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Class Ten: August 3, 2006
 
Topics for this Week
Review Assignments from Class Nine

We will begin this week's class with a review of the assignments from last week.

 

Class Nine Posting Assignment:

In next week's class, we will explore creating Data CDs, audio CDs and DVDs.

Post a reply to the eClassroom discussion forum in which you ask any questions you have about burning and using CDs and DVDs. If you do not have any questions, you may also try answering some questions that are posted or you may discuss some successful strategies you have used in creating your own CDs or DVDs.

 


My questions are:
1) In everyone's opinion, what is the easiest/cheapest/best CD copying software available (recognizing that the answers may not be the same for those three adjectives)?

2) Now that 8-tracks are gone (yes David, I remember these too!), and cassettes are on the way out, how long will CDs and DVDs be here, and what is coming down the pipeline instead?

3) Practically speaking, I wonder how many of my patients (>80% Medicaid) have access to CD and DVD players. However, I'd bet that 100% of residents and medical students have access to CD players (not sure about DVD players). What do you all think?

 
I have created multiple audio CD's at home using software that came with my computer. It is practically idiot proof so I have never had a problem. However, I have never attempted to burn a data CD. This is where I will need some help. I know my software has the option to burn a data CD, but I would like to know more about my options using CD-R and CD-RW. I read all the articles pertaining to these topics and they confused me even more (all the technical jargon). I am bewildered by open and closed discs, multi-session recording, packet writing, and how to burn audio and data on one CD. I'd really like some explanation before I burn my Photo Story because I want to make sure I do it correctly for my presentation in class.
 
1) Does the general coating of a CD influence the reading by the CD-rom, and why? I had a machine that would only read the golden CDs but not the green ones.

2) Is there any way that you can read a DVD+R/+RW format in a player for DVD-R/-RW? What do you have to modify/do?

3) Why do we have one time write dual layer DVDs, but you cannot find rewritable dual layer DVDs? I am assuming they eventually will exist, or maybe they do already and I don't know.
 
I was hoping the next thing to replace CDs and DVD's would come out soon and then I wouldn't have to learn anything about CDs and DVDs. How does a CD and DVD differ, except that a DVD holds more info and DVDs are generally for movies and CDs for music?
 
I read all the posted articles and get overwhelmed with all the information about CDs, DVDs, drives, etc. I found explanation to some questions about the CD-R, CD-RW, and why the CDs are heat sensitive

With technology improving so fast, I think that soon everybody will have access to CD and DVD players or maybe like David says a new tool arrives that could be less complicate and less expensive.

In the meantime I'd like to learn how to burn a data CD and my PhotoStory presentation.
 
My sister sent me a DVD from Europe, and I was able to rip it, etc., and it plays on my computer, but not on my DVD player hooked up to my TV. The problem is, I think, that I need a PAL to NTSC conversion. Is that true?
 
If you cannot see the DVD because of the region (USA region 1, Europe region 2) there is a way to make your DVD player region free. Some professionals have a sort of "laser beam device" which is able to erase the region encoded in the DVD player making it region free. We bought a DVD player for my mom in Amsterdam and the guy just did it. The second possibility involves money, but not that much. We bought here in the States a DVD player that is capable of reading PAL and NTSC. If I don't remember wrong we paid around $80-100. DVD players sold in the States generally are region 1, irrespective of whether capable of playing PAL or NTSC. If you have a region 2 DVD in PAL, have a region 1 PAL/NTSC DVD player (like us), you could rip the DVD in your computer such that it becomes region free, and then burn it to a DVD. If you don't have a PAL DVD player, you also need to convert it to NTSC with your computer. For this last part you can use TMPGEnc 4.0 XPress, they offer a trial version for 14 days (I guess it should be fully functional).
 
To answer Marney's question, the next big format war on the (near) horizon is the Blue-Ray vs. HD-DVD format war... this is heating up to be a repeat of the VHS vs. BetaMax war of the 1980s. Blue-Ray (pushed by a consortium including Sony) will store much more information than a conventional DVD and the upcoming PS3 (PlayStation 3) will have a Blue-Ray drive... in fact, for the near future, even at $600.00 the PS3 may be the cheapest blue-ray drive you can find on the market. Micro$oft (and others) are pushing the competing standard, called HD-DVD, which is essentially the same sort of thing... a DVD-like device that can hold much more than the 8gb of information you can fit on a dual-layer DVD.

The question is: does anybody really care? Some of you may know about the SACD (Super Audio-CD) that basically is a supersized CD that is recorded with a much greater kbps rating and, therefore, should sound much better than a regular CD. Despite the theoretical advantages of having "better" sound on CD, the format has mostly languished with audiophiles and hasn't made it into the mainstream. It might be that the BluRay and HD-DVD thing will turn out the same way... theoretically a better format, but if most people are happy with what they currently have (i.e. DVD) and don't have the thousands to spend on the hardware it will take to upgrade their equipment to play (and appreciate) HDDVD and BLURAY then it's going to be pretty much a moot point.
One of the articles mentioned a "random access" CD, which is what I think I was after when I first bought a computer. I wanted to be able to save various articles and other resources to a CD over a period of time and was never able to do that. Another article included a section on multi-session recording; that's what I'm after, but I've never seen that option on my computer. It seems like such a waste of space if you don't need to copy enough data, for example, to fill up a whole disc. That shows how far I am from being able to understand the "PAL to NTSC conversion" discussion!
 
I had a question that why CD-RW discs can not play in some player and I found the answer on assignment reading “…Not all players can read CD-RW discs. In order to do so, they must be MultiRead. If they are, they'll bear a MultiRead logo…” http://www.computermusic.co.uk/tutorial/cds/cdmain.asp
I wonder if they currently sell a CD-RW that can make CD-RW discs that will play in all players.
 
What happens if I try to copy too much to a CD?

 

Class Nine Hands-On Assignment:

Submit any questions or comments you have about the final semester project, or any of the course assignments to date.
 
 

 
A Few More Software Items

       

All about CDs and DVDs

Click here for information about CDs.

Click here for information about DVDs.

 

Discussion of Final Semester Projects

Final semester projects will be presented on the last day of the semester, Thursday, August 10, 2006. Each student is expected to present their project to the class using the instructor's computer which will be projected on the large screen. Each presentation should take approximately 5 minutes and presenters should be prepared to answer questions about their project from members of the audience.

Final Projects may be submitted as a an educationally-relevant website created with Pachyderm 2.0 or Microsoft FrontPage, an enhanced PowerPoint presentation, a digital story created with Microsoft Photo Story, or another format approved by the instructor. Each project should include at least SOME of the following components we covered in class:

  • Graphics retrieved from the web or created

  • At least one graphic that has been modified

  • A thumbnail image gallery

  • A screen capture

  • A digital audio segment

  • A digital video segment

  • A CD or DVD version of your project or supporting materials

In addition to presenting the final project, each student should submit a 1 to 2 page written final project paper that describes the project, and includes the following information:

  • The goals and purpose of the project;
     

  • The intended audience for the project and a brief description of where and when it will be used;
     

  • A description of the challenges you faced creating your project;
     

  • The most significant things you learned from this course and from completing the final project.

If all components of your project are not completed, you should include some descriptive information about the components that are still in development.
Additional Resources

 
Assignments for Next Class

Posting Assignment:
 
None
 

Hands-On Assignment:

  1. Complete work on the final semester project.

 

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