Roxio Easy Media Creator 8 For Dummies ppt

.9 Welcome to the Roxio Media Creator Home...10 Attending to the Tasks at Hand ...13 So Many Apps, So Little Time ...14 Would you please Backup MyPC ...14 Playing around with CinePlayer

Roxio ® Easy Media Creator ™ 8 For Dummies ®

Published by

Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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Copyright © 2006 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published simultaneously in Canada

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2005935150 ISBN-13: 978-0-471-74740-6

ISBN-10: 0-471-74740-8 Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 1B/RT/RS/QV/IN

About the Author

Greg Harvey Ph.D has authored tons of computer books, the most recent

being Excel 2003 For Dummies and Adobe Acrobat 6 PDF For Dummies He

started out training business users on how to use IBM personal computersand their attendant computer software in the rough and tumble days of DOS,WordStar, and Lotus 1-2-3 in the mid-80s of the last century After working for

a number of independent training firms, he went on to teach semester-longcourses in spreadsheet and database management software at Golden GateUniversity in San Francisco

His love of teaching has translated into an equal love of writing For Dummies

books are, of course, his all-time favorites to write because they enable him

to write to his favorite audience, the beginner They also enable him to usehumor (a key element to success in the training room) and, most delightful

of all, to express an opinion or two about the subject matter at hand

to write about Roxio’s great new suite of media creation programs.

Next, I want to express great thanks to my project editor, Christine Berman(a better person to work with you’ll never find), and to my partner in crime,Christopher Aiken (I really appreciate all your editing, additions, and comments

on this one) Thanks also go to Trevor Kay for the great technical edit, AdrienneMartinez for coordinating its production, and everybody at Wiley Publishing,Colleen Totz Diamond for the outstanding proofreading, and Techbooks forthe indexing

Special thanks to Patrick Nugent, Product Lead at Roxio, Inc., for all his personalhelp and speedy responses to my few questions about this great version oftheir most versatile software

Publisher’s Acknowledgments

We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our online registration form located at www.dummies.com/register/.

Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:

Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Development

Project Editor: Christine Berman Acquisitions Editor: Bob Woerner Copy Editor: Christine Berman Technical Editor: Trevor Kay Editorial Manager: Jodi Jensen Media Development Supervisor: Richard Graves Editorial Assistant: Amanda Foxworth

Cartoons: Rich Tennant (www.the5thwave.com)

Mary Bednarek, Executive Acquisitions Director Mary C Corder, Editorial Director

Publishing for Consumer Dummies Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher Joyce Pepple, Acquisitions Director

Composition Services Gerry Fahey, Vice President of Production Services Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services

