Authoring to DVD+R

[nevarc]

I'm looking for a DVD Authoring program that supports :

- a "First Play/Intro" movie feature.

- a Background image feature (Menu).

- a Background music feature (Menu).

- And of course being able to play MPEG2 DVD files correctly after being
converted from Divx in TMPGenc.

And the most important of all, it must support DVD+R burning.



I have DVDit PE 2.5 but it doesn't support DVD+R.
I also have DVD Workshop, but it cuts the movie short for some strange
reason.

What other Authoring software can help me get all the specifications mentioned above?


Nevarc.

[Xesdeeni]

Use DVDit! to make the title set on your HD and then use Nero (5.5.9.0 or above) to burn your DVD+R.

The objection I have for DVDit! SE is that it makes uncompressed PCM audio streams out of my compressed MPEG audio (forcing a lower bitrate for the video so things fit on the DVD). It leaves the MPEG video (that I encoded with TMPGEnc) alone, why can't it leave the audio (encoded with tooLame) alone as well? Does DVDit! PE do the same?

I tried the DVD WS trial over the weekend. It wants to re-encode the video as well. Is there any way to prohibit this?

Xesdeeni

[grimdeath]

i suggest you try using Spruceup imo its a great app which lets you customize almost every aspect of you dvd, it supports a intro custom backgrounds, custom buttons (if you know how to use photoshop) and it has a test feature wich lets you view how the dvd will perform on a standalone dvd player he only problem with it is thats its a very picky app and sometimes you gotta reencode the mpgs in order for them to work wich can take a good 3 hour or less it depends if youre willing to go through all da hassle Spruceups for you try it need help let me know

[Xesdeeni]

grimdeath - You also have to wait a long time to import the video files into the video "bin" and again a very long time to create the VOBs. My 1 1/2 hour (full DVD) production took about 30 minutes to import (instantly for DVDit! SE and DVD Workstation) and over 1 1/2 hours to create the VOBs (about 20 minutes for DVDit! SE; haven't done DVD WS yet). Also, my first play movie doesn't play all the way through, although the exact same MPEG did when I used DVDit! SE (of course DVDit! SE insisted on decompressing my MPEG audio into an uncompressed PCM stream so that the production would no longer fit on the DVD...but that's a different story).

Xesdeeni

[mrdish2000]

@ Xesdeeni
To prevent DVD WS from re-encoding your video. choose a higher bit rate in DWS, and choose Do not convert compliant file from make disk dialogue.

[Xesdeeni]

mrdish2000 - Thanks! I checked out Ulead's site yesterday and found the same advice there. It worked, and creating the VOBs took only 10 or 20 minutes (I left the room, so I'm not sure exactly how long, but it was no more than 20 minutes and much shorter than SpruceUp).

Now my only complaint about DVD WS is during menu creation:

First, they repeatedly recommend a 768x576 background, when I know it will be converted to 720x480 for my NTSC DVD (kind of like DVDit! SE converts everything to 640x480 and then back to 720x480 when authoring).

But more of a problem is that when I import a button, it is too big. The image on the buttons is also on the background, but they are nowhere near the same size when I import them. I have to manually size them (there is no dialog into which to put accurate dimensions) and the resulting buttons are not quite the right size and overlap one-another when they didn't before (or in SpruceUp or in DVDit! SE). This causes DVD WS to complain when it builds the title set.

Any idea what the deal is there?

Also, since I received DVDit! SE with my drive, it was "free," while I would have to pay for the full version of DVD WS ($250), which includes much more stuff that I really want (capture, editor, MPEG encoder). The only complaint I had about DVDit! SE (that I couldn't deal with) was that it converted my compressed audio to uncompressed PCM when authoring, so my video wouldn't fit on a DVD (it fits with SpruceUp and DVD WS). Is there possibly a way to prohibit this or re-multiplex the VOBs to replace the PCM with the MPEG stream?

[Geesh, it seems I need a hybrid of all these programs. I like DVDit! SE's ability to set the next action after viewing a file. I like how quickly DVDit! SE and DVD WS create the VOBs. I like SpruceUp's menu editing. I like DVD WS's animated menus.]

Xesdeeni