Streaming A to Z

Over the past year a fair number of teachers have asked me if it was possible to take the videos that they have downloaded onto their computers and turn them into DVDs.

The answer is…You Bet You Can!

Now here’s the skinny:

In order to take a downloaded video and put it onto a DVD you first have to make sure that you have DVD burning software (programs like Roxio, NERO, Movie Maker, etc) and hardware (DVD R drive) on your computer.

Once you verify that you have both the software and hardware on your computer you will need to make sure that your software can recognize .asf files.

If the file type, .asf, is not recognized by the DVD burning software, don’t lose hope! 

Many programs do not recognize .asf files but do recognize .wmv files. Therefore, if you run across this problem, try renaming the downloaded video from "whatever-the-video-name-is.asf" to "whatever-the-video name-is .wmv."  For these purposes they are essentially the same thing.

If you need to convert .asf/.wmv files to a different format using a different piece of software, make sure that the format you convert the video to is supported by both your DVD burning software and whatever device (hardware) that you wish to play your video on (i.e. computer DVD drive, DVD player that is connected to your TV, etc.)

Note: Most newer stand alone DVD players recognize the DVDs that are created on personal computers.  However, older DVD players have a hard time reading this format and may not play your newly created DVD.

If you experience difficulty burning your DVD with your DVD program you should check out the documentation that exists on your manufacturer’s website.

Now what would our blog be without a couple a helpful take aways?  Well…not our blog for one thing!

If you have a PC and are running XP you can download Windows Movie Maker for free from Microsoft.  With Movie Maker you can not only create movies using unitedstreaming’s editable titles, but you can convert them to DVD’s as well.  And best of all it is FREE!

To download this free software click here: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/updates/moviemaker2.mspx

Microsoft has also posted easy step by step instructions for burning a DVD on their site. To access those instructions click here: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/moviemaker/create/savetodvd.mspx

Now that you are burning  with this knowledge feel free to spread it around.  Tell you colleagues about this blog!

Talk to you soon,
Matt Monjan
Discovery Education unitedstreaming, Implementation