DVD Authoring with best passthrough options

[outlawstar223]

Hello I have .m2v(encoced with HCenc) video files and ac3(stereo) files and they are DVD compliant. What DVD authoring software provides this functionality. I understand that there is probably alot of software that falls under this category so some more information:

- I dont really care much about price.
- I have tried free version such as DVDFlick but the templates werent as nice as I would have wanted
- I am very computer profficient
- It seems that DVD flick doesnt do .ac3 pass through ( as compared with m2v files where there is a specific setting telling the program to not touch anything.)
- I dont have multiple tracks or anything like thats its just 1 video and 1 track. I wouldnt mind something more powerful just in case I want to experiment.

Thanks for you help!

[filmboss80]

https://www.videohelp.com/tools/sections/authoring-dvd

[outlawstar223]

Thanks for the link, although I have been there. Instead of going to the list I am asking for recommendations.

[filmboss80]

Thanks for the link, although I have been there. Instead of going to the list I am asking for recommendations.

Sorry. Lookie here: https://www.videohelp.com/tools/DVD-lab

[Moontrash]

DVDAuthorgui

very simple and it works damn good

[outlawstar223]

I will try both of these. Thank you. The only problem I see is that DVDAuthorgui

doesnt seem to have templates.

[guns1inger]

Templates are for people who want their DVDs to look just like everyone else's DVDs.

[jagabo]

Templates are for people who want their DVDs to look just like everyone else's DVDs.

Some people don't care. I'd be ecstatic if somebody made a simple DVD authoring package where you could just select a bunch of files and it would build a menu that was nothing more than a file list.

[manono]

I will try both of these. Thank you. The only problem I see is that DVDAuthorgui

doesnt seem to have templates.

So what? How much time will it take you to create a BMP with the name of the movie and whatever else you want on there, for use in DVDAuthorGUI? After making one you go Menus->Create M2V Still and you're good to go. Or create one with 'Play' and 'Scenes' and another with chapter names on it. I'm in full agreement with guns1inger.

[guns1inger]

AVStoDVD and DVD Flick both come with some very basic templates. Good DVD templates take time to create, require a certain level of artistic/design skill, require the gathering and formatting of assets (fonts, images, video clips), and take up space. A large company may be prepared to spend the time and money required to create templates to include in their product because they are charging enough to cover these costs. For a one man band programming tools for free, that is a big commitment, and may be outside their area of expertise. Personally, I would rather have no templates supplied, than have crappy or unusable ones making bigger downloads.

Even products that have do have slick looking templates (iDVD, some of the Coral products etc) don't really impress anyone other than grandparents. They all tend to look exactly the same, and scream "I used a template rather than put any effort in". If you want really simple with basic but OK looking templates, buy ConvertXtoDVD and use that.

[liquid217]

I have never been a big fan of templates, as a user or a developer. To me, if I included say 5-10 basic templates in DVDAuthorGUI, users will get the sense of "Ugh.. Those are really too basic. If that's all DVDAuthorGUI can do, I'm not going to use it". I prefer to give users the flexibility to design it however they see fit. Making a high quality menu really isn't that difficult or time consuming with all of the resources available on the net. For example:
1) Go and find a good, high quality background (sxc.hu is a good free-royalty free source).
2) Use a graphics editor to layer in your titles or options to be selected (Paint.net is my favorite. Gimp is pretty good as well).
3) Find an appropriate song to play in the background (www.audionautix.com is a really good source for royalty free music).
4) Use the png2mpg tool in DVDAuthorGUI

and presto! This makes about 5-6 servings. Season to taste..