@#43 Video conversion usually requires a good deal of CPU horsepower, so it's understandable it would take awhile on a notebook.

So final word on this: It didn't work.
Waited hours for no disc at the end of it...

Uninstalling and running a registry cleaner...

Thanks for the free software , tryed again to post some results yesterday, and show iSkysoft is offering more freebies. but: continue to delete my posts; does not encourage any helpful input, guess you prefer the inane bickering that goes on here !!

Installed and registered with no problems, but when I tried to burn a DVD the program went through the motions but didn't burn anything to the disc at all. Also very heavy on resources, so decided to uninstall and discovered built in uninstaller wouldn't work and crashed my machine. Had manually remove in SAFE MODE and do registry clean. Dodgy software or what!

#20 Dear Mike, all your comments (also those seemingly long) are appreciated. Thank you

So, not having had any answers to my question(s) (Post 28) - I installed the software - a long, slow laborious process - and am currently testing it...

I have transfered six movies from various sources (a couple of full movies from youtube, a couple of downloaded .avi movies and a couple of .mp4 movies) into a folder that weighs about 3.6 GB...

I chose the most basic menu option, i.e. the one that was on the screen first and clicked "burn"...

I am now on a screen that says: Creating Titles.../Converting - I'm at 66% in the top bar and 16% in the lower bar AFTER APPROXIMATELY FIVE AND A HALF HOURS - so whatever this software may be? It certainly isn't fast, at least on a low-spec system like my netbook.

In the burning options it wouldn't let me "burn to disc" and is instead "saving as ISO" and is in NTSC (I'm in England and I'm pretty sure we use the PAL format) and it seems to be burning in 16:9 (regardless of the original format of the original video).

For now that's all I can contribute: I'm still probably about 3 hours away from having a DVD that I can test in my player and I have no idea if I'm going to end up with a useable DVD at the end of it all...

I have to say that at the moment this seems like a very cumbersome process to watch movies when I can simply plug a computer into my television or whack a film onto a USB stick and watch it that way...

I will report back with the results of this (very slow, convoluted) attempt to watch "The Secret Of My Success" and "Watership Down" in a few hours and would greatly appreciate any advice that anyone may have on tweaking the settings or using alternatives: I mean, wouldn't it just be easier and faster to convert everything to .avi and burn two or three movies onto a blank CD..?

And I can't even IMAGINE the work involved in creating a photo slideshow...

p.s. thanks for the two thumbs down for my last comment

@#25 Go to the link in the readme, scroll down to iSkysoft DVD Creator on the right, enter your name and email, click Get Keycode.

I'd been looking for a converter that did a decent job of rendering other formats into VOB files (mostly for mom who has an old DVD player hooked up to her TV). Tried a mp4 video taken with a GoPro and it did a great job! Just skipped the menu stuff and went straight to burn (couldn't find settings for the burn speed though).

#10 Ghenghis McCan; I agree with you,

#14 by gergn; I saw on their site, thanks.

By the way Everyone, iSkysoft is giving another gift to their users for Mother's day; iSkysoft Video Editor. You can own your free licence at the same link, I mean http://www.iskysoft.com/events/mothers-day-gift.html

To Skye-hook,

Use the link given in the read-me text. If I remember correctly: when you get there, you will see, on the right side of their webpage, two fields in which to put your name and email address.

Also, try to use a different browser this time.

Wishing you good luck,


I.M.

Activate process takes to long, waiting for hours for email.
Uninstall via reboot.

@#25
At the top of the page, click the button under the DVD Creator image, enter your name (must contain at least one space) and an email address, click the button there. You should get a pop-up stating your registration has been sent.

In my case by the time I opened the email program the message was there. The number isn't easy to see, being a long alpha-numeric string near the top, not highlighted (the rest of the message has highlighted links to special offers). Copy this number and paste into the registration box and add the email address you used to receive it, click "register" and you should be done. Don't forget to go to the options menu and uncheck the "update" option.

#25 Skye-hook
read the read me file which come's with the download

@#7
If there are no spaces in your name the registration will not accept it. I had the same issue trying "jgf" for my name, it just kept resetting, but "j g f" worked.

DVD's are still quite useful for when you have to distribute something that is usable by a wide range of people. For example, I have made several DVD's that contain photo slideshows for funeral events. I get the best of all worlds in that I can mix together still photos, any kind of video from VHS tape to HD then lay audio track over any or all of it. Then I create multiple DVD menus so that viewer can play either the slideshow or listen to the audio track of the memorial service.

When everybody leaves after the meal I can have DVD's already burned and ready to hand out to the guests. Everybody has some way of playing a DVD. They can use their PC, MAC, or old fashioned DVD player.

Obviously the quality is not totally HD but I do notice that when the DVD's are inserted into a PC or MAC that the photo slideshows look better than displayed on a regular DVD player.

By the way, technically, all DVDs (that conform to the true DVD standard) must be encoded as MPEG-2. The encoding is not as tight and efficient as MPEG-4 or H.264 AVC but those formats did not exist when DVD was developed.
You may be surprised to know that in the US all of the over-the-air television broadcasting that goes to your TV set is also encoded in MPEG-2.

