subject: Burning Media Files On Cd And Dvd On A Mac - Part 2: Video Dvds [print this page] In contrast to the almost hidden function for copying audio CDs in iTunes, copying DVDs is relatively simple and can actually be done with the Driver Utility of your MAC. This however covers only unprotected DVDs.
In case you have to work with a DRM protected DVD you need to get a software that can remove the protection. If you are using VLC player anyway, Fair Mount could be a great option. However some products like the DVD Ripper from Wondershare are reported to remove the protection in some language versions (not verified information).
In case you plan to add several shorter videos to a larger file you will need software with a little more advanced cutting abilities.. Companies like Wondershare, Leawo and Xilisoft (among many others) offer tools that will do that. Especially if you want to re-sample a movie file to squeeze it onto a 4.7 GB DVD a more advanced burning utility like Toast will be your weapon of choice.
A very common task is to create a custom DVD from self made videos. You will again need a specialized authoring software for that. These software tools will combine the separate audio and video file into a MPEG2 multiplex stream and burn it in 1GB segments on DVD. (You might have seen the folder "VIDEO_TS" before.) You can not play the DVD with a common DVD player without an UDF file format.
Common UDF Formats:
- Blue-ray and DVD(AVCHD) use UDF 2.5 or UDF 2.6
- DVD Videos are in UDF 1.02 with an ISO 9660 and an UDF 1.02 File System
- Philips DVD+VR uses UDF 1.02 with ISO 9660
Previously mentioned low to mid price DVD software programs can add UDF to your DVD.
Having said all that, MPEG videos make a difference, they need to be converted before they can be burned . iDVD which is part of the common MAC installation wil not do, but one of the previously mentioned DVD Burning or Creation utilities will do a good job.
As a conclusion, in addition to your MACs own tools like Disk Utility and iDVD you will need some addition. Depending on the tasks you plan to perform consider buying a DVD Ripper, Converter and or Creator. If you already know that you need more than one addition to your tool box, consider buying a suite to save money and achieve a nicer work flow integration.
