Create your own DVD

Before we embark on creating a DVD, it is imperative to understand what exactly is a DVD. For this, let us compare it with the more common VCD. Differences of capacity apart (a DVD-ROM has a much higher capacity than a normal CD-ROM), there are other major technological differences too. Movies in the VCD format use MPEG-1, while DVD movies use MPEG-2. This difference accounts for a huge difference in the capabilities of a DVD movie, and the way one is authored.

Along the length of a movie, if a VCD is like a single page, then a DVD is more like a book. The VCD is made up of one single MPEG file. The DVD on the other hand, is divided into sections called chapters that you can access directly, has menus that let you move from one clip to another and so on. The DVD can also have menus that let you choose which video clip to play, for example.

Pinnacle Impression If Express was for the hobbyist, Impression is meant for professionals involved in DVD authoring. While Express did not give all the benefits of DVD like multiple subtitles and customizable menus, Impression has all the cutting-edge features like multiple audio video channels. Pinnacle Impression 2.1 Price: Rs 34,999 Contact: Aditya Infotech. E-mail: navinder_chauhan@adityagroup.com

A VCD movie is a single layer, with every thing–video, audio and text written on that layer, leaving the user with no way of choosing them individually.

A DVD on the other hand, is composed of many layers that you can pick and choose to play. There could be more than one video (the main movie as well as another one explaining the historical background of the movie for example). You could choose from amongst multiple subtitles, giving authors the chance to give multiple subtitles, in different languages.

Incidentally, it is not necessary that all these additional goodies be available only in the costlier DVD version. You can write an MPEG 2 movie with all the DVD features on a CD also. Only, the length of the film will be much lesser, owing to the lower capacity of the CD-ROM. Such a CD is called a S-VCD, and can be played with all options available on any player that does MPEG -2. On an MPEG 1 player, it will play like a normal VCD. We will now look at creating a DVD, using two different software, Pinnacle’s DVD Express and Impression, both of which let you write your MPEG-2 movie to a CD also.

Krishna Kumar