Contents at a Glance

Introduction 1

Part I: A Bit About Easy Media Creator 8 and Digital Media 7

Chapter 1: Getting Acquainted with Easy Media Creator 8 9

Chapter 2: The Ins and Outs of Digital Media and Gear 37

Part II: Creating Data Discs 53

Chapter 3: Backing Up and Copying Data Files 55

Chapter 4: Organizing Media Files with Media Manager 111

Part III: Creating Audio CDs and Photo Projects 135

Chapter 5: Editing Audio with Sound Editor 137

Chapter 6: Managing Digital Photos 163

Chapter 7: Burning Audio CDs, MP3, and DVD Music Discs 207

Chapter 8: Creating Disc Labels and Case Inserts 231

Part IV: Creating Projects for DVDs 251

Chapter 9: Acquiring Digital Media .253

Chapter 10: Creating and Editing Video Productions 273

Chapter 11: Building and Burning DVDs 311

Part V: The Part of Tens 327

Chapter 12: Top Ten (or So) Components of the Roxio Creator 8 Suite 329

Chapter 13: Ten (or So) Coolest Features in the Roxio Creator 8 Suite 339

Index 345

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

About This Book 1

Foolish Assumptions 2

How This Book Is Organized 3

Part I: A Bit About Easy Media Creator 8 and Digital Media 3

Part II: Creating Data CDs 3

Part III: Creating Audio CDs and Photo Projects 4

Part IV: Creating Projects for DVDs 4

Part V: The Part of Tens 5

Icons Used in This Book 5

Where to Go from Here 5

Part I: A Bit About Easy Media Creator 8 and Digital Media 7

Chapter 1: Getting Acquainted with Easy Media Creator 8 9

Welcome to the Roxio Media Creator Home 10

Attending to the Tasks at Hand 13

So Many Apps, So Little Time 14

Would you please Backup MyPC 14

Playing around with CinePlayer 15

The comforts of Creator Classic 17

Copying discs with Disc Copier 18

Lauding the Label Creator 18

Media Manager at your service 19

Audio discs that are music to your ears 21

Easy multimedia projects thanks to MyDVD 22

Picture it in PhotoSuite 23

Getting Secure with Roxio Backup 24

Saying hello to Sound Editor 25

Riding the VideoWave 26

Utilities Perfect for Particular Media Needs 28

Instant data copying thanks to Drag to Disc 29

The importance of Media Import 30

Help Is on the Way! 31

Using the Roxio Help Center 32

Getting application-specific help 33

Chapter 2: The Ins and Outs of Digital Media and Gear 37

Feeling at Home in the Digital Media Menagerie 37

Let’s hear it for the Video and Super Video CD formats 39

Ripping through those pesky audio formats 40

Make Mine Digital! 43

Why digital rules 44

Converting analog media to digital 45

Sorting Out Your Digital Recording Gear 47

When It’s “Playback” Time 48

Delving into the world of DVD players 48

I want my MP3! 49

The Care and Handling of CD and DVD Discs 50

Part II: Creating Data Discs 53

Chapter 3: Backing Up and Copying Data Files 55

Drag-and-Drop Magic 56

Launching Drag to Disc on startup 57

Ejecting a disc 60

Customizing other Drag to Disc settings 62

Manually formatting a blank disc 65

Editing a data disc 67

Repairing discs with ScanDisc 71

Turning to Creator Classic for Regular Backups 72

Opening a new disc project 74

Changing the Data Disc Project Settings 75

Titling the disc project 77

Selecting the size of the disc to use 78

Adding data files to a disc project 78

Encrypting the data disc 81

Making a multimedia data disc 82

Making a bootable data disc 85

Saving the disc project 88

Burning the disc 88

Adding files to an existing CD or DVD disc 92

Getting the Lowdown on a Disc 93

Recovering Data with Roxio Retrieve 94

Creating a Backup Project 97

Creating a Data Disc Project 104

Backing Up the Whole Kit and Kaboodle with Backup MyPC 106

Disc Copies in a Jiffy 107

Making and Burning Disc Image Files 109

Using disc image files in Roxio Creator Classic 109

Using disc image files in Data Projects in Roxio Media Creator Home 110

Using disc image files in Disc Copier 110

Chapter 4: Organizing Media Files with Media Manager 111

Making the Most of Media Manager 112

Meandering through My Media 113

Ambling through My Albums 116

Finding your way around your folders 117

Moseying through My MediaSpace 118

You’re being watched! 119

Instant movies, slideshows, and playlists thanks to QuickShow 122

Creating Your Own Albums 123

Creating albums from searches 125

Arranging the files in an album 126

Tag, You’re It! 126

Adding keywords to your albums 127

Adding comments to your albums 128

Adding sound tags to your albums 129

Finding Wayward Media Files 130

Doing a simple search 130

Doing an advanced search 131

Printing Your Photos 132

Sharing Photos Online 133

Backing Up Media Files on Disc 134

Part III: Creating Audio CDs and Photo Projects 135

Chapter 5: Editing Audio with Sound Editor 137

Adding Clips to Your Audio Mix 137

Recording your own audio clips 139

Importing your clips from CDs and DVDs 143

Editing Your Audio Mix 145

Zoom, zoom, zoom 145

Playing with the playback controls 146

Removing silences from a recording 148

Inserting silences into a recording 148

Adding and deleting markers 149

Adding and deleting track separators 149

Adjusting the volume and balance 151

Working with different layers 155

Enhancing audio in the mix 158

Exporting a Sound Editor Project 160

Chapter 6: Managing Digital Photos 163

Launching PhotoSuite Your Way 164

Getting Familiar with PhotoSuite 8 165

PhotoSuite’s Supported File Formats 166

Fixing, Editing, and Enhancing Photos 168

Fix me up 169

Achieving that perfect photo effect 179

Adding More Images and Clip Art to a Photo 191

Bring on the Borders 193

Playing with PhotoSuite Projects 194

Stitching It All Together 195

Group Editing 198

Printing Your Photos 199

E-mailing Your Photos 201

Putting Your Photos Online 203

Chapter 7: Burning Audio CDs, MP3, and DVD Music Discs 207

Creating an Audio CD Project 208

Adding audio tracks to your project 208

Tagging the tracks in the project 213

Rearranging tracks 215

Renaming tracks 215

Inserting a disc break 216

Changing the Project Settings 216

Burning the CD 217

Creating an MP3/WMA Disc Project 218

Creating a DVD Music Disc 220

Creating a new Music DVD Disc project 221

Working with track lists 223

Working with Smart Menus 225

Customizing the menus and track screens 226

Previewing and burning a Music DVD Disc 227

Creating an Enhanced CD 228

Creating a Mixed-Mode CD 229

Chapter 8: Creating Disc Labels and Case Inserts 231

Getting Familiar with the Roxio Label Creator Window 232

The Add Object pane 233

The Edit Layout pane 234

The Layout toolbar 234

The Object Properties toolbars 236

Express Disc Labels and Case Inserts 238

Editing Elements of the Label Project 242

Editing the text objects in your layouts 242

Editing the image and graphic objects in your layouts 244

Printing Disc Labels and Case Inserts 246

Applying Labels to Discs 249

Part IV: Creating Projects for DVDs 251

Chapter 9: Acquiring Digital Media .253

