 Why
would I want a CDR drive?
1) The most popular uses for CDR and CDRW drives are:
A) To CREATE Video Presentations (e.g. Sales, New Product Releases)
B) To Create Audio CDs (e.g. Local Musicians, Church Choirs, etc.)
C) To Back-Up information from a computer hard drive
2) CD’s are GREAT tools for making Sales Presentations. The presentation
can combine audio and video along with data so the creative possibilities
are virtually limitless. In addition, you can create a menu that allows
you or your customer to select a specific item from the presentation menu
to view, and then if interested in learning more the user can select a
choice to see a video presentation with audio support. This is referred to
as Interactive Video. It is currently the most effective marketing tool in
the World today.
3) Audio can be extracted from other CD’s or downloaded (legally) from
the internet and organized in the arrangement of your choice.
4) A CDR is a good source for backing-up information (up to 650MB’s)
from your computer’s hard drive providing you “DO NOT” want the data
changed. Once the data is recorded on a CDR it’s locked. It can’t be
erased or changed.
Why would I want a CDRW drive?
1) A CDRW is a good choice to record any information that you may want to
change at a later date.
2) A CDRW can be treated as a hard drive which you can write or rewrite to
anytime you wish ……IF……. you have the proper software (which
eliminates the task of having to layout the CD). However, it is important
to note that often times the same software that was used to write the data
to the CD is also needed to read the information.
How do I Record / Write / Burn to a
CDR / CDRW using a CDR / CDRW drive?
****SOFTWARE**** Software is what allows you to lay out the information
you will be recording on to a CD. Due to the increased popularity of CDR
and CDRW drives software companies have taken advantage of the opportunity
to develop software for almost any task imaginable.
What do I need to know to record
Video onto a CDR / CDRW?
In order to properly create a Video CD, you must have the proper type of
software to layout the CD. The motion video that is recorded onto a CDR
must be in a SPECIFIC FORMAT. The most commonly used format in creating a
Video CD (VCD) is MPEG.
What is MPEG?
MPEG is the format used to record motion video onto a CD. There are two
major types of MPEG formats and the two formats vary dramatically.:
MPEG-2: Provides much better quality than MPEG-1 but the file is much
larger than MPEG-1. For instance, using MPEG-2 format on a 700MB CD you
can record approximately 15 minutes of video.
MPEG-1: The quality of the video recorded using an MPEG1 format will be of
much poorer quality than using an MPEG-2 format but where you can only
record about 15 minutes of motion video on a 700MB CD using MPEG-2, you
can record about 60 minutes using MPEG-1.
What do I need to know to record
Audio onto a CDR / CDRW?
If you wish to record audio information onto a CDR / CDRW that you can
later be played on a standard CD player, the sound files MUST be recorded
into the Microsoft MAV or MP3 (MPEG-1 Layer 3) formats.
What are WAV and MP3 formats and
how do they work?
WAV –In order for a sound file to be recorded as
digital sound on a CDR /CDRW so that it can be played on a CD player it
must be converted to a WAV format. The problem with a WAV is that it is
quite large so it limits the amount of sound that can be recorded on a CDR
/ CDRW. However, the WAV provides high quality digital audio sound.
Compressing the data, to increase the amount of sound that can be recorded
on a CDR / CDRW generally results in a TREMENDOUS DECREASE in QUALITY.
MP3 – MP3 is a digital
sound format that can compress information to 1/10th its original size
with minimal degradation of sound quality. For example, a WAV file that is
normally 60 MBs in size would be 6MBs in an MP3 format. However, the MP3
recordings CAN NOT be recorded as digital audio directly on to a CDR /
CDRW. The MP3 recordings must first be converted into a WAV format before
it can be recorded as digital audio on a CDR / CDRW. The reason is that
MP3 files exist only as data and requires software to process it so it can
be recognized by most CD players.
What is the recording speed of the
CDR & CDRW drives?
There are differences in the recording speed of a CDR and CDRW disc.
How do I know what the recording
speed of a CDR or CDRW is?
The speeds are designated by multiple factors.
Example: 1X, 2X, 3X, 4X, 16X, 32X, 64X.
What do these multiple factors
mean?
The multiple factor indicates the transfer speed of information between a
reading / writing / recording / burning drive to the CDR or CDRW disc.
Multiplied by what?
The base transfer speed used for calculating Total Transfer Speed is 150
kilobytes per second or 150KB/s. Examples:
1X = 150KB/s 4X = 600KB/s
2X = 300KB/s 8X = 1200 KB/s or 1.2MB/s
The larger the
multiplier number, the faster the reading and writing abilities are on the
drive!
