Sunday, February 04, 2007
Authoring a DVD
Do you wish to convert your vacation memory captured in a Camcorder into a DVD?
Here are the steps involved in making it with Free/Open Source software on Windows and Mac OS X:
1. Get the video stream into the computer.
It may be as simple as connecting the camcorder to the computer
The captured stream may be in MPEG or DV format.
2. Editing the video stream.
I use mpegstream to edit the video. It supports the entire format Apple's QuickTime supports.
Here is the list of supported input formats:
MPEG, VOB, PS, M2P, MOD,VRO, DAT, MOV, DV,AVI,MP4, TS, M2T, MMV,REC, VID, AVR, M2V, M1V, MPV, AIFF, M1A, MP2, MPA, AC3
It is multiplatform (OS X and Windows) free tool. It can export the edited stream into many formats, so that it becomes easy to import on your DVD Authoring tool. If I am using DVDStyler (see STEP 3) I demux the ouput into M2V (Video) and MPA (Audio).
If you are using Mac OS X, you can use iMovie to edit the stream. The stream should be in DV or MPEG-4 format.
3. Authoring the DVD.
In windows I use DVDSTyler an open source DVD authoring tool. It runs on Linux too. Use DVDStyler to create buttons, chapters. DVDStyler cannot burn a DVD; it creates an ISO image of the DVD. If you have Nero you can mount the ISO image and verify your creation before committing on a DVD!
On Mac OS X I use iMovie and iDVD for authoring and burning.
4. Burning the DVD from the ISO Image.
In windows I use imgburn a free tool for burning an ISO image. If you have Nero you can use it too.
Here are the steps involved in making it with Free/Open Source software on Windows and Mac OS X:
1. Get the video stream into the computer.
It may be as simple as connecting the camcorder to the computer
Or
Capturing the analog out of the camcorder using a video grabber cardOr
Through a PVR (I have replayTV).The captured stream may be in MPEG or DV format.
2. Editing the video stream.
I use mpegstream to edit the video. It supports the entire format Apple's QuickTime supports.
Here is the list of supported input formats:
MPEG, VOB, PS, M2P, MOD,VRO, DAT, MOV, DV,AVI,MP4, TS, M2T, MMV,REC, VID, AVR, M2V, M1V, MPV, AIFF, M1A, MP2, MPA, AC3
It is multiplatform (OS X and Windows) free tool. It can export the edited stream into many formats, so that it becomes easy to import on your DVD Authoring tool. If I am using DVDStyler (see STEP 3) I demux the ouput into M2V (Video) and MPA (Audio).
If you are using Mac OS X, you can use iMovie to edit the stream. The stream should be in DV or MPEG-4 format.
3. Authoring the DVD.
In windows I use DVDSTyler an open source DVD authoring tool. It runs on Linux too. Use DVDStyler to create buttons, chapters. DVDStyler cannot burn a DVD; it creates an ISO image of the DVD. If you have Nero you can mount the ISO image and verify your creation before committing on a DVD!
On Mac OS X I use iMovie and iDVD for authoring and burning.
4. Burning the DVD from the ISO Image.
In windows I use imgburn a free tool for burning an ISO image. If you have Nero you can use it too.
