How to Burn a DVD – The Complete Guide

Posted on June 4, 2011 by admin Comments Off

Hopefully you’re here because you’re ready to learn how to burn a DVD. You have tried to find a solution and come up short, or you may be wanting to back up some of your movies.  There could be countless reasons why you’re wanting to burn a DVD.

In this post, I’m going to outline how you can make a copy of your DVD, using software that I highly recommend. But first, I need to make a disclaimer – You should copy DVDs at your own risk, I will not be responsible for what happens if you are caught burning illegal copies of DVDs.

Now that  that’s out of the way, let’s move on to how to burn a DVD - the right way. There’s so many outdated and old guides out there, and a bunch of confusing information. I don’t recommend using cheap or even free software to make DVD copies. Usually when I use some free or crappy software, the codecs become outdated, old, and not current or feature-rich. You will typically suffer on quality as well. I’m assuming you’ve done some DVD burning preparation, and have your DVD burner and discs lined up and ready to go.

After doing hours of research and literally testing out many different types of DVD burning software, I came across one piece of software that really stood out. This software gets top reviews across the board. I wanted this software to be user-friendly, and super-simple to use for someone who has never burned a DVD in their life.

That software is:

DVD-Cloner Box

[Free Trial]
[Buy Now]
[Vendor Site]

The DVD Burning software of choice is DVD-Cloner 8. The reason I chose this software was for quite a few reasons:

  • Exact DVD-5 and DVD-9 Copy
  • It can take 2 movies and burn them onto one DVD±R/RW DL with a customized menu
  • IAT Copy technology means that you’ll be able to break through and copy the latest up-to-date and current movies at a blazing fast speed
  • Supports the back-up of BluRay movies – a feature not usually seen with free or crappy DVD burning software
  • Movie only copy – means it copies and burns the main title only with the extras omitted, saving some space and higher quality on your precious blank media
  • Automatically removes annoying content like advertisements – saving you time
  • Super user-friendly interface makes it a breeze to get copying – TODAY!

Now what I’m going to do is show, literally, step-by-step how you can copy a complete movie in less than one hour.

The first thing you’ll need to do is download the software – Go ahead and grab your free trial here (17 MB – affiliate link). I know that once you see how powerful the software is from the free trial, you’ll almost certainly purchase it.

This tutorial is for those that are using Windows. -**If you’re on a Mac** then please click the image below to get a free trial for the Mac version of DVD-Cloner.

DVD Cloner for Mac

Once you’ve gone ahead and downloaded the software, we’re ready to get started with the installation and continue with our how to burn a DVD guide.

SETUP:

DVD-Cloner setup1

The setup wizard is the first screen you will see. Go ahead and click “next” to continue.

 

This screen is the end-user license agreement. Click on “I accept the agreement” and then click “next” to continue.

 

DVD-Cloner setup3

This screen shows you some of the information about the DVD-Cloner install. Stuff like system requirements, FAQ, and a warning. Go ahead and click on “next” to continue.

 

DVD-Cloner setup4

This is the installation directory screen. Choose where you want to install DVD-Cloner. You should probably leave in the default Program Files installation, then click on “next” to go ahead and continue.

 

dvd cloner setup 5

This screen is what you want the name of the shortcut to be in your start menu. Leave it as DVD-Cloner and click “next” to continue with the installation.

 

setup 6 dvd cloner

Alright, we’re all ready to install! Click on the “Install” button to continue and start installing DVD-Cloner.

 

dvd-cloner installing

This is the installation bar (extracting files in this screenshot). Let it continue until you see this next screen:

 

setup of dvd cloner 8

Congratulations! DVD-Cloner is now installed! Make sure the “Run DVD-Cloner 8″ check box is checked, and go ahead and click on finish.

Now that DVD-Cloner is installed, we’re going to go ahead and start running it. It’s important you follow this next section closely, as it outlines the settings we’ll use and how to burn a DVD successfully.

RUNNING DVD-CLONER:

click on dvd-cloner how to burn a dvd

Double click on your desktop icon that says DVD-Cloner 8. You will then be presented with a screen that looks like this:

 

This is the registration screen. If you’ve purchased DVD-Cloner, then enter your information now. For the purposes of this tutorial, I’m assuming you’re using the free trial (hey, why not?). So all you have to do is click on “Trial”.

 

This screen just lets you know about DVD-Cloner and can check for updates if you’d like. You could also buy DVD-Cloner at this time. For now, we’re just gonna click “OK” and keep moving along.

We are now ready to start getting into the reason you’re here – the burning process! IMPORTANT NOTE: You should close all of your outside running programs to reduce the chance of errors and ensure a fast burn process!

