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OK, probably getting myself more confused than I need to but I know you good good people will help me out.

I use a Sony SR100 and love it. After a few shaky starts I am now using VS to make some nice looking (title page etc) DVDs. All good.

I have got to the stage where I want to back up files etc in case of a DVD suddenly going bad, laptop hard drive crash etc etc. So....

I have all the MPEG2 "individual" files for each bit of film I have shot. No problem, I can back those up as MPEG2s on an external hard drive.

Using VS I normally pull those individual files together to make a clip (for example, Christmas 2008). As I chose to keep properties the same, again, I assume i could then just save that complete project file as an MPEG2 with no difficulty (and probably actually therefore delete the individual files I referred to above...ie each seperate bit of film that made up Christmas 2008).

This is where I get confused. When I totally finish a project in VS, I have maybe four or five clips on one DVD, a title page, music, the works .... can I save that on a hard drive as a complete entity. In other words, if I connect an external media player to the external hard drive I could just play it off that the same as the DVD would be. And I would have the file to burn additional "finished product" DVDs - or does that have to be done through VS each time.

Not sure if that's entirely clear but any thoughts appreciated.

When you get to the final page of the burning module of Video Studio, where you actually click Burn, there is a downward pointing double arrow button over to the right of the Burn Disc slot. That gives you extra choices, namely to burn a DVD Folder or a Disc Image either in addition to, or instead of, an actual DVD. I think one of these is what you are after.

A DVD Folder is in effect exactly what is burned to an actual DVD. It is labeled Video_TS and in it you will have all the .ifo, .bup and .vob files that are on your finished, burned DVD. It is also exactly the same size as your burned DVD, because in effect it *is* your DVD, just not on a disc. You can play it in a software DVD player on your computer -- simply point your player to the Video_TS folder. And importantly, you can burn more copies of it to DVD at some later stage. The only downside is that Video Studio itself cannot burn such a Folder to disc. You need something like Nero or Roxio to do that. But that is the option I always choose.

A Disc Image file has an .iso extension and is not particularly different from a DVD Folder as it is the exact image of what is eventually burned to DVD. However, it cannot be played back directly in a software DVD player. You have to have another program, such as PowerISO, to 'mount' the ISO file on a virtual drive, then you can point your software player to that drive and play the video as you would a DVD Folder or an actual DVD. But as I say, the downside is that you need an extra program and you need to mount the file, so a bit more work. The upside is that VS comes (or at least it used to) with a separate burning program outside the burning module which can burn an iso file to disc. But Nero and Roxio and a variety of other programs, include freeware ones, can also burn iso files.

Ken, after reading your response..

The upside is that VS comes (or at least it used to) with a separate burning program outside the burning module which can burn an iso file to disc.

.. I was thinking that yes VS has always included a separate Disc Image Burning utility.. Ulead Disc Image Recorder. So I looked into the install files for VS Pro, and to my surprise it was not there It appears that Corel has dropped that too. It was included in the Content installation for VS11+, and all the earlier versions.

So I would have to say that new members to the VS family, ones that do not have at least VS11 they will need to acquire a third party ISO burning application if they are wanting to do much of anything with the ISO files.

In the burn module you can import files from DVD folders, however you need to rebuild the menus.

If you have VideoStudio X2 Ultimate you also get DVD Copy 6.
My bet it that whoever put the package together thought this would do the job, but it doesn't.

Fantastic - thanks Ken.

Looks like the DVD folder is exactly what I am looking for. I obviously didn't do that on my previous efforts but it won't take too long to go back and "do them again".

Anyone used a media player (such as Western Digital's one) to play these direct off a hard drive? Looks like a good option to me. I can have back ups but also easy access to play recordings

Yes, when I first got VS11; I saved to ISO file. I always liked ISO files, because you had one folder, with all the info in it. But unlike the previous versions, when I got ready burn the ISO files to the disk, there was no provision to do so. It was the same as the Blu-Ray. It let me save the files & folders. But when I tried to burn them; I had to use another program.
One beef with X2 I find is that; I can burn (almost) directly to a AVCHD disc. And I'm sure like myself, most did not buy this program, to make and edit only 2 minutes videos. These videos, take long to render; and to not be able, to have an option of saving the rendering video to a folder; is not very thoughtful. Especially if a disc error occurs. I know Corel, bought Uead, or merged with them. But are these the same thoughtful people?
Alot of valuable options, that were availiable before, seem to be discarded; like we don't need it. Not everyone has the luxury of multiple computers, where your rendering time; keeps you off the computer.
Bring back ISO file burning, and ISO saving; or video folder saving options. The program does makes these folders, before it burns, I believe.

paulsmithy wrote:Fantastic - thanks Ken.

Looks like the DVD folder is exactly what I am looking for. I obviously didn't do that on my previous efforts but it won't take too long to go back and "do them again".

Anyone used a media player (such as Western Digital's one) to play these direct off a hard drive? Looks like a good option to me. I can have back ups but also easy access to play recordings

Yes, I sometimes save a "DVD" onto a Western Digital 1TB MyBook External USB Drive connected to my notebook computer. I then run a 5 Metre long VGA cable to my 32" widescreen TV and then watch the "DVD" on the television using Corel WinDVD 9.

Quite handy when you don't need a permanent copy because you can delete the "DVD" from the hard drive later.

Ditto playing a DVD Folder on my computer via my PlayStation 3 which is networked to the computer and connected to my HDTV via HDMI. The PS3 also has the advantage of 'upscaling' standard definition video to approximate high definition, which is a long-winded way of saying it makes standard def DVDs look better on a big screen!

Just going back to your advice Ken...... for the few DVDs I have already created without also using the create DVD folder option, is there an easy way to create these as files again now?

Or would I be best advised to just 'make' the DVD again through VS and make sure I tick the DVD folder box this time?

Did you save the project file(s) and are all the original videos, slides and audio still intact in their original locations?
If so just load up the project and away you go!

Ahhh.....stupid me then!

Ustally after I have burnt the CD and it offers to save I say no! I will still have the original footage though so I guess just have to rebuild project manually from that......

If your objective is just to burn copies of your existing DVDs, then simply use a program (like Nero or Roxio) which will burn a faithful copy.