Overview

Learn how a little planning can help you quickly and easily author a DVD from your home video.

Simplify Your Home DVD Workshop with a Checklist

Good planning is the foundation of any successful project, and it's especially important when authoring a new DVD. Burning the video to disc is just one part of the equation -- the authoring process also includes collecting all the elements of a DVD and mapping them into an interactive structure. That might sound a little daunting at first, but the following checklist will give you some basic, easy-to-follow guidelines that can help you navigate your project.

Planning Your Project

Before you begin authoring your DVD, you should consider a couple items that will help you determine if you're ready to get started.

First, make sure your PC is up to the task of authoring a DVD. Basically, you'll need a PC with an installed DVD burner (or a compatible external DVD burner) and enough processing power, storage, and memory to install and run the authoring software. To be sure your PC has the right mix of hardware, check the software packing or user manual to see the vendor's requirements for the authoring software you've chosen.

Also consider what kind of DVD you want to create. If you're using SD (standard definition) or HD (high definition) video, you can author a common SD DVD playable in most DVD players and PC drives using almost any DVD creation software. However, if you're using HD video, you may want to create a DVD in the AVCHD (Advanced Video Codec High Definition) that's playable in compatible Blu-ray Disc™ players or the Playstation^® 3 gaming system. To create an AVCHD disc, you'll need to use DVD authoring software that supports the AVCHD disc format.

If your PC makes the grade, take some time to develop a general storyline for your DVD. A good DVD is one where the menus, transitions, and audio work together with the video to give your story a good flow. One way you can plan how to best put these pieces together is to write a storyboard. You can make the storyboard as detailed as you wish, but even a simple outline will help you prepare a clear, entertaining presentation.

A storyboard will also help you establish the navigation for your DVD. Think of your DVD's navigation like that of a Web site: if you can't find your way around then the whole experience can be a little frustrating. If your DVD's navigational path is too complex or doesn't offer a way to quickly get back to the main screen, you might leave your viewers confused. Simply put, a little planning can reap big rewards.

Finally, have you collected and converted the media files you'll need to complete your DVD? The authoring software you use will likely help with converting your audio and video files, but if you plan to use photos or other images you'll probably need to take some extra steps to make sure that they're in the proper size and format. And to help keep things easy to find, you may want to put copies of all your audio, video, photos, and graphics together in one special project folder.

Step-By-Step DVD Authoring

Every DVD authoring program is slightly different, but most include a main project window that includes sections for your assets (video, audio, and any other files), a timeline, and a preview window. If you're completely new to DVD authoring, you should take advantage of any help or tutorials specific to your authoring software. You might also check the software vendor's Web site for answers to some of the most frequently asked questions from other users. These resources can be instrumental in planning and help you avoid common mistakes.

Now let's take a look at the general steps you'll take to author and finalize your DVD, no matter which software you use:

1. In your authoring software of choice, start a new DVD project and save it with a descriptive name.
2. Select the DVD format and aspect ratio for your project, if needed.
3. Import all of your formatted media assets, such as videos, audio, photos, menus, and so on, into the authoring environment.

If you're importing video from a camcorder, this task can be very simple: most camcorders can transfer video footage to a PC via a USB connection using the software that was bundled with the camcorder. If you want to create a DVD of video stored on a VHS tape you'll need to use a separate video capture and converter device. The converter connects to a VHS player and creates a digital copy of your analog VHS tape, then sends it to your PC via a USB or other connection.

4. Using your storyboard as a guide, create the appropriate number of menus, video tracks, and slide shows for your DVD in the authoring environment. (In Sony DVD Architect™, for example, getting started is as simple as selecting a menu in the Project Overview window.) Then, link or associate the media elements of your project with their corresponding video track, slide show, or menu. Often, this is an easy drag-and-drop process of placing the video tracks on the timeline.
5. Select the first-play item or menu, and then link all items and buttons for your navigation scheme. As is common with many commercial DVDs, you may want to make the menus loop (play repeatedly) until a button is chosen by the viewer.
6. Choose an end action for the video. This will direct your DVD will return to the main menu after it has completed playing.
7. Save your project. If your software has a preview feature, check to make sure that all menus and buttons work properly. This is also a good time to fully test your navigation scheme and make sure there are no "dead ends."
8. Format your project -- a process also known as rendering -- and indicate the location where you would like the software to store the rendered files. Keep in mind that the rendering process, which encodes the movie into a DVD-compatible format, can be quite lengthy. Depending on your computer's processor, memory, and whether you have any other programs running, rendering could take as much as an hour or longer.

The final step is to burn your DVD! Your DVD authoring software will likely include the ability to burn your DVD project once you're finished authoring it. This is usually a simple one-click process. However, even though you can burn as many copies as you'd like for friends and family without having to sit through the rendering process each time, expect as much as 30 minutes or more to burn each DVD.