Time to Burn

At this point, it's time to burn, which is generally a fairly mechanical option, especially if you're already selected your video encoding parameters. Figure 8.16 shows a typical DVD burning screen. If you're concerned with options such as copy protection and region encoding, check the manual of your authoring program.

Figure 8.16. Burning options are generally fairly limited.

If you plan to make multiple copies of the DVD, have the program create the necessary files and store them to disc before burning; that way you won't have to re-render the entire project to create another copy. At this stage, most programs will advise you if you have too much content for the disc using the current encoding settings, which isn't a problem here.

Finishing Touches

I don't know about you, but after I've spent hours working on a DVD, scribbling the title with a permanent Sharpie on the disc just doesn't cut it. Fortunately, the cost of tricking out your disc and jewel case covers has really dropped over the last few years.

The most critical tool in your arsenal is a printer capable of printing directly on the surface of your DVD blanks. I've used the Epson Stylus R200 (about $99 direct) shown in Figure 8.17 as a disc and label printer offering great results; the ink consumption also has been quite reasonable. The unit has individual ink cartridges, which you can replace when they run out. This is more efficient than cartridges that contain multiple colors which you have to replace when any color runs out.

Figure 8.17. The Epson Stylus R200, just finishing another printable DVD.

You'll need to get special "printable" DVDs, which generally come with a plain white surface. Fortunately these are now widely available from many vendors including Verbatim and Ridata, and only slightly more expensive than blank DVDs with nonprintable surfaces. Once again, I recommend strongly against using paper labels on DVDs it really hurts their playback compatibility.

To create your artwork, Epson includes its own Print CD software, which can import a background image and provides a good range of drawing and text-entry tools. As you can see in Figure 8.18, I used a screen shot from the DVD as the label, moving it about strategically so the hole in the middle of the disc wouldn't obscure anything critical.

Figure 8.18. Preparing a disc label using Epson's Print CD software.

Epson's software doesn't create jewel-case covers so I turned to Verbatim for print supplies, software, and (of course) blank printable media. The software is surprisingly feature-rich, with support for tables, background images, and multiple themes, and made short work of the multiple jewel-case covers shown in Figure 8.19. You can see the Verbatim DVD/CD label kit in the background.

Figure 8.19. Printed materials like these help make a great first impression.

If you're delivering your DVDs to a client, whether internal, external, or family, I definitely recommend investing $100 in a label printer. These professional labels make an awesome first impression for any project.