OK, so you’re not in Rome and Nero isn’t either. But, not to worry, NERO 8 Ultra will burn your CD, DVDs and edit your HD content while you fiddle with other projects! I recently attended the Southwest Computer Conference in San Diego where I was able to learn about a lot of new and interesting computer-related stuff. Keynotes by Microsoft, Adobe, Corel, Pinnacle were excellent and tech sessions, workshops and seminars covered anything you might want to know.
As a long-time user of NERO software, I looked forward to the session presented by Darrick Bady, NERO Customer Service/Tech Support Manager. I wasn’t disappointed. He introduced us to the following latest features in Nero 8 to include great new features for living the digital life. With improvements geared towards better performance, as well as enhanced features for authoring, editing and enjoying digital content, it’s easy to see how Nero 8 opens up new possibilities as we transition to the digital world.
Nero 8 users can now enjoy more interactive features and games on Blu-ray ROM discs through enhanced compatibility features available in the suite’s latest update.
SmartEncoding detects if your incoming AVC or AVCHD source content is compliant with the destination format. This lets you save time by skipping the recoding step for AVCHD content when the destination file is also AVCHD, thereby maintaining the highest quality.
Do you use Nero 8 to stream content around your home on game consoles? Now you can play content beginning from a selected time in the video. This means you can answer the phone, get another cup of coffee, or take the dog out for a walk without having to restart your movie!
With Nero 8, now you can encode content with video pre-processing options for color correction and noise removal. The video pre-processing enables you to enhance and modify the content prior to encoding. Advanced features include adaptive de-interlacing and adaptive frame rate conversion.
Get all the advantages of working with Mini HD DVD-Video with Nero 8. Now you can author, write, and play back HD DVD-Video format content on regular DVD-R/RW media. The Mini HD DVD-Video format supports resolutions up to 1080p. MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 content as well as Dolby® Digital 5.1 audio tracks can also be added. The Blu-ray/HD DVD Plug-in is required for this feature.
With Nero 8 and the Blu-ray/HD DVD Video Plug-in, you can now author and play back High Definition content in Blu-ray Disc format. Brilliant 3D menu templates and advanced authoring features up to 1080i, combined with playback support for commercial Blu-ray Discs and those created with Nero 8, combine for the ultimate home entertainment experience.
After a look at all the new features, I was anxious to try version 8 out. I have to warn you that the download and install take quite a bit of time as there are so many features in this version! Nero has them organized: Create and Edit (video, audio and photo), Convert and Share (high definition, video conversion, music and internet), Home Entertainment (media center, television, music streaming), Rip and Burn (audio CDs and DVDs, Nero disk copy gadget-optimized for use with Windows Vista and lets you copy a disc with just one click from the Vista Sidebar.) While all this sounds a bit complicated, Nero has made a set of tutorials that walk you through all of the many features.
Following is a short version for each of the following operations: Audio, Video, and Pictures. Keep in mind you are reading just the text. Going online lets you access interactive tutorials including text, pictures, movies, and flash files that explain the applications step by step.
Burning an Audio CD
In this tutorial you can follow the step by step procedure on how to use Nero StartSmart to select audio files (on your hard drive) to be burned on an Audio CD that can be played on all popular players. For the compilation of an Audio CD, the source files which are available in different audio formats (e.g. MP4, MP3, or WMA) are automatically converted into the Audio CD format before burning.
Please note that some CD players cannot play CD-RW discs. Use the CD-R disc type to burn Audio CDs.
The following requirement has to be fulfilled: You have started Nero StartSmart.
To burn an Audio CD, proceed as follows:
1. Click the Burn Audio menu icon. *The Burn Audio CD screen is displayed.
2. Select the Audio CD disc type. *The Burn Audio CD screen is displayed.
3. If you want to include a CD title, enter a name in the Title (CD-Text) input field (e.g. My Favorite Music).
4. If you want to include an artist, enter a name in the Artist (CD Text) input field (e.g. Miscellaneous).
5. Select a drive in the Target Drive drop-down menu (e.g. F:).
6. Click the Add button. *A browser window opens.
7. Select a folder in which the audio files which are to be burned are located (e.g. the My Music folder). *The folder opens and the audio files are displayed.
8. If you want to select several audio files at one time, click, for example, Track 1. Then press the Shift-key and keep it pressed while you click Track 14. *The audio files from Track 1 to Track 14 are selected.
