DVD Creation Software Questions

[Mynd Hed]

So now that I've got my new computer all built and up and running, I'm in the market for some DVD burning software. I bought my DVD burner OEM so nothing was included, and I'm looking for some recommendations. I need something that:

* Will burn data DVDs for backup purposes.

* Will allow me to make exact (or near-exact) copies of video DVDs for backup purposes.

* Won't break the bank-- preferably in the sub-$100 price range.

I'm also considering dabbling in some light video editing-- nothing too advanced, just transferring some old VHS home movies to DVD and such. Don't know if it would be better to go for a suite that does both video editing and DVD burning or to rely on seperate programs. I've fooled around with video editing before, but it was back in the days before DVD burners dropped to a practical price point for the home user, so the program I used (I believe it was an early version of Ulead) didn't contain any kind of burning feature. If anybody has had any experience with current analog-to-digital video capture devices, I'd appreciate opinions on those as well.

While we're asking questions about such things, what's the best way to go about ripping video from a DVD into a playable form on my computer's hard drive? Is that a feature I can expect from a good DVD authoring suite?

Thanks in advance.

[solarflere]

DVD backup - DVD Decrypter od DVD Shrink

Burning software: nothing beats Nero 7. Don't even think of getting NTI, Roxio or Sonic solutions.

Video Editing: Adobe Priemere Elements or Pinnacle Studio, both are for avarege person, they are watered down software of Proffesional Adobe Premere Pro and Pinnacle Liquid.

For DVD creation: Ulead DVD Movie Factory, its a watered down version of Ulead DVD Workshop.

But NERO 7 Suite has DVD creation software, as well as video editing and video capture, all of those extra features are limited in features and have quirks that are too anoying to work with. I don't use them.

Edit: While we're asking questions about such things, what's the best way to go about ripping video from a DVD into a playable form on my computer's hard drive? Is that a feature I can expect from a good DVD authoring suite?DVD Shrink will shrink (or not, your choice) a DVD-9 Disc into a DVD-5 disc size on your HDD. It will be in a .vob format just like the DVD itself. Your Windows Media Player will play .vob format without problems. As well as Cyberlink Power DVD (The best DVD player ever). If you want to convert a DVD into Mpeg format, you will need TMPGEnc Mpeg Editor. It will extract the selected DVD and convert it to Mpeg.

[Romanesque]

...I dunno what's worse... when I disagree with everything you say, or when I agree with everything you say. :p But yeah, what you said, basically. :sweat:

--Romey

[EscaflownePilot]

The only place I differ from Solarflere's recommendations is DVD copying. I'd go for the free DVDFabDecryptor for greater compatibility (since there are a few - not many, but a few schemes Decrypter has trouble with), and then Nero for re-compressing it to fit onto a DVD-5

[solarflere]

The only place I differ from Solarflere's recommendations is DVD copying. I'd go for the free DVDFabDecryptor for greater compatibility (since there are a few - not many, but a few schemes Decrypter has trouble with), and then Nero for re-compressing it to fit onto a DVD-5Nero recompresses them with Nero Recorde with a painfull prossess that affects the quality, unlike DVD Shrink. And I never had any trouble with DVD Decrypter before, writing Iso and Bin files, or backing up a DVD.

I dunno what's worse... when I disagree with everything you say, or when I agree with everything you say. :p But yeah, what you said, basically. :sweat:

--RomeyIts been a long time since me and you had our debates, but you agree with me so that is defenetly scary.:p

[Dogbert]

I absolutely recommend DVD Shrink and Nero. DVD Shrink is completely free, but I'm not sure about Nero (my copy came with my DVD burner). The reasons why DVD Shrink is great have pretty much already been covered, so I'll just cut to the chase; easy one button press backup for beginners, re-author mode for editing.

Plus, Nero and DVD Shrink work well together. DVD Shrink has an option to burn with Nero that automatically opens Nero and gets the DVD burning process started.

I do also use DVD Decrypter though. I find it works better for damaged DVDs (in addition to allowing you to set retry options, it also let you see info about bad sectors) and it also works better for homemade DVDs from DVD recorders, which (for me anyway) never seem to work with DVD Shrink.

[Paul_Cousins]

Liteon makes some of the best DVD-writers know of. I have bought two in the last four years and they both still work.

