Digital Video Converter

 

Digital Video Converter

Putting Digital Video From or To a DVD

Keep in mind that making a copy of a copyrighted DVD is illegal. It's also difficult. Anytime you want to make a straight copy of a DVD, you have to put it onto your computer first. In other words, you need the right software. While the software is relatively cheap and easy to get, most of these programs will not work with copyrighted DVDs.

But for anything other than copyrighted DVDs, copying and editing DVDs is a breeze once they're on your PC.

DVD to PC

To take the digital video stored on a DVD and put it on your computer's hard drive, is commonly called 'ripping' a DVD. Obviously, you'll need a DVD player on your computer. Most modern computers come with one. If you don't have one, you can find one here.

You'll also need some software. If your computer came with a DVD player on it, you probably already have the necessary program (Nero is the one most often used). If you have to buy a DVD player, you should get software with it (again, Nero is the most popular). Install the program and use the help files to figure out how to save the video to your computer.

Once the video is on your computer, you should be able to use the same software to convert it from one digital format to another, or to burn it to a DVD again so you'll have a copy.

PC to DVD

To take digital video from your hard drive and put it on a DVD is commonly called 'burning' a DVD. The first thing you'll need is a DVD burner (sometimes called a DVD writer). More and more computers are being sold with DVD burners already installed. If your computer doesn't have one, you should be able to obtain a cheap one for less than £50.

When you're shopping, you might see some that say DVD + and DVD-. The only real difference between these is that you have to buy corresponding blank DVDs for them (it will read either - or +). But most modern DVD burners will say DVD +/-.so it will burn both + and -.

If you have a DVD burner, you probably also have the software necessary to burn a DVD. Most software will allow you to import movies, create menus, and finally burn the DVD. It might take a while for certain videos, as the software has to convert the digital video from one format to another. Nero is by far the software with the most 'history' in burning DVDs and CDs. You can buy their latest products here - Nero Burning ROM