DVD Writing Programs

I just purchased a Pioneer DVR-112D DVD burner for my PC. I bought it OEM from NewEgg, so it did not come with any software. I am new to the whole DVD burning thing. Right now I just want to be able to burn data for backups and create movies/slideshows from my digital camcorder and camera.

I have played with Windows Movie Maker 2, and I know that it is not directly able to burn to DVD, but that some software can convert the output of MM2 to DVD format.

Of course I love freeware, but would be willing to pay for an all-in-one suite (Nero, Roxio, etc), if it is worth the money. Upon searching the forums, I have stumbled on recommendations for DeepBurner for data, and DVD Flick for media.

What are some good movie making programs? I currently only have 512 MB of RAM, so that may be an issue. I would rather try before I buy to make sure that I like the way they turn out before pony up.

Is it best to diversify and get a good movie making ONLY program rather than one that comes in a suite of burning tools, and then use something basic (free perhaps) to burn straight data?

 

DVD Flick is for converting media files (like AVI and MPEG) to standard DVD format, for playback in your home DVD player. It works like a freekin champ and I love it!!! For all other burning, take a look at CD Burner XP (link: http://www.majorgeeks.com/CDBurnerXP_d4242.html) It will burn data CD's and DVD's, music CD's, and it'll rip music CD's (mp3's) for you too. Final Burner will handle most any burning chore (link: http://www.majorgeeks.com/FinalBurner_d5319.html) including data, music, movies, whatever. Personally, I only used Final Burner a few times before I found DVD Flick for my movies, but it worked OK. I use Nero for burning DVD VOB files and for burning VCD's (using .bin/.cue files); but all other burning is usually done with CD Burner XP.... there's another app called Burrrn that I use occasionally to convert MP3's to CDA (std. CD audio format) and burn to CD for playback in my car's player (link: http://www.snapfiles.com/reviews/Burrrn/burrrn.html)... worth a look if you do lots of music. Well, there's some info to chew on for a bit, let us know how you get along, and what you end up going with! I'm always interested in what other people are burning with

hd2k

 

So it sounds to me that Movie Maker, DVD Flick, and CD Burner XP should really be all I need...at least to start out with.

Movie Maker to make the videos, DVD Flick to convert them to play in a home DVD player, and CD Burner XP to burn data to DVD's for backup (and burn music CD's, data CD's, etc).

Ya think?

PK

 

Sounds good to me! Keep on burnin'

 

I am a little disappointed. CDBurnerXP does not do straight 1:1 copies like a Nero or Roxio. Any recommendations there?

PK

 

No, it doesn't. What you can do is this. Download a little stand alone program called "Folder2ISO". It creates an ISO image out of anything you tell it to. So, put the CD you want to copy in the CD drive, launch Folder2ISO, and create an ISO image. Then put a blank in the CDRW drive, and use CD Burner XP to burn the ISO (or ImgBurn, or any number of other burning tools; most will burn ISO images). Here's the link to download Folder2ISO:
http://www.afterdawn.com/software/video_software/dvd_tools/folder2iso.cfm

hd2k

 

I was just thinkin'.... I'm not sure if the above method will work with music CD's. I've never tried it. In theory, it should. I know it works with data and with DVD VOB files (DVD videos/movies) so it should work with music; in theory.....

 

Hmmm....I think I will just keep using my basic OEM versions of Nero and Roxio to burn CD copies.

I don't mess with ISO's very much.

PK

 

OK.... I was a bit intimidated by ISO files when I first heard about 'em and was reluctant to even mess around with 'em. But after doing a couple, I saw that my "fear" was unfounded, and primarily based on the fact that ISO's were new territory and unknown, and therefore frightening; the term "ISO image" really had me freaked out at first (the word "image" was somehow really freaky, to me anyway). I'm not implying that any of my babbling applies to you, I'm just telling my ISO story in the hopes that it may inspire you (or someone else) to give it a shot.... really, there's nothing to it. It's just like burning anything else, kind of
Well, good luck and I hope I helped you out somewhere along the line.....

hd2k