What is DVD Authoring and How to Author a DVD?

What is DVD Authoring?

DVD authoring is the process of creating a DVD video capable of playing on a DVD player. DVD authoring software must conform to the specifications set by the DVD Forum. DVD authoring is the second step in the process of producing finished DVDs.

DVD authoring is the second step in the process of producing finished DVDs. The first step is the creation of the movie and the second, the authoring, is the creation of artwork, user menus, insertion of chapter points, overdubs/commentaries, setting autoplay and/or repeat options, etc. The final step is the manufacturing process to mass-produce finished DVDs.

Strictly speaking, DVD authoring differs from the process of MPEG encoding, but as of 2009 most DVD authoring software has a built-in encoder, although separate encoders are still used when better quality or finer control over compression settings are required.

Preparation before authoring a DVD

In order to author a DVD on Mac successfully, of course, you will need a Mac PC first. Secondly, if the Mac doesn’t contain an internal DVD drive, you are going to have to prepare an external DVD drive. These two are easy, and I believe you have already had them by your side if you are ready to author a DVD.

Once both are prepared, a piece of DVD authoring software is needed at the point. Now, this is the tricky part. Among all the programs we can search on the Internet, which is the best DVD authoring program? Keep reading while I’ll introduce some of the best ones to you.

3 DVD Authoring Programs for You

Leawo DVD Creator (Windows & Mac OS X)

Leawo DVD Creator can burn DVD from more than 180+ formats of videos and photos with 6X faster speed, including AVI, MKV, MP4, WMV, FLV and so on. Additionally, it can allow you to create all kinds of DVD menu for free and you can edit your video according to your own preference. Besides, you can freely choose subtitles and audio tracks as well as preview changes in the video instantly and screenshot taking. Please refer to the following detailed instructions.

DVD Flick (Windows Only)

DVD Flick offers a great balance between ease of use and DVD authoring power. It particularly highlights on this free DVD burning software supporting over 45 file formats, 60+ video codecs and 40+ audio codecs. DVD Flick allows you to create menus and subtitles for your DVDs; supports NTSC/PAL and 4:3/16:9 ratios; lets you create ISO files from DVD discs. Another nice feature is, DVD Flick automatically calculates the bitrate of your project to make sure you can easily keep an eye on quality loss. However, this program creased to be updated since 2009. Besides, someone feedbacks that the audio and video on many DVDs created by DVD Flick is out of sync.

DVD Styler (Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux)

DVD Styler is extremely simple in its user interface but extremely capable, which enables you yo create DVDs from pretty much any video formats. It’s smart enough not to re-encode MPEG and VOB files. It supports NTSC/PAL DVDs, allows you to choose 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratio, creates DVD menus, lets you optionally control video/audio bitrate, and burns to DVD disc or outputs as ISO or DVD folder. It’s worth mentioning that DVD Styler is  update, and DVD Styler makes up for Windows DVD Maker being gone on Windows 8.