How to Burn MP4s to DVD in Ubuntu

By Mark Pool

DVDs are a great way to share your home movies or back them up.
i Thomas Northcut/Photodisc/Getty Images

Tranferring home movies to DVD is a popular past time thanks to inexpensive digital cameras and recordable DVDs. Not all DVD burning programs create video DVDs from MP4 files. A DVD video consists of video in MPEG format one or two. Several DVD authoring programs with the capability to convert one or more MP4s for DVD are available for Ubuntu. You can also convert the MP4 files with a video player and then use any DVD burning program to create the DVD.

Step 1

Install MPlayer to convert your MP4 before burning. If your current DVD authoring program does not support MP4 conversion, MPlayer is a lightweight solution. Convert the files to MPEG one or two. Then use your preferred authoring program to burn a video DVD.

Step 2

Install VLC media player to convert your MP4 files. VideoLAN's VLC media player plays many of the same formats as MPlayer, and it includes a Mozilla-compatible plugin for browsers such as Firefox. Use VLC's export function to convert your MP4s to MPEG one or two, and then burn them to a video DVD using your preferred authoring program.

Step 3

Install DeVeDe to create your video DVD. DeVeDe is an open-source DVD authoring program. It includes support for a variety of options, including video, audio and data DVDs. Advanced options include menu creation. For example, if multiple MP4s fit on one DVD, create a menu to categorize each one.

Step 4

Install 'Q' DVD-Author to convert your MP4s to a DVD. This program is a graphical front-end to several command line programs, including Xine library, MPlayer, mjpeg tools, DVD-slideshow, SoX, lame, Ogg Vorbis and dvdauthor--the default burner in Ubuntu. It combines the functionality of these programs into a single interface and allows you to use them without worrying about the details.

Step 5

Install Bombono DVD to create your video DVD. Bombono is another DVD authoring program with the capability to convert MP4 files for video DVD creation. It also includes menu creation and editing, timeline view, animated menu creation, importing and ISO creation.

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