Create a DVD video disc in DVD Lab Pro. Programs for creating DVD disc menus

The best way to organize files stored on a computer is to transfer them to physical media. In order to get this opportunity you will need an effective, for example, "Disk Studio" from AMS Software. After reading this article, you will learn how to easily burn documents, music, films and other information to a DVD disc, as well as learn how to set up an interactive disc menu with chapters. So let's get started!

Online Media Recording

"Disc Studio" - a convenient and intuitive program for burning DVDs and CDs, as well as their varieties. Working with the application is as simple as two or two: you select the necessary files (films, documents, music, etc.), configure the recording settings, and then insert a blank medium into the recording drive and start burning it.

It is worth noting the fact that with the help of this software you can easily overwrite or completely clear any previously recorded disc. This is real thanks to the availability of appropriate options in the editor. For example, if you find a little free space on one of the previous DVDs, you can fill it with new content (in other words, add it). At the same time, the same disc is subject to repeated overwriting, eliminating the possibility of damage or data loss.

Record movies and music in just a few clicks!

The main function that the program for burning DVD discs has is to create music and visual media. This is very useful when you need to copy a large number of songs / albums or video clips / movies to a disc. Thus, you can create a home digital archive.

If you are interested, then just select the format and add tracks. You will be asked to make not only mp3, but also wma, which will contain up to 10 hours of music with decent playback quality. Such a CD is played both in the car radio and in a specialized player. Also, if you wish, you can give it to someone as a keepsake.

“Disc Studio” is also an excellent program for burning DVD discs with menus. So, before creating a video carrier, you can qualitatively design its splash screen to your taste. For example, choose a beautiful background image, come up with a catchy title, add vivid photos and download music. The interactive menu you developed will subsequently be played on any computer or multimedia player.

Convenient work with images and ripping disks

To insure yourself against accidental loss of any data, it is strongly recommended to generate a virtual disk image. In addition, you can create an ISO image of any medium with the ability to further record files to it. All these manipulations are also easy to do with the help of "Studio Discs."

In addition, the program for creating DVD discs allows you to rip - this is the name of the function for converting dvd and audio cd in high quality. She will come to the rescue if you need to quickly multiply any disc with music or video (of course, if it is not copy protected).

To make a DVD disc from the available video files in the formats AVI, MPEG, MP4 and others - it seemed to me a simple task. But I did not expect that for conversion to a de facto standard you also have to pay. But from the videos that were shot by a smartphone or tablet, an interesting video may well turn out.

1. Windows DVD-maker

Included with Windows 7, no additional expenses. He understands a bunch of file formats, you can make both a disc from video files and a presentation from photos, you can create a DVD menu. But a huge minus - the program immediately writes to disk. In my case, this turned out to be impossible, because the drive in the laptop has long been outdated. I just wanted to make a DVD project, and I wanted to record a DVD on a desktop computer.

2. WinX DVD Author

WinX DVD Author is detected by Google when it searches for free DVD authoring software. And she even works for free. You can create a menu in it. Only here is the logo of the program and the message that the DVD was made a free version, nullify all the features of the program.

3. DVD Styler

It turns out that there are still programmers who simply do good to other users. Alex Thuring released the DVD Styler program, with which you can create DVDs from a set of video files of various formats. The program contains several nice templates for the menu.

Before creating your own DVD video the disk of many is stopped by the need to install complex programs and their subsequent study. AT Windows 7  there is a program Windows DVD Studio, which allows, without possessing special knowledge, to create a complete DVD disc with menu.

DVD creation  starts with the launch of the program.

Add a movie for create DVD.

Make dvd disc  with a lot of films we will not succeed, because of the accommodated 150 minutes  our film already takes 107 minutes. You can see the parameters of the created disk and change if necessary.

Since we know the characteristics of our film, we can set the parameters that are most suitable for us DVD, i.e. NTSC 16: 9.

After choosing a menu style, change the name of our disk. To do this, click "Menu text". We change any text to the one we need. Inscription "Notes"in the graph “Notes button”appears in the disk menu if in the graph "Notes"  some text will appear. You should pay attention to the fact that the length of the text in the titles is limited and unplaced text is simply not displayed.