Using Roxio Media Import 253

Connecting digital devices to use in Media Import 255

Customizing the Media Import options 256

Acquiring Digital Photos 257

Scanning images into Media Import 257

Copying photos directly from your camera 259

Acquiring Digital Video 262

Modifying the capture settings 262

Capturing recorded video in SmartScan mode 263

Capturing recorded video in Normal mode 264

Recording live video with Manual Media Import 265

Acquiring Audio Files 266

Capturing live audio 266

Copying tracks from an audio CD 269

Importing Movies from DVDs 271

Chapter 10: Creating and Editing Video Productions 273

Getting Cozy with VideoWave 274

The Preview pane 274

The Production Editor pane 277

Instant Music Videos with CineMagic 278

Instant Slideshows with SlideShow Assistant 282

Video Editing in the Production Editor 284

Working in Storyline mode 284

Working in Timeline mode 302

Outputting the Video Production 307

Burning the Video Production to Disc 309

Chapter 11: Building and Burning DVDs 311

Getting Cozy with the MyDVD Window 312

Building Your DVD Project 313

Modifying the menu style 313

Modifying the main menu title 314

Adding movies to your DVD project 315

Previewing the finished DVD project 320

Burning DVD Projects to Disc 322

Plug & Burn: From tape to disc in one step 323

Part V: The Part of Tens 327

Chapter 12: Top Ten (or So) Components of the Roxio Creator 8 Suite 329

Disc Copier 329

Backup for All Types of Data 330

Acquiring Digital Media with Roxio Media Import 331

Audio Recording and Editing 332

Disc Labeling with Label Creator 333

Organizing Digital Media with Media Manager 333

Enhancing and Managing Digital Photos 334

Easy Video Editing with VideoWave 335

Creating and Burning DVD Projects with MyDVD 336

Copying files on the fly with Drag-to-Disc 337

Chapter 13: Ten (or So) Coolest Features in the Roxio Creator 8 Suite 339

Home Is Where Access to Every Roxio Creator Component Is 339

Keeping Up with Your Media via Smart Views 340

Videos, Slideshows, and Play lists to Go with QuickShow 340

Simple-to-Create Videos and Slideshows 341

More Complex Video Editing in Timeline Mode 341

Scene Stealing in SmartScan Mode 342

Direct From Tape to Disc with Plug & Burn 342

Easy DVD Disc Copies 343

Multi Photo Editing, Printing, and E-mailing 343

Index 345

The good news is that programs included in Roxio Creator 8 are genuinelyeasy to use The bad news, if there is any, is that because of its nature as

a collection or suite of different applications and tools, you may initially find

it a bit confusing as to which part to turn to get a particular job done This is

where Roxio Creator 8 For Dummies comes in This book is designed to make

you familiar with Roxio Creator’s many capabilities and get you up and ning and comfortable with its many features as quickly as possible

run-If I had to choose just one word to characterize Roxio Creator 8, it would have

to be versatility because this baby can do almost anything you might want to

do Roxio Creator, you can go from capturing original digital media to editing itand then using it in a wide array of different projects that you can then output

to disc in a very short time Because the program’s emphasis is always onmaking these processes as easy as can be, you don’t have to worry if youdon’t have any background in working with digital media and have limited

or even no experience with multimedia editing and design

I just hope that you find using Roxio Creator 8 to design, build, and burn yourown media projects half as much fun I found writing about them in this book

I want to congratulate the Roxio/Sonic engineers for providing all of us with atruly outstanding set of tools with which to transform the sounds and images

of the world around us into memories that we can share with friends andfamily alike

About This Book

Roxio Easy Media Creator 8 For Dummies is meant to be a simple reference to

the major components and features offered in the Roxio Creator 8 DeluxeSuite (Creator 8 is also available in an Essentials and Standard version) If youdid not choose to invest in this deluxe version of this suite, do not worry asyou will still find you have access to all of the major applications and tools Icover in the text (just some of the fancier and more advanced options thatare covered will be missing from your menus and dialog boxes)

I have, however, endeavored as much as possible to arrange this referencematerial according to the task you want to get done rather than according to

the module that you use in performing it (as you sometimes use the samemodule to accomplish multiple tasks) This means that although the chapters

in each part are laid in a logical order, each stands on its own, ready for you

to dig into the information at any point

Whenever I could, I have also tried to make the topics within each chapterstand on their own as well When there’s just no way around relying uponsome information that’s discussed elsewhere, I include a cross-reference thatgives you the chapter and verse (actually the chapter and section) for whereyou can find that related information if you’re of a mind to

Use the Contents at a Glance along with the full Table of Contents and Index tolook up the topic of the hour and find out exactly where it is in this compila-tion of Roxio Creator information You’ll find that although most topics areintroduced in a conversational manner, I don’t waste much time cutting to thechase by laying down the main principles at work (usually in bulleted form)followed by the hard reality of how you do the deed (as numbered steps)

of multimedia expertise (or the lack thereof)

As far as your computer hardware and software goes, I’m assuming only thatyou have a computer that is robust enough to meet the rather stringentmemory and storage requirements for Roxio Creator 8 and that this machine

is running Windows 2000 or XP and is equipped with a CD-recordable or,hopefully, a DVD-recordable drive I am not, however, assuming that you haveaccess to the other peripherals such as a digital still camera, camcorder,scanner, DVD recorder, and the like that I describe in the text If you do haveall these goodies, so much the better, as this enables you to use all of RoxioCreator’s wonderful features If not, you can still use the parts of the programthat pertain to kind of system you have

How This Book Is Organized

Roxio Easy Media Creator 8 For Dummies is divided into five parts Each part

is organized around a central topic (getting to know Easy Media Creator and

digital media, making data backup discs, audio discs and photo projects, DVDprojects, and the like) All the chapters in each part are then related to someaspect of performing the central task In case you’re the least bit curious,here’s the lowdown on each of the six parts and their chapters and what youcan expect to find there.

