Recording DVDs and CDs
of your home movie

Tips in Recording DVDs and CDs of your home movie

Recording home videos onto CDs and DVDs used to be a hassle for most home video makers because they had to bring the product to a professional for saving onto the CDs and DVDs.  This used to require the talents of specialists who had expensive and modern video editing and saving equipment.

The mass production of DVD and CD burners that can save as many files as possible in a short period of time has made the job of saving home movies onto either a CD or a DVD.  The first burning device sold on the market were CD burners and most home video makers bought before DVD recorders became available on the market. While CD recorders couldn't be used to save DVDs, DVD burners are however capable of saving in both CD and DVD format.

With the availability (not to mention the affordable price) of the modern equipment, saving home movies on CD or DVD can be done right at home with a personal computer.  Most people prefer to save their work on DVD since it can accommodate more files unlike most CDs that are only capable of saving up to an hour and 20 minutes of video.  DVDs, on the other hand, are able to store as much as 5 GB, making them ideal for home movies.
 

Anyone who wants to save his home movies on a CD or DVD can benefit from these simple tips:

1. First thing to watch out for is the copyright issue.  This applies to those who want to record blockbuster or commercial movies in the privacy of their own homes.  This is piracy under the law especially if such home made movies are to be sold on the market.  Most of these home videos are sold at very cheap prices and the original CDs or DVDs can no longer compete.

2. The cost of a DVD recorder (at least $400) can be prohibitive but if recording home movies is a regular thing for the buyer then this is cost effective in the long run.  The older models are cheaper.  Also buy the necessary gadgets like blank CDs or DVDS, whichever format you prefer.  Also ask the supplier if the CD or DVD is recordable meaning you can save files on the disc and then reuse it several times. Recordable CDs and DVDs are more expensive than ordinary CDs and DVDs which can only be used once.

3. Be familiar with the following formats which may or may not be supported by the recorder:
 DVD-R
 DVD+R
 DVD RW
 DVD+RW
 DVD-Video
 DVD-RAM
These aren't the only formats but they are the most common ones used today.  Not all of these formats are supported by one DVD recorder so make sure you get the format right via a via the format being supported by the recorder.  DVD RAM used to be a common format but this was shelved off due to certain issues including its capacity.   This format is compatible with most commercial blank DVDs.  There is a free burning tool (Burn At Once) which a beginner can take advantage of, to save back up copies.  There is however a limit to what this freeware can do.  Also make sure the proper video card is attached to the computer.

4.  The video files as well as the still photos and graphics (including the background music) should be saved on the computer.  Once this is done, editing can commence.  Once the editing process is complete, the user can save the home video on his computer or he can copy the video files to a CD or DVD.

5. Recording or burning homes movies onto CDs or DVDs is practically easy. Most CD or DVD burning devices like Nero comes with a tutorial and an easy instruction kit that will show even a newbie how to save home videos onto the black CDs or DVDs.  Just click the appropriate choices like if the required activity is to create or copy video or music files.  There is a step by step process and most recording software have placed buttons that the user can easily click.