Hardware:
I assume you have a PC since you are referencing movie maker. There
are some other things you need as well:
1) A DVD-Writer
A) Internal/External
If you are handy inside your computer you may want to go for an
internal drive, expect to pay between 35-50 for a normal writer
http://www.newegg.com/ProductSort/SubCategory.asp?SubCategory=5
If you prefer an external drive you will need either USB2.0 or
firewire ports on your PC, if you have neither you can get an
expansion card to add those ports:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16815124002
and for the drive
http://www.newegg.com/ProductSort/SubCategory.asp?SubCategory=420
The performance will be equal as long as the speed is the same (a 16x
internal will perform the same as a 16x external), the decision is
just price vs portability.
B) Compatibility
You will want one that supports both +R and -R (don't know the
difference? excatly why you shouldn't have to worry about it! they
both have very high compatibility with players, unless your dvd player
is very old it should be fine, even if its the cheapo $20 wal-mart
black friday one like i have)
C) Speed
Speed is generally not an issue with current drives, a 16x burner will
burn a dvd in 5-7 minutes. If your burning from windows movie
maker,you will need to convert the video first (see the programs
section), and it will add up to an hour or two to the burning time
depending on your pc's specs. Just remember to match the speed of the
media with the speed of the burner, i.e. if you want to burn at 16x,
get at least a 16x burner AND at least 16x media. (NOTE: there are a
ton of exceptions, but this is targeted at a person that just wants to
get it to work and not have too many problems)
2) Media
A) Speed - this was covered above, just get media rated at least for
the speed you intend to burn at
B) Quality - Discs range in quality depending on where you get them
from, most store bought brands (sony,verbatim,memorex) will work well,
but are usually more expensive. You can either hit
dealcatcher/fatwallet to find a deal, or try online, i use ritek media
as well as verbatim and both work well for me:
http://www.shop4tech.com/item3757.html
Feel free to try other brands as long as they work in the players you
use, do NOT get 10,000 discs of a brand you've never tried, even if
its the one i use!
3) Software
This depends a little on your purpose. If your just looking to get it
on a dvd, with some titles and menus, i think the nero suite is great
for this, download a demo and you'll get to try it. The specific
program is called nerovision express, it will convert the movies for
you and burn them onto dvd. depending on how you originally made the
movie it may or may not create a small black border around the movie,
which most people don't mind.
http://ww2.nero.com/enu/Products.html
If you want to do more in depth menus and want fine control over
quality and content, you should look into Encore DVD, what photoshop
is for pictures, this product is for dvd authoring, note that there is
a learning curve (and a bigger price tag), but you have access to more
powerful features.
http://store.adobe.com/store/products/master.jhtml?id=catEncoreDVD
Hope this helps! |