getting bigger than?

Yes.....bigger and you are losing MORE quality.(Quality was lost going from it's original....probably MPEG2/DVD to your MP4....now you are losing more all over again taking it back to MPEG2)

Plus, that isn't really my biggest concerns, I am wondering if I should be converting my videos outside of Cyberlink, before adding them in, so they are smaller(compressed) and I can fit more on a DVD and/or them be of higher quality.

Again.....DVD is MPEG2. It can be nothing else.....smaller(compressed) means less quality.

[pmjokes]

You are seeming to not understanding my main question, I am usually starting with MP4, I didn't create them, I am just downloading them, sometimes they are AVI, sometimes even FLY and I am importing them directly in Cyberlink and burning the DVD and they work on dvd players.

Should I convert them first with an outside source and to what format? or just let Cyberlink handle it?

[manono]

First, don't use anything by Cyberlink or Xilisoft, Second, while those programs may not let you put more than two hours on a DVD, there's no practical limit to how much video you can really put on a DVD, although with too much the quality will suffer noticeably. In the case of your 3 1/2 (hour?) concert, it can be converted for DVD but it may not look so good. Except that you downloaded it so it may not look all that good to begin with. Anyway, try a decent program for a change, one like AVSToDVD.

And you might want to change your thread title to reflect what your thread is actually about.

[pmjokes]

First, don't use anything by Cyberlink or Xilisoft, Second, while those programs may not let you put more than two hours on a DVD, there's no practical limit to how much video you can really put on a DVD, although with too much the quality will suffer noticeably. In the case of your 3 1/2 (hour?) concert, it can be converted for DVD but it may not look so good. Except that you downloaded it so it may not look all that good to begin with. Anyway, try a decent program for a change, one like AVSToDVD.

And you might want to change your thread title to reflect what your thread is actually about.

I assumed my title fits, if you have a better one let me know, I do stink at title making


Thanks for the advice on the program, will give it a shot.


I am very green to this stuff, but I love Xilisoft ultimate, I have converted a ton of stuff with it, for android etc, and see no issues with it, I don't use it to covert to DVD though, if that is why you suggest not using it.


But, this is why I created the thread too, to get advice rather than try every program on the market.I have tried a few famous DVD creators in the past and so far Cyberlink Power completely performs them all,
will try AVST,


thanks again to those replying.

[hech54]

You are seeming to not understanding my main question, I am usually starting with MP4, I didn't create them, I am just downloading them, sometimes they are AVI, sometimes even FLY

It doesn't matter....NONE of those are capable of being used in a playable DVD.

Should I convert them first with an outside source and to what format? or just let Cyberlink handle it?

And again....DVD is MPEG2. DVD can only be MPEG2. Why are you asking what to convert to?.....DVD is MPEG2. It doesn't matter when YOU CONVERT TO MPEG2.....but you will CONVERT TO MPEG2 if you want a playable DVD.

You are starting with highly compressed, inferior quality MP4 anyway....so you'll get a more shiny turd CONVERTING TO MPEG2 with expensive pay software beforehand vs. a plain turd with all-in-one free software. It doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is DVD IS MPEG2.

[manono]

I assumed my title fits...

'This that or the other thing'? Surely you jest? How about "DVD conversion of downloaded files advice"? Or something similar.

I don't use it to covert to DVD though, if that is why you suggest not using it.

No, I suggested not using it because anything made by Xilisoft is pure and utter garbage.

But, this is why I created the thread too, to get advice rather than try every program on the market.

I understand, which is why I suggested AVSToDVD, because it's perhaps the best all-in-one DVD conversion program around. And it happens to be free.

[pmjokes]

I assumed my title fits...

'This that or the other thing'? Surely you jest? How about "DVD conversion of downloaded files advice"? Or something similar.

I don't use it to covert to DVD though, if that is why you suggest not using it.

No, I suggested not using it because anything made by Xilisoft is pure and utter garbage.

But, this is why I created the thread too, to get advice rather than try every program on the market.

I understand, which is why I suggested AVSToDVD, because it's perhaps the best all-in-one DVD conversion program around. And it happens to be free.

