DVDMaker Tutorial


To install DVDMaker, unpack the contents of this file into the directory /opt/DVDMaker. If you want to install somewhere else, you will have to modify and recompile DVDMaker.java. You may also like to read the customisation tips below.

To run DVDMaker, change directory to /opt/DVDMaker, and issue the command 

java PALDVD 

or

java NTSCDVD

depending on whether you want a PAL or NTSC DVD. Note : I have not tested NTSC!

The scripts NTSCDVD and PALDVD don't seem to work. If you know why, please tell me.

For this tutorial, I made a short DVD movie of ducks and flowers. These were the photos I copied off my digital camera :
the files I used
When you run DVDMaker, you'll be asked which folder contains the images and movies you want to convert to DVD format. Note : because this is version 0.1beta, the DVD movie will display these items in alphabetical order by filename. Also, DVDMaker has no image processing powers (crop, rotate, etc)
choosing a working directory in DVDMaker
Then, the first image or movie in the folder will be displayed. You can navigate through the images and movies using the buttons "Next>", "<Back", ">>>>" and "<<<<". If you click "Add Title Slide", you will be prompted to type in some text. A title slide with this text will be inserted just before this image or movie. Note : Because this is version 0.1beta, you should avoid putting special characters, for example apostrophes ('), in the text! No "John's Birthday" for example!
Making a Title slide
DVDMaker v0.1beta doesn't have the ability to play movies. If the folder contains a movie, this is what you will see.
movies are not played in DVDMaker
If a photo has an aspect ratio different from what DVDMaker 0.1beta expects, it may appear squashed. This is nothing to worry about. It'll be fine on the DVD. Note the title inserted before this slide, shown between the Add and Delete title slide buttons.
aspect ratio problems are not really problems
When you are satisfied with your title slides, you click on Generate Show. -
ready to generate the show
If you are indeed ready, click yes. You'll be asked to give a title for your DVD.
Choosing a title for the whole DVD
DVDMaker won't actually generate a slideshow, it will generate a Linux shell script which will generate the show.
the script is made!
You then run the script in the usual way. You can quit DVDMaker if you like, but note that since this is version 0.1beta, there is no way to save the titles you have so laboriously keyed in. If you quit DVDMaker, all this info is lost, except insofar as it is saved in the shellscript.
running the shellscript
Running the script is likely to take a very long time. At the end, it will try to preview the DVD movie (but this doesn't work properly), then ask if you are ready to burn the DVD.
ready to burn a DVD?
If you are not ready, press CTRL-C. Otherwise, insert an empty DVD  into your burner, and press any key! Then, try it out on your DVD player.

If something goes wrong, remember it is version 0.1beta. Translated into non-technical language,
  • Version 0.1 means "you should expect that"
  • beta means "but I'd like you to tell me about it, especially if you managed to fix it"
Anyway, here's what I got from my ducks and flowers :

Customisation Tips

You may decide that my colourful trees and gospel instrumentals don't quite suit the photo collection from your heavy-metal fan convention.
  • The background used for titles is /opt/DVDMaker/titlebg.jpg. If you want a different background, replace this file.
  • The music for the slideshow parts of the DVD is randomly selected from the files audio0.ogg, audio1.ogg, ... in the folder /opt/DVDMaker/. Replace these with your own audios. Actually, to make the download small, I've only provided one audio file. If you want more, you'll have to edit and recompile DVDMaker.java
  • The font for the text of the title slides is /opt/DVDMaker/titlefont.ttf. If you don't like it, just replace this file. If you want a different text colour, you'll have to edit and reompile DVDMaker.java, or modify the generated script. 
That's all, folks!