Simple Example

Let's start with a simple example which requires one MPEG2 file, but no associated Menu's, to be burned to DVD.

When the resulting DVD is placed in a Player, it should play directly with no Menu functions, no Chapters and play right through to completion.

The first thing to do is to fire up Polidori and get used to the areas of the Window, the Icons, and the Menu.

Assuming that you have installed Polidori correctly and fired it up then you should see the following main screen.

Let's consider the areas of the main window.

The left hand side is where you select how many Titles and Chapters you require for your DVD.

The Add and the Remove buttons below allow you change the number of Titles and Chapters.

The default starting point is one Title and one subsequent Chapter.

This is enough for our simple example.

You can, however, use the Add and Remove buttons to add or remove Titles and subsequent Chapters as and when this is required.

If you have a Title highlighted then the ADD button will add a new Title and Chapter.
If you have a Chapter highlighted then the ADD button will add another Chapter within that Title.
By double clicking either a Title or a Chapter you can edit the name if required.

For our simple example we will use the default of a single Title and Chapter as shown above.

Before we start we need to set up some preferences.

Select Edit/Preferences you should see the screen to the right.

Under Defaults you should choose a suitable folder for saving all your project data. In this example I have created a folder named “tutorial” in my home directory. This is the path to the folder which will contain all of the files that Polidori creates for you.

Next select the “Tools” tab and ensure that all the required tools are in fact in place, and that the path names are correct. Adjust these if necessary and press ok.

By default Polidori will attempt to create a Project named “DVD” within the folder that you specified above. Optionally, you can ask Polidori to create a new project for you by selecting Files/New. I am going to create a new project named “test”.

Now it is time to add the MPEG2 file to Polidori. Ensure that Chapter 1 ( or whatever name you have decided to change it to ) is highlighted and then simply Drag and Drop the MPEG2 file from your file browser onto the main Polidori window.

I have selected Chapter 1 and Dragged a file called “test.mpeg” onto the Main Window.

You now should see the file “test.mpeg” added on the left hand side of the main window as per the picture to the right.

Now the fun bit.

Select the DVD icon at the top of the Window in order to create the DVD files ready for burning.

Depending upon the size of your MPEG2 file there will be a short delay while the required files are built.

If you now use your File Manager and view the contents of “tutorial” you should see the following :-

A folder named “DVD” ( this is the default folder that Polidori created when it was started ).
A new folder called “test” which is the new Project name that we chose.
In this first level folder “test” you should see :-

a) Another folder “test” which contains the VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS files.

Normally the AUDIO_TS folder is empty, but the VIDEO_TS folded contains the files which can be burned to dvd using one of the later versions of K3b.

b) A “tmp” folder which is used by Polidori during the build process.

c) A file “dvdauthor.xml” which is the file that DVDAUTHOR requires to do it's work.

A file “test.iso” which is the ISO file which can be burned using a Burning Application like K3b, or “growisofs” directly from Polidori.

At this stage you may also prefer to Save the Project by selecting File/Save. You should now see an additional file in “tutorial/test” called Polidori.xml, which contains the Project settings.

You may now at this stage want to check you masterpiece.

Under “Tools” there is an option “Preview DVD” to allow you to preview the “test.iso” file using “Ogle”.

N.B. It is highly recommended that at this stage you should preview the DVD.iso file as explained above and then perform a test burn using DVD-RW media so as to minimise the risk of wasting media.

If all looks well at this stage you can now burn the DVD be selecting the “Burn DVD” Icon.