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Will try here - newbie on DVD authoring

M

monkeybagel

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jul 24, 2011
1,144
62
United States
Posted this in the Digital Video section and got zero response, so thought I would try my friends here-


Hi All,

I was looking to do some tinkering on the side to toss together a decent DVD for my own use to play in my car. The car I have has an OEM navigation and DVD/DL-Video playback capability. It is in the dash of the car, so it is not a rear seat entertainment unit.

I have never done much at all in the area of video editing with the exception of cropping a video and perhaps adding a sound track in iMovie for personal entertainment.

I really love music and own several concert DVDs, which is what the DVD player is used for. I obviously don't "watch" them while driving (it blanks out the picture while moving), but may when at a stop glance down at it.

What is the best way to author a DVD to take the tracks from various sources (pressed DVDs, perhaps YT), divide them up into chapters, and compile the DVD? I have the iLife 11 Suite but I feel as if I will need more powerful software to make it look decent.

Anyone have any suggestions on where to get started?

BTW, I own iLife '11 and Toast 10, but it doesn't seem like these applications do Chapter splitting well? I assume that I will need to get all the video in the correct format using Handbrake, etc., the author the DVD chapters and menus from there. What would be a good application to do the DVD Authoring? Does FCPX perform any of these functions?

The menus are not all that important as long as the chapters are created properly and the aspect ratio is maintained.

Thank you!
 
If you just want to rip, then you really don't need to spend $$ on FCP or X. Just use the tools that are around:


Handbrake, which is free, will rip all expect BRD disks.

MKV will convert BRD's ready for HB

If you DO want to edit these things, then yes FC will do the job, but it's a lot of money to spend on a hobby, more of a pro tool.
 
Macman45 said:
If you just want to rip, then you really don't need to spend $$ on FCP or X. Just use the tools that are around:


Handbrake, which is free, will rip all expect BRD disks.

MKV will convert BRD's ready for HB

If you DO want to edit these things, then yes FC will do the job, but it's a lot of money to spend on a hobby, more of a pro tool.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply.

What about making the chapters, etc, so songs are divided in a concert like an audio CD? I may pull some stuff from YouTube as well since the resolution would be nearly indistinguishable on the navigation-size screen. If the audio was bad I could replace that with one from a CD.

Like I said, just dabbling and nothing important, but an interest of mine.

Thanks for your help.
 
monkeybagel said:
Thanks for the reply.

What about making the chapters, etc, so songs are divided in a concert like an audio CD? I may pull some stuff from YouTube as well since the resolution would be nearly indistinguishable on the navigation-size screen. If the audio was bad I could replace that with one from a CD.

Like I said, just dabbling and nothing important, but an interest of mine.

Thanks for your help.
Click to expand...

I guess you will need FCP or similar....Cheaper options:

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/top-6-free-video-editors-mac-os/


I can't vouch for these, as I use pro stuff, but it wouldn't hurt to try the freebies first and see if they do what you require.:)
 
I use Adobe Premiere and Encore for that sort of thing... but you're talking WAY too much money to spend on a hobby.

I have FCP X and Compressor, but I don't like them nearly as much, and therefore have not taken the time to learn what they can do.

Wow, this is a really useless post. Sorry. :eek:
 
Doesn't your car's DVD player support MP3? Mine does. My 6 year-old one did too.

So all you do is RIP the song tracks and burn them on a DVD ROM. Chapters are delimitated via folders and most MP3 able players support pretty deep folder hierarchies. The DVD player itself will have several or many "animations" to choose from depending on the model and typically there is also a "Random" setting that will play one for awhile and then switch to another.

You don't need any commercial software for this. Handbreak or iTunes to rip and OS X, or iTunes, or Burn to burn them.
 
Ha, I didn't even think of just ripping the audio and burning to mp3. That would absolutely be the way to go, if you don't plan to watch the video anyway. Super easy.
 
for the one step easy type deal, i used to use i dvd. I use Toast now. When there are sectors and menus, Dvd studio pro is pretty sweet
 
d-m-a-x said:
for the one step easy type deal, i used to use i dvd. I use Toast now. When there are sectors and menus, Dvd studio pro is pretty sweet
Click to expand...
I will look at that... thanks!

----------
Macman45 said:
That's what I thought...OP surely doesn't need to spend $$$ on Pro stuff..:)
Click to expand...

I do want to have the video of the concert on there though - you can watch it at less than 10km/h or at a stop, which is sort of nice, and not dangerous enough to be distracting.
 
If you are saying what come with iLife is not adequate, then you need a pro solution, FCPX is typical and now stable.

I was where you were once like 10 years ago and took the jump and have never looked back. Although the pro apps may be way overkill, they are the only next step available. At one time there were a few other intermediate options, but now its either the pretty good iLife tools or the pro stuff.

FCPX has a 30 day free trial. $300 is not bad for us that used to pay close to $600 for less capability. Educational store discounts can be substantial.

FCPX is suppose to be able to do this:

Export and burn DVD, AVCHD disc, and Blu-ray disc.3
Create Chapter Markers for use with DVD, Blu-ray disc, and QuickTime file. Adjust poster frame separately from marker location.
Apple-designed menus for DVDs and animated menus for Blu-ray discs.

I don't use FCPX, I use FCP and DVDSP of a few years ago. Still works well enough for me.

Oh if you are happy with the movies you can create in iMovie, perhaps check out DVD creator http://www.wondershare.com/pro/mac-dvd-creator.html
They have a free trial offer.
 
Last edited:
ColdCase said:
If you are saying what come with iLife is not adequate, then you need a pro solution, FCPX is typical and now stable.

I was where you were once like 10 years ago and took the jump and have never looked back. Although the pro apps may be way overkill, they are the only next step available. At one time there were a few other intermediate options, but now its either the pretty good iLife tools or the pro stuff.

FCPX has a 30 day free trial. $300 is not bad for us that used to pay close to $600 for less capability. Educational store discounts can be substantial.

FCPX is suppose to be able to do this:

Export and burn DVD, AVCHD disc, and Blu-ray disc.3
Create Chapter Markers for use with DVD, Blu-ray disc, and QuickTime file. Adjust poster frame separately from marker location.
Apple-designed menus for DVDs and animated menus for Blu-ray discs.

I don't use FCPX, I use FCP and DVDSP of a few years ago. Still works well enough for me.

Oh if you are happy with the movies you can create in iMovie, perhaps check out DVD creator http://www.wondershare.com/pro/mac-dvd-creator.html
They have a free trial offer.
Click to expand...


Thank you for the concise answer. I downloaded FCPX trial and will install it this weekend. If I can afford a Mac Pro I guess I can afford some pro apps, right? ;)
 
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