WinDVD Creator from Intervideo is an easy to use program that allows you to capture TV or Video from any analog or digital source, as long as you have a Capture Device attached to your computer. This How-To will focus on capturing Video from a digital camcorder using a USB 2.0 connection from the camcorder to the PC, and then burning to DVD. This software will work with any properly installed Capture Card (either external or internal).
Difficulty: Easy
Time Required: Depends on length of source video
Here's How:
- Turn on your PC and place the Intervideo WinDVD Creator installation disc into your CD drive. Follow all the onscreen directions for installing the WinDVD Creator software. Once the software is installed, remove the installation disc and insert a blank recordable DVD into your DVD recordable drive.
- Open the Intervideo WinDVD Creator program by either doubleclicking on the desktop icon or going to Start>All Programs>Intervideo WinDVD Creator and clicking on WinDVD Creator to open the program.
- You are now presented with five options for working with Video files. Since we want to capture some Video and then burn to DVD, choose Create Video Disc. This lets you create a new project for capturing your Video. A new dialog box pops up with four tabs: Capture, Edit, Add Menu, Make Movie.
- At this point I will attach my Sony Digital Camcorder to the PC via a USB 2.0 cable. One end of the cable plugs into my camcorder, the other to a USB 2.0 port on the front of my Dell Computer. If you are capturing from another source, such as a VCR or DVD Player, plug in your device to your computer's capture card or external capture device using either digital or analog cables.
- Click on the Capture tab at the top of the dialog box, and WinDVD Creator should recognize your Capture Card or Capture Device. Play your Video from your source device, and click Record to capture your video clip. Click Stop when you are finished recording and your video file will appear in the clips bin as an MPEG-2 file.
- After stopping the recording I click on the Edit tab. If I wished to I could edit my clip here, adding titles, filters or transitions. Once the clip(s) are edited, drag your clip(s) to the clips bin where it says "Drag & Drop clip here". Once finished, click on Save Movie to save your Video to the Computer's Hard Drive.
- Once that is done you can click on the Add Menu tab and customize the DVD Menu any way you would like for your Video. Using the different tabs and buttons in this dialog box, you can change the menu background, add chapters, add background music to your menu, or add text to the menu.
- Once the DVD Menu is created and the Video clip(s) are added to the Menu, you're ready to burn to DVD.
- Click on the Make Movie tab, click on Burn to Disc and then click the Arrow under the burn to disc option.
- A new screen pops up that allows you to choose your DVD Burner as the destination device, as well as the burning speed for the DVD. I choose Optimal speed. Again, click the Arrow to move on to the next step.
- The next screen lets you choose the quality of your recording, from low to high. Once you've chosen your quality setting, click Start to burn your Video to DVD.
- After the DVD is done recording, remove it from the DVD drive and close the Intervideo WinDVD Creator program. The DVD is now ready to be viewed on your computer or DVD Player.
Tips:
- Important: remember to use the correct DVD format for your DVD Drive. If your drive records to DVD+R/RW, make sure you use only DVD+R or DVD+RW discs. If your drive records to DVD-R/RW, then use DVD-R or DVD-RW. For those with multi-format drives, you can use either + or - DVD recordable discs.
- Store all of your video files in one folder on your hard drive for easy access. Windows makes this easy by including a "My Videos" folder in the "My Documents" folder.
- Place your recordable DVD into the DVD Drive before starting the NTI CD & DVD Maker 7 application. Recordable DVDs are available in speeds up to 16x. Don't worry about using a higher speed disc than your DVD Drives speed. The high speed discs are backwards-compatible with slower DVD Drives.
- For a free trial of this software click here. This is a large download file (65.8 MB). I would recommend downloading this free trial only if you have a fast (Cable or DSL) internet connection.
What You Need
- PC running Windows 2000 or XP with at least 256 MB of RAM
- TV or Video Capture Card or Capture Device
- DVD Recordable Drive
- DVD Recodable Disc (make sure it's the right format)
- Intervideo WinDVD Creator software installed on your PC
- Source Video or TV (VCR, Camcorder, DVD Player, Cable Box, etc.)