Burner or authoring

Newbie Forum
#1

Hi!! I’m a Newbie (guess you figured that, otherwise I wouldn’t be here). My name’s Summer. I’m 22 and finishing up a degree in CS. :stuck_out_tongue:

OK, now that that’s out of the way…
I’ve been wanting to get into film editing for some time but never had the time. Now I’ve started and I’m having a few problems and questions. :a

I’ve created a media file with Adobe Premiere. I want to put this file onto a DVD but want to be able to add other files later and then after the DVD is full, make a menu screen.

I’m not sure what program I should use. Would a normal burning program like Nero be OK or do I need a DVD authoring program since I want to create a menu when I’m finished? Also, what are the best programs out there? Another question, I have some burning software that’s for creating CDs, would this work for DVDs or would it better to get software that is for both CDs and DVDs?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

#2

DVDs cannot be constructed piece-meal; you must author the media files and create the menu structure before you burn anything or it just wont work. You will definitely need an authoring program.

http://www.doom9.org/mpg/dvdauthoring.htm
Here’s a list to get you started.

Once your authoring program spits out a DVD-compatible file structure, you can use almost anything to burn the files, but you will get the best results with a program that knows how to burn the files and directory structure for maximum compatibility. The latest versions of Nero do OK, but you could have problems with older versions. The situation is similar for other mainstream burning programs.

#3

So all I have to do is use an authoring program to create the menu and things and then I can put the video files on using Nero?

The version I have is 6.0.0.28.

#4

The authoring program will output .vob, .ifo and .bup files that can then be burned with nero. You must already have the video files in the proper format (mpeg2 w/ correct resolution for NTSC or PAL) and with proper audio (AC3, .wav, or mpeg1 layer 2) to input into the authoring program.

#5

I think my video is .avi. How can i change the format?

#6

http://www.doom9.org/conversionguides.htm

#7

Hi, I use Premiere 6.1 and out put the time line through “video server plug in” to TMPGEng to create the Mpeg2

The reason I use the “video server plug in” is that it saves disc space, as you don’t need to make a separate Avi of you finished video. If for any reason you don’t want to use the “video server plug in” and you make a finalized Avi and wish to use TMPGEng to make an Mpeg2 you will have to have Mainconcepts DV Video Codec installed on you machine, there could be other codec’s that will work? you will only know if TMPEGng can’t recognize the Avi.

I then use TMPEGng DVD Author to make the VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS files and burn them with Nero 6