Have you ever wanted to make a DVD-playable disc out of your collection of digital video files? If so, I would highly suggest the software bundle of DVDstyler and avidemux. Here's how I used them to create a custom DVD with a functional menu.
Installation::
If running on an Arch Linux system, run this:
#pacman -S dvdstyler avidemux
Otherwise, check with your distros package manager for those programs.
Use::
First, an explaination of the issue. You have a video file that is not DVD-compatible (Mpeg 2). So, for instance, my issue was that I wanted Matroska-encoded files (.mkv) to be converted to MPEG-2-encoded files (.mpg). I found that avidemux helped out a lot with that. Run:
$avidemux2_gtk &
Once you have the GUI up, follow these instructions:
Click File->Open... and find the encoded file you wish to have converted and open it. Once you have the video loaded, we need to resize your encoded file into a resolution that will be recognized by a DVD player and non HD televisions, click Video: Filters->DVD Res->Ok->Close. Audio is something that needs to be worked on as well, for my project it defaulted to mono channel audio, so to enable stereo click Audio: Filters->Set Mixer to 'Stereo'->Ok. Also have Video: DVD (mpeg2enc), Audio: AC3 (lavc) and Format: MPEG-PS (A+V).
Now, save your new MPEG-2 file somewhere on your harddrive by clicking Save. Once it's re-encoding is done it's ready to be put into DVDstyler.
Run:
$dvdstyler &
Click New->Format: NTSC, Ratio: 4:3, Audio: AC3->Ok. Now it's time to be creative, pick an image to be your background and put buttons where you want them. Then just drag your newly created MPEG-2 files into DVDstyler and make sure your buttons are linked properly to their file. Once that's all complete click 'Burn'. I found out that, in order to save time and your blank DVD-R discs you can have DVDstyler create an ISO file instead and mount the image as if it were a real disc, then open VLC or your chosen program for viewing DVDs, and tell it to read the disc; if something is not right, delete the ISO file and try again. When you are satisfied then have DVDstyler actually burn you a disc. At the end of it all you should have a DVD player friendly disc made out of your digital media.
[G] Queensryche - Silent Lucidity
[B] Pink Floyd - Money
[G] Mason Williams - Classical Gas