Software needed to create a DVD from multiple video sources.

September 13, 2007 7:31 AM

I am attempting to create a DVD using several different file types. Can this be done, and if so, what software do I need to do it?

I am attempting to do my first ever bit of video editing, and I think that I am in way over my head.

My wife and I got married in December of 2005. We bought a JVC digital video camera before the wedding and had friends tape the rehearsal, the rehearsal dinner, the reception, and we video-taped some stuff on the honeymoon. These DV tapes have been sitting in our office closet since then, not doing no good to nobody. However, over the last couple of months I have edited these videos in Pinnacle Studio 9 and have studio files (.stu) of the edited videos with titles and music and all that jazz. I am able to create DVD compatible MPEGs of these edited videos. However, these are four separate files, one for each event.

In addition to these, the church where we got married video-taped the wedding service itself and made us a VHS tape and a DVD. The DVD has BUP, IFO and VOB files on it.

Also I made a 43 minute slide show of all the pictures taken by us, the wedding photographer and another amateur photographer that took a lot of pictures during all the events. I made this slide show in Windows Movie Maker, but my version of the program does not allow you to burn to DVD. It may allow you to make MPEGs. I am not sure.

So, when I started this project (with even less knowledge about video-editing than the paltry bit that I have now) I imagined a single DVD (playable in a regular DVD player, this is for parents and grandparents and whatnot) with a menu that you could choose from that would take you to: the rehearsal, the rehearsal dinner, the wedding, the reception, the honeymoon and pictures. I can't do this in Studio or Windows Movie Maker or Nero 7 Lite (those are the ones that I have looked at so far). Is there a program that will let me make a DVD using these different types of files? Is there one that will let me create a menu that I can then have access these different types of files? I am on a PC running XP.

Finally, I searched through the other AskMe questions on video-editing and didn't see anything that matched this, and I suppose I could have asked this question without writing out my whole life history, so I apologize for making you read all this.

Thanks for any assistance you can provide.

posted by ND¢ to Computers & Internet (5 answers total)

Given your lack of video prowess you might be better off finding a student on craigslist who'd be willing to do it as a portfolio piece for a pittance. There's colleges where you're at, right? This would save you a lot of time and give you a better chance at a high-quality finished product. If you do go with someone else, I would also caution you to make backup copies of all tapes and discs involved (except for the VHS, you can probably skip that).
posted by jtron at 8:46 AM on September 13, 2007

I'm sure you can do this easily with Nero Vision Express. Its a simple DVD authoring app that can import various video files and convert them to native DVD mpegs. I am not sure why you cant get Pinnacle Studio 9 to do this. Maybe you should ask Pinnacle tech support for some tutorials on how to combine DVDs.

Essentially those vob files are just mpegs with your video. Your software should be able to recognize this and import them into a new dvd project.
posted by damn dirty ape at 8:56 AM on September 13, 2007

Response by poster: Okay my current plan is this: I will export my Windows Movie Maker slide show to my digital video camera (which appears to be one of the exporting options even though burning to DVD or creating an MPEG is not). Then I will capture the slide show in Studio. I am currently in the process of acquiring Studio 11, which apparently allows you to capture non-copy-protected DVD files (I did some research at lunch). I will then capture my wedding video in Studio. So I will have all my digital videos, my slide show, and my wedding video in studio, so I think from there all I will have to do is arrange them. I am a little worried that I may have to re-edit all my digital videos to get them into the same project, rather than separate projects, but that is okay. The hard part was learning how to do it. Re-editing should only be a night's work. If this sounds unfeasible (as opposed to impractical, which I am sure it is) to anyone, please let me know.
posted by ND¢ at 12:02 PM on September 13, 2007

The DVD conversion and burning software that I use is ConvertXtoDVD. It's handled just about everything I've thrown at it, and created nicely formatted menus to boot. Definitely worth the $40.

On the rare occasions when it's choked on a file, I've used SUPER(C), which is a free download, to change the format.
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 1:56 PM on September 13, 2007

Response by poster: I got Pinnacle Studio Plus 11 and was able to save the video of the service as an AVI file and the Windows Media Player slide show as an AVI file as well. I just burned the whole thing onto DVD and it looks really good. Thanks for your help everyone.
posted by ND¢ at 7:35 PM on September 20, 2007