Create your own DVD, as easy as One, Two, Three (Tmpgenc DVD Author 1.5)

Member Name: sandemp

Product:	Tmpgenc DVD Author 1.5
Date:	07/11/05 (1315 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy DVD creation | Built in burning engine | Can use files from DVD recorders (VR)

Disadvantages: No motion menus | Need to encode AVIs before using

Having a DVD recorder has many advantages, including being able to compile my own discs from various TV series. Although I could use the menus that come on my recorder, I find them a little boring, especially the ones from my Panasonic recorder which are completely text based. So the question facing me was how could I create my own DVD menus, and yet still keep the quality of the recordings. An added complication, was that I would record these programs on DVD-RAM discs that use a special kind of recording format called VR.

After a little research on the internet I found a DVD Authoring program that fitted my needs perfectly, not only could it extract separate programs from a DVD-RAM disc, but it could do the same with any non-copy write protected DVD and even create DVD file systems from films that I had previously encoded into the MPG2 format.

And the name of this program TMPGEnc DVD Author from Pegasys which is available as a time-limited demo version and literally makes creating your own DVDs as easy as one, two, three.

---Getting TMPGEnc DVD Author---

You can download the installation program from http://www.pegasys-inc.com/en/product/tda.html after agreeing to a licensing agreement. The file size is a reasonable 12.8MB and took me far less than 10 minutes to download, although it is occasionally slower at busy times.

---Installation---

Once I had downloaded the file, and given it a quick scan with my anti-virus program (I'm a little paranoid about virus), it was an extremely easy task to install the actual program onto my system. Perhaps I should tell you what system requirements the program has :

Windows 2000 or XP (sorry no other OS is supported) - I'm running XP Home

Pentium 3 800MHz and above (Pentium 4 recommended) - I'm running this program on an Athlon 2600+ and a Pentium 530 (3000MHz)

256MB RAM - Both computers have 1024MB RAM

20MB Free HDD Space for program (5 GB and above for DVD) - Both computers have many times this amount of space.

1024*768 Screen Resolution and above - Both computer displays are running at this resolution

HDD Format NFTS - It is actually possible to run this on a HDD formatted in FAT32 as I am doing so.

---First Use---

Once the program was installed it was time to open it up for the first time, no re-start was required which meant I was ready to go straight away. On opening, you are informed that this is a trial version and is fully functional for thirty days (which is plenty of time to see if this program is going to work for you), if you wish to purchase a serial key before this time you can, but I would wait the thirty days. Until you register just click on the trial button and you're ready to start creating your first DVD which can be easily done in three easy steps, which are source set-up, create menu and output.

---Source Set-up---

This is where you tell the program which video files you want included on your DVD. There are restrictions on the types of files that you can use, so I'll tell you which ones are valid.

MPG1 : These are video files that may have been created for VCDs, and are normally of quite poor quality. You can get much longer runtimes with them, but the audio will probably need to be re-encoded which means it will take longer.

MPG2 : These are much higher quality and will be in the format that is the standard for DVDs. There won't be any re-encoding and it generally takes less than 15 minutes to create the DVD folders.

M2V/MP2 : This is exactly the same as a MPG2 file but split into separate video and audio streams. If you are using this type of file you only need to load the M2V file into the program and it will add the MP2 automatically

(If you've downloaded films off the internet you will probably need to encode them into one of the above formats, I personally use TMPGEnc Plus 2.5, which I have also reviewed)

DVD-Video : You can use the program to extract the video from a non-copy write DVD. When you choose this as your source it's a good idea to make a copy of the file on your hard drive (you will be given this option) as it will speed things up when it comes to working with the file.

DVD-VR : This is the file system many DVD recorders use (either on DVD-RAM or -RW), and this program will allow you to pick and choose which programmes you want to use on your final DVD.
(There is a slight restriction with using DVD-RAMs from Panasonic recorders in that you need to turn Hybrid VBR off).

