Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

best software for editing/burning DVDs

Jan 25, 2005 1:37AM PST

I am an artist, and have five one-hour watercolor instructional videos that I first released in 2000, and would now like to get them onto DVDs. I have the master mini-DV tapes and can download them to my computer via firewire, so the capture part is a non-issue.

I'm confused about what software to get. We got trial/light versions of Nero, ULead and Sonic with the two DVD burners we purchased (one "regular" DVD-RW and one that will burn dual layer DVDs) but are thinking we need to upgrade to the full version of one of these (or maybe something else entirely).

We need software that will (1)burn the DVD so that it cannot be copied once sold and (2)save the "rendered" video to the computer hard drive so that you don't have to go through that hours-long process each time you want to burn another DVD.

I'd also like to know if it is safe to put a label on a DVD disk, or should I look for blank inkjet printable DVD media (are those type of blank discs available?)

Thanks,
Ellen

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
My Way
Jan 25, 2005 3:07PM PST

I use Ulead's Video Studio to create the MPEGs for DVD. Once saved to your drive, future burns will not take long. You can also use Video Studio to burn the disk, but I use their DVD Movie Factory because there are more options.

Labels will cause trouble.

I have a page that covers my methods. Take a look:
http://www.timwerx.net/odds/pcfile.htm

- Collapse -
About labels. It depends on...
Jan 25, 2005 11:15PM PST
- Collapse -
(NT) (NT) I would use the inkjet approach to make labels.
Jan 25, 2005 11:53PM PST
- Collapse -
(NT) (NT) I want to see the HP DVD Lightwriter method...
Jan 25, 2005 11:56PM PST
- Collapse -
Thanks to you all; a few more questions
Jan 26, 2005 1:05PM PST

Since first posting, I've been doing more searching/reading (thank you Tim for your excellent page)and am comparing software. I already have/use PhotoShop, Illustrator, & InDesign. I'm wondering now if I should just bite the bullet and get Premiere since I'm already familiar with the interface Adobe uses, and my husband and I could "grow" into the program (he wants to convert old family movies/photos/slides to digital). Would that be overkill?

I saw that Adobe is partnering with Matrox and including a capture card with Adobe Video Collection. What does a capture card do that my computer doesn't?
I am using Windows XP-Pro; 1.5GHz, 1GB 800MHz RDRAM, with two 80GB 7200rpm hard drives, and Nvidia GeForce 5200 video card. We also have an external 120GB hard drive. I have an 8X DVD-RW drive. Do I need a capture card?

Finally, no one answered my question about making the DVD's uncopyable. Is that impossible to do now? I read that CSS was "broken" by a Norwegian teenager and that DVD copying software is readily available now. So...???

Thanks again,
Ellen

- Collapse -
It's broken.
Jan 26, 2005 9:55PM PST

If you look up DVDSHRINK you have a one-button copier. I've seen a lot of people asking this question, but as it stands today, don't bother.

Bob

- Collapse -
Last Resort
Jan 27, 2005 5:21PM PST

Even IF you include protection, a person that knows how to do it right can play a DVD on a flat screen monitor with a camera aimed squarely at it and the audio hooked up. I have made copies of DVDs this way and you cannot tell the picture and sound quality from the originals. (They were old programs, however.)

In other words, where there's a will there's a way.