This study investigated fundamental of phase formation, crystal structure and calcination process for bismuth dysprosium titanate (Bi4-xDyxTi3O12; BDT) powders when x = 0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1.0. BDT powders were prepared using a simple solid-state reaction on mixtures of reagent grade Bi2O3, Dy2O3 and TiO2 powders. The mixtures were calcined at temperature in the range of 500-800°C for 4 h at a heating/cooling rate of 5°C/min. Thermal characteristics of powders were studied using thermogravimetric/differential thermal analyses which indicated that the formation of Bi4Ti3O12 and Bi3Dy1Ti3O12 powders occurred at ~500oC. Effect of Dy3+ concentration on phase and crystal structure was investigated using X-ray diffractometry. The results revealed that at small concentration of Dy dopant (x £ 0.25), optimum calcination temperature for providing bismuth titanate-based phase was 650oC. Increasing content of Dy dopant seemed to reduce calcination temperature to 600oC. This study suggested the alternative environmental friendly BDT materials which may be used as starting powders for production of high quality BDT ceramics.