If you want to experience the pleasure of old videos on DVD, you need to undertake a few tasks. Once you've managed to dump your favourite home videos from the VHS tapes onto your PC (as we saw in Part 1 of this article), you need to get them onto DVDs. In this workshop, we take a look at how to edit and burn. After successfully capturing the video from your VHS tapes, it's time to move on to WinDVD Creator for editing.

The WinDVD Creator start window gives you various options for video creation. We will use the 'Archive Video to DVD' option for the Capture and Burn process and the 'Record to Video file' option for Capture – Edit – Burn process. Let us also take a look at the project interface.

(Click here for image) This is how the interface typically looks in the Edit mode. Here's some pointers on the different aspects in this page. There is the Preview window, the storyboard (where you will drag and drop the sequence you want), the trash can (to dump unnecessary footage), editing panel, switch mode option. Then there are the Menu bar options. Most of these are self explanatory.

Step 1 (Click to see image)
Click on the 'Archive Video to DVD' option on the main window. Insert a blank writable (DVD-R) or rewritable (DVD-RW) disk into your DVD burner. WinDVD Creator supports multiple media types such as DVD+-R/+-RW, DVD-RAM, CD-R and CD-RW. Keep the burning speed at Optimize.

Step 2
Next, WinDVD Creator will show the capture devices connected to the PC. Select the capture device connected to the VCR from the list.

Step 3
Next, you can create a basic menu for your DVD. Menus provide easy access to content on a DVD. You can first select one menu category and then use the slider to select different menus from that category, or you can simply select to view all menus by choosing 'All' and also use the slider to select a menu you prefer. Provide a title for the menu.

Step 4
This is the final step in the Capture and direct Burn process. Make sure your tape is cued to the correct position in the VCR from where you wish to record to DVD. The General Settings tab allows you to set time for recording to stop automatically. You can also divide the movie into chapters of specific duration.

4.1 - Since you are burning to DVD directly, do not check the box that keeps a copy of the captured video on your hard disk. The advanced settings tab lets you select the video quality and audio format. For DVDs, there are five levels in the dropdown list ranging from High Quality to Standard Quality to Highest Play Time. The audio choices are MPEG, LPCM or Dolby Digital.