Whether you’re a big time video producer, or if you’re just a normal
person videotaping your child’s first birthday. You’re going to need to
get that video footage off of the camera, edit it, and then put it onto
a disc for future viewing. You might just want to run off a couple
copies from your home computer, or you might be getting your DVD
footage ready to be duplicated by a large duplication house. Either
way, and every way in between, you’re going to need to follow the same
couple of steps.
If you are a regular, semi-computer literate person, this task may
seem very daunting. Let me tell you, it’s not rocket science, and if
you follow this guide it’ll be easy as pie. There are really only 3 to
4 steps in the process, and today I’m going to break it down for you
today.
Capturing Your Video and Audio
This process will vary depending on what type of software you are
using to capture to. I usually just use the Windows Movie Maker that
comes with Windows XP Home Edition. After you have recorded your video,
plug the camera into your computer. (Your digital video camera will
come with a USB or S-Video cord that you can connect to your computer.)
You computer should recognize that a new piece of hardware has been
attached to it. When you open Windows Movie Maker, there is a button
labeled “Capture from video device”. Click that button and follow the
instructions, it’s really a snap. If you are using another type of
software, just look for the option labeled “capture”, that’s the
process of taking video from an outside source and placing it onto your
hard drive as a digital video file.
Editing Your Video and Audio
Once you get your video and audio footage onto your computer’s hard
drive, there are many different programs to use to edit and output your
video. The most simple program PC users have access to is Windows Movie
Maker, which we discussed in the previous step regarding video and
audio capturing. This program is both free and easy to use, yet it is
probably the least flexible. This doesn’t mean anything to the novice
video editor, but will limit the more advanced users. If you are more
advanced, I suggest checking out Adobe Premiere. I have used the
program myself, and absolutely love it. Regardless of what program you
use to edit your video, the process will be basically similar. You will
be able to chop up and rearrange your video, add music or narration,
and ultimately output it as an .avi file. You will want to output it as
the most high quality .avi that you can. If you were preparing video to
share over the web, or to burn to a CD to view on another computer,
this would be your last step. But since we’re ultimately trying to get
our video onto a DVD for viewing on a DVD player, we’ll need to
complete another couple steps.
Encoding Your Video and Audio
This is one of the most important steps in the process, as it
determines the quality and format of your DVD video footage. There are
many different 3rd party applications that are used just for encoding,
but some of the more high-end video editing programs like Adobe
Premiere have encoding tools embedded in them. Regardless of what tool
you use to encode, you’re going to need to end up with a high quality
MPEG2 file, which is the format that will play on a DVD in a home DVD
player.
Authoring Your DVD
DVD >authoring is the process of adding a title screen, chapter
markers, and other assorted features that you’ve probably experienced
in watching professionally made DVD movies. You’re going to need a 3rd
party application to author your DVD, and there are many to choose
from. One of the more high-end applications is Adobe Encore, which is
easy for a novice to use, and also has many advanced features that the
more experienced DVD author will appreciate. Some of these programs
come with templates, ready to use. I suggest that first-timers look for
a program that offers this feature.
After you author your DVD, you’re ready to burn it to disc. If you
completed all the steps correctly, you should be able to pop your DVD
in your home player and watch away. Beware that some older DVDs do not
play burned DVDs very well, so if you have an older one and your disc
doesn’t play, it doesn’t mean that you did anything incorrectly. All in
all, I understand that this is definitely not full instructions on how
to author a DVD. I hope that this has at least shed a little light on
the subject, and that you come away from this with a better
understanding of how it’s done.
About the Author » View Author Profile » Authors Biography
Jason Cole and DiskFaktory offer great tips and information
regarding CD Duplication. Get info about DVD Duplication as well by
visiting http://www.diskfaktory.com/tips/CD-duplication-tutorials.asp
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