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So now that you have added a DVD burner to your computer , you probably are going to want to use it for something. Data is easy -- you just use the latest burning software suite; my favorite being Nero 6 Ultra. For that purpose, a DVD is a 4.7 GB storage medium, equaling about 6.75 CDs, and the software makes DVD data disks much the same way as they do CDs. Movies, however, are another matter. Burning the disk is only one of the necessary tasks. You also need to put
your video into a format that will work in DVD players ("transcoding" is the
official jargon). Then you need to organize your raw footage into a sensible
structure. Then you need to build menus so you can get to your content in a
player. And then you need to burn it. While Nero and Easy CD/DVD Creator both have movie disk utilities, neither is especially impressive. You will do better with something more specialized. Sonic MyDVD is the market leader, and rightly so (http://www.sonic.com/). The top-line recording software is Sonic MyDVD 5 Deluxe (street price around $65); bundled with DVD player and CD ripping/burning software, it's sold as Sonic MyDVD 5 Studio Deluxe 5 (street price around $78) Note that while The software is made by Sonic, but Adaptec distributes the boxed versions, and some retailers list it under Adaptec's brand name. Also note that there are various other versions floating around in the retail channel. You will want one of the "5" "Deluxe" packages, as they include transition effects and other cool methods of stringing your videos together. Simplicity is the key to MyDVD. As with all products of this type, it creates a "project" file for the DVD you are making that keeps track of your settings. However, your actual video clip is NOT changed -- if you choose to use only a segment of one clip, that parameter is stored in the project file. The self-explanatory interface guides you through the various phases of building a movie disk. A toolbar on the left controls the functions that let you add content to your disk while a toolbar on top guides you through the selection of styles, video editing, and making chapter breaks. The strongest point of MyDVD is that it comes with a large assortment of attractive menu templates, so you can put together a professional looking disk with little problem. Editing functions are straightforward. Slide rules, advance/reverse buttons, and time counters help you identify and select the video segments you want to put on disk. Transitions are a simple drag-and-drop process. One weak spot: you need to go to the "File" menu, select "Preferences," then choose the "Burn" tab to find the settings for video compression and quality. That's too important a setting to be that hidden. A PC DVD holds about 75-80 minutes of full quality video; you need to increase compression to get the capacity up to 2 hours. Bear in mind that making a video takes a huge amount of computer resources and a fairly long time to accomplish. Don't plan on multitasking or a speedy getaway. An alternative choice for making a movie disk is InterVideo's WinDVD Creator 2 Platinum, $94. The software has a few features that MyDVD lacks -- it makes the job of building a custom menu a little easier, for example, and has a step-by-step Wizard-like interface. Unfortunately, I experienced some technical glitches with it on my PC, which result in less reliable performance than MyDVD.
Over the years, WinDVD has gained the capability to handle surround sound, capture video stills, zoom and pan the image. "Smart stretch" lets you fit widescreen content into a conventional 4:3 screen and vice versa. New in this version is "time-stretching" -- a misnomer in my opinion as it is intended mainly to speed-up playback. This uses much the same technology that TV networks are employing to squeeze in more commercials without cutting a film. Essentially the video is sped up while distortion to the audio track is minimized. And it works. I found I could speed up to about 1.1x speed without it really being noticeable; 1.15x was still nearly normal. Faster than that, the distortion is evident; however it is a useful technique if you need to search video more carefully than fast forward would allow. The last element of video software worth mentioned are copying tools. Production DVDs have about double the capacity of their PC counterparts, so copying them requires compressing the video, eliminating unneeded "extras," splitting the video into more than one disk, or some combination thereof. While movie DVDs probably don't take as much abuse as music CDs and are not played as often, backing up your movie collection still is a sensible idea, particularly if you have a portable DVD player. The problem is that almost all copying software will not duplicate copy protected disks, which is to say most movies. Doing that, requires DVD X Copy from 321 Studios. It comes in three versions: Xpress automatically makes a one-disk copy of a DVD. It does not give the user an option to split the disk rather than accept a quality loss or to prune content. It isn't priced attractively enough to make it a good choice. A better buy is Gold, currently $70 after a $20 rebate. It includes Xpress, plus a user-controlled interface to select the DVD content you wish to dupe and a choice on whether to compress or split.
Platinum, which has a lofty $132 pricetag, includes Gold's features, and
adds still more custom control of the duplication plus faster processing
times. One might speculate that some of that money is going to lawyers rather than software engineers. 321 Studios is engaged in a battle with the movie industry over the legality of the software. Your right to copy a DVD is protected by the fair use doctrine -- the same legal principle that allows the movie rental stores to function -- but defeating the copy protection is a potential violation of the Digital Millennium Act. While I am not overflowing with sympathy for the movie industry, it must be said that DVD X Copy does little to deter its use for piracy other than put up a dialog box that a user must click to promise not to steal copyrighted material. But that is the quandary: in order to allow legal backups, the current state of the art is such that illegal ones are possible, too. (c) 2004 Al Gordon. In addition to his computer interests, Al Gordon is a principal in the Boston-area strategic consulting firm, Mary Fifield Associates, www.maryfifieldassociates.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You can reach Al Gordon at:  Return to Top
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This is supplemental information to the article:
InterVideo,
however, is the gold standard -- maybe that should be "platinum" standard --
in PC video players.
