I have watched over the years as television evolved and blossomed into some good educational programs, then started to become less and less accurate, more filled with commercials and those annoying little pop-ups at the bottom of the screen, to the point that commercial and cable/satellite television is now largely unwatchable.
We have Netflix and Blockbuster by mail, and those serve for entertainment, but when the local public tv station is showing an Antiques Roadshow from 2007 in prime time, it is obvious that the potential has "left the building."
We are on Hughesnet satellite service, which severely limits our streaming options, but that has pushed me into learning how to download some of the streaming content and convert it into DVD format for viewing (and REviewing) at our leisure.
How is it done? I'll walk you through the steps.
First you need a relatively decent computer and a DVD burner. I got a liteon USB burner from Buy.com that has lightscribe capabilities. It also can burn on both DVD-R and DVD+R disks. (DVD+R is a little better)
Next, you'll need some DVD disks. At first, just get some inexpensive disks from someplace local like Big Lots or Walmart. Plan on making a few coasters.
Next, you will want to download two programs. Sothink Movie DVD Maker, and DVD Styler. Both are free. Why two programs? Sothink has great video format conversion software but a junky and limited output that has an annoying lead-in to every program. DVD Styler doesn't convert well, but allows you to make a much better looking set of menus. Install both before going further.
Where to get interesting material? TED talks has free downloadable short lectures on various subjects. Just go here: Ted Talks and chose a couple and download according to instructions. Make TV has some free downloadable 25 minute programs as well. You can search elsewhere, Yale and Oxford have lectures available online.
For your first DVD, open up Sothink, click on the add button and add two of the Ted videos * without a blank DVD in your DVD recorder* When you click on the burn DVD button, a warning will pop up. Select Ignore on the warning. DO NOT DO ANYTHING IN SOTHINK AFTER THIS.
When Sothink tells you the files have been created, open your Windows Temporary folder, which is usually:
C:\Documents and Settings\user\Local Settings\Temp
(You can either browse to that location on your computer or just copy the line, press the Windows Start button, find the "Run" line, and paste it there and press enter.) You will find two big honkin video files in that folder. Highlight them, select edit/copy or press Ctrl C, then open a "My Computer" window and find a folder you can stash these files in, and press Edit Paste or Ctrl V to paste them in place in that other folder.
Once the files are safely copied, close the Sothink program and open the DVD Styler program. Using that program, find the files you just stashed and move them into the program, make a menu (you can use your own pictures for a background), place a blank disk in the DVD drive, and burn your DVD.
There you have it. Toss the disk in your DVD player or send it to a friend.
Try to use a sharpie to label your DVD or buy lightscribe disks and burn the labels on with the lightscribe software. Using stick-on labels can unbalance the disk (which rotates at high speed) or gum up the works if the label starts to come loose.