BURNING:

This is the main DVD-Cloner screen. As you can see, it’s telling us to insert our DVD movie to be burned. BEFORE WE DO THIS, we need to adjust a couple settings. See that little gear-looking icon on the bottom there? Go ahead and click it, this will bring up our settings window.

 

dvd cloner settings

Once you bring up the Advanced Setup window (shown above), click on the “Burn I/O” tab. The Burn IO should be set to AUTO, burning speed should be set to 16x (you could burn at a lower speed for higher success rates), set the number of copies to however many copies you want, and check off the “Verify data after burning finishes” checkbox. You could also check off “Eject disc when burning is finished” checkbox. After that, go ahead and click “ok” to continue.

 

insert the disc

Now is the time to insert the DVD that you want to copy into your DVD burner.

 

dvd cloner burn 2

After your DVD is inserted into the DVD drive, you’ll see the window above. Go ahead and click on the yellowish-orange play button to start the decrypting process.

 

burn three

This screenshot shows the decrypting process just as it’s beginning. You can stop the process at any time by clicking on the square stop button.

 

burning 4

In this screenshot, we see eleven minutes have passed and we’re already 60% done with decrypting the DVD. Now remember that we aren’t actually burning/writing to the DVD+-R, we’re downloading and decrypting the files from the DVD onto our harddrive.

 

burning number 5

After we’ve decrypted the DVD, we will be presented with this window here. At this point we then get our blank DVD+-R for burning.

 

insert blank DVD

Go ahead and insert a blank DVD+-R into your DVD burner. After you do that, click on the “ok” button on your screen. We’re ready to start burning!

 

burn screenshot 6

Once you do that, the burning process is started! In just a matter of minutes, your DVD will be written to and soon completed!

 

we're done dvd burning

And our DVD is completed! Check off the “delete temporary files” checkbox (this will get rid of the temp files on your drive and make some space). Now click on “Finish” and we’re done!

I know it seems like a lengthy process from what I’ve shown above…but it truly isn’t. Everything from the installation to completed DVD takes a little under an hour. Again, DVD-Cloner is one of the highest rated and best performing DVD burning software on the market today.

DVD-Cloner Box
[Click here for your free trial]
[Click here to buy DVD-Cloner now]
[Click here to see the vendor's website]

Really hope this guide helped you, and wish you the best of luck in all of your DVD burning endeavors.

All the best,
-Matt

How to Burn a DVD

4 Tools to Complement DVD Burning

Posted on June 2, 2011 by admin Comments Off

After you learn how to burn a DVD, you’re probably going to want a few more tools in your arsenal that you can use for video ripping, editing,

Recommended Ripper:
Acala DVD Ripper Professional

With this ripper, you’ll be able to rip your favorite DVDs directly on to your harddrive with ease, for COMPLETELY FREE. We do not recommend using this software to burn your DVDs however. This should be strictly used as a ripper.

Some cool features of this ripper include:

  • Convert DVD movies to a ton of fomrats
  • MP4 video conversion for iPod
  • User-friendly
  • Small-sized output
  • Easy default setting for beginners
  • Extract JUST the audio from your movie files and make mp3s

Check out this super-short video on how to use Acala DVD Ripper Pro:

Recommended Video Conversion Software:
Magic Video Converter

I really like Magic Video Converter. It pretty much meets all of my needs when it comes to converting video into different formats, for many different uses. It even allows you to burn these to DVD and create menus – not many other software can say that!

It is able to convert these formats:

  • MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4
  • VCD
  • DVD
  • WMV
  • MOV
  • DIVX
  • +Others!

Check out this short video and see just what Magic Video Converter can offer you:

Recommended Video Editing Software:
Cyberlink Power Director

Cyberlink Power Director is a truly powerful video editing piece of software. It has innovative and cutting-edge video enhancement technology, powerful editing tools, 100 tracks, and is powered by Cyberlink’s brand new True-Velocity Engine.

Here’s the short-list of a few of the features that I really like:

  • Text effects – add hilarious or serious dialogue boxes to your movies
  • Tons of amazing effects you can add to your videos for a professional feel
  • The “Chapter Room” allows you to cut up your movies into chapter (for easier navigation in your DVD players)
  • The “PiP Objects Room” which allows you to add cool images into your movies. For example, add a red balloon in the sky when you’re outside, etc.
  • The “Transition Room” allows you to add professional transitions from scene-to-scene, giving your movies that Hollywood feel.
  • You can add voice-over recordings in the the “Voice-over Recording Room” – a really cool feature if you’d like to narrate your home videos.

There really is tons more that is just wayyy too many to list here, so check out this video:

And, now, last but not least in our How to Burn a DVD arsenal, we have our:

Recommended DVD Player:
AllPlayer

With AllPlayer, you’ll be able to watch all of your DVD movies on your PC. It’s probably one of the most popular DVD playing software on the market. In my opinion, I like it because it downloads the latest codecs if there is ever a problem playing back a DVD.