Part I: A Bit About Easy Media Creator 8 and Digital Media

This part provides you with an orientation to Easy Media Creator 8’s nents and capabilities, along with an introduction to the sometimes confusingworld of digital media

compo-Chapter 1 is your place to go to find out just what exactly is included in theRoxio Creator 8 suite It also introduces you to the Roxio Creator 8 Home, thecentral bridge from which you can access all the other applications and tools

in the suite

Chapter 2 is not to be missed, even by those of you who do not consideryourselves beginners by any stretch of the imagination This chapter coversthe world of digital media, including the essential difference between analogand digital media, the many different types of CD and DVD media and mediaformats out there, as well as the different types of digital gear that RoxioCreator supports The chapter ends with my advice on the proper treatment

of CD and DVD discs

Part II: Creating Data CDs

Part II focuses on the important tasks of backing up and organizing yourmedia files Chapter 3 takes up the call on how to use the Creator Classic andDrag-to-Disc modules to compile and burn data backup discs This chapteralso includes information on how to use the Roxio Backup program to sched-ule backups so that you’re never at risk for losing invaluable data due tosome computer malfunction

Chapter 4 covers how to use the Media Manager module to organize, manage,and backup all the different types of media files (audio, still images, andvideo) that you use in your Roxio Creator media projects It covers taggingand annotating media files for quick retrieval later using Media Manager’sSearch capability as well

Part III: Creating Audio CDs and Photo Projects

This part takes an in-depth look at two of the most popular types of digitalmedia out there: digital audio and photos Chapter 5 covers mixing audioclips that you record and rip from the audio CDs and DVDs you own usingRoxio Creator’s now more powerful than ever Sound Editor

Chapter 6 turns to the subject of digital photos and how you can use thePhotoSuite module not only to fix, edit, and enhance them but also to usethem in all sorts of great photo projects including slideshows, photo collages,calendars, and the like It concludes by giving you the lowdown on printingyour digital photos as well as sharing them electronically with friends andfamily

Chapters 7 and 8 gives you the blow-by-blow for compiling and burning audioCDs, MP3/WMA, and DVD Music Discs with the new Music Disc Creator andthen using the Label Creator program to design and print labels for the discsand inserts for their jewel cases

Part IV: Creating Projects for DVDs

Part IV is devoted to the subject of DVD projects Chapter 9 concentrates onhow to use the Roxio Media Import to acquire all the types of digital media(audio, photo, and video) that you need for your DVD projects

Chapter 10 then covers the use of Roxio Creator’s powerful VideoWave 8application to design video productions to be used as titles for your DVD pro-jects Chapter 11 fills out the part by giving you the lowdown on using theMyDVD program to construct the titles for your DVD project complete withinteractive menus and then burn the finished project to CD or DVD disc

Part V: The Part of Tens

Part V contains two chapters that together make up the Part of Tens Chapter

12 is the place to consult for a concise description of what each major cation and tool in the Roxio Creator 8 suite can do for you This chapter alsogives cross references to the appropriate chapters in the book that give youin-depth information on the use of a particular module

appli-Chapter 13 highlights what I consider to be the top ten coolest features in theentire Roxio Creator 8 suite (and, of course, that’s saying a lot when you have

as many features to choose from as you do with this baby)

Icons Used in This Book

The following icons are strategically placed in the margins throughout all thechapters in this book Their purpose is to get your attention and each has itsown way of doing that

This icon denotes some really cool information (in my humble opinion) that

if you pay particular attention to will pay off by making your work just a lotmore enjoyable or productive (or both)

This icon denotes a tidbit that you ought to pay extra attention to; otherwise,you may end up taking a detour that wastes valuable time

This icon denotes a tidbit that you ought to pay extra attention to; otherwise,you’ll be sorry

This icon denotes a tidbit that makes free use of (oh no!) technical jargon

You may want to skip these sections (or, at least, read them when no one else

is around)

Where to Go from Here

The question of where to go from here couldn’t be simpler — why off to readthe great Rich Tennant cartoons at the beginning of each of the four parts, ofcourse Which chapter you go to after that is a matter of personal interestand need Just go for the gold and don’t forget to have some fun while you’redigging!

A Bit About Easy Media Creator 8 and Digital Media

In this part

Roxio Easy Media Creator 8, as you discover in thispart, is not one single program but a collection orsuite of several different application programs and toolsthat you can use to create a wide variety of audio, photo,and video projects In Chapter 1 of this part, you get intro-duced to each of the programs and tools you’ll be usingand what they can do for you Chapter 2 then presentsessential information about the surplus of digital mediaand media file formats that you come in contact with asyou create your various media projects This chapter thenconcludes by giving you a rundown of the various pieces

of cool digital gear you can use to play all the great jects you come up with in Roxio Creator 8, and guidelines

pro-on the proper care of CDs and DVDs

Chapter 1

Getting Acquainted with Easy Media Creator 8

In This Chapter

䊳Getting familiar with the Roxio Media Creator Home

䊳Overview of the Applications you can launch from Home

䊳A quick look at the Tools you can use at Home

䊳Exploring the Utilities available to you from Home

First things first: Before you can use your newly installed Roxio EasyMedia Creator 8 suite to go off and create a copy of your favoriteColdplay audio CD or to burn a DVD of the family’s most recent outing in theAdirondacks, you’re going to need to know your way around the program Asyou’re about to discover, there’s very little that Roxio Easy Media Creator 8can’t do when it comes to dealing with all the many types of digital mediathat are apt to come your way

