DVD Burning Software Recommendation

[cspan37421]

I just added a DVD-RW drive to my PC and as it turns out, the drive was from OEM equipment, which means no box, no disc, etc. I don't know what software to use to create DVDs. Given that the thing didn't come with Nero or Roxio, what do you recommend?

I am running Win XP SP2 on a Dell with 2GB ram and about 250gb between 2 hard drives. Generally I favor open source/free stuff (e.g., OpenOffice) but am not averse to paying for clearly superior/worthwhile benefits. One reason I seldom do is that I rarely take advantage of the higher end features in such programs. Usually a simple one will do, such as those bundled in Windows, or thrown in for free with hardware.

My planned use for the drive is archiving/backup of my user files, and for transferring camcorder movies to DVD.

cspan

[Indoor66]

Check this out:

http://www.nch.com.au/burn/

[cspan37421]

Thanks, Indoor66. Do you use the Burn Plus software? Screen shots make it look like a very intuitive interface, worth the $$.

As I was putting away my DVD-ROM (the drive I replaced with the burner) I found that, oddly, burning software had been packaged with it, even though it was not a burner. It is ULEAD's VideoStudio 9. Maybe I'll give that a try and see whether it works and is not a pain to use.

[Indoor66]

Thanks, Indoor66. Do you use the Burn Plus software? Screen shots make it look like a very intuitive interface, worth the $$.

As I was putting away my DVD-ROM (the drive I replaced with the burner) I found that, oddly, burning software had been packaged with it, even though it was not a burner. It is ULEAD's VideoStudio 9. Maybe I'll give that a try and see whether it works and is not a pain to use.

I use it and am very happy with it. Easy, efficient and reliable. Just like the Blue Devils!

[Karl Beem]

Nero.

[blazindw]

Nero.

Nero is hands down the best. Been using it for almost 9 years.

[Clipsfan]

Nero is hands down the best. Been using it for almost 9 years.

I've read some complaints about the more recent version of Nero, though (7.0 I believe) and many people like v6.0 better. I had 6.0 for a long time and liked it. I currently don't have a good one so let me know what you end up using and if you like it.

[cspan37421]

I spent a bit of time today working with a series of short video clips using Video Studio 9 SE, which had (ironically) been bundled with my old internal DVD-ROM drive.

I learned a few things. First, that VS9 SE, while complex, is a crippled version of the full-scale Ulead Video Studio 9. Also, that VS 11 Plus is the current version, though version 9 probably dates to the era of my PC (P4 3.2 GHz 1.5 GB RAM, 240 G across 2 hard drives). Basically a big Dell tower that I've added to over the years.

I found VS 9 SE to be perplexing, i.e., anything but intuitive. Capturing video was no problem. What to do with it, and how to do it - that's where I fumbled around a lot. I just turned 40 and video editing seems like a steep learning curve. A whole new vocab too - and file formats to understand. It looks like VS 11+ would do what I want and I could upgrade to it for $60, but I suspect I'd not use 98% of the features. I think the main ones I'd want is the automatic transfer wizard (for the whole DV tape) and the ability to overlay soundtrack from MP3. The SE edition seems to want to have audio in WAV, and I'm not keen on re-ripping my MP3 library just for that purpose.

I looked at Express Burn and it was not clear to me if separate audio overlay was even a possibility. Indoor66, do you know? And can you edit clips? It does have a very nice and clean interface, though, I have to give them that.

I just looked at Windows Movie Maker 2.1, which is buried in XP SP2, and I actually found it highly intuitive, with very nice video, title, and transition effects. Probably a lot fewer than VS 11+ but I could see using what it had, and not needing others.

I looked at Nero reviews on Amazon and newegg, and they looked decidedly mixed. I looked for free/open source stuff too, as I am a fan of Audacity (though I use only a small % of its capability). I didn't find anything that struck me as the video editing counterpart to Audacity's audio editing strength.

If I used movie maker, I would simply then need something to burn. VS9 SE will burn the edited AVI, I think, so I might not need anything else to make a video DVD. But for a data DVD, I'd still need something - like express burn or some open source app.

I didn't plan on being the king of media in my household, but I have to admit, at times like this, Mac users really get their money's worth. But for the last 3 years I haven't needed iMovie, so no regrets on getting the Dell tower.

Thanks everyone. I continue to welcome feedback and advice on this. I may repost later down the road when I fill up a DV tape and set about to edit and transfer it.

[cspan37421]

just an update, after having to send in my PC's dvd burner for warranty repair (yes, they actually repaired it, rather than replaced it).

First, I found that using either Windows Movie Maker or VideoStudio resulted in gigantic file sizes - even a 4 min clip of my daughter's dance recital was too large for bellsouth's email servers (It was 59 mb). I suppose I could still do video editing and make an entire DVD but it seems like it would probably take forever. I've got a decent speed processor (intel 3.2 GHz) but it is not dual-core or anything, and is 3.5 yrs old, so it might be really slow for video.

However, I did use the burner to do backup to DVD, and I used this free software:

http://cdburnerxp.se/

I had to install the ".net framework" as part of the deal. They do have a runtime version but they say they don't support it, so I went ahead and installed .net, whatever that does. (not sure, don't care, so long as it doesn't mess me up).

Made one coaster out of 4 discs. It does take awhile to burn a DVD, and I suspect the computer's power management got in the way on the one.