Why are there usually two or more
multiples indicated for a CDR or CDRW drive?
CDR speeds:
1) Reading Speed 2) Writing Speed
CDRW speeds:
1) Reading Speed 2) Writing Speed 3) ReWriting Speed
Are these speeds indicated in a
specific manner?
1) The reading speed will greatly exceed the writing and rewriting speeds.
2) Example: 24X Reading, 4X Writing, 2X Rewriting
3) On average, a 4X writer will take approximately 15 minutes to write a
full CD.
CDR Burner
Aliases:
1) CD-Recorder 2) CD-Writer
What does a CD Writer Do?
A CD-Writer is a drive that allows you to record information to a CDR or
Compact Disk Recordable.
What kind of information can I
record on a CDR (Compact Disk Recordable)?
Any of the following components or any combination of these components:
1) Data 2) Digital 3) Audio 4) Video
How much information can I store on
a CDR (Compact Disk Recordable)?
Maximum Storage Capacity:
1) 700Megabytes of Data
2) 80 Minutes of Digital Video or Audio
How much information will a CDR
hold if I mix data with Digital Audio or Video?
To calculate the total information you are planning to record on a CDR
follow these steps:
1) Every 1 Minute of Digital Audio or Video equals 8.75MB’s of Data
2) So, multiply the total minutes of Digital Audio or Video you wish to
record by 8.75.
3) Add the number of Megabytes of data you wish to record in addition to
the Digital Audio or Video from step #2.
4) As long as the total Megabytes from step #3 is less than 700MB’s, the
information will fit on a single CDR.
5) Example #1: 40 Minutes of Digital Video x 8.75 = 350MB’s
+ 300MB’s of data = 650 MB’s of Total Information.
The total information is less than 700MB’s and therefore will fit on a
single CD.
How many times can I write over the
information on my CDR?
A CDR disk can only be written to ONCE and the information you record on
the CDR CAN NOT be deleted once it has been recorded.
Can I write the information to my
CDR in separate increments?
There are ways of writing information in different increments, this is
known as Multi-Session, but it is not recommended because many CD-ROM
drives do not support Multi Session CDs.
CDRW Burner
Aliases:
1) CD-ReWriter 3) Compact Disc ReWriter
What does a CD ReWriter Drive Do?
Unlike CDR (Compact Disk Recordable) drives, the CDRW or Compact Disc
ReWriter drives can use both CDR (Compact Disk Recordable) and CDRW
(Compact Disc ReWritable) discs.
What kind of information can I
record with a CDR or CDRW disc?
Any of the following components or any combination of these components:
1) Data 2) Digital Audio 4) Digital Video
How much information can I store on
a CDR or a CDRW disc?
Maximum Storage Capacity:
1) 650 - 700Megabytes of Data
2) 74 - 80 Minutes of Digital Video or Audio
How much information will a CDR or
CDRW disc hold if I mix data with Digital Audio or Video?
To calculate the total information you are planning to record on a CDR or
CDRW disc follow these steps:
1) Every 1 Minute of Digital Audio or Video equals 8.75MB’s of Data
2) So, multiply the total minutes of Digital Audio or Video you wish to
record by 8.75.
3) Add the number of Megabytes of data you wish to record in addition to
the Digital Audio or Video from step #2.
4) As long as the total Megabytes from step #3 is less than 700MB’s, the
information will fit on a single CDR or CDRW.
5) Example #1: 40 Minutes of Digital Video x 8.75 = 350MB’s
+ 300MB’s of data = 650 MB’s of Total Information.
The total information is less than 650 MB’s and therefore will fit on a
single CD.
How many times can I write over the
information on a CDR disc?
A CDR disk can only be written to ONCE and the information you record on
the CDR CAN NOT be deleted once it has been recorded.
How many times can I write over the
information on my CDRW?
The CDRW disc differs from the CDR disc in that the CDRW disc can be
written to and erased multiple times. The general “rule of thumb” is
that the CDRW disc can be “rewritten to 1,000 times.
Can I write the information to my
CDR in separate increments?
There are ways of writing information in different increments, this is
known as Multi-Session, but it is not recommended because many CDR and
CDRW drives do not support Multi Session CDs.
What type of devices will play the
CDR after I record it?
Almost any CD-ROM drive, CD Audio Player, CD-I Video Player |