Better yet, not only is this baby versatile, but it’s as good as its name TheRoxio Easy Media Creator 8 suite offers you consistently easy ways to com-plete all of your media projects — from ripping, arranging, and burning yourown copies of your favorite CDs to finally organizing and tagging those gazil-lions of digital photos you’ve dumped into nondescript folders all over yourcomputer’s hard disk

The only catch (oh, there’s always a catch) is that in order for the Easy MediaCreator 8 to be as multitalented as it is, the good engineers at Sonic Solutionshad to carve the program up into dozens of different little specialized pro-grams and utilities that taken in at once can be a bit overwhelming (to saythe least) This is where Chapter 1 comes in: Here you not only get a muchneeded overview of the many individual and specialized components now atyour fingertips but a good feel for the Roxio Media Creator Home that tiesthem all together Once you get your bearings in this all important hub,you’re ready to see what this program can really do by looking at each of theindividual components

Welcome to the Roxio Media Creator Home

When you install the Roxio Easy Media Creator 8 suite on your computer’shard disk, the Windows Installer automatically puts a Roxio Roxio MediaCreator Home 8 shortcut on the Windows desktop To open the Roxio MediaCreator Home, you simply locate this shortcut icon (shown in the left margin

of this paragraph) and double-click it

Figure 1-1 shows the Welcome screen of the Roxio Media Creator Homewindow (also known as Easy Media Creator Central) that appears after youdouble-click this desktop shortcut As you can see in this figure, the Welcomescreen of the Home window that forms the hub of the Roxio Easy MediaCreator 8 suite is divided into four distinct areas:

⻬ MMeennuu bbaarr:: Contains the four menus, File, Tools, View, and Help, whichyou can use to launch and save new media projects, access any of theMedia Creator tools, change the size and appearance of the Homewindow, and get help on using Home

⻬ PPrroojjeecctt LLiisstt:: Lists the categories of projects available in the Easy MediaCreator 8 suite — to expand a category to display a list of all its particu-lar projects, click the link attached to the category name or click the tab button to the right of the name (the one with downward-pointing triangle)

Figure 1-1:

The RoxioMediaCreatorHome offers

a hub tyingtogether theprogram’smany com-ponents

⻬ PPrroojjeecctt WWiinndoww:: Displays a list of links for specific tasks or apps ated with the project you’ve selected in the Project List pane or, in somecases, lists the steps necessary to complete a particular task (such as toback up or copy a disc)

associ-⻬ CCoonnttrrooll PPaanneell:: This area is divided into three sections: the MediaInformation Display, which shows a visual representation of the disc ordrive designated as the destination for your project; the Input Area,which displays a drop-down menu for selecting the recorder to use foryour project, a display showing the recording progress of the project, oraudio and video playback controls; and the Action Area, which displays

an Options button for displaying a list of options associated with yourproject, or controls that enable you to start or stop the project

Note that you can save space in the Roxio Media Creator Home by ing the Project List pane so that it displays only icons To do this, click theHide Project Pane button or choose View➪Hide Project Pane on the RoxioMedia Creator Home Menu bar To expand the Project List so that it again dis-plays both icons and category labels, click the Show Project Pane button (orchoose View➪Show Project Pane)

condens-Figure 1-2 shows the Easy Media Creator 8 Home window after condensingthe Project List pane and selecting the Audio CD project Note that ProjectWindow now displays instructions on how to proceed in creating an audio

CD for a typical CD player and that the Action Area now contains a Continuebutton that you click after selecting the recorder to use in the Input Area,inserting the blank CD disc, and adding the audio files to be burned onto thenew CD

If you have a great need for open space on the Windows desktop (as you mightwhen dragging and dropping files from open folder windows that you want use

in your current project) you can reduce the entire Easy Media Creator window

to a bare bones minimum To do this, click the Switch to Mini Mode button orchoose View➪Mini Mode on the window’s menu bar

Figure 1-3 shows the Roxio Media Creator Home window shown in Figure 1-2after clicking the Switch to Mini Mode button Note that even when the Homewindow is in mini mode, you can still go about the business of adding theaudio files for the new CD, while at the same time keeping free most of thedesktop for displaying the contents of other open windows

To make it easy to open the Roxio Media Creator Home, you can add thisRoxio Easy Media Creator 8 shortcut to the Windows Quick Launch toolbar

by dragging its icon to this bar and dropping it at the place on this toolbarthat immediately follows the Start button on the Windows taskbar

If you’re like me and are apt to become a really serious user of Easy MediaCreator, you may also want to fix the Roxio Media Creator Home option onthe Windows Start menu (provided that you don’t run Windows in Classicmode) To do this, you follow these steps:

11 DDooubllee cclliicckk tthhee RRooxxiioo MMeeddiiaa CCrreeaattoorr HHoommee88 sshhoorrttccuutt oonn tthhee ddeeskttoopp

If you don’t have an Roxio Media Creator Home8 shortcut on your desktop,you can click the Start button on the Windows taskbar, mouse over the AllPrograms option on the Start menu, the Roxio Easy Media Creator 8 option

on the All Programs menu, and then click the Roxio Media Creator Homeoption on the Roxio Easy Media Creator 8 submenu

