If you wish good memories to come in a convenient package, then nothing is easier than DVD burning. Most videos are now available in the .MP4 format. And to conserve these mementos, we give you some tips to burn MP4 files to a DVD.
Did You Know?
A DVD-5 disc can store a 120 min. movie, while a DVD-9 disc can store a 240 min. movie.
The camera was more than an instrument for capturing photos and videos. It was a time machine that captured memories in a perfect moment. It lets us recollect the past as well as hope for the future with each photograph engraved in our memory. Since we wish our photographs and videos never fade as our memories do, let us adapt to the new format of keeping them intact.
MP4 files have the .mp4 extension, and are the most commonly used file format for storing audio and video. They compress data as well as retain the quality of the original video, unlike .avi or .wmv files. Moreover, MP4 files are playable on almost any DVD player, and can be played directly from the flash drive.
DVDs are a popular medium of storage of all file formats, and all sorts of data can be written and saved just with a few clicks. DVDs come in DVD+R and DVD+RW formats. The difference is that, the DVD+R format lets you write once and read it many times, while the DVD+RW format lets you write different content as many times as you want. They are available in 4.7 and 8.9 GB, which the marketers dress up. In reality, the storage space is 4.3 and 8.6 GB respectively. Enough with the technical details, here’s a step-by-step guide to burning an MP4 file to a DVD.
With Windows DVD Maker
Windows 7 and Windows Vista have a DVD authoring tool named Windows DVD Maker to burn DVDs. It shares similar features to Windows Movie Maker for transitions and special effects.
1. Launch Windows DVD Maker.
2. Select the MP4 files that you wish to transfer to the DVD, and click the ‘Add’ button.
3. After you arrange the videos in a chronological order, enter a name for the disc in the DVD Title field, and click ‘Next’.
4. Click the Menu Styles menu and preview the different designs for the main menu. You can click the Menu Text button to alter the display text.
5. Now, insert a blank DVD in the drive and click the ‘Burn’ button. Depending on the number of videos, the burning process can take more than an hour to complete.
With ImgBurn
ImgBurn is a freeware that can burn DVDs only on Windows.
1. Launch ImgBurn and click the ‘Write files/folders to disc’.
2. Click on the ‘Open Folder’ icon to select the files to add to the DVD.
3. After you add the files, click the ‘Calculator’ icon to see the file size.
4. Now, click the ‘Device’ tab and select the writing speed of the DVD. You should keep the speed low if you want to play the DVD on older players.
5. Select the ‘Options’ tab, and choose the file system as ISO9660 + UDF. Now, select the ‘Labels’ section to name the DVD.
6. ImgBurn will confirm that you are burning a DVD. Click ‘OK’ if you wish to continue.
7. The DVD will eject from the optical disc drive once the software is done burning it.
Using Nero Vision
Nero Vision is a DVD burning software published by Nero AG, that also functions as a video editing software.
1. After inserting an empty DVD in the optical disc drive, launch Nero Vision.
2. When the Start Screen starts up, select the ‘Make DVD’ option and click on the ‘DVD-Video disc type’.
3. Click the ‘Import’ menu and select the ‘Import Files’ button.
4. After a new window has opened, click on the MP4s that you wish to add to the DVD. There’s a gradient displayed at the bottom that tells you how much space is left on the DVD. If the bar is green, there’s enough space left, and if it’s red, stop adding more files.
5. Click the ‘Next’ button to view the Burn Options screen. Click on ‘Burn’ to continue.
6. The burning process is displayed. The disc gets ejected when the burning process is done.
On Windows 8
Since Windows DVD Maker is not available on Windows 8, DVDStyler is a good option.
1. First download the program and install it.
2. Launch DVDStyler, and select your settings. Choose the aspect ratio and the NTSC format, or the PAL format if you are from Europe.
3. Browse your files in the tree browser sidebar and drag the files that you deem necessary to the ‘Titleset Manager’. The status bar shows how much space is left.
4. Select a menu background and then select the appropriate buttons from the ‘Menu Editor’.
5. You can split the movie to DVD chapters and click ‘OK’ to proceed.
6. Now, click ‘Burn’ to start the burning process, and wait till the disc ejects from the drive.
On Linux
1. Before we begin, it’s better to download and install DeVeDe, an open-source DVD authoring tool.
2. First, create a folder and add the files you wish to burn.
3. Launch DeVeDe and select ‘Video DVD’ type. A new window will open.
4. In this window, the ‘Title’ field represents the folder and the ‘Files’ represent individual files. Choose the NTSC format or PAL format if you live in Europe, and click ‘Forward’. To create a new folder, right-click on the ‘Title’ field and create a new folder.
5. Click the ‘Preview’ button to check if your files work. There’s a bar at the bottom that lets you know the amount of disc space available.
6. Next, you get to create the DVD menu. Choose the appropriate fonts for the menu and the respective chapters. Click ‘Forward’ and then ‘OK’. Now it creates an ISO file, which is a virtual file that you get to burn in the next step.
7. When you put a blank disc into the optical disc drive, Ubuntu will sense it and give you a list of options. Click on ‘Brasero’ to launch it.
8. It will ask you the destination folder in which the file is stored, and the DVD drive to burn. After selecting the right options, click ‘Burn’ and let the process complete itself.
These are some of the ways to burn MP4s to a DVD so that you can play them on a DVD player. All the DVD files are stored in VOB that contains a folder structure of the files by default. The burning process is also called optical disc authoring. Remember though, using DVD authoring software to burn copyrighted movies is illegal.