Another cool feature is the fact it can display subtitles in all languages, as the program searches for subtitles automatically. Intelligent subtitles is a new feature from this program, and what it does is keeps the subtitles on the screen, and on the screen long enough for you to actually read them. This is truly great for those foreign films you’ve been wanting to see.

The piece of software is also integrated with a speech synthesizer app, which then allows you to watch movies with subtitles with a reader (dubbing). Most popular formats such as DivX, XviD, MP3, and AVI, FLV, MP4, 3GP, MKV, M2TS, MPG, MPEG, RMVB, WMV, QuickTime, MOV, FLAC, APE, and many more less known formats can be played thanks to codecs built into the program.

I highly recommend Allplayer as your DVD player of choice, check out this cool video control setting video for it:

Well, I hope these 4 tools help you in your endeavors and are a nice complement to your DVD burning adventures!

DVD Tools

DVD Burning Q&A

Posted on May 30, 2011 by admin Comments Off

Here at How to Burn a DVD, I decided it might be fun to do a little Q&A about DVD burning and DVDs in general. In the Links section, there is a much longer and more in-depth DVD FAQ that you can read, so I’ll just keep this DVD Burning Q&A pretty simple and straight-forward.

Q: How Difficult is it to burn a DVD?

A: It’s one of the easiest things in the world to do. As long as you have all of your DVD burning preparation done, and you have the proper software, you’ll be all set to start burning your own DVDs.

Q: How much does it cost to burn a DVD?

A: The cost is minimal. I do recommend getting a quality piece of software…as it will save you tons of time and headache in the long-run. You’ll spend less than $100 to get everything going.

Q: Where can I get blank DVDs?

A: Almost any store. Seriously. Try your local Target, Best Buy, Staples, Office Depot, etc. Most electronics stores will carry blank discs (DVD+R or DVD-R) that you can start burning with. They usually cost less than $.25 a piece.

Q: How long does it take to burn a DVD?

A: Depends on the speed of your burner and computer. I’d recommend burning at a slower speed than the max of 24x, to ensure that the data is burned correctly. A DVD typically takes me around 30 mins – 1 hour to burn a full DVD.

Q: How much data can I store on a DVD?

A: You can store about 4.7 GB of data on your standard DVD+R or DVD-R disc.

Q: How do you store your DVDs?

A: I recommend grabbing some plain black cases (like the cases that your Hollywood movies come in) and storing them on a shelf. You could also get a booklet case where you can store a bunch of DVDs in one booklet for quick access later. Booklet cases are also great if you plan on traveling with your DVDs.

Q: How long do DVDs last?

A: It’s still unknown as to just how long a DVD can last, but it’s been said that they can last 80 – 100 years (but they haven’t been around this long, obviously).

Q: Which format is better – DVD+R or DVD-R?

A: Either one works well in pretty much a large range of compatible DVD players. The compatibility list is ever-expanding, so you’ll be good with either format. After doing a ton of research, I discovered that DVD+R’s have a slight advantage in compatibility, but I usually buy whatever format is cheapest.

DVD Burning Q&A

How to Burn a Data DVD (for FREE)

Posted on May 28, 2011 by admin Comments Off

So here’s a scenario…

Let’s say you have some important data on your computer and you want to know how to burn a DVD with that data on it. Well, it’s pretty simple.

First, what you’ll want to do is get a nifty piece of software that was just recently released – it’s called Free Easy CD DVD Burner – and as the name implies, it’s 100% free. Click here to go grab that software for free.

Free DVD Burner

Once you’ve downloaded and installed that software, you’re ready to start burning!

Now, remember, this software isn’t really going to help you burn DVD copies of your favorite movies, but it CAN help you backup your data, important files, video, audio stuff, and many other files you have on your PC.

This software is cool because it supports both DVD+R and DVD-R, as well as CD-Rs, so you can burn your music onto a CD that can be played in your car or CD player. It comes with full support for MP3 files, WAV files, FLOC files, and AAC files. You can also burn and save ISO files (which are typically files that you download over the internet).

We do not recommend this software for burning or backing up your DVD collection however. It doesn’t have the highest rating, and you should probably leave it to the professional DVD burning software for all of your DVD copying.

We do recommend you use this software to back up your important data, your videos that you have stored on your PC, your audio that’s stored on your PC, as well as for backing up important documents (such as spreadsheets, Word documents, and PowerPoint presentations).

DVD Burning Free

DVD Burning 101

Posted on May 26, 2011 by admin Comments Off

So, what all do you need to know about how to burn a DVD? Answer: everything you can. You can skip this post if you pretty much know everything there is to know, otherwise read on.