After you've chosen your source file, you can cut pieces out of it (commercials for example) and create chapter marks. As you add each file a bar at the bottom of the screen will tell you how much room you have left on the DVD.

---Create Menu---

Now there are no really fancy menu options to choose from, but with a little ingenuity I can create some quite fancy looking results. There are a choice of 7 standard themes, which are very boring, but to which you can add your own backgrounds. For example if I was making a DVD of episodes of the TV series "Angel" I would add a background picture using a desktop wallpaper. But the nice thing is that you can create your own new theme, where you can play around with different menu layouts, button images, thumbnail frames and backgrounds. There are literally hundreds of combinations and it only takes a little playing around until I find one that's perfect for a particular DVD. The only thing you can't add are motion menus, but as I absolutely loathe these on commercial DVDs I can assure you I don't miss them.

As well as choosing the menu layout, you can choose whether the DVD player will play all the programs, the first program or just display the menu when the final disc is loaded.

Of course there are times when I don't want to add a menu and just want the film or program to start automatically, and with DVD Author I get that choice as well.

---Output---

Once you have decided on your final menu, a click of the output button takes you to a new screen which will prompt you to "create a DVD folder". This does exactly what it says and takes the video files you've selected along with the menu and creates a set of files on your hard drive that make up a DVD. I find this process takes from 10 to 15 minutes and I don't need to watch what's going on , it's all automatic.

Once the program has created the folders it will ask you if you want to burn them onto DVD. Now I have used the burning engine and while it's perfectly acceptable, it doesn't allow you to change the speed at which DVDs are burnt or provide any verifying function. So I actually prefer to use Nero for the actual finished disc.

---Ease of use---

To prove just how easy it is to create a finished DVD using this program, I got my 13 year old son to make one. The only experience he had had with the program was watching me, and he managed to create a finished DVD in less than an hour, which included transferring a programme from a DVD-RW to the hard drive, creating a menu and burning the disc. He was very pleased with the result, and is now able to watch a wrestling compilation DVD on his Playstation 2.

---Compatibility---

I've found that the resulting file system is extremely compatible with every DVD player I've tried, whether I use the built-in burner or Nero. I've only ever used one other DVD Author program which was far more complicated, cost a lot more money and didn't actually give me better or quicker results.

---DL (Dual layer) Discs---

DVD Author has recently been upgraded to allow the creation of dual layer DVDs, which are twice the size of the standard ones. You have an option of showing the space remaining bar as either type of disc. As I don't plan on creating any of these larger discs I have it to the standard 4.3GB.

---Pricing Info---

TMPGEnc DVD Author is free to use for the first 30 days, but after that you will need to buy a serial key which costs US$68 (approx 35.50 sterling) and you can pay by credit card (Visa or MasterCard). Remember you probably have to pay a conversion fee on your card.

---My Opinion---

I love using this program and find it a godsend for creating far better looking DVDs from the RAM discs that both my Panasonic and Toshiba DVD recorders use. It is simple enough that I was creating finished DVDs within an hour of installing it, and yet complex enough that I'm still discovering new functions a year later.

I also use this (along with TMPGEnc Plus encoder) to create DVDs of home video footage, and like the fact I can personalise the menus. The final use I put it too is the creation of final DVDs from video files downloaded (legally from fan sites) and again it does an excellent job.

Although there are other programs on the market that do a similar job, I've not found one that is as intuitive to use as this, and that can create good results with as little effort. Also there are programs that claim to be all-in-one (such as Nero) that will not only create the DVD file structure and burn it to DVD but also encode the original file into the right format. But these often create far inferior files than I get from using a separate encoder and this authoring program.

I am therefore recommending this to anyone who is interested in creating their own DVDs, whether of home footage, programmes recorded off the TV, or files downloaded off the internet. As when used in conjunction with TMPGEnc Plus 2.5 I get excellent results every time.

Summary: So simple even my husband can use it...

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