It is actually very easy, even for users who are not that tech-savvy, to create a video DVD with the application. The start screen displays links to all program features, a help and the options. It is a good idea to open the options first to check several important settings.

Here it is possible to select the video format (PAL or NTSC), Image ratio (4:3 or 16:9), default DVD Type (DVD-5 or DVD-9), DVD language (default Chinese, make sure you switch to English or another supported language if you are not Chinese that is)

Video DVD author is the first available option. It looks like a heading and not an option which can confuse some users. It basically combines all three other options (that is convert videos to VOB, compile DVD, burn DVD).

Most users should click on Video DVD author to create a video DVD as it walks the user through the creation step by step.

The first screen is the selection screen. A click on the plus icon opens a file browser which can be used to add videos to the DVD. A bar above the icons shows the available free space that is left on the disc.

A preview is available and it is possible to sort videos. A click on the >> icon opens the DVD menu creator.

Several preconfigured templates are available from the left sidebar. It is furthermore possible to add a custom image file from the computer, music and text.

The next screen displays the DVD creation and burning options. A click on start begins the conversion. The video DVD will be burned to DVD once that process has finished.

WinX DVD Author offers excellent value for a free video DVD creation software. The usability and interface have a few quirks that the developers should sort out, especially the DVD menu creation lacks features like automatic video title integration or automatic menu alignments.

DVD author is compatible with all 32-bit and 64-bit editions of the Microsoft Windows operating system from Windows 98 to Windows 7. It can be downloaded directly from the developer homepage over at WinX DVD. (via)

The whole process is divided into three easy to follow steps. The user adds videos to the program in step 1. Various information about the videos – like the bitrate, playtime or screen resolution, are displayed in that step. Here it is also possible to switch between DVD-5 and DVD-9 DVD DVDs, aspect ratios and Pal or Ntsc video formats.

The DVD menu is created in the second step. Several templates are available in that section and there are editing possibilities to add text, move elements around and to add background music to the DVD menu structure.

The actual DVD creation is handled in the third step. Here it is possible to select the DVD burner, volume name, output folder for the video_ts folder and output quality settings.

Here are some information about the software program:

• Supported Video Formats: AVI, ASF, WMV, MPEG, MP4, MOV, RM, RMVB, XviD, DivX, H.264, OGG, QT, FLV, etc.
• Disc Type: DVD+/-R, DVD+/-RW, DVD DL+R, DVD DL+/-RW, etc.
• Platforms: Windows 98, NT, 2000, 2003, XP, Vista (32 & 64 bit), Windows 7 (32 & 64 bit)
• Language: English, French, Chinese, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, etc.
• Subtitle support
• Video clipping

WinX DVD Author can be downloaded for free for the rest of October from the developer’s website.