But the software lighton come with sucks (it will not let you burn data discs). I suggest on the software side you go online and buy an OEM version (NOT full version) of the lastest Nero Burning software.

[solarflere]

Liteon makes some of the best DVD-writers know of. I have bought two in the last four years and they both still work.

But the software lighton come with sucks (it will not let you burn data discs). I suggest on the software side you go online and buy an OEM version (NOT full version) of the lastest Nero Burning software.Although thats not was he was asking, Sony and NEC make the best burners. Lite-On is certainly not bad, and is very stable but when it comes to multi-formats and fastest speeds, Sony and NEC respectively can not be beat. As for Nero OEM, you will not get all of the functions and you will be kicking yourself after, "why o why didn't I get the full version". Nero 7 Suite rocks.

[Mynd Hed]

Although thats not was he was asking, Sony and NEC make the best burners. Lite-On is certainly not bad, and is very stable but when it comes to multi-formats and fastest speeds, Sony and NEC respectively can not be beat. As for Nero OEM, you will not get all of the functions and you will be kicking yourself after, "why o why didn't I get the full version". Nero 7 Suite rocks.

My DVD-ROM reader and DVD burner are Sony and NEC respectively, I'm happy so far but haven't actually tried to DO much with them yet. (-:

What are the differences between the OEM and full versions of Nero? Looking on Newegg I can see there's a pretty significant price difference, so I'd hate to pay full price for the suite if I'm going to be using standalone programs for most of its functions anyway.

Thanks for the advice, all.

[solarflere]

My DVD-ROM reader and DVD burner are Sony and NEC respectively, I'm happy so far but haven't actually tried to DO much with them yet. (-:

What are the differences between the OEM and full versions of Nero? Looking on Newegg I can see there's a pretty significant price difference, so I'd hate to pay full price for the suite if I'm going to be using standalone programs for most of its functions anyway.

Thanks for the advice, all.OEM does not give full DVD-Video Compression format, nor does it give you the AC-3 sound, and it does not give you the NERO famuous MP3Pro codec. Umong other support that its lacking. Nero 7 also does alredy and will in the future the HD DVD and Blu-Ray formats. What ever format will win thw war, Nero has got you covered for when the burners will appear, its a positive look toward the future that will not requre separate software.

[Mynd Hed]

OEM does not give full DVD-Video Compression format, nor does it give you the AC-3 sound, and it does not give you the NERO famuous MP3Pro codec. Umong other support that its lacking. Nero 7 also does alredy and will in the future the HD DVD and Blu-Ray formats. What ever format will win thw war, Nero has got you covered for when the burners will appear, its a positive look toward the future that will not requre separate software.

Thanks.

As far as video editing programs go, the big three names I keep hearing are Adobe Premiere Elements, Pinnacle Studio, and Ulead VideoStudio. According to the reviews I've been reading, Adobe is good but can be a bit advanced for your average user, Pinnacle has great features but suffers some stability and compatibility issues, and Ulead I just plain haven't heard many first-hand opinions on.
Anyone care to share their experiences with these programs?

[zmanjz]

Personally, I've been using DVD Cloner (http://www.dvd-cloner.com/) since they were back on Version 2, and It's always worked well as a decrypter/burner. And it's got a ZDnet 5 star rating.

(Maybe I'm too oldschool, but since I've been online I've always set good store by ZDnet ratings.)

As for Pinacle..... I've used their "Pinacle Expressions" software, and found the interface to be VERY poorly designed. Perhaps some of their more high-end products are decent, but their OEM/consumer material is terrible.

[solarflere]

Thanks.

As far as video editing programs go, the big three names I keep hearing are Adobe Premiere Elements, Pinnacle Studio, and Ulead VideoStudio. According to the reviews I've been reading, Adobe is good but can be a bit advanced for your average user, Pinnacle has great features but suffers some stability and compatibility issues, and Ulead I just plain haven't heard many first-hand opinions on.
Anyone care to share their experiences with these programs?Adobe Preimere Pro is as dificult as it gets ( I know cause I have it and I mastered it), but Elements is made for an averege user. Ulead Video Studio is good, it has good features and not too complicated. Pinnacle Studio is good, not as good as their Liquid series, but its good and stable non the less. FYI There is no more Pinnacle brand, its been sold to Avid a few months ago. Avid is the largest Proffesional Video Editing solution out there. So Pinnalce Studio is now Avid Studio.