Customize the look of our menu. Go to the menu "Menu setup". By default, encoded video is used as the foreground video and background video. Change it to another. You can also put any music for the menu and select a button style "Scenes".

If photos are also added to the disk, then you can customize the slide show for them. You can select any background music and transition effect. The launch of the slide show will be possible from the scene mode, where one of the scenes will be reserved for the added pictures.

DVD menu creation  finished, there is only burn DVD video.

You can preview how our disk will work. To do this, press the button in the menu "View". The disk menu will work in the same way as we configured it.

The disadvantage of this program is the impossibility create DVD video  without a drive in the drive.

Before starting recording, files are created in a temporary folder, which are immediately deleted after the program is closed.

The disc is recorded and ready to watch. Immediately invited to make another copy and insert a blank disc.

DVD is gradually conquering the market and the issues of using software and hardware solutions for working with DVDs are becoming more and more interesting for many, many people. With the hardware component, it is more or less clear - there are DVD burners of two competing standards, there are MPEG hardware encoders for those who cannot wait for hours on the results of software encoders. It remains only to understand what programs can and / or need to be used to create DVD-Video discs.

This question is not as simple as it seems. A few years ago there were very few DVD Authoring programs, they cost a lot even according to Western concepts of money (up to $ 30,000) and their use was the lot of only a few thousand people, 90% of whom worked in the USA. With the advent of computer DVD recorders, the situation has changed, but now there is a kink in the other direction. The release of the program for creating DVD-Video discs became, as it were, a matter of honor for all companies that have at least some relation to video. In the manufacturers ’advertising press releases, any DVD-Authoring program is now touted as a universal tool, ideal for creating Hollywood Video DVD-Video discs. Some of these programs even have menu templates that are modestly called Hollywood Quality. In fact, of course, this is far from the case. To list the programs that can actually create Hollywood Quality DVD-Video discs, one finger is enough. The massive development of DVD Authoring programs is facilitated by the inviolability of the DVD-Video standard, and a change in this standard is hardly possible in the foreseeable future, since tens of millions of DVD players are already in tens of millions of apartments and it is impossible to ignore such a number of users during a hypothetical change of standard.

But there is one distinguishing feature that allows you to separate one group of programs from another - this is the approach to creating a menu of DVD-Video discs. The vast majority of new programs created for the mass user make it possible only to a small extent to vary both the menu design and the selection methods in it, and most importantly, they do not allow the use of a video clip as a menu. This limitation significantly reduces the creative ability of the author of the disc.

But, unfortunately, we will not be able to discuss further the pros and cons of programs for creating DVD-Video discs without getting to know at least briefly the requirements for a DVD-Video disc.

The table below shows the most important parameters of the source data for the further creation of a DVD-Video disc (hereinafter, we believe that PAL is used as a television system):

** GOP - Group of Pictures - literally "a group of images." An MPEG stream always consists of consecutive GOPs. Each GOP begins with a reference, or I-frame, the image of which is compressed without taking into account the video information in neighboring frames. All other GOP frames contain only the information that is not in the I-frame. DVD compatible MPEG should only contain GOP titles. Parameters such as flow rate, GOP size, aspect ratio, etc., are indicated in the GOP header.
  *** Not a recommended format. Playable only on PAL DVD players.
  **** Many DVD encoders or programs limit the minimum stream speed. In particular, ReelDVD does not allow encoding static (still) menus at a speed of less than 1mbit / s. Scenarist has no such restrictions.

If you carefully look at the acceptable video and sound parameters for DVD-Video, it is easy to notice that the quality of the video is recorded, for example, in what format the sound is recorded - if the sound is in PCM, then the maximum bitrate of the video should be much less than with audio encoding to Dolby Digital. The encoding of sound in MPEG-1 Layer II format gives a sound comparable to Dolby Digital bitrate, but the quality of the compressed sound itself is inferior to Dolby Digital with the same bitrate.