The Welcome screen of the Roxio Easy Media Creator Home windowshown in Figure 1-1 then opens

22 CClliicckk tthhee SSttaarrtt bbuuttttoonn oonn tthhee WWiinndowwss ttaaskbarr ttoo ooppen tthhee SSttaarrtt mmeennuu The Roxio Media Creator Home option sporting the famous Roxio logo(a disc with what appears to be a shark fin coming out the top of it) nowappears on the left side of the Windows Start menu

33 RRiigghhtt cclliicckk tthhee RRooxxiioo MMeeddiiaa CCrreeaattoorr HHoommee ooppttiioonn ttoo ooppen iittss sshhoorrttccuuttm

meennuu aanndd tthhen cclliicckk tthhee PPiinn ttoo SSttaarrtt MMeennuu ooppttiioonn oonn tthhiiss mmeennuu

Show project pane

View helpTutorialSwitch to mini mode

Eject drive tray

Figure 1-2:

Roxio MediaCreatorHome aftercondensingthe ProjectList paneand select-ing theAudio CDproject

As soon as you click the Pin to Start Menu option, Windows moves the RoxioMedia Creator Home option to the upper area of the left side of the Startmenu (under such Start menu stalwarts as the Internet Explorer and OutlookExpress) If you later decide that you don’t need this option to be a perma-nent part of the Start menu, you can remove it by right-clicking the optionand then clicking the Unpin from Start Menu option on its shortcut menu.

Attending to the Tasks at Hand

The Most Frequent Tasks links on the right side of the Welcome screen in theRoxio Media Creator Home window (refer to Figure 1-1) give you immediateaccess to many of the most common tasks, such as creating audio CDs, copy-ing and erasing discs, creating DVDs, and performing file backups Clicking thelink associated with a particular task temporarily opens the appropriate appli-cation in the Project Window of the Roxio Creator 8 Home window The beauty

of the More Frequent Tasks section in the Welcome screen of the Home window

is that you don’t have to give a second thought as to which Easy Media Creatorapplication to use in order to get done the project you have in mind

The only problem is that the tasks listed in the Most Frequent Tasks sectionrepresent only the most common disc-related things that you can do with

Change current project

View helpMinimize

Switch to full mode

Close

Figure 1-3:

Desktopshowing theRoxio MediaCreatorHome inmini mode

Roxio Easy Media Creator 8 Although you can rely on this section for most ofyour media backup and data disc projects, be aware that there’s much more

to the Easy Media Creator 8 suite than still pictures Therefore, you will alsodefinitely want to become well-acquainted with the additional tasks and toolsoffered on the other tabs in the Project List pane

So Many Apps, So Little Time

As soon as you click the Applications link located immediately beneathWelcome on the Home tab of the Project List pane in the Roxio Media Creator Home window, the Project Window name changes to Applications.The Applications Project Window gives a full listing of all the standaloneapplications included in the suite in a column on the left and a bunch of neat utilities in a column on the right (see Figure 1-4)

The following sections give you a brief introduction to each of the nents that you can load by clicking its Applications or Utilities link in theApplications Project Window of the Roxio Media Creator Home Use thisinformation to get a quick overview of the capabilities and functions of each

compo-of Roxio Easy Media Creator 8 applications and utilities

Would you please Backup MyPC

Backup MyPC is a super utility that enables you to make disc backups of all the files and folders on your computer It also gives the ability to restore

Figure 1-4:

TheApplicationsProjectWindow ofthe RoxioMediaCreatorHomeshowing allthe avail-able appsand utilities

these files and folders in case their data becomes corrupted so that you’re

no longer able to open them

In addition to creating these kinds of complete or partial backups of yourdata files, you can use Backup MyPC to create a set of disaster recovery discsthat you can use in case of a hard disk failure or crash

Figure 1-5 shows the Backup MyPC window as it first appears when youlaunch this program by clicking the Backup MyPC link in the ApplicationsProject Window of the Roxio Media Creator Home

Playing around with CinePlayer

CinePlayer is a full-fledged DVD player for your computer (one that you maywell end up preferring to the Windows Media Player) You can use this pro-gram to play all the DVD movies that you create and burn to disc with theMyDVD program in the Creator 8 suite as well as professionally producedDVDs that you rent or purchase

The heart of the CinePlayer is the Sonic CinePlayer Control Panel shown inFigure 1-6 Note that this panel often disappears behind the CinePlayer windowwhere the DVD’s video appears as soon you pop the disc you want to play into your computer’s CD/DVD drive To re-display CinePlayer Control Panelwhen the CinePlayer window is less than full screen, click the Sonic CinePlayerControl Panel button on the Windows taskbar When the CinePlayer window isfull-screen, press Alt+Tab until the CinePlayer Control Panel appears on top ofthe CinePlayer window

Figure 1-5:

BackupMyPCenables you

to create acompletedisc backup

of all thefiles on yourcomputer

When the CinePlayer Control Panel first opens, the side panel containing thecursor and numeric pad is not displayed To display this side panel, which youthen can use to select DVD menu items, you need to click the Expand/CollapsePanel button (the one on the right side with the double vertical bar) If youdon’t display this side panel, you can select items from the menu that is cur-rently displayed in the CinePlayer window by clicking the item (something you certainly can’t do when viewing the DVD on a standalone player).

