Page 5 of 5: Output
Step 4: Output
We are nearly finished. Press the "Output" button at the top, and here we will specify where to put our new DVD. I prefer to output the DVD to the hard-disk first, test playback with a real software DVD player like PowerDVD, and then burn to DVD if I'm happy with everything. Otherwise, you can burn straight to disc using the options here too.
Use the "Browse" button to select an output folder - it is best to create a new folder for your output, otherwise you run the risk of overwriting your existing files.
Next, select the "Target size" to match the type of blank media you will be using.
If you really want to burn the compilation straight to disc, enable the "Write to the media disc after output completion" option, insert a blank disc into your DVD writer drive now and then click on the "CD/DVD writer settings" button to configure the writer options (select which drive to use, burning speed - as a general rule, burn the disc at the lowest speed possible, eg. 4x, to ensure the disc is error free). You should also specify a disc label for the disc. There are also post-output tasks you can specify (eg. to shut down computer after burning).
Press the "Start output" button, and TDA will now produce the DVDs for you. If no re-encoding is required (if you are editing an existing DVD), then it could take only 20 minutes to half an hour, otherwise, re-encoding can take several hours.
Once TDA finishes, you can use PowerDVD or another DVD player to play the rendered DVD files (eg. use PowerDVD's "Open DVD files on hard disk drive" option). TDA will usually present you with an option to use its "Disc writing tool" to burn the files to DVD - you can also access the "Disc writing tool" by clicking on the "Start" button at the top (going back to the "Start Project" screen) and launching it from there. Add in the folder that TDA produced if it isn't already added, insert a blank disc into your DVD writer drive, specify a label, select the burning options (as a general rule, burn the disc at the lowest speed possible, eg. 4x, to ensure the disc is error free) and click on the "Write disc" button to start the burning (or you can choose to create a disc image in ISO format, or burn an existing image to the disc).
And we're done .
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