If you have purchased a Language Lab version of a DVD video, this guide will help you choose a method to make the material available to your students. This guide covers:
IMPORTANT: This guide applies to material covered under "Lab" or "Site" licenses specifically allowing "duplication" and/or "digitization" of the material. Check your license agreement before proceeding with any of the steps below. More about lab/site licensing
Duplicating the DVD:
Your site license likely permits duplication of the material, so long as any copies remain "on-site" and are not distributed directly to students. Check your licence agreement before proceeding with the steps below.
My DVD says "DO NOT DUPLICATE" - am I still allowed to copy it?
Check your license agreement (this should be printed on your invoice, or otherwise included with your shipment). You may have purchased a site license for material normally distributed under an indvidual license. In this case, your disc may carry a warning that does not apply to you. Your printed license agreement is always the authoritative document. Contact Customer Service if you have questions about your license.
Recommended Software for DVD Duplication:
There are many software packages, both free and commercial, that can duplicate video DVD material, including Apple iDVD, which is pre-installed on recent Macintosh computers and easy to use. For the purposes of this guide, we will assume that you need to duplicate the discs in Windows XP and do not have access to a commercial DVD authoring package, so we will use a free, open-source program called DVD Decrypter.
Instructions:
- Download and install DVD Decrypter, or choose another DVD authoring package.
- Follow this guide, or the instructions accompanying the software of your choice, to produce the number of copies needed.
- Take care that all copies are distributed in accordance with the terms of your license agreement.
Converting Material for a Network File Server
In many environments, it may be preferable to make the material available to your students over your network. Your site license should permit you to convert the video content to other formats, and to make it available on a network or private website, so long as appropriate security measures are taken to prevent unlicensed access or duplication of the material. Check your license agreement before proceeding with the steps below.
In order to provide access to DVD video content on a typical network file sharing environment, you will most likely first want to convert or "rip" the contents into another video format.
For the purposes of this guide, we will use a free, open-source program called SimpleDivX to produce video files encoded using the DivX codec. The files produced will be playable in Windows Media Player, but will require that the codec be downloaded and installed separately.
Instructions:
- Download and install SimpleDivX (the most recent version will appear at the bottom of the list).
- Download and install the DivX codec (or other codec of your choice).
- Insert the original disc into your DVD drive. (if the disc is unreadable or will not play, see our "Troubleshooting DVD Playback" guide.)
- Launch SimpleDivX. There will be 9 settings tabs across the top of the window. A basic configuration is outlined below, but you may want to refer to the guide that accompanies the download for additional information. (Start -> SimpleDivX -> Guide -> your language)
- Input tab settings: Browse to the "VIDEO_TS" folder of your DVD. A list of files will apear below. For a multiple title DVD, such as the Integrated Chinese Workbook DVD, each file represents a separate menu chapter of the material. You will need to rip each title separately, or setup a batch project. See the guide accompanying SimpleDivX for more information about setting up a batch.
- Video settings: You will want to match the video output settings to the video information from the previous tab. (For the Integrated Chinese Workbook DVD, these are: Video, 29.97fps, NTSC 4:3 704x480)
- Audio settings: Make sure both "Create Audio" and "Check Audio" are checked, or the audio will not be output. You may want to experiment with different bit rates to optimize the quality/file size, or enable "Peak level normalize" to improve the sound quality.
- Codec settings: Under "DivX Options", select "Create a 2-pass video file with MP3 audio". Under "Codec Options", choose MPEG4 (DivX) or another codec of your choice. This will set the format/compression of the output files.
- Compression settings: Make sure "Get time from Movie" is checked if you want to preserve the original quality, or configure a custom size if you wish to achieve a higher compression ratio.
- Misc. settings: Choose the subtitles you wish to include, if any.
- Project settings: Choose a name for the project - this will also be the name of the output file(s). Select the location where you want to save the video files as the "Output Folder". If you wish to setup a batch, add this configuration to the batch, and then go back to the "Input" tab, select the next file you want to convert, and continue to add to the batch until all of the files you need to convert are included.
- Start "ripping". Click start to run the conversion. Depending on the number and length of the files you have inlcuded, this may take from several minutes to several hours to complete. When the process has finished, review the output material, and if all is acceptable, the files are ready to be made available on your network.
- Optionally, install the DivX codec on client machines where the video will be viewed. If you skip this step, users may be prompted to choose and download a codec when they attempt to view the video in Windows Media Player, in which case you will want to ensure that they have the nessesary rights to install it.
Converting Material for the Web
If you maintain a website for your course, or can otherwise create web pages with controlled access for your students, the best way to distribute video content to them is online. Remember, when choosing this option, it is your responsibility to review your license agreement carefully, and to ensure that proper measures are taken to prevent unlicensed access or duplication of the material.
This guide will cover converting the files produced in the "Converting Material for a Network File Server Section", into Flash objects and embeding them into your web pages. Follow the steps in the previous guide to produce "MPEG-4" or other compatible video files before proceeding with the steps below.
For the purposes of this guide, we will assume that you do not have access to Adobe Flash CS3 or other commercial package, and will use Free Video to Flash Converter.
Instructions:
- Download and install Free Video to Flash Converter.
- Launch Free Video to Flash Converter.
- Select the input video file(s). Browse to the folder containing the video files you created previously, you will need to convert each file seperately.
- Select output video file. Browse to a new folder where you wish to ouput the Flash objects.
- Select the format and bandwidth. To provide plaback controls, you will need to select .FLV as the format, and choose an appropriate bandwidth.
- Select Player style. Select the style of the player you wish to use.
- Convert the video. (You will need to repeat the above steps for each file you wish to convert.)
- Follow the instructions on the sample pages produced to emebed the video into your page(s).