The playback controls on the CinePlayer Control Panel are standard with theexception of the Jump To button, which when clicked displays a submenuthat enables you go to a particular place in the DVD either by selecting itschapter (assuming that the DVD uses chapters) or its timecode

To open a movie that you created with VideoWave (see Chapter 10) or a DVDproject that you created with MyDVD (see Chapter 11), click the Open Disc orFile button and then select either the Browse for File to find the movie file orthe DVD project file on your computer’s hard disk To edit a DVD project thatyou created with MyDVD and burned to disc after viewing it in CinePlayer,you click the Edit OpenDVD disc (meaning one that to which you have fullediting rights)

If you’re viewing a commercially produced DVD that supports subtitles(either in English or another language such as Spanish), you can displaythem in the CinePlayer window Click the Other DVD Options button, click the Choose Subpicture option on the pop-up menu, and then select the language, English (United States) or Spanish (Traditional Sort), on theSubpicture submenu

Keep in mind that you can capture key frames (the ones that are clear andnot part of a scene transition) in bitmap graphic files in CinePlayer Simplyclick the Play/Pause button to pause the video at the frame you want to cap-ture as a still image before you click the Capture Video Frame button As soon

Figure 1-6:

TheCinePlayerControlPanel man-ages allaspects ofplaying yourown orcommercialDVD discs

as you click this button, CinePlayer captures the image in a bitmap file cated by the rather loud click) The first time you save an image from a DVD,

(indi-a Browse for Folder di(indi-alog box (indi-appe(indi-ars, en(indi-abling you to design(indi-ate the folderand drive where all movie stills are to be saved This is followed by a MediaName dialog box in which you can enter a descriptive name (usually thename of the film you’re watching) CinePlayer then creates the filename forthe bitmap images you capture by appending the descriptive name to theframe’s timecode

The comforts of Creator Classic

Creator Classic is the application you use primarily to assemble and burnyour audio and data CDs The Creator Classic window is divided into fourmajor areas:

⻬ PPrroojjeeccttss where you choose between creating a Data Disc (one consistingonly of data files), Multimedia Disc (one that combines data files andother media such as music or graphics files), or Bootable Disc (one thatcontains enough of the Windows operating system that you can use it toboot from one of your computer’s drives)

⻬ OOtthheerr TTaaskss where you can launch programs to make other types of datadiscs (CD Extra Disc Creator or Backup Projects), burn a CD or DVD from

an image of the disc stored on one of your computer’s drives (Burn FromDisc Image File), get information and check the status on your computer’srecorder (Disc and Device Utility), or start the Express Labeler (Make aDisc Label) to create a label for your CD or DVD

⻬ SSeelleecctt SSoouurrccee where you locate and select the files you want to copy todata or audio CD

⻬ DDaattaa DDiisscc PPrroojjeecctt which displays the name of your disc as well as all thefiles you’ve added for burning onto the CD

Whereas you can use Disc Copier (discussed in the section immediately lowing) to make a copy of an existing audio or data CD or DVD, you useCreator Classic to actually put together and burn your data CDs or DVDs Youuse Creator Classic when you want to make backups or archive data files onyour disk See Chapters 3, 5, and 6 for specific information and examples onusing Creator Classic to assemble and burn audio and data CDs

fol-Copying discs with Disc Copier

As the name says, Disc Copier is the application you use when you need tomake a copy of an unprotected CD or DVD When you click the Disc Copier link

in the Applications Projects Window in the Roxio Media Creator Home, the gram opens the window shown in Figure 1-7 Or, I should say, this windowopens after you dismiss an alert dialog box reminding you that you should usethe Disc Copier component only to make copies of digital media for which youhave the clear legal right to make copies Knowing that none of you would ever

pro-do anything like that, you can click the Don’t Show Me This Again check boxbefore you click OK to close this alert dialog box (for once and all)

You can use Disc Copier to copy an audio or data CD or DVD (usually onethat you’ve created with Roxio’s MyDVD, since almost every single commer-cial movie on DVD that you rent or purchase is copy-protected and can’t becopied with Disc Copier) You can also use it to create a compilation of differ-ent movies from different sources As you can see in Figure 1-1, all you need

to do to copy one of these discs is to specify the source and destinationdrive The great thing is, if your situation is like mine and you have only one

CD or DVD drive on your computer system, you can still use Disc Copier tocopy your audio, data, or video discs (see Chapters 3 and 5 for steps withconcrete examples of how you use Disc Copier to copy audio and data CDs)

Lauding the Label Creator

You use the Label Creator link in the Applications Project Window of theRoxio Media Creator Home to launch the Roxio Label Creator This applica-tion enables you to design and print labels for the CD and DVD discs that youburn with the other Roxio Easy Media Creator applications The LabelCreator makes quick work of designing both disc labels and the inserts fortheir jewel cases Figure 1-8 shows the Roxio Label Creator window as it firstopens Note that you open this window not only from Applications ProjectWindow but also by clicking a Create Label button in the final dialog boxwhen burning CD and DVD discs (see Chapters 5 and 12 for details)

Figure 1-7:

Disc Copiermakes iteasy to copyaudio ordata CDsand DVDs

The Label Creator window is divided into three panes:

⻬ AAdddd OObbjjeecctt with the tools for adding or drawing images that you want toinclude in your label project

