looking for some dvd authoring software

[jeex]

i hear so many conflicting reports and messages on this board as to what dvd authoring software is good.. i'm going to be buying a dvd burner soon.. and i need to know what softare to go with..
price isnt an issue (really, it isnt)..

so far, i've got.

sonic dvdit! pe 2.5 (which kinda sucks)
cyberlink powerdirector v2.5
sonic reeldvd v3.0

can someone suggest other software that would work well?

i'm looking to make nice little menu's and crap like that.. but something that isnt too complicated..

i just need to know what is good and what sucks..

if you've used the software, give me your opinion on it, pros/cons and such..

thanks for any help you can provide.

[snowmoon]

I've tried in the past day or so...

myDVD - sucks
SpruceUp - good if you can find a copy simple, compiles VIDEO_TS great, but seems to have touble writing to my DVR-104
Ulead DVD Workshop - confusing, but was able to take my VIDEO_TS and make a viable DVD-RW out of it quickly.

If I try anymore I'll let you know, please post your results too as authoring backages for DVD still seem a little funky. All I need is...

Adding .mpg as a title
Defining chapters
Adding simple non-animated menus
Burns directly to disk if necessary

That's all I'm loking for is that too much to ask.

[bugster]

I have been using Dazzle DVD complete quite succesfully for a while now. Although I have seen quite a few people on this board having difficulty getting it to work, when it does work it is easy to use and does simple menu creation, chapter addition etc quite well. It is template based so you may feel a little restricted by the screen layout options but its output when viewd on a TV is some of the best I have seen, having tried all the ones mentioned above.

If it will run on your PC without crashing its great. If it doesn't want to play ball its obviously worthless.

(In terms of its reliability, I have 2 PC's. It runs great on my Athlon 800 (which happens to house my A03, so thats fine) but ALWAYS crashes or simply hangs on My P4 2.2Ghz machine. Work that one out if you can.!)

[ItsMe]

Ulead DVD Workshop.

[charleson]

As a newbie, I'm struggling through all of this and am trying a lot of different software. I think most of the low end products that are either bundled or cost $50 are just too limited. Sonic's myDVD, for example, won't allow you to make chapters unless you hit the space bar while capturing.

Some of the software won't make true chapters at all - they just splice up the file into smaller files.

Adobe Premiere is pretty daunting for the beginning. I was stunned at the choices of the first screen. Even so, it's probably a safe choice although the UI sucks.

My vote at this early stage is for Ulead's DVD Workshop. It has captured my analog tapes with almost no dropped frames. The help menus are kind of limited and the audio in selector keeps showing SPDIF even after I've chosen Line In. The audio is working but I think this is a bug. Support said there is no registry key for this setting so I wonder whether my choice of audio will persist.

I'm still working through the authoring process. People have commented on the app's desire to re-encode files which are already in MPEG-2 format.

It's amazing that the choices are so bleak but I guess the software for this has to catch up to hardware price drops for DVD burners. If you really plan on doing complex work I would go with Premiere and wait for Adobe to fix the UI. Otherwise Ulead.

These comments are of a newbie so please take with a grain of whatever. Nevertheless they do reflect the thoughts of someone perhaps going through what you are.

Dave

[bugster]

charleson said:

I would go with Premiere

Please correct me if I am wrong, or newer versions can Author DVD's, but the Adobe Premier I am familiar with is an AVI editing App and doesn't do DVD authoring, which is the subject of this topic?!?

[eatin sammiches for lunch]

i would recommend u start off with spruce-up


its REALLY easy to learn , it supports .ac3 audio too


weaknesses:

u cant create animated menus and it doesnt author subtitles

[BJ_M]

you say that you have sonic reeldvd v3.0 -- thats supposed to be a very good authoring program .. one of the better ones i thought ..

[Greg12]

I like DVDIT PE.

It has all the nice easy to use features, plus it supports AC3 audio, which is space saving.

[Lamont Cranston]

Sonic Foundry Software looks like it is in trouble with a stock price of 40 cents today. http://www.jsonline.com/bym/news/oct02/88804.asp

[BJ_M]

i hope sonic survives -- foundry , ACID and vegas are great apps ..

[rsuave5]

well i have tried many different software titles and for me dvd workshop wins out as my most used software for its ease of use, nice menus and good fast burning times, i like dvdit pe but i have troubles with it and it is slow! i hate formatting for 3 hours just to get an error! spruceup is easy and has some cool features but i cant find the full version and i cant ask anyone here to share!
premiere is an editing program not authoring and its a great addition for adding effects and transitions although advanced and the ui does blow.i use moviemaker in win xp for simple off video camera burns and i like the ui and ease of use it is very simple.
all in all ulead movie facotry is the best , add files , chapter , name you r clips ,add music to menus , view and burn!

[ClarkJeff]

I was looking for an authoring package also and settled on Pinnacle's Impression Pro. It's shipped, should receive it tomorrow. It supports AC3 audio, 2 video tracks, 8 audio tracks, 32 subtitles, motion menus, DLT mastering, etc., so the literature says... You have to use Photoshop/Paint Shop Pro to create the menus, but it didn't look that bad. Looks like it has a lot of flexibility. We'll see in a few days....

I did have the DVD Workshop trial and really liked it. Easy to use, decent output/speed, but I wanted the additional audio/subtitle features.

None of the other packages I trialed legally did enough. I'd suggest to look at Ulead DVD Workshop or Pinnacle Impression Pro. I think I got an excellent deal on Impression Pro. When I receive it and confirm it's what I think it is, I'll post it.

[BJ_M]

Impression Pro woks very well -- exellent program and good value with a lot of features .. it wants lower color settings to run for an odd reason but al that does is that its preview window - the picture dont look so great .. you have to install a specific dvd player to use it (cant remeber which one but its bad at most everything except working with Impression Pro) - you should uninstall windvd or powerdvd first - install Impression Pro and dvd player it requires and then re-install powerdvd or windvd .

[ClarkJeff]

BJ_M,
Thanks for the install tips!

[bpjenn]

Recommend Ulead DVD MovieFactory-easy and cheap. Text placement and amount of text is a limitation.

[falco533]

I cant believe nobody has mentione DVD Maestro. It does EVERYTHING and its not that hard to learn.

[BJ_M]

I cant believe nobody has mentione DVD Maestro. It does EVERYTHING and its not that hard to learn.

it is no longer being sold either - some pefer to stay in the legal realm