I am creating a dummy dvd, I just threw a bunch of funny vids of various formats into it and its doing its thing.
I was able to put 18 funny vids on it, still had some room left too.


I keep getting a warning about the audio (audio channels incorrect(6 vr 2) and clicking yes for the (FFmpeg safe mode thing)


If it plays on my dvd players and doesnt take hrs and hrs, I will love it. I am glad I came here, because I understand what you are saying about the Xilisoft being garbage, I cant tell, but I assume other converts are better.


Here is how stupid I am, I just learned that the audio format of YT vids is trash compared to the original, and I still cant tell the difference

[yoda313]

If it plays on my dvd players and doesnt take hrs and hrs, I will love it

Your best bet is to get a used bluray player or media player like a wdtv that plays mp4 videos files. MOst likely these are h264 (use mediainfo to be sure). So long as the bluray player says it will play mp4 files it should be just fine though a wdtv is infinitely more useful for file playback.

The reason I'm suggesting this is you can play your original files this way. Just burn the mp4 files as data. Then there is no conversion needed.

It was mentioned earlier that the 3 1/2 hour video you were trying to convert to dvd won't look as good. You might get better results by converting it to fit a dual layer disc and burning to dual layer. Chances are your laptop can burn dual layer discs but if its really old or was a cheap no name to begin with it might be single layer only and you are stuck (unless you go online to buy an internal or get a usb dual layer burner). So split the video in half and use two discs.

The only way to be faster with converting to dvd is to get a faster computer (the processor that is).

Otherwise you should look into getting either a bluray player that can play h264 mp4 files or a wdtv type settop box and then you can just burn the original files without converting.

Also note these days bluray players and wdtv LIVE models both have available wifi. So long as you have a decent broadband connection and have a wifi n router you can stream hd easily. Most units have at least netflix and youtube on them. You have to verify that before settling on one of course.

[Cornucopia]

Yes, one of the MAIN things that newbies fail to understand is that the term "DVD" (or "Blu-ray" or "CD") can mean MANY things.

A DVD can mean data files (including text files, pdfs, word docs, web pages, as well as movie files, etc.) placed/burned onto a data disc of (usually) 4.37GB.
This is what is commonly known as a "Data DVD".

A DVD can also mean a specific multimedia application where movie files are created in a specific format (encoded to MPEG2), layed out in a particular format (authored) and then placed/burned onto a data disc of (usually) 4.37GB.
This is what is commonly known as "DVD-Video".*

What yoda313 just mentioned is to avoid having to convert to the latter by just doing the former. However, to do that, one must have a player that accepts the mp4 files. Since the variability of generic mp4 files is great, but the variability of "DVD-Video" files is quite small, this shows the difference between something that can be used in different situations but not always be compatible in ALL of those environments vs. something that must follow many constraints, but those constraints allow it to be (nearly) universally compatible.

Scott

*DVD-Video is still just a rigid standard of a specific type of formatting of data files, and the underlying disc is still a "data disc", but that just complicates things for newbies.

[El Heggunte]

Q.: This, that or the other thing?

A.: Quite on the contrary

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/72386-Forum-rules-Acceptable-Use-Policy-(AUP)

[pmjokes]

AVSToDVD finished and plays just fine, thank you @manono.Not sure what the audio errors are about though upon conversion.


Here is the real kicker, my next door neighbor has a universal remote and it wont allow him to select scenes even on commercial DVDs, he can only play,pause and stop, the scroll arrow buttons don't work, neither do the fast forward, skip scenes buttons.


However, the funny videos DVD I created with AVST, he is able to scroll the titles and play the desired video.
wow, I do not get it, but love it.




@yoda313


I am trying to learn how to make DVD's playable on Dvd's players in the best way possible

[Cornucopia]

Many commercial DVDs have been coded to include PUOs ("Prohibited User Operations"). IOW, they have been programmed to NOT allow skipping or scene select.
While possible, it's extremely RARE that a personal disc would have PUOs added.

Scott

[redwudz]

pmjokes, in the future please use a more descriptive subject title in your posts to allow others to search for similar topics. I will change yours this time. From our rules:

Try to choose a subject that describes your topic.
Please do not use topic subjects like Help me!!! or Problems.

Thanks,
Moderator redwudz