[Mog]

Since I like to be different, you can also try all the freeware stuff from doom9.net. They have pretty much everything you need if you know your stuff.

However I do not recommend it. You need to know exactly what to do, in what order, and how to do each and every little tidbit for this method to work.

So yeah, Nero 7 and DVD shrink. Even if you have to break the bank.

[Mynd Hed]

So yeah, Nero 7 and DVD shrink. Even if you have to break the bank.

If today's version of Nero is still as good as the old woefully outdated version I used on my last PC for CD burning purposes, it'll be worth it I guess.

[ThePeterNetwork]

So Nero 7 is the DVD making software of choice, eh, Solarflare? Can it make a homebrew DVD with a separate audio track that can be accessed by most DVD player's alternate audio track reader? I, too, am in the market for such an upgrade, but that upgrade will need to take place once I purchase a new computer that has at least 2.0 GHz processing power or higher.

Maybe a laptop will do nicely.

[solarflere]

So Nero 7 is the DVD making software of choice, eh, Solarflare? Can it make a homebrew DVD with a separate audio track that can be accessed by most DVD player's alternate audio track reader? I, too, am in the market for such an upgrade, but that upgrade will need to take place once I purchase a new computer that has at least 2.0 GHz processing power or higher.

Maybe a laptop will do nicely.Like I said, yes Nero 7 has DVD creation software, pick your own video, your own audio, select some basic cut and wipe transitions and have a realy basic DVD menu, then convert it to Mpeg to VOB and burn it to a DVD. But....Like I also stated earlier, the transitions are nothing but cuts, dissolves and wipes, nothing special. The DVD menu is... well wack, it does not have a submenu choice, makes things a bit too unproffesional for my taste. It will get the job done if you are not looking for anything amaizing. And yes, it will play in every PC that had a DVD drive, and it will play in every DVD player. Nero also can make a SVCD, DVD and direct capture to DVD, meaning that you can output lets say MiniDV tape directly to DVD without capturing the footage first. Umong that, it has a Nero Backup, Virtual Drive, Audio CD creator, Wave Editor, label maker, test speed tools, and bunch of other usefull tolls and programs.

[Wanted]

What about something more than just basic... something that's sure to break the bank? I'm sure that, given the time and materials, I could make a pretty original DVD menu... not something basic.

Nevertheless, Adobe Premiere is pretty difficult from the get-go, but after a short while you get used to it. The basic edition, when I saw it at Best Buy, was really close to $100. It sounds like you'll have to spend over a hundred to get the best experience out of your DVD burner. Eh, it's all worth it, right?

[solarflere]

What about something more than just basic... something that's sure to break the bank? I'm sure that, given the time and materials, I could make a pretty original DVD menu... not something basic.

Nevertheless, Adobe Premiere is pretty difficult from the get-go, but after a short while you get used to it. The basic edition, when I saw it at Best Buy, was really close to $100. It sounds like you'll have to spend over a hundred to get the best experience out of your DVD burner. Eh, it's all worth it, right?If we are talking about Hollywood style DVDs, its either Ulead DVD Workshop or Adobe Encore DVD. If we are talking about Video Editing, there are more proffesional software then there is for begginers. Biggest brands are Avid, Adobe, and Canopus. All three are extremely dificult, Adobe premere Pro, Avid Express HD, and Canopus Edius Pro. You will need a few months to just get to know those software titles. All will defenetly Break the bank (or a few), especialy if you get the Capture card that goes with the software, prices range fron $1000 to $5000 for rhe HD quality stuff.

[Martianinvader]

How 'bout if you just want to make a copy of something you recorded on a DVD-R to begin with, so you don't need to circumvent piracy bugs or anything like that? What would you use to make a fast copy of a DVD-R?

[Dogbert]

How 'bout if you just want to make a copy of something you recorded on a DVD-R to begin with, so you don't need to circumvent piracy bugs or anything like that? What would you use to make a fast copy of a DVD-R?I'd use Nero, but any DVD burning software should be able to handle that. All programs will likely take the same amount of time (unless some have an 'on-the-fly' option and others don't).

[solarflere]

How 'bout if you just want to make a copy of something you recorded on a DVD-R to begin with, so you don't need to circumvent piracy bugs or anything like that? What would you use to make a fast copy of a DVD-R?Nero 7