Briefly about a lot

Now we can move on to a brief analysis of the most popular DVD authoring software. Like any other similar analysis, it is partially subjective, but nonetheless:

Ulead MediaStudio Pro 6.5- in terms of creating a DVD, it is very simple, practically does not have any degrees of freedom for the author, but therefore it does not have a development stage and any beginner can make a DVD disc on it.

Advantages:

No skills and knowledge required to create a DVD.

Speed \u200b\u200bof work - it takes 10-15 minutes to prepare the menu and you can record a disc.

Support VCD, SuperVCD, XSVCD.

Disadvantages:

The film should consist of only one file (not counting the short introductory one), and only the MPEG Program Stream format is supported (video + sound in one file).

No other video and sound formats are supported.

The menu cannot be voiced.

The menu can only contain frames from the movie as buttons and only to the place where these frames are taken from can be a transition.

SpruceUP  - entry level program. There are also few degrees of freedom, but slightly more than Ulead MediaStudio Pro 6.5. But with this program it is impossible to make a DVD disc only by mechanical pressing Next and you will have to perform several independent actions. Unfortunately, the developer of the Spruce Technologies program in 2001 was acquired by Apple and there will be no further development of this and a number of other Spruce programs.

Advantages:

Support for Dolby Digital (AC-3) audio. The program does not have its own encoder in Dolby Digital, but allows the use of ac3 files.

You can use the control buttons of your own design.

You can use any frame of the movie to indicate a chapter.

Disadvantages:

The film should consist of only one file, since the sequence of playing the files is not specified. At the end of each file, the menu returns.

It can make a disc incorrect for a household DVD player, which will normally play only on a computer DVD-ROM.

Without entering the menu, watching a movie is impossible.

Ulead DVD Movie Factory  - A more "advanced" version of the DVD Plug-in to Ulead MediaStudio Pro. It allows the use of several files, allows you to voice the menu. Has a built-in MPEG encoder. The rest is almost identical to the DVD plug-in.

Programs for advanced amateurs

Sonic DVDiT Professional Edition 2.5.2- This program, despite its simplicity, has a number of significant differences from entry-level programs.

Advantages:

No serious knowledge is required to create a DVD.

Support for Dolby Digital Stereo audio. Has a built-in audio encoder in this format.

A movie can consist of many files, and the playback sequence is easily determined by the user when creating the disc.

A hierarchical structure of several menus is allowed.

Watching the entire movie, including the opening clip (First Play), is possible without going to the menu.

Ability to specify the coordinates of chapters (chapters) through the timecode.

Disadvantages:

Does not support six-channel Dolby Digital AC-3 sound (i.e. 5.1).

Does not support motion menu.

Ulead DVD Workshop 1.3  - Outwardly, it looks like a program with many features of professional products, but in reality it can in no way be attributed to serious class programs.

Advantages:

Intuitive interface.

Sound support in LPCM format.

Each menu can have its own soundtrack.

Built-in encoder in MPEG.

You can use the control buttons, backgrounds, text, etc. own design.

To indicate the chapter (chapter), you can use any frame of the film or any other picture.

Motion menu supported.

Sound compression is supported in the Dolby Digital Stereo format when upgrading Workshop to version AC-3.

Disadvantages:

After playing the introductory clip, you always go to the menu.

On some DVD players, the menu does not work.

The menu view can only be pretty monotonous - rectangular windows for fragments of the video / still image of the film. A different look requires a noticeable amount of handmade work from the author.

Dazzle DVD Complete  - The program almost corresponds to Ulead DVD Workshop 1.3, but differs in some great opportunities for menu design. DVD Complete, on the other hand, is more difficult to understand than DVD Workshop.

Programs for professionals and very advanced enthusiasts

Sonic (formerly Daikin) ReelDVD 2.5.1 / 3.02  - a semi-professional level program. It operates with subpicture, therefore, the design capabilities of the disc are great.

Advantages:

It does not require serious knowledge to create a DVD.

Intuitive interface.

Built-in Dolby Digital Stereo encoder and the ability to use Dolby Digital 5.1.

Since the menu is created either in a graphic or in a video editor, the menu design is limited only by the imagination of the author.

A movie may consist of many files, and the playback sequence is determined by the user when creating the disc.

Disadvantages:

Requires an understanding of the principles of operation of a DVD player.

