There are a few ways of converting video into DVD. You may use just hardware or a combination of hardware and software. This report covers consumer and prosumer level equipment - stuff anyone can buy off the shelf in computer stores.
HARDWARE SOLUTIONS
There are many brands of dedicated desktop DVD recorders e.g. Philips, Panasonic, Pioneer, etc.
These recorders do an excellent job of transfering your video in realtime into either DVD-R, DVD-RW or DVD+RW blank media. Most allow you to create simple menus that will be more than adequate for home and business use. Some even allow you to do simple edits to remove unwanted portions of your video.
The major advantages of these recorders are speed and consistent quality. Prices started out on the high side but has been consistently cheaper from year to year.
HARDWARE & SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS
This is a more tedious method of creating DVDs. Here's what you'll need:
- A reasonably fast computer (1GHz or better) with at least 20GB of free harddisk space for each DVD you want to create.
- DVD-Burner. This allows you to "burn" or write your DVD files onto DVD-R, DVD-RW or DVD+RW.
- A video capture card to transfer your video footage into the computer to generate the required files for the DVD. To transfer digital video, you will need a card that has a Firewire connection (IEEE1394-1955). For analog video you will need a capture card that has a composite video input and/or an S-Video input.
- DVD Authoring software that allows you to arrange your movie clips, create simple menus and navigation. Most video capture cards that boast of DVD creation capabilities incude a DVD Authoring program. It might be a good idea to confirm this before you spend your money on the video capture card.
Here's how a DVD is made with a basic system:
