Advice on DVD burning software

[Drum]

I need to burn a bunch of mp3's to DVD and I would like them cross faded so that there are no gaps between the songs.

Any advice on software that can achieve this? Freeware preferred!

Cheers

[oldguy]

DVD Burning software I use. all are freeware just google.

WinAVI Video Converter. use to convert WMP, to DVD or AVI files

IMG tool to burn DVD

DVD Shrink 3.2

DVD Decrypter

not sure if they are what you are after.

[boomer]

It is highly illegal to reproduce music for the benefit of ones own pleasure. Continue down this path and you will be judged...!!

[Cajun]

if you just burning dvds to mp3s, just use something like nero or simlar, there is some tweaks you can cut down the gap between songs

[The Lone Rider]

You are trying to burn mp3s to DVD? What are you planning to play them on? You trying to make a DVD audio disk, or a DVD data disk with mp3s on it?

[Drum]

Thanks for the replys so far.

I am trying to make a DVD with hundreds of MP3s on it. I want them to cross fade so that there are no dead spots between the songs. I intend to play the DVD through my DVD player, hooked up to my amplifier. The DVD player is MP3 capable.

I have Acoustica software which can cross fade, but only with WMA, not MP3, and will only do so on a CD not a DVD. This would only give me 80 minutes of music when I actually want several hours worth (it's for an all day event).

So what I'm after, if it exists, is a package that will allow me to burn MP3s to a DVD with cross fading between songs.

[bungbung]

You need winamp with a plug in:

http://www.winamp.com/plugins/details/32363/reviews

This will make a cross faded file, then burn to a DVD using your favourite burning software, it's possible that you could use inbuilt winamp burner also.
If there is an upper limit (e.g. cd sized) you could make several of them.

[Lias]

Thanks for the replys so far.
So what I'm after, if it exists, is a package that will allow me to burn MP3s to a DVD with cross fading between songs.

You cant create an multi hour long audio DVD as such (I am not an expert, but my understanding is that the DVD-Audio format is designed for high quality 6 channel sound, rather than just shitloads of CD quality sound). The best way to acheive this would be to just have a PC playing the audio, using winamp with crossfading enabled. If you absolute must have it played on a standalone DVD player, basically what you are creating is a Data DVD with mp3's on it, not an audio DVD. Unless your standalone DVD player has a build in option to crossfade tracks (not particularly likely), the only way I can think of to achieve the crossfade effect would be to use winamp with crossfade to play all the tracks you want, and recording the output as one giant audio file, which you could burn to the DVD and play "pre-faded". Even then you have no guarantee that the DVD player would be able to cope with a multi gb mp3 file.

In short, use a PC for the playback or forgo the crossfading. Also FWIW if you are planning to broadcast this music at an event, you need to pay the thieving bastards (http://www.rianz.org.nz/rianz/ppnz_publicperformancelicenses.asp) large sums of money, or they will get medieval on your arse.

[Drum]

Ok, cheers for that. I might need a rethink then. Does anyone know if an ipod can do cross fading?

How would they know I was playing their music? It's for a wedding by the way - not a public event as such.

[bungbung]

You'll be fine using a dvd player if you keep the files to less the 2gb each. I would check that the player in question can actually play mp3 from a dvd data disc, because that is a rare thing. A lot will be happy with mp3 cd only.

Another workaround:

1. winamp mp3 playlists of 90min
2. output to wav using cross fade plug in
convert to mp3
you now have several 90min long mp3
write to data dvd

Another way:
Author DVD with still image for video and mp3(s) as soundtrack in Extra long play. This will play in all players, but won't have the capacity of straight mp3 dsic.

[The Lone Rider]

You cant create an multi hour long audio DVD as such (I am not an expert, but my understanding is that the DVD-Audio format is designed for high quality 6 channel sound, rather than just shitloads of CD quality sound). The best way to acheive this would be to just have a PC playing the audio, using winamp with crossfading enabled. If you absolute must have it played on a standalone DVD player, basically what you are creating is a Data DVD with mp3's on it, not an audio DVD. Unless your standalone DVD player has a build in option to crossfade tracks (not particularly likely), the only way I can think of to achieve the crossfade effect would be to use winamp with crossfade to play all the tracks you want, and recording the output as one giant audio file, which you could burn to the DVD and play "pre-faded". Even then you have no guarantee that the DVD player would be able to cope with a multi gb mp3 file.

In short, use a PC for the playback or forgo the crossfading. Also FWIW if you are planning to broadcast this music at an event, you need to pay the thieving bastards (http://www.rianz.org.nz/rianz/ppnz_publicperformancelicenses.asp) large sums of money, or they will get medieval on your arse.

Yep, proper DVD audio is 5.1 surround sound at 24bit 96khz, and cd is two channel 16bit 44.1khz.

And mp3s are not CD quality :P

And if you are playing it live, you pay money to APRA. And collecting money for public performance of musicians work is not theft. All pubs, clubs and stores that have any music at all pay a small fee to APRA.

Not sure if I'm spelling APRA right.. Ive been meaning to registered with them but the forms ended up under my bed and never got around to it.


My professional opinion and suggestion is to simply get winamp or some other audio player with cross fading ability, and bring all the mp3s on a computer to the wedding, and plug the computer into the PA system. SO easy, VERY common to do. If you have a laptop... EVEN EASIER. Winamp I believe has an auto DJ system, so all you need to do is set the computer running songs and leave it. After that it's just a matter of telling it when to stop playing.

[bungbung]

Yep, proper DVD audio is 5.1 surround sound at 24bit 96khz, and cd is two channel 16bit 44.1khz.

That's not quite true, DVDs can have compressed audio:

A DVD-Video disc can have up to 8 audio tracks (streams) associated with each video track (or each video angle). Each audio track can be in one of three formats:

* Dolby Digital (AC-3): 1 to 5.1 channels
* MPEG-2 audio: 1 to 5.1 or 7.1 channels
* PCM: 1 to 8 channels.

Two additional optional formats are provided: DTS and SDDS. Both require the appropriate decoders and are not supported by all players.

The ".1" refers to a low-frequency effects (LFE) channel that connects to a subwoofer. This channel carries an emphasized bass audio signal.

Linear PCM is uncompressed (lossless) digital audio, the same format used on CDs and most studio masters. It can be sampled at 48 or 96 kHz with 16, 20, or 24 bits/sample. (Audio CD is limited to 44.1 kHz at 16 bits.) There can be from 1 to 8 channels. The maximum bit rate is 6.144 Mbps, which limits sample rates and bit sizes when there are 5 or more channels. It's generally felt that the 120 dB dynamic range of 20 bits combined with a frequency response of around 22,000 Hz from 48 kHz sampling is adequate for high-fidelity sound reproduction. However, additional bits and higher sampling rates are useful in audiophile applications, studio work, noise shaping, advanced digital processing, and three-dimensional sound field reproduction. DVD players are required to support all the variations of LPCM, but many subsample 96 kHz down to 48 kHz, and some may not use all 20 or 24 bits. The signal provided on the digital output for external digital-to-analog converters may be limited to less than 96 kHz and less than 24 bits.

Dolby Digital is multi-channel digital audio, using lossy AC-3 coding technology from PCM source with a sample rate of 48 kHz at up to 24 bits. The bitrate is 64 kbps to 448 kbps, with 384 or 448 being the normal rate for 5.1 channels and 192 being the typical rate for stereo (with or without surround encoding). (Most Dolby Digital decoders support up to 640 kbps, so non-standard discs with 640 kbps tracks play on many players.) The channel combinations are (front/surround): 1/0, 1+1/0 (dual mono), 2/0, 3/0, 2/1, 3/1, 2/2, and 3/2. The LFE channel is optional with all 8 combinations. For details see ATSC document A/52 <www.atsc.org/document.html>. Dolby Digital is the format used for audio tracks on almost all DVDs.

