| Review the questions and answers in this section to try to sharpen your Premiere DVD-creation skills. Also, take a few moments to tackle my short quiz and the exercises. Q&A | Q1: | My set-top DVD player's manual states that it recognizes CD-RW discs, but it won't play the CD-RW I made with DVDit! LE. Why not? | | A1: | Set-top boxes that recognize CD-RW will play it only if it has CD music or is a video CD. DVDit! can make neither type of product. If you try to play a CD with Sonic's cDVD player in your set-top DVD player, it will either eject the disc or do nothing. On the other hand, it should play from most PC CD and DVD drives . | | Q2: | I want to send DVDs to my clients and include some PDF and other data files on them. I don't see any way to do that. | | A2: | With this bundled version of DVDit!, you can't. If you upgrade to DVDit! SE or PE, you can use the DVD-ROM file feature to add data files to your DVD project. Alternatively, you can use standard CD/DVD recording software, such as Prassi PrimoDVD or whatever was bundled with your DVD recorder, to create a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM disc with an MPEG-2/WMV/MOV/AVI version of your video on it, along with the data files. Your clients will be able to watch the video using readily available players, such as Windows Media Player and QuickTime, and access the data files, but that won't give them the interactivity that DVDs authored in a product such as DVDit! SE or PE offer. | Quiz | 1: | You want your project to display a menu for 15 seconds and if there is no viewer input simply start the movie. But when you test it, 15 seconds go by and nothing happens. How do you fix that? | | A1: | Close the Preview Remote Control interface by clicking the little x in the upper-right corner. Right-click the First Play menu and select Properties. Check the Duration window. Uncheck Infinite (if that's the offending culprit) or change the duration time to 15 seconds. Also, you can check End Action and make sure you select your movie as opposed to "Loop" or some other option. | | 2: | You want to show your DVD project to someone who does not have a DVD set-top or PC player. How do you do that? | | A2: | Make a CD-R. Under Project Settings, select CD-R, CD-RW (650MB). Make sure your project does not exceed the capacity of the CD (CDs have about one-seventh the capacity of DVDs). In the Build, Make a DVD Disc dialog box, select Include DVD Player. Click the Advanced tab and make sure the Use Joliet and Use long file names options are checked. This is required when adding the DVD player to a CD. Click OK. | | 3: | What's the difference between DVD-R Authoring and General? If you use DVD-R drives, which should you use? | | A3: | DVD-R Authoring and General are two different recordable DVD technologies. Authoring is the name given to earlier versions of DVD-R recorders capable of exact bit-to-bit duplication of DVDs, including DVD movies with protection schemes. DVD General replaced those drives. It uses a different laser and cannot copy encrypted DVDs. If you have a DVD-R drive, it's probably a General drive. | Exercises | 1: | Go to www.dvda.org, select a DVD replicator, and talk to them. Check on minimum order quantities, prices, label/liner graphics templates, and whether they accept DVD-R masters. If their minimum quantities are too steep, ask whether they can recommend smaller replicators. Visit a local replicator. | | 2: | Go online to check on the latest recordable DVD drives and other developments in this very dynamic industry. I'd suggest using http://news.com.com/ as your starting point. Navigate to the Hardware/Storage section (use the Site Map link at the top-right corner of the page as an aide) and then choose DVDs and go from there. | |