9. Click the Open button. *The selected audio files are listed in the Burn Audio CD screen. A capacity bar at the bottom of the screen indicates the entire length of the music files (in minutes) which are to be burned on the CD.
*If the capacity bar is shown in green you can burn all audio files on the CD. If the capacity bar is shown in red then not all audio files fit on the CD. You have the option of removing some audio files from the list.
10. Select the audio file(s) you want to remove (e.g. Track 3) and click the Delete button.
*The selected audio file is removed from the list.
11. Click the Burn button. *A dialog box opens and asks you to insert a blank recordable CD into a drive.
12. Insert a blank CD into the selected drive (e.g. F:) and click the Load button. *The burn process starts. A progress bar in the bottom area of the screen indicates the burn process. When the burn process has finished, a dialog box opens.
13. Click the OK button. *You have burned audio files from your hard drive to an Audio CD.
Make a Movie
In this tutorial you can follow the step by step procedure for producing a Nero Vision movie. *You cannot edit videos or make your own movies in Nero Vision Essentials SE. The following requirement must be met: You have started Nero Vision.
To make a movie, proceed as follows:
1. In the Start screen, select the Make Movie option. *The Movie screen is displayed. Media files which are available already are displayed in the upper right area, the media area. The entry displayed in the standard settings is My Media Files.
2. If you want to add media files that are stored on your PC to the movie, click on the button.
*The Open window is opened.
3. Select the required files and click the Open button. *The files are added to the media dialog box. In the standard settings the files are displayed under the My Media Files entry.
Movie Screen
4. Select the files that you want to add to the movie and click on the button.
Media files are inserted in the contents dialog box on the tab and displayed with a thumbnail.
Contents area with videos
5. If you want to add more files to your compilation, repeat the previous step. *The additional media files are positioned at the start of the movie in the Contents area and shown with thumbnails.
6. To add a file to the end of the movie: Click the film strip until it is highlighted in blue. In the media are, select the file that you want to add to the movie and click on the button.
*The media file in the content area is positioned at the end of the movie and displayed as a thumbnail.
7. To add a file to the movie at a particular point: Select the file in the Contents area in front of which you want to add the file. In the media are, select the files in the that you want to add to the movie and click on the button. *The media file in the content area is positioned before the selected spot and displayed as a thumbnail.
8. To adjust the order of individual media files in the content area, simply move them to the desired location by drag-and-drop.
9. Click the button and watch the movie in the preview area.
10. If you are happy with the movie, click on the Next button. *The Contents screen is displayed. *You have made a movie.
Nero Vision slide show.
*Save pictures in the original data format
Please note that when creating a slide show, the picture files (e.g. *.jpg, *.bmp, *.gif) are not saved in the original format. If you want to save the picture in the original picture format as well, proceed as described at the end of this section.
The following requirements have to be fulfilled: You have launched Nero Vision; For slide shows on DVD-Video, Super Video CD, miniDVD, AVCHD and HD-BURN: the DVD-Video plug-in with which MPEG-2 is encoded. The plug-in is already available in the full version.
To create a slide show, proceed as follows:
*Format
In this tutorial, the creation of a slide show is described by using the DVD-Video format as an example.
1. In the 'Start' screen, select the 'Make Slide Show' > 'DVD-Video' option. *The 'Slide Show' screen appears. If images are already available, they are displayed in the media area at the top right.
Slide show screen
2. If you want to add images that are stored on your PC to your slide show, click the button. *The 'Open' window appears.
3. Select the required images that you want to add to your slide show and click the 'Open' button. *The files are added to the media area.
Media area with images
4. In the media area, select the required images that you want to add to your slide show and click the button. *The images are inserted in the Contents area on the tab.
Contents area with slide show
5. Repeat the previous step until you have added all of the required images to the slide show.
6. Click the button and view the slide show in the preview area.
7. If you are happy with your slide show, click the 'Next' button. *The 'Content' screen appears.
Content screen
8. If you also want to save your slide show images to disc in a format readable by your PC, select the 'Original pictures' entry in the 'Add' selection menu. *You have created a slide show.
Now, that’s just a small sample of the many tutorials that you will find on the Nero web page. So, no matter what your level of expertise, the tutorials will guide you through all many things that Nero lets you do. To see if you want to own it, download a fully functional 30-day trial copy from the web page. I think you’ll really like it, I know I do!
Have fun with all the tech goodies out there, but remember to be careful when you’re on the ‘net.
Aloha, Lou
