The Creation Engine Guide to Making DVDs on your PC
by Stephen Lai


I love watching movies on my DVD player. Although I have had a DVD player for over two years, I am as excited as ever to watch new movies released on DVD every month. Now my appreciation for DVDs is even greater, because with DVD recording technology, I can make my own DVDs for everyone to see.

You can use the DVD format for many creative projects, including making your own home video DVD, making a DVD-based photo album, creating a DVD-based yearbook for your school, and showcasing your graphic design, 3D animation, and digital video creations. People have purchased over 64 million DVD players and over 100 million computer-based DVD-ROM drives worldwide, so you will have hundreds of millions of potential viewers for your DVD!

For the most efficient DVD authoring, you will need three pieces of hardware: a digital camcorder, a 1394 (firewire) card to connect your camcorder to your computer, and a DVD recordable drive. Many mid-to-high end computers include preinstalled 1394 ports and a preinstalled DVD recordable drive. Whether you purchase a computer with a DVD recordable drive or purchase a DVD recordable drive and install it yourself, some DVD authoring software is usually included with the drive. This included DVD authoring software may be enough for you, but if you want to create richer and more flexible DVDs, then there are several products for you to consider:

BASIC DVD AUTHORING
		Pinnacle Expression $39 (MSRP $49.99)	Pinnacle Expression is the quickest and easiest way to watch your home movies or digital pictures on DVD. Simply connect your DV camcorder to your PC, and Pinnacle Expression lets you capture video or digital still pictures, add menus and titles and burn CDs or DVDs that play in your set top DVD Player.
		Pinnacle Instant CD/DVD $79 (MSRP $99.99)	Designed to meet and exceed all your disc burning requirements, Pinnacle Systems Instant CD/DVD Suite lets you create, burn and copy any kind of CD or DVD media--quickly and easily.
		Pinnacle Instant Copy $39 (MSRP $49.99)	Making copies of your DVDs and CDs for personal use has never been faster or easier. Featuring a friendly interface and revolutionary duplication technology, Pinnacle Systems Instant Copy burns perfect copies every time--and at unbeatable speeds! Itís the smart way to clone DVDs, copy DVDs to CD, and backup CDs.
		Roxio Easy CD & DVD Creator 6 $79 (MSRP $99.95)	Easy CD & DVD Creator 6 is Roxio's new Digital Media Suite! Rip, play, edit, organize and burn your digital music with new AudioCentral. Preserve memories in electronic albums, create photo slide shows, print or e-mail photos with new PhotoSuite.
		Ulead DVD MovieFactory 2 $33 (MSRP $49.95)	With your own videos, make DVDs and Video CDs that look and act just like Hollywood DVDs to share with friends, family and business associates. Ulead DVD MovieFactory 2 uses the latest in DVD technology to give you professional results, while making the process fun and easy.
		Ulead DVD PictureShow 2 $33 (MSRP $49.95)	Ulead DVD PictureShow 2--Digital Camera Suite is the complete photo sharing solution for your digital camera Enhance photos, keep track of all your media, and use your CD or DVD burner to create slideshows that you can watch on your computer or TV!
ADVANCED DVD AUTHORING
		Pinnacle Impression DVD-Pro $199 (MSRP $599.99)	Impression DVD-Pro is the ultimate in professional DVD authoring. Everything you need for creating compelling, interactive, and professional DVD titles in one amazing package! Based on the well-known time-line editing principle, Impression DVD-Pro is as intuitive as it is complete in professional features.
		Pinnacle Edition 5 $249 (MSRP $699.99)	Pinnacle Edition is the first professional non-linear video editing application to utilize both the CPU and GPU to provide more than 1000 real-time 2D/3D effects, advanced color correction, chroma/luma key and more.
		Ulead DVD Workshop $179 (MSRP $299.00)	Ulead DVD Workshop is powerful, yet flexible DVD authoring software designed for both professionals and enthusiasts. With Ulead DVD Workshop's advanced technology, gain the precise control needed to create DVDs that command the attention they deserve.
DVD AUTHORING WITH ANALOG AND DIGITAL VIDEO INPUT AND OUTPUT
		DV500 DVD w/Adobe Premiere 6.0 $479 (MSRP $699.00)	With over 100,000 sold worldwide, The Pinnacle DV500 is the world's best selling video editing solution in its class, and has won awards and acclaim from the industry's top journalists. Now Pinnacle has made it even better and added even more real time features designed to streamline the DVD creation process. The DV500 includes a PCI card and a break-out box that includes ports for both digital and analog video/audio input and output!
		Edition DV500 $699 (MSRP $799.99)	Pinnacle Edition DV500 is the new professional video editor, built for Windows 2000 and XP. Edition is built with DVD output in mind with integrated MPEG-2 encoding and the ability to print straight to SVCD or DVD from the timeline.
		Pro-ONE RTDV $899 (MSRP $1099.99)	From Wimbledon to hit movies like Gladiator, you see Pinnacle's Emmy award-winning technology on the screen every day. With Pinnacle Pro-ONE RTDV, you have a fully professional PC based video editing system for home and business made by people who make video gear for Hollywood and the TV networks!
DVD VIDEO FILE PREPARATION
		Discreet cleaner 6 for MAC $199 (MSRP $599.00)	Discreet cleaner 6 for the Apple Macintosh computer is the industry standard for professional video encoding and the indispensable complement to Apple Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere and Avid Xpress DV. With cleaner software, video editors are only a click away from delivering the highest quality video output – every time.
		Discreet cleaner XL WIN $199 (MSRP $599.00)	Introducing Discreet cleaner XL software packed with all the tools you need to transform ordinary media into something electrifying. High quality filters and total control of the industry's leading encoders let you create stunning Windows Media 9 and QuickTime 6 video.
TOP-RATED DVD-R/DVD-RW DRIVE
		Sony DRU 500AX Internal DVD±RW Drive $329 (MSRP $349.99)	Sony takes the risk out of buying a DVD recorder by bringing all the popular formats into a single drive. The amazing new DRU-500AX burns DVD-R/-RW, DVD+RW/+R, and even CD-R/CD-RW discs. The internal EIDE drive includes an impressive, industry standard software bundle and is compatible with Windows 98SE/2000, Windows Millennium Edition and Windows XP operating systems.
BOOK
		DVD Authoring and Production $38 (MSRP $54.95)	This 477 page book reveals everything you need to publish content in DVD-Video, DVD-ROM, and WebDVD formats - from project conception to replication and distribution. Organize your projects, execute them, and distribute them efficiently with a complete understanding of the theory and the practice.

Online DVD Information Resources
You can learn more about DVDs and making your own DVDs with these online resources:

DVD Demystified FAQ
This is the official Internet DVD FAQ for the rec.video.dvd Usenet newsgroups, updated on a regular basis.

DVD Formats - Eug's DVD Recordable FAQ
This article on AnandTech explains the difference between the various DVD recordable formats.

DVD Players Compatibility List
This useful database on VCDHelp.com lists the compatibility of the various DVD formats with hundreds of different DVD players.

Interview with the father of the DVD
An interview with Toshiba's Koji Hase, the man who has driven the success of the DVD format, first as an advanced developer with Toshiba, and then as the chairman of the DVD Forum.