[aclug-L] Possible meeting topic: Creating DVDs in Linux

[Jonathan Hall <flimzy@xxxxxxxxxx>]

I don't know if anyone is interested in this topic or not... but I would 
be willing to do a presentation on creating DVD's in Linux.

I could possibly do it as early as this month, but if ya'll can wait a 
month I can probably have better notes ready.

Some specific topics I could cover:

1) Capabilities of DVD burner drives and media (for those considering a 
purchase).  Speed (4x, 8x, 16x, etc)  DVD-R(W), DVD+R(W), DVD-RAM, 
dual-mode, dual-layer, etc.  Which media works best in home DVD players, 
etc.

2) Preparing video (and audio) for DVD.  (This assumes the video is 
already in digital format and on your PC.  If you're capturing video 
with a TV capture card, DV input, or similar, that will be beyond the 
scope of my presentation).  Specifically, I would discuss how to select 
video and audio bitrates for your project, encoding tools, video 
filters, frame-rate conversions, aspect ratios, etc.

3) Creating menus for your DVD using GIMP, a text editor, and a few 
other tools.

4) Burning the DVD to media.

5) Short-cut scripts and tools.  I will discuss some various tools that 
exist (from video editing to DVD menu creators), and a couple scripts 
I've written myself to help with various aspects of the DVD-creation 
process.

If I do end up doing this, it could be very handy to have a TV and DVD 
player at the presentation (I can provide a DVD player easily enough) so 
I can demonstrate some things (compare different encoders/filters, etc, 
as well as demonstrate menu capabilities and whatnot.)

Please, if anyone is interested in this, let me know.  Also, feel free 
to shoot any specific questions at me that you'd like to have covered in 
such a presentation.



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