"I stick my videos on a usb flash drive and plug it in the TV usb socket and watch".

JOHN - What format (MP$ or ?) do you need to put on the flash drive?

@Mike. Great explanation!

Updates a huge number of restricted registry settings during the install and then will not run at all on a regular user account once it is installed. Only looks like it will run on an admin account. It isn't an installer so it should never be run on an admin account.

@ #25 - scroll down the Mom's Day gift page to get the code.

I found this software to be glitch on a Windows 7 64 bit platform. I loaded an MP4 video and it took a very long time to load, finally showed a graphic with 100% loaded shown and would not continue beyond. I closed it out with task manager as it was locked. Task Manager showed it as "running" so I do not know how long I was expected to wait. Uninstalled with it's own uninstaller.

#25
I had no problem registering this one (Surprisingly, as I have problems trying to install a lot of programs - especially the ones that send you the registration code via email! Most of the time I never receive the email. And YES, I check my Spam folder everyone!).

I just went to the URL listed in the Readme file, clicked on the Name and email fields (I think that was the 2 fields) and entered my info, just under the DVD Creator picture. I IMMEDIATELY (shockingly) received an email with the registration code. I installed the program and entered the code into the Registration field, and got a confirmation window that popped up in Internet Explorer saying Thank you...

I'm not sure what you are trying but this was one of the easiest ones for me to register. Hope that helps.

Sheila :D

So ... I have a tonne of different software for ripping, burning and converting.... Most of you probably use many of the same stuff.

This isn't a review, more a series of questions based on the description of the software and user comments.

I have a basic home DVD player on a pretty basic home flat screen TV. I can plug USBs into it and have HDMI and a Rasberry Pi etc etc.. I can use Micro HDMI for my Kindle (Fire HD) etc etc..

My basic question is:

Will this software transform a video file (.avi, mp4 etc..) into a file that I can watch on my no-frills DVD player?
If so? Can I burn it to ordinary recordable DVDs (and/or, CDs AND WILL MY DVD PLAYER PLAY IT?

Second question: If I use this software to (what? convert, burn, format...) video files for a DVD will it allow me to make make on-screen menus (that function like a regular, commercial DVD menu) or what?

This sounds like just what I need, but I don't know as much about this stuff as mike does...

Using the registration link brings a flash, then a black screen. I print-screened the flash and it was a suggestion for making a video for Mother's Day. I went to iSkysoft's home page and saw that it was the flash. I searched for Giveaway, which presented a list of topics. I chose "iSkysoft DVD Creator Giveaway for GlarySoft", which sent a registration code to my email address. The offering seems to be for Mac, but the GAOTD DVD Creator registered and works on my Window 7 Pro x64. Strange procedure today for me, but I love iSkysoft stuff.

I can't find a way to get the reg code! I've tried every possible page on their site, and the page the readme said to go to get code. How did you peeps get it??? The page they said to go to is the Mom's Day gift page, nothing there to get code. Thanks!

Installed with no problems on a Desktop windows 8.1 pc.

Email received nigh on instantly with serial number for software.

Program did not install any "questionable" items; I fully checked the best I could on this.

Tested software with a single layer DVD and a Dual Layer DVD by putting some music videos on disc(s) with Menu via software.
Pretty quick in time to burn the disc(s) with no faults - tested burned discs on PC and tv/dvd player.

Simple and easy to use and so far the software has NOT thrown up any faults.
For me it is a "keeper" and personally I would recommend if you just need a quick easy to use DVD creator.

Thank you.

Does this software re-encode MPEG-2 files when making a DVD? It seems so many of them do, which totally messes up the initial quality. It also extends the time to make a DVD.

While there are some very good FREE DVD Burners/Converters out there, it's always nice to see something REALLY worthwhile here that is free and top-notch. I am sure Giovanni has a large list of alternative DVD Burners, but thank you GOTD for this good offering!

Any chance of getting the Mac version?

Pretty basic and not very useful.Other free programs much better. Background music on preveiw very irratating.

Burning a DVD from a 1080i/p source reduces the megapixel count from 2 MP to 1/3 MP. Players may do a decent job of "upscaling" but that's not the same as having the original information. That's why hooking a tablet to your Hi-Def TV looks better than playing a DVD.

I used to make slideshow DVDs of photos taken on trips. The detail was so greatly reduced that I only burn to Blu-ray now. And even that means going from 24 MP to 2 MP.

I already have 8 DVD burners installed and now this will make it 9. I have only used it 2 times in the last 3 years and probably will never use this one. Installed and looks OK to me, I will keep it as an alternative, just in case I might burn something in the future.

OT:
Hey gergn,

I have some bad news and good news for you.

The bad news
We have just discovered a few important bugs in PhraseExpander that prevent it from working properly and could cause loss of data and crashes.

The good news
We have already released a new version v.4.1.1 that solves those issues, and it's available for immediate download.