Mastering a program only by describing it is very difficult

Sonic (formerly Daikin) Scenarist NT 2.5 / 2.7 - a professional level program. Briefly, you can say so - everything can. There is only one drawback - the program is somewhat difficult to understand and master.

So what to work on?

This short review of DVD-Authoring programs, of course, does not claim to be complete, we talked only about the most famous programs on the market. A reasonable question arises - which program to choose to create your DVD-Video discs? In our opinion, there are 3 options for this choice:

There is no desire to spend more than 15 minutes creating a DVD-Video disc  - in this case, the best choice would be to use Ulead DVD Movie Factory. Everything is simple and clear, you don’t even need to think about anything.

I just want to make a movie disc, no menus need to be done, but the disc must be played in its entirety, without going to any menu  - In this option, it’s forgiven to just use Sonic DVDiT Professional Edition 2.5.2. Oddly enough, this program is no more complicated than entry-level programs, but it allows you to simply link several different clips and, making one symbolic (phantom) menu, simply put your movie on a DVD disc, easily ensuring its continuous viewing.

I'm not looking for easy ways, I want to make my DVD disc no less interesting than my movie on this disc  - in this case, only ReelDVD or Scenarist NT will allow you to create any design of your disk.

Regarding the last point, I would like to tell in more detail - in our opinion, ReelDVD covers 95% of the needs of both amateurs and a number of professionals to create their projects. Of course, Sonic Scenarist NT can do even more, but its interface is somewhat less intuitive and its features, which differ from ReelDVD, may never be required. Mastering ReelDVD, if necessary, will greatly facilitate the transition to Sonic Scenarist NT, since these programs are much similar and you can easily transfer your project from ReelDVD to Sonic Scenarist NT, and this is provided for by the authors of both programs.

Based on materials from the site radiolocman.ru, 2004

A free program for creating DVD-video images, and burning them to disk.

Everyone probably saw professionally made DVDs with all kinds of transitions and navigation menus. Have you ever had a question about how these menus are created? Would you like to try to do this yourself? Probably wanted (and more than once :)).

Today we will learn how to create and burn our own DVDs, which will be inferior in little to their professionally made "brothers." And one very good free program called help us in all of this. DVD Styler.

The program combines everything that is needed for DVD authoring (the so-called menu creation process) from scratch. And although it still does not reach professional decisions, a decent-looking disk allows you to create a drive with minimal time and effort. If we compare DVD Styler with paid analogues, then the closest in functionality to it will be ZC DVD Creator Platinum.

  Comparison of free DVDStyler DVD burning software with the ZC DVD Creator Platinum paid equivalent

With relatively similar functionality, DVD Styler weighs five times less than its paid likeness! Another plus is multilingualism, which greatly facilitates the work of the Russian-speaking user.

  Install DVDStyler

Download and install DVD Styler. In principle, the installation proceeds according to the standard scenario, however, there are small nuances in it. The most important hitch will be associated with the proposal to install the plugin for Internet Explorer and / or Mozilla Firefox - kikin.

If you agree to install this plugin, then your browser, based on the history of visited pages, will begin to offer you the "most interesting" information from various online resources. If you are able to find everything you are interested in yourself, I advise you to refuse to install kikin.

  DVDStyler Interface

When the installation procedure is completed, the program itself will start. The first (and, in principle, the only) thing you need to configure is the interface language.

Select "Russian" from the list and click "Ok". After that, you will see the program itself, which will offer to create a new one or open a finished project.

We choose the creation of a new one and set the required information: Disc name (optional), disc size (standard DVD or dual layer), video format (PAL / NTSC), aspect ratio and sound format of future films. Install as needed and click "Ok" to start work.

Let’s take a closer look at the program’s working window:

The menu bar at the top will be almost unnecessary to us, since all the necessary buttons are located on the toolbar (below). On the left is the file manager of the program, with which you can manage downloaded images and videos. Below is a kind of storyboard for navigating sections of a future DVD. The main space is occupied by the workspace with the display of the currently active menu item.

