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Page 1 of 3: Introduction + Installation + Inputs
Continuing in our series of video to DVD conversion and authoring guides, we take a look at ConvertXtoDVD, a commercial software but one that is quite popular. ConvertXtoDVD, like the name suggests, will take in almost all video files and then produce a DVD for you. Unlike DVD Flick, ConvertXtoDVD can create a basic menu for you.
ConvertXtoDVD has a built-in burner, but if you prefer not to use it and to test playback first prior to burning, then a DVD folder output is available (this guide will not cover burning DVD folders, but links to instructions will be provided).
The DVDs ConvertXtoDVD produces supports simple functions such as subtitles, audio tracks and chapters, with a very simple menu. If you want fancy 3D menus, chapter menus, audio/video setup screens and even the ability to create easter eggs, then you should try other software such as Nero Vision or TMPGEnc DVD Author. Read our DVD Authoring Tools Roundup to find out which DVD authoring tool is best for your needs.
Software you'll need:
Hardware you'll need:
- DVD burner
Step 1: Installation
Installation is easy, just run the installer and follow the instructions.
Before we start loading in our video files to make the DVD, we should examine our input files to see what kind they are (PAL or NTSC).
Step 2: Inputs
Before you load your inputs into ConvertXToDVD, it is best to make sure that these input files are all of the same system (PAL or NTSC or NTSC-Film). As a rule, files that are 23.976, 24, 29.97 or 30 frame per second are NTSC. While PAL video is at 25 FPS. Multiples of these frame rates (eg. 15 FPS and 60 FPS => NTSC) are sometime used as well. There are many ways to check for the frame rate of your video file, for example, using GSpot for AVI files. In fact, ConvertXtoDVD will tell you the frame rate when you load in the video file, but as with the DVD Flick guide, I prefer to organise my videos before even starting ConvertXtoDVD, so I will know beforehand what kind of DVD I am making. Normally, your video player software will also show you the frame rate of the file. For example, in Windows Media Player, you can find out the frame rate of the video by accessing the "Statistics" options from the "View" menu, go to the "Advanced" tab and the "frame rate" will be displayed there.
If you are using Media Player Classic, you can find out the frame rate by going to the "File" menu, selecting "Properties", go to the "Details" tab and the FPS will be shown there (the screenshot below shows: "Video: MPEG4 Video (H264) 720x384 25.00fps [Video]").
Once you have found out the frame rates of your video files, separate the NTSC and PAL ones, as you do not want to mix them together when making a single DVD. You should probably also separate the widescreen and full-frame videos. So each DVD you make should only contain widescreen PAL, widescreen NTSC, full-frame PAL or full-frame NTSC content. It's also probably a good idea now to check your input video to see if they have any audio synch issues, and fix them before loading them into ConvertXtoDVD.