⻬ EEddiitt LLaayyoouutt with tools for selecting one of the ready-made label stylesfor your disc label or assigning it a new color or background image or toautomatically add album information in the case of labels for copies ofcommercially produced audio CDs

⻬ LLaayyoouutt pane for previewing the contents of your disc label or jewel caseinsert (the front and back printed cards that go inside the clear plasticcase that holds the disc), while at the same time enabling you to editthese contents

For detailed information on using the Roxio Label Creator to design and printlabels for any of your CD or DVD discs, see Chapter 9

Media Manager at your service

You use the Media Manager to organize the many types of media files (videoclips, still images, audio, and video projects) that you use in the CD and DVDprojects you create This handy-dandy little program enables you to keep

tabs on particular media files through the use of albums, special Easy Media

Figure 1-8:

LabelCreatorenables you

to designand printdisc labelsand jewelcase insertsfor your CDand DVDprojects

Creator files that associate selected media files together regardless of wherethese files are actually physically located on your computer system Becausealbums reference to the media files you want to associate as a group, youdon’t have to go through all the trouble of copying or moving the files into asingle folder You can also use the Media Manager to peruse your media files,tag them with keywords for easy searching, as well as backing these files up

by burning them onto CD or DVD discs

Figure 1-9 shows the Media Manager window that appears when you launchthe program by clicking the Media Manager link on the Applications ProjectWindow or the Organize link on the Organize tab of the Project List in theRoxio Media Creator Home

Deceptively simple at first glance, this window is made up of only two panes

On the left, you see a pane named My Media, My Albums, Folders, or MyMediaSpace (UpnP), depending on which type of media container you select.This pane enables you to select any drive or folder on your system On theright, you find a pane with the name of the selected media type, album, drive

or folder that displays all the folders and files within that particular type ofcontainer You do the rest of the organizing magic with the buttons at boththe top of the Media Manager window and these panes (see Chapter 4 fordetails)

Figure 1-9:

Use theMediaManagertool to orga-nize, view,and searchthe manytypes ofmedia filesyou use inyour CD andDVD pro-jects

Audio discs that are music to your ears

You use the new Roxio Easy Media Creator 8 Music Disc Creator to build andburn audio CDs and DVDs The music you include in your audio projects cancome from tracks of commercial audio CDs that you’ve purchased as well asaudio files that you’ve recorded yourself Audio discs that you create withthis nifty application can be saved in any of the popular audio file formatsincluding the standard WMA and the ever popular MP3

Figure 1-10 shows the Music Disc Creator program window that opens whenyou click the Music Disc Creator link in the Applications Project Window ofthe Roxio Media Creator Home window The Music Disc Creator window isdivided into the following panes:

⻬ PPrroojjeecctt TTyyppee where you choose between creating a standard audio CD,MP3/WMA disc, and a DVD music disc

⻬ AAdddd ttoo PPrroojjeecctt where you can add music files to your audio disc project,including tracks from pre-recorded audio CDs or imported from otheraudio CD or DVD discs, as well as record audio files for the project

⻬ AAuuddiioo CCDD –– UUnnttiittlleedd PPrroojjeecctt which shows the name of your audio ject along with the tracks in the order in which they will be burned onthe new CD or DVD disc

pro-Figure 1-10:

Use MusicDisc Creator

to burnmusic CDsand DVDs inpopular for-mats includ-ing WMAand MP3

Easy multimedia projects thanks to MyDVD

MyDVD is the application that you use to assemble and burn multimedia jects on DVD discs Multimedia projects are those that can combine morethan one type of media, including video clips, still photo images, text, andaudio tracks You can use MyDVD to quickly and easily convert your digitalhome movies into menu-driven productions that you can play on a computerDVD drive or a standalone DVD player attached to your TV You can also useMyDVD to assemble your digital photo collections into slideshows that, whenburned onto a DVD disc, can be played in the selfsame computer DVD drives

pro-or standalone DVD players

Figure 1-11 shows the program window that first opens after you click theMyDVD link in the Applications Project Window launch or click the CreateDVD link on the DVD & Video tab in the Project List pane of the Roxio MediaCreator Home window The MyDVD 8 window, as you can see in Figure 1-13, isdivided into the following four panes:

⻬ MMeennuu TTaaskss where you add movies or slideshows you’ve already ated in the Easy Media Creator 8 suite as menu items or capture andimport video clips, music, or graphics for your DVD project

cre-⻬ EEddiitt where you can edit a movie or split it into individual chapters aswell as specify a visual theme for the project’s menu screens (includinglayout and labeling of the menu buttons), select a photo or video to use

as the background of all menu screens, or add music or sound effects toplay whenever the project’s menu screens are displayed on the screen

⻬ PPrroojjeecctt vviieeww which visually represents the hierarchy and layout of yourDVD project

⻬ PPrreevviieeww which shows you the layout of the menu items and the ground of the main menu of your DVD project and where you can editany of the menu titles

back-MyDVD is possibly the most versatile application in the entire Easy MediaCreator suite Because you can combine all types of media (video, stillimages, text, and audio) as you want, this is the place where you can be reallycreative In no time, you’ll be creating personalized and professional-lookingmultimedia projects that you can share with all your friends and family whohave access to either a DVD drive in their computers or a standalone DVDplayer See Chapters 9, 10, and 11 for details on using the MyDVD to createyour own DVD projects