Create a menu for a DVD

When creating a new DVD, we have one ready-made menu on the storyboard. True, it is empty. Add some background image to it. Go to the "Background Images" tab and double-click on the picture you like. If the standard ones do not suit you, you can add any image from the computer.

To do this, go to the "File Manager" and find what you need. The picture can be prepared in advance in any graphic editor so that it contains ready-made labels and / or additional fragments that meet the general theme of the future DVD.

  Adding Movies

When we decide on a picture, we can start adding films to the project (although this could be done before choosing an image for the menu). This is done simply: click the "Add File" button and select the desired movie using Windows Explorer. It’s better to do this by expanding the program window to full screen.

Why? Because in this case, in the lower right corner, the timeline for filling the future disk will be visible. Be careful not to overdo it with the number of films!

So, the films have been added, within the allotted time, they are in time, now it's time to think about the menu. Right-click on it and select the "Properties" item.

  Sound design in the menu

Here we can add sound to our menu (if you want, of course). We’ll click on the button after the “Audio” field and select the desired music in the Explorer window that opens. You may be scared that only MP2 and AC3 files are specified in the formats. Just set this field to "All files" and you can add any MP3 or WAV melody.

Usually a DVD consists of several menus: the main one, and the episode menu for each movie (although the latter are not the main attribute). We will create a disk with just one main menu for an example.

  Button Creation

Go to the "Buttons" tab and we can add navigation keys to our menu by simply dragging the button you like directly from the list. I note that among the buttons there is a frame in which arbitrary frames from the movie “attached” to it will be displayed. Adding such frames significantly improves the overall appearance of the menu.

The first button defaults to "snap" to the first movie added. Let's see what you can do with it. Call the button context menu with the right mouse click. Here we are interested in two points: "Add" and "Properties". Thanks to the first, we can add a beautiful inscription (for example, the name of the film) using the items "Text" and "Text with shadow."

There should be no problems here, so let’s take a closer look at Properties.

Here are all the settings for a particular button. In the first section, we can set the action that will be performed when the button is clicked. This can be a transition to a specific part of the DVD, or, for example, playing a specific melody or switching to another menu. Section "View" is responsible for the design of the button.

In the case of a frame, we can install any image from a computer into it or allow us to set an arbitrary frame directly from the movie (you can also manually specify the time of the desired frame). Here we also indicate the level of transparency of the inserted image, the width of the frame and its color. The location and size is best adjusted with the mouse.

Above, we looked at how to add text with a movie title. However, the name can also be written on the button. We’ll select the appropriate one by dragging it to the working window and write the desired name in the properties. Then we’ll “tie” this button to one of the films in “Actions”, and the job is done!

In the same way, we create buttons to go to the rest of the films, and we get a pretty beautiful and functional menu:

Since all films may not fit on one page, sometimes it’s very useful to make another one by linking it to the first cross-link. You can also add additional images if you haven’t bothered with this beforehand.

  Saving a project and burning a disc

Now that everything is ready, you can proceed to the last stage - conservation. You can save a project, a disc image, or directly burn a DVD. If we do not want to rest on our laurels, click the Burn button on the toolbar and transfer to the next window:

This is the "last bastion" DVD Styler "a. Whatever you choose, in any case you have to wait (and for quite some time). After all, all files are first converted to DVD format, and only then can be written to disk. video you need free space on your hard drive (about half the size of the project on DVD).

You can reduce the size only if you select "Create ISO image" (probably the word "image" was incorrectly translated). If you chose this option, you will also need to specify the folder for saving the image. You can also activate the "Preview" after the DVD is generated by checking the corresponding option.

After all the settings, finally press the "Start" button and wait for it to be ready:

  findings

As you can see, creating your own DVDs is not so difficult if you use good software. Although DVD Styler does not have some features that have paid analogs, it is quite convenient to use, and there are a lot of functions in it.

The plus is that DVD Styler allows you to carry out all the manipulations on creating a disc within a single window, which significantly saves time and effort when searching for the right tools. I wish you successful and beautiful projects that will give you joy at every viewing!

P.S. It is allowed to freely copy and cite this article provided that an open, active link to the source is provided and Ruslan Tertyshny’s authorship is preserved.