Even if your free license doesn't include updates, we don't feel like leaving you with faulty software, nor forcing you to buy an upgrade. This is not how we like doing things at PhraseExpander. That wouldn't feel right to us and certainly doesn't feel right to you.

So we decided to offer you this critical update for free: you'll get the update and your PhraseExpander license will continue to work. Fair enough?
How to get your free updateYou can get your free upgrade in two ways:

Download and install the new version from http://www.phraseexpander.com/download/upgrade/
Inside PhraseExpander, click on Help / Check for Updates and follow the instructions to install the updates


All you have to do is install the new version, and your free license will continue to work.
I really hope you are enjoying it.

And of course, if you are experiencing any issue during this operation, feel free to write us and we'll do our best to help.


Enjoy the magic,
Andrea Nagar
@PhraseExpander
http://www.phraseexpander.com

The new version of May 4 replaces the Giveawayoftheday version of May 5.

Re #5, That is because it is a Mothers Day Giveaway of iSkySoft itself.

Had old version 1-5-2 which was uninstalled.
Installed this version 3-0-0.
Will keep this.

You can use any Startyup Manager to turn off the auto-start with Windows boot, of iSkysoft Helper Compact.exe.

Like the export to DVD folder or ISO file.

I wish this company would use consistent version numbers across all their brand names. I don't know how iSkySoft DVD Creator 3.0.0 compares to Aiseesoft DVD Creator 5.1.16 or Wondershare DVD Creator whatever version it is currently.

The Aiseesoft version I use currently works fine. The menu creation options are simple and limited, only a few templates, but it handles the basics of creating DVDs.

Please add an undo feature for when you accidentally delete a scene.

#5 I'm trying anything: Someone once suggested that giveaways at the weekend should be available for more than 24 hours, as many people would be away from their computers over that period. It was a long time ago, but perhaps GOTD have considered the suggestion and decided it's a good idea.

There are a number of these programs which have been given away. Unfortunately, I had to reinstall my OS so I don't have others to compare to.

The last time I had much use for a DVD creator was when I transferred a bunch of VHS recordings to DVD. It's a useful program when you need it, but I don't need it all the time.

The website has a download for the program so as long as you get the registration before the deadline you should be able to reinstall and re-register any time. It doesn't appear to be a Giveawayoftheday only offer.

The video editor is worth grabbing.

@FrancisBorne = my 1st comment
Despite of flickering etc. and missing response the registration code had arrived in between.

@1 Karl "The license agreement comes from Wondershare…"
No wonder: iSkysoft is one of the about 20 alias names used by Wondershare. I don't want to list them this time. Not everybody likes and trusts Wondershare's underlying motivation!

@5 "I'm trying anything"
Prolonged "of the day" argument:
It's a mother's day gift this time!

But this time I myself are in trouble trying this soft:
I don't succeed getting registration code from
http://www.iskysoft.com/events/mothers-day-gift.html.
And this site needs ages for loading.

Having allowed javascript to all co-sites, if I click on "Get Keycode" only the mail line keeps its content, the name line flickers or vanishes (as it likes) and ... nothing happens.
I have tried latest Firefox, Opera and Seamonkey in vain.

Perhaps that's why this time only 7 comments till now!

One essential hint: So far I met only one costly commercial software which never lost synchronization between video and sound after cutting. Therefore please always control synchronization at a lip movement part of your video before burning!

Installed and activated easily on XP-PRO-SP3. Looks nice and simple - did not try it yet. thank you very much,
was looking for a program to do that!

"You have 2 days 21 hours 34 minutes to download install it." o_O what? Am I seeing wrong or there is something change in there, like giveawayofthemonth like.

Just tried a small DVD with this software 22 mins and it did a excellent job
keeper for me
Thank you Gaotd and iSkysoft

#1 Karl has pretty well covered all the bases regarding this program but I just thought I would expand on his last paragraph.
My preferred method of viewing videos is by using an android tablet connected to the television via an HDMI cable.
From my experience when you convert a modern video of even average quality to a VOB file there is a very noticeable loss of quality and massive increase in file size.
So, although there is nothing wrong with today's download I will be removing it from my computer.

Thanks for giving us this freebie - time limited though. i'm fond of making DVDs from video clips myself, and im using winx DVD author (http://www.winxdvd.com/dvd-author/). will try iSkysoft out later.
:)

Installed and registered without problems on a Win 8.1 Pro 64 bit system. The license agreement comes from Wondershare...

Please keep in mind, that this software loads the xHelpercompact.exe in the "program/common files" (Google! Wondershare HelperCompact) and in appdata/local/iskysoft.

On the page, where you get the key, you can also get the key and download "iSkysoft Video Editor" for free.

A company without name and address.

A modern interface opens, you add your videos and you have the choice of many templates to create the interface. This is done in a simple and understandable way.

Be sure to check the correct standard (NTSC/PAL) and disable the updates.

The program works as it should, it makes a good impression. A simple and quick solution for creating a DVD. A working software with questionable addons...

Since the WLAN and the USB sticks, i have not created any DVD in the last four years.

Uninstalled via reboot.