How to Burn Blu-ray Without Pulling Your Hair Out

If you've never done any optical disc burning before, it can be frustrating. Even with best Blu-ray burning software in hand, the discs spoiled by user or software error have a tendency to pile up. You can probably afford to spoil a few CDs now and then, since they come cheap. DVDs are a bit more expensive, and it is always a shame to lose one, but you would probably survive. Losing Blu-ray Discs, on the other hand, can be a little bit more heart wrenching. We've compiled a few tips on how to burn Blu-ray to help you ease into the process without that eye-twitching, forehead-banging annoyance, because at TopTenREVIEWS We Do the Research So You Don’t Have To.™

Make sure you have the necessary hardware.
DVD burners won't do for Blu. If you don't have a Blu-ray burner already, you'll need to purchase one before you can start burning. Blu-ray Discs are higher-density than DVD because they employ a higher precision blue laser to read and write data. That makes Blu-ray players backwards compatible with CD and DVD discs, but CD and DVD players can't play Blu-ray because they lack the high-precision laser.

Choose the right software.
Blu-ray discs can be used for many different things, and there is a wide variety of Blu-ray burning software packages to choose from. Each one has its strengths and weaknesses. For example, if you want to burn play-ready home videos, you really don't need software with high-powered decryption support. On the other hand, decryption is everything if you want to make backup copies of your Blu-ray collection. Nothing will cause you more frustration than the discovery that your Blu-ray burning software won't do what you need.

Assemble your files before you burn.
Blu-ray discs are immense, and keeping things organized is essential, especially if you are burning a data disc. We recommend that you assemble all the files you want to burn in a separate folder. This technique allows you to setup files and folders the way you want them to appear on the burned disc. Transferring everything over then becomes a simple matter of dragging and dropping.

The right disc makes all the difference.
Knowing the difference between BD-R and BD-RE will save you a lot of trouble. BD-R is a write-once Blu-ray Disc, which means that you won't be able to add to the disc after the first burn. The best Blu-ray burning software packages can append BD-R discs if they have multisession support and spare room, but you'll probably have to change the default settings. Everything you burn to BD-R is permanent and can never be erased, so don't commit data to the disc until you are sure that you have everything properly set up before you start the burn. For testing purposes, use a BD-RE. These discs are rewritable. If you have a problem and burn the disc incorrectly, you can erase it and start over. This one little trick will keep entire patches of hair in your scalp where they belong.

Launch the software and burn the disc.
If you've followed steps 1-4, this one will be a piece of cake. Follow the instructions for the software you've chosen, and in no time you'll be burning Blu-ray like a pro. These are only basic tips, but as you get more comfortable burning Blu-ray, everything else will come naturally.