What Software is Needed to Burn a DVD on a PC?

slackulaslackula
Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
I apologize for this non-Mac question. But all I really know is the Mac OS and my friend asked me a question I cannot answer. He bought a PC with a DVD burner, loaded via firewire some home movies, and is trying to burn them to DVD. But he cannot figure out how. I know that Movie Maker is the PC equivalent of iMovie.



Can Movie Maker burn the movie to DVD? Or is there something in Windows XP that can accomplish this? Or does he need something like Toast or some other iDVD-like program?



Thanks in advance. And yes, I am telling he that he "should have bought a Mac!"



Comments

  • Reply 1 of 6
    ipodandimacipodandimac Posts: 3,273member
    ya he definitely screwed himself. i forget what a lot of people use--it might be adobe's dvd program... no matter what it is, its shitty.
  • Reply 2 of 6
    ic1maleic1male Posts: 121member
    You need a program like Nero Burning ROM or Roxio Easy CD Creator to burn discs in Windows. XP's explorer will do CDs but not DVDs.
  • Reply 3 of 6
    mslifkinmslifkin Posts: 66member
    If he wants to use the DVD in a set-top DVD Player (as opposed to watching it on his computer) he'll need software by either Pinnacle or Sonic; DVD authoring software. That will create the menus, ect, and burn the movie on a DVD. See, with a Mac that all the software you need to do this comes "in the box"; iMovie and iDVD, and it works very well.



    Regards,

    Marc
  • Reply 4 of 6
    ic1maleic1male Posts: 121member
    Yeah, if you're looking for a DVD authoring program, you need to buy one. You don't get one with the OS. Up until I switched I used Ulead's DVD Workshop which is a bit pricey. I think they have a cheaper version which has fewer options but will get the job done.
  • Reply 5 of 6
    karl kuehnkarl kuehn Posts: 756member
    There is a very good chance that some software for this purpose came with the DVD burner (unless he got it whitebox...). I am not saying that it is going to be good.. and it might not make DVD movies, but it is probably there, and he has already paid for it.
  • Reply 6 of 6
    ic1maleic1male Posts: 121member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Karl Kuehn

    There is a very good chance that some software for this purpose came with the DVD burner (unless he got it whitebox...). I am not saying that it is going to be good.. and it might not make DVD movies, but it is probably there, and he has already paid for it.



    Indeed, you could you be right. Sonic MyDVD is one that is given away with new burners quite a lot.
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