How to Convert Blurays to DVD with VSO's Bluray-to-DVD
So a little while ago, I received an email from a little company called VSO. They asked me to check out some of their products, and possible write guides for them.
Considering that Bluray is the big thing these days, I decided to checkout their Bluray-to-DVD program. I think you get what it does just from the name.
My first reaction: It actually does quite well!
The interface is pretty straight forward to use, as it's really only targeted for one specific process. Also, it's output quality is great, with a greater degree of sharpness when compared against several other encoders that I tested.
So, let's get started then, shall we?
Open Bluray to DVD and Load your Bluray§
First off, download and install Bluray to DVD.
Run it, and select one of the three source loading options to open your Bluray. Since I had already ripped my Bluray to my hard drive I selected theOpen Blu-ray backup folder option.
Once you have loaded your Blu-ray, you should see a window like the one below, with the main movie playlist and stream selections off to the right.
Selecting your Streams§
Now comes the opportunity to select your desired audio and subtitle streams for your output DVD. To do this, simply select which streams you want from the dropdown menu like I do below.
You can select more than one audio stream. Just keep selecting your individual streams and you will see them add up as you go along.
Same thing for you subtitle streams. As you can see, I have chosen not to have any subtitles in my output, but it will be different from disk to disk and person to person.
When you are finished click the big Next Step button at the bottom of the window.
Edit your Encoder Settings§
Now it is time to edit your encoding settings for your DVD output. I have highlighted the important ones below. Pretty much everything else you can leave at default.
As you can see, I set my output screen format to NTSC 16/9. This is what most of you will be choosing, unless you live in a PAL country (such as somewhere in Europe).
I also set my Video Quality to Best Quality because who doesn't love high quality conversions?
Last, but not least you can choose to either burn the final result, or keep it on your hard drive for later. Since I was just doing a quick test, I opted to keep the output files on my harddrive.
You can see their location under the little field called Output Folder(which I half cutoff, sorry).
Feel free to mess with the DVD Menu settings if you need/want to, but they can be safely left at default if you don't care.
Begin the Encoding Process§
Once again, click the Next Step button and the encoding process will begin. Your encoding progress will be shown in a window like the one below.
When everything has finished, you can either burn your brand new DVD or watch it on your hard drive, it's your choice!
Conclusion§
So, all in all VSO's Bluray-to-DVD application is a pretty straight forward program, with just enough options for those of you who like to convert between formats or edit audio/subtitle streams. I personally have been impressed with the quality when I honestly wasn't expecting to be. Check it out, you just might like it.