Web DVD

The Digital Versatile Disk (DVD) is defined as a digital optical disk storage technology suitable for storing large amounts of data required by multimedia files. It has proven to be the key to multimedia convergence because it is able to handle interactive multimedia programs. It comprises six official formats: DVD-Video, DVD- Audio, DVD- ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RAM and DVD-RW.

The only drawback it currently faces is the difficulty of update it once it has been published. To overcome this, DVD makes use of the Internet to deliver real time updated content. The WebDVD can deliver high bandwidth content to users connected to the Internet using low bandwidth. This also ensures that the DVD titles are never outdated or discarded. The Internet takes the old DVD content, re-purposes it and gives it a new dimension. If a DVD title is web-enabled, there is also the dual benefit of the user communicating with the publisher and the publisher keeping track of the users and updating them with value added content.

Authoring WebDVDs involves solving a major compatibility issue since there does not exist a standard format for these. Hence a WebDVD title can react differently to different computer platforms. The currently available WebDVDs can only boast of compatibility with 89% of DVD players.

Authoring a DVD title involves the following steps:

1. Using provided templates so that a context can be created before video content is provided. You can view a few templates at the website www.aln.org/alnconf99/presentations/convertedfiles/93

2. Capturing video/audio content and encoding it into required formats (example MPEG-2, DolbyDigital audio).

3. Addition of menus created using editors - these menus will then allow users to jump to websites from within the video segments.

4. Proofing the title

5. Writing the title to the DVD-R or the DLT.

Authoring tools available in the market include SonicSound eDVD, which helps connect titles to websites, use menu buttons or timelines within movies, and drive DVD playback from the web.

Examples of WebDVD video title could be a movie where there exists a background or history of characters beyond the story line that you watch, and you can interactively view the history and background of a particular character or choose from a variety of ways the climax is filmed. WebDVD would also allow software updates along with the ability to connect audio and video content to information that is available on the Internet from education, government databases and online encyclopedias.