MPEG audio is multi-channel digital audio, using lossy compression from original PCM format with sample rate of 48 kHz at 16 or 20 bits. Both MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 formats are supported. The variable bit rate is 32 kbps to 912 kbps, with 384 being the normal average rate. MPEG-1 is limited to 384 kbps. Channel combinations are (front/surround): 1/0, 2/0, 2/1, 2/2, 3/0, 3/1, 3/2, and 5/2. The LFE channel is optional with all combinations. The 7.1 channel format adds left-center and right-center channels, but is rare for home use. MPEG-2 surround channels are in an extension stream matrixed onto the MPEG-1 stereo channels, which makes MPEG-2 audio backwards compatible with MPEG-1 hardware (an MPEG-1 system will only see the two stereo channels.) MPEG Layer 3 (MP3) and MPEG-2 AAC (also known as NBC or unmatrix) are not supported by the DVD-Video standard. MPEG audio is not used much on DVDs, although some inexpensive DVD recording software programs use MPEG audio, even on NTSC discs, which goes against the DVD standard and is not supported by all NTSC players.

DTS (Digital Theater Systems) Digital Surround is an optional multi-channel digital audio format, using lossy compression from PCM at 48 kHz at up to 24 bits. The data rate is from 64 kbps to 1536 kbps, with typical rates of 754.5 and 1509.25 for 5.1 channels and 377 or 754 for 2 channels. (The DTS Coherent Acoustics format supports up to 4096 kbps variable data rate for lossless compression, but this isn't supported by DVD. DVD also does not allow DTS sampling rates other than 48 kHz.). Channel combinations are (front/surround): 1/0, 2/0, 3/0, 2/1, 2/2, 3/2. The LFE channel is optional with all combinations. DTS ES support 6.1 channels in two ways: 1) a Dolby Surround EX compatible matrixed rear center channel, 2) a discrete 7th channel. DTS also has a 7.1-channel mode (8 discrete channels), but no DVDs have used it yet. The 7-channel and 8-channel modes require a new decoder. The DVD standard includes an audio stream format reserved for DTS, but many older players ignore it. The DTS format used on DVDs is different from the one used in theaters (Audio Processing Technology's apt-X, an ADPCM coder, not a psychoacoustic coder). All DVD players can play DTS audio CDs, since the standard PCM stream holds the DTS code. See 1.32 for general DTS information. For more info visit <www.dtstech.com> and read Adam Barratt's article.

[The Lone Rider]

DVD-A isn't standardized yet, and the above specs is what is being proposed as part of the standard - 24bit 96khz 5.1 surround.

You can do a lot with a CD, but it still won't be redbook standard the moment you step outside 44.1khz and 16bit

[Drum]

Thanks guys. That was enlightening! I should have known it wouldn't be as simple as I assumed.

Anyway, in the end I have decided to use Acoustica. I did try a couple of the suggested methods but it was all a bit techy to be honest. While Acoustica doesn't allow cross fading of mp3's it can be used to trim any gaps at the start and end of songs and add a fade out, so it makes for quite a seamless DVD of music.

Cheers again.

[bungbung]

DVD-A isn't standardized yet, and the above specs is what is being proposed as part of the standard - 24bit 96khz 5.1 surround.

You can do a lot with a CD, but it still won't be redbook standard the moment you step outside 44.1khz and 16bit

Sorry Llama, they are the specs for DVD video. PM me your address and I'll make you one and post it to you.

[The Lone Rider]

Thanks guys. That was enlightening! I should have known it wouldn't be as simple as I assumed.

Anyway, in the end I have decided to use Acoustica. I did try a couple of the suggested methods but it was all a bit techy to be honest. While Acoustica doesn't allow cross fading of mp3's it can be used to trim any gaps at the start and end of songs and add a fade out, so it makes for quite a seamless DVD of music.

Cheers again.

Why was playing the music right off a computer out of the question? It's less effort to hook a computer into a sound system then it is to figure out how to do something like that, that you havent done before.

[Drum]

Why was playing the music right off a computer out of the question? It's less effort to hook a computer into a sound system then it is to figure out how to do something like that, that you havent done before.

Because I would have to use a laptop from work, and my boss will be at the wedding. Not exactly appropriate use of company resources!

[The Lone Rider]

Bring a desktop? Desktops are not a hassle to transport. Could be over at your place in about 20mins with my desktop if you lived in CHCH :P

Ask someone else for their laptop?