Making DVD's from our old family videos/photos

[Grammy]

I would like to put our old family videos and photos onto DVD. I also want to do some editing boring scenes (read 1-2 hours of the video on a tripod at family holiday gatherings, etc) as well as editing some of the snapshots I will scan in. I also want to have music in the background. The DVD's will be given to family members, so it needs to play in their DVD players, not on computer.

I want to be able to transfer edited photos from Elements to the program for the DVD without a lot of complications. I'm not sure if that will work with Roxio or Nero, or whether I would have to save/change file formats to do it.

I have Vista, Photoshop Elements 6, Roxio Creator Suite 8 (which has My DVD and VideoWave in it), and Nero. I've used Roxio to make some photo slideshow DVD's with music, but never video to DVD. I have never used the Nero - that's on my husband's computer - but if needed, I can use that program.

I know Premier is available, and I'm willing to buy it if need be - but since I have several programs already I'm hoping one of those will work. I welcome your advice!

Thanks,
Terry

[Abby]

Hi Terry,

I think Elements Premiere would do just what you want. It handles video, audio, editing and stills. Sorry, I know that means learning new software but there's lots of help in the Premiere section of this forum and over at muvipix.com.

You'll be getting into Premiere at a good time too with the new release of version 7 which, according to what I've read, is very stable and works well. I think the muvipix gurus are coming out with a new book for version 7 (there hasn't been a book since version 2) so you'll be able to learn with a book that has exactly the same screens you'll be looking at on your computer.

Good luck to you. Sounds like a fun project.

[Grammy]

Abby, thanks for responding. Will Premier 7 work okay with Elements 6?

Anyone else have experience using Elements 6 with Roxio or Nero?

Thanks,
Terry

[Abby]

I'd be surprised of Premiere 7 didn't work with Elements 6. Maybe someone else with more knowledge than I have will jump in with an answer to this.

I have made a slideshow with Elements and burned it to a DVD. I don't think the slideshow feature in Elements will support video though and Roxio isn't necessary. You can burn the DVD via Premiere. Elements has some burn capability but when I did it in version 5 it was not acceptable for viewing on TV screens.

One thing I would suggest, if you go with Premiere, is determine what format your video files are and then read about how (or if) that format is supported in Premiere. The video files I had had to be converted to a different format before I could use them. It was a pain and took some research to figure out how to do it but it worked.

[rubeelou]

I hate to recommend something that is not photoshop
but I use Memories on TV
and it is awesome
reproduction quality is great
hate to go against premier I have never used it
but MOTV is user friendly etc etc
Pam