Alright, first thing you need to know is that not all discs are made the same.

Ever open up a Hollywood movie and notice that the bottom of the disc looks, well, perfect? That’s because those discs go through a process called replication. Basically, what that means in simple terms, is that the data on those discs are physically stamped directly on to the disc. Those big Hollywood production companies aren’t burning discs…they’re replicating them, it’s a different process. So, why aren’t WE replicating then? Well, it’s an expensive process, and you and I don’t have the equipment to do what they do.

So what do we do? We use a process called duplication, or what we call burning. Basically, when we burn a DVD, our DVD burners are using a laser to write information onto the disc. It starts from the center of the disc and works its way outward. When you look at the bottom of a burned disc – not only is the color different from a replicated disc (the color is usually purple) – but you can usually see the part that is burned (starting from the center and working outwards).

It’s also important to note something else. Our burned discs aren’t as large as those replicated discs. A typical Hollywood movie disc is 8.5 GB, whereas our burned discs are only 4.7 GB. Those Hollywood movies are called DVD-9 discs, whereas we’re working with either a DVD+R or DVD-R disc.

So, how do we make those larger Hollywood movies fit onto our smaller DVD+-R discs? We use software to take those movies and transcode them into a smaller file size. We’ll talk more about this later.

Most of those Hollywood movie discs are also copy protected. What this means is that the Hollywood production companies have encrypted the discs to thwart those that want to illegally copy and bootleg movies. There are ways around this, which we will talk about later. We have to stay up-to-date on the latest copy decryption in order to be able to copy our current DVD movies, otherwise you’ll find that you’ll be unable to encrypt and burn a DVD.

DVD Burning 101

When Should You Burn Your DVDs?

Posted on May 24, 2011 by admin Comments Off

Everybody has their reasons for wanting to see how to burn a DVD. Maybe you want to make a legal backup of your DVD, maybe you recorded your own DVD with precious family memories and would like to make a backup copy of your recorded DVD, maybe you’ve got some data on a DVD and would like to make a backup copy.

Whatever your reason, I can guarantee you that NOW is the BEST time to learn how to burn a DVD.

Hopefully by now, you’ve got all of your burning DVD preparation in place. You have your burner, you have your blank media, as well as some DVD cases and storage for all your DVDs. If not, go and get those now.

I can’t stress this point enough, but NOW is the time to start burning your DVDs. You never know what could happen to them. They could get scratched, worn out, or completely destroyed (if you have a dog like mine, or kids, then you’ll know what I’m talking about).

The first part of learning how to burn a DVD is all about having the right equipment, and the right software, which is what I’ll be getting to later. Stick with me, and I’ll reveal you to the easiest and best way to start copying your DVDs TODAY.

DVD Burning - When

How to Burn a DVD – Prep and Planning

Posted on May 22, 2011 by admin Comments Off

Ok, so you’ve got your DVD sitting there, and you’re all ready to go! Well, there’s some groundwork we have to set before I show you exactly how to burn a dvd. That groundwork is the prep and planning beforehand that you’ll need to understand and know before you starting copying!

The DVD Burner : The first thing we’re going to need is a computer with a DVD burner. Now, this could be in the form of an internal DVD burner, or an external DVD burner. External DVD burners only go up to 8x speed…but they are completely portable, utilizing usb 2.0. Either way – the faster, the better. We don’t want to spend all day burning a DVD, so try and get a DVD burner with at least a 24x speed. Click here to see some high quality DVD burners!

Blank Discs: Next, we’re going to need some media to write to, aka some DVD blank discs. There are 2 different kinds of discs – DVD-R and DVD+R. Forget about trying to do research on these 2 formats, it’ll end up making you crazy. They’re both compatible with like 90% of DVD players out there…and if you have a DVD player from within the last 10 years, you’ll be fine. I’d go with whatever is cheaper. I personally like using DVD+R discs, they seem to be more compatible with some of the older DVD players, as well as new ones. Click here to get some blank discs.

DVD Cases: DVD cases are stupid cheap these days. You can get a 100 pack for less than 20 bucks. I’d recommend going with some plain black ones. If you ever decide to print your own DVD covers for your movies, then you can print those out and easily slip them into the plain black dvd cases. Click here to grab some DVD cases for super cheap.

DVD Shelving (optional): Obviously you’re going to need a place to store your DVDs.  Don’t skimp out on the shelving..trust me..made this mistake myself. I bought a small little shelf that didn’t hold very many DVDs. As my collection grew, I wish I had bought something more substantial. Check out some nice DVD shelving here.

After you have all of these elements, you’re ready to learn how to burn a DVD!

How to Burn a DVD Preparation