Can you make a video tape into a DVD?

Software needed to create a DVD from multiple video sources.

• I am attempting to create a DVD using several different file types. Can this be done, and if so, what software do I need to do it? I am attempting to do my first ever bit of video editing, and I think that I am in way over my head. My wife and I got married in December of 2005. We bought a JVC digital video camera before the wedding and had friends tape the rehearsal, the rehearsal dinner, the reception, and we video-taped some stuff on the honeymoon. These DV tapes have been sitting in our office closet since then, not doing no good to nobody. However, over the last couple of months I have edited these videos in Pinnacle Studio 9 and have studio files (.stu) of the edited videos with titles and music and all that jazz. I am able to create DVD compatible MPEGs of these edited videos. However, these are four separate files, one for each event. In addition to these, the church where we got married video-taped the wedding service itself and made us a VHS tape and a DVD. The DVD has BUP, IFO and VOB files on it. Also I made a 43 minute slide show of all the pictures taken by us, the wedding photographer and another amateur photographer that took a lot of pictures during all the events. I made this slide show in Windows Movie Maker, but my version of the program does not allow you to burn to DVD. It may allow you to make MPEGs. I am not sure. So, when I started this project (with even less knowledge about video-editing than the paltry bit that I have now) I imagined a single DVD (playable in a regular DVD player, this is for parents and grandparents and whatnot) with a menu that you could choose from that would take you to: the rehearsal, the rehearsal dinner, the wedding, the reception, the honeymoon and pictures. I can't do this in Studio or Windows Movie Maker or Nero 7 Lite (those are the ones that I have looked at so far). Is there a program that will let me make a DVD using these different types of files? Is there one that will let me create a menu that I can then have access these different types of files? I am on a PC running XP. Finally, I searched through the other AskMe questions on video-editing and didn't see anything that matched this, and I suppose I could have asked this question without writing out my whole life history, so I apologize for making you read all this. Thanks for any assistance you can provide.

• Answer:

  Given your lack of video prowess you might be better off finding a student on craigslist who'd be willing to do it as a portfolio piece for a pittance. There's colleges where you're at, right? This would save you a lot of time and give you a better chance at a high-quality finished product. If you do go with someone else, I would also caution you to make backup copies of all tapes and discs involved (except for the VHS, you can probably skip that).