Recommendations needed for DVD Authoring software

Help/How To
#1

I’ve been looking for an easy to use editing program, and found Shotcut. But disappointed that it can’t burn a finished DVD. Instead, you need a DVD Authoring program.

This research is for a friend of mine, who needs as simple of a solution as possible. He’s definitely not computer literate at this time.

I looked at the program suggested in the pop-up for DVD ntsc. A tar.gz file to download is definitely not viable for someone using Windows and would have no idea what to do with it.

So I’m looking for as simple of a program to write the Shotcut vob file to a finished, bootable DVD. And, free. :slightly_smiling_face:

Web searches will list a lot of “free” software to create a DVD from the .vob file. But when you go to the site, it’s bait and switch. The download and/or trial is free, but not the program.

This needs to be as simple to use as possible.

Any recommendations?

#2

So you’re searching for free software only?

That’s something only the user can declare.

There are many commercial applications available, depends how much you want to spend.

See ► https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_DVD_authoring_applications

#3

You can still get DeepBurner (Freeware).
Chose either the installable or portable version here ► http://www.deepburner.com/?r=download

#4

Hi, Steve,

At this point in time, free only. I hate spending other people’s money, especially when they don’t have the knowledge to make an intellilgent decision.

You can make general conclusions as to the simplicity of a program. I think we’d agree that WordPad is simple when compared to MS Word. But, if the software is comparable, such as MS Word and WordPerfect, only the user can make the decision as to which program is simpler.

ATM, I’m looking for WordPads! LOL

Thanks for the web link, had it up already.

Is there a tutorial somewhere on using this forum? One of my biggest frustrations with forums is everyone does something different. I get tired of trying to figure out how each one works, so I put off asking questions until I give up on trying to figure out a program. :frowning:

#5

Some people find Word easier as is it less restrictive. Horses for courses was my point.

Deepburner has been around since the WinXP days, it’s safe and simple enough.

No, there’s no ‘forum’ tutorials. This one is pretty simple and intuitive I think?
There’s some FAQs however
► https://forum.shotcut.org/faq

#6

I checked out DeepBurner, hasn’t been updated since 2006, and has no entry for creating a video DVD. Data, audio, and ISO files only.

I finally found 2 that work. What’s nice about them, in general, you just input the files there, avoiding Shotcut, which would be good for my friend’s learning curve. But, one will not import images, only videos. And the other, doesn’t understand the Sony .mts format.

I had found one that I thought was perfect, but it crashed 3 times burning the DVD, and some features would work one time, and not another. So, gave up on it.

#7

This is why you bite the bullet and buy something reliable.

Remember that DVD resolution is very low (The highest resolution that the DVD format can support is 720 x 480 pixels), so make sure your video files are prepared to suit and avoid problems.

#8

True about buying something. But, for the learning curve period, free is better until he has a handle on what he wants to do in the future.

DVD format is the best I can burn, and also should suffice for his learning curve.

He’s got a Blue-Ray player, but no burner. And I honestly don’t know if he’ll want to get that level of result or not.

#9

If you’re still looking for software you can always check here https://alternativeto.net/software/dvd-flick/ it’s usually my first stop if i’m looking to replace an application.

#10

Hi, D_S,

I keep forgetting about that site! LOL

I found DVD-Flick from one of my searches. I really like the UI for my friend. I did a quick test, couldn’t drag and drop the files from Windows Explorer, which would be nice, but not mandatory.

I’m going to go back and take another look at it.

#11

I use DVDStyler myself to put the MP4s I edited with Shotcut onto a DVD. Open Source so it is free.

1 Like
#12

Hi, Tachman,

I tried DVDSTyler, and at least 10 others, to find something that fit this situation. I’ve forgotten why, but DVDStyler wasn’t one of the “finishers”.

I thought I’d found the perfect program, or at least as perfect as you can expect to find without writing your own, but when that program was “pushed” with a lot of files, it failed. Windows 7, 8.1, and 10. Failing on 10 did not really surprise me, it’s an old minimum requirements system, just 2GB of RAM. 7 and 8.1 did disappoint me, those systems have 8GB of RAM. Unfortunately, nothing on the website about minimum hardware specs.

I did sent the company the requested log files.

My friend’s computer has 16Gb of RAM, Windows 10, and it may run fine there. At the moment, I don’t have that answer. His files are Sony mts video and jpg.

So I’m going to take him about 4 programs that I think he’ll be able to use with some tutoring. Shotcut is one of the packages. The almost perfect program understands mts files, some of the others do not. It would have done what he wants using a single program. All of the other potential solutions require the use of 2 programs.

I don’t do video editing myself, but my thought is Shotcut would do itself a favor by including the ability to burn discs directly.

#13

I gave up DVD video several years ago, but if someone would ask me for this old format, I would use DVDStyler, which is free, cross-platform and Open Source, and can burn discs directly. The only drawback – the last time I installed it on Windows – was avoiding crapware with the Windows installer.
Most provided menu backgrounds, buttons and graphic gadgets are clumsy or outdated, but you can use graphics of your own instead.
To me, disc burning is not a priority for Shotcut. Though I’m an old-timer and I still use a lot of blu-ray and some data DVD myself, I think that optical media are dramatically declining. My children (who are in their forties;) are no longer able to burn CDs, DVDs or blu-ray properly: they use HDs or USB keys.

#14

Hi, Francois_C

Ah, another “old-timer”!! Nice to meet you.

I learned a long time ago, that what fits Jack does not always fit Jill. I can’t begin to tell you how many word processors I tried in the 8-bit days before finding one that I liked. Not what someone else liked. So I try to find software that seems to fit the individual best, I don’t just automatically say “You have to have XXXXX”. And no, you aren’t saying that.

I have never, ever liked using MS Word, although there was a time when I used it at work. And, I don’t use it now. I kept looking for “the one that fit me”, and that’s the one I use now.

I understand DVD burning isn’t a priority for Shotcut from your perspective. But, I’m looking for something that provides the features that are important/needed/wanted by my friend. If Shotcut was a commercial program, that’s an aspect that would need to be taken in to consideration, if they wanted to be successful.

My biggest disappointment with open source software is the attitude of some developers that a user’s needs/desires, especially when it’s one that supposed to work and doesn’t, is unimportant to them. I experienced that a couple of times. I don’t use those pieces of software anymore. In fact, I bought commercial programs instead.

#15

Hi snowshed
Nice to find another old-timer. I did no notice your answer before. Sorry.
I don’t like MS Office either, and I no longer use commercial software because they install too much bloatware. I prefer LibreOffice, despite its spellchecker is not as good as Word’s.
I think you are very severe about FOSS developers. Some of them are a bit megalomaniac (many developers are, as everybody with some sort of power or knowledge), but not shotcut developers: I noticed that several features were introduced and may bugs were patched after a post in this forum.
But DVD video is an outdated low-resolution format, and I can understand that a “young” video software like Shotcut prefers to focus on newer technologies.
Don’t you have any blu-ray reader that can read directly an mkv or mp4 (or even mpg) file without a DVD or blu-ray structure on the disc?

#19

I recommend Ulead DVD Movie Factory 6 Plus for authoring Blu-ray and DVD. The motion menus you can create are awesome.
The only thing you have to be careful about in Shotcut is that the advanced section of the MPEG-2 export presets have the default video bitrate set too low. When files created by this low preset are imported to Movie Factory it reads the Media Properties as 0 kbps, and this causes an unspecified error. You can’t go wrong if you set the preset to anywhere between 4 - 8 Mbps.