Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevin Lewis
(Post 1555587)
I'm surprised how many people burn their DVD's in another program. Why not just print to DVD from your time line? It seems that many create the final product in software other than their nle.
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Hi Kevin,
The ability to author and burn DVDs from the timeline is not typical of NLEs. As David noted above, NLEs are typically designed to focus on a limited set of strengths in which they can excel, (cutting up and arranging video clips - adding some enhancements with titles and effects, and some degree of audio manipulation.) Many NLEs allow for increased functionality through interoperability with a suite of additional applications through which each application is generally dedicated to specific tasks - such as authoring DVDs.
I believe you are using Pinnacle Studio, which is itself a form of all-in-one video production system that provides the user to set up DVD templates from within the timeline, and also uses a unique system of optional add-on functionality, But for users of most other NLE systems, the recommended approach tends towards the multiple-application workflow to cover the full range of production needs.
For my specific workflow, I use Final Cut Pro on a Mac. When editing is complete, I use two different workflows for DVDs, depending upon complexity of the project and type of interface I want to use.
For less complex DVDs, I just export the final video from the timeline, and drop it into iDVD for rendering.
For more complex DVDs, I send the video to Compressor or Sorenson Squeeze to generate the mpeg-2 files, and then author the DVD using DVD Studio Pro.
Whether using iDVD or DVD Studio Pro, I only author the DVDs in those applications, but I don't burn the discs from them.
Instead, I generate a Disk Image from the DVD project, and then burn the Disk Images to DVD using a dedicated burning program - in my case, Roxio Toast Titanium.
Why the extra steps? Several years ago, when desktop burning of video DVDs seemed to be less approachable and applications for doing so a bit less refined, I was very frustrated by the coaster/frisbee ratio many users complained of. (frequency of bad burns or discs that didn't play properly for an inordinate number of target users.)
I spent a good deal of time, energy and money troubleshooting various factors of a typical workflow, and found that the developing diversification of application features wasn't always as much of a benefit of one would hope. Some feature-rich applications tended to excel at some tasks, but were weak in others. Specifically, with disc burning, I felt that even if an application was great at authoring DVDs, this didn't always translate into solid burn integrity. I found that authoring in my application of choice, and then burning a disc image in an application dedicated to that task, tended to produce the best quality discs that worked perfectly across the widest range of playback devices. (The quality of the blank disc is also a factor, but not relevant to this post.)
Diversified feature enhancements have continued in some applications. For example, later versions of Toast allowed for increased DVD authoring capabilities of its own, and eventually remedial capturing and cutting of content. I have never used any of those features, and continue to use that app only for burning my disk images, a task at which it excels.
My efforts may be pretty dated by now - this was all several years ago, and many of these applications could possibly have come a long way since. I don't do too many DVD-centric projects anymore so have not had a compelling need to change my workflow to that end.
-Jon