Worlds Fastest DVD Authoring software

[digitalmaster]

On Mediostream, Inc's website they make a claim that NeoDVD is the world's fastest DVD Authoring Software.
http://www.mediostream.com/getstarted/index.html

They have their test results here and are pretty impressive. 1:1 encoding ratio.
http://www.mediostream.com/pdf/MedioStream_Performance_Test_Report.pdf

Has anybody used this software?

[BJ_M]

encoding or authoring ? totally different

Encoding speed dosn't mean anything if the quality is poor -- plus people can get better speeds than that dependent on thier systems and settings and using other encoders (Main Concept and CCE come to mind , but even ligos is pretty speedy) ..

Authoring doesnt need or have anything to do with speed per say ..

[BJ_M]

i just looked at thier test results also -- they didnt author anything - just encode direct to disk .. no menu's or anything ..

and compared it to only two other programs AnD also did each program different completly .. nowhere did they just compare encode times between the different programs (mydvd and dvd factory) .. a rather lame test if i say so ..

[ktnwin]

Well, for me, encoding time is a big deal. Studio 8 (on my 1.2GHz Athlon) take about 5.5X to encode then 1X to burn the disc.
If NeoDVD can encode at 1X then I will go buy this software (as long as it's not too expensive).
According to the ads, NeoDVD can also add menu, chapters. Usually this part does not take that long to create or encode. It's the movie that takes forever to encode.
How much does this software cost ?

[Vejita-sama]

I had an 1.2Ghz Tbird and running CCE I got about 1.1~1.3x source runtime per pass encoding. With my new 2200XP I get 0.7x source runtime per pass. Maybe you should try some other software.

Also if you can burn at 2x or 4x it makes a big difference. 1hr vs. 30min vs. 15min.

[ktnwin]

Vejita-sama,

I just start doing DVD a few weeks ago with Studio 8. I have done VCD/SVCD for two years using TMPGenc to encode which takes between 2.5X (VCD) to 4X (SVCD). Studio 8 takes about 5.5X to encode DVD which is expected AND IT WORKS correctly the first time for me.

I know CCE is fast but is CCE Lite good enough to do DVD encoding ?
And which software you use to author / burn DVD with the MPEG-2 files created by CCE ? Can you tell me ?

Of course, if NeoDVD really works like it claims, then I will have no hesiation to switch to it since it's low priced (less than 50 US$).

Thanks

[Vejita-sama]

I encode with either CCE 2.5 SP or TMPGenc (newest verison). Normally I use CCE for MPEG2 and TMPGenc for MPEG1. I then author with DVD Maestro.

If NeoDVD works for you, then stick to that. There's no 'best way' to do this stuff.

[ktnwin]

UPDATED:
I switched to neoDVD Plus (spent 50$ + shipping + tax) and it's really worth it. Now I can convert my VHS tapes (and digital tapes) to DVD so quick, never been able to do beat this speed in the past.
It also encode AVI using Dolby AC3 audio (compressed) to save more room for video.
Tried capture direct to disc and that works too.
I can fit 92 mins of video on one DVD-R in the highest quality mode. My DVD looks excellent even on the HDTV 65".
This software is not good for: editing, cutting, joining, adding titles, etc...
It limits to 6 chapter point per video. I think it also limit 6 videos per DVD but I have not reached that video limit yet.

[donpedro]

What about custom DVD menu and quality of encoding ? Is it good ?

[housepig]

I've done a couple of projects with NeoDVD, here's what I've found so far.

Version is NeoDVD Standard, bundled version that comes with the Aver DVD EZmaker capture card.

Authoring a test title took about 4 minutes for a 70 minute film. Input mpeg file (3.7Gb) was captured directly to dvd-compliant mpeg with NeoDVD capture, so there was no reencoding time necessary.

The things I don't like about it -

- NeoDVD standard does not seem to have a lot of options for customizing menus, backgrounds etc... or if it does, it's doing a fine job of camoflaging them.

- the interface is, to me, kludgy and either too much hand-holding (with the wizards) or not enough (an interface with no evident method to get from point to point in authoring).

- the capture is hit-or-miss with audio sync. I've captured some stuff that was perfect, and some stuff that was off just enough to drive me nuts.

But overall, I like the card, I like the captures when they sync, and since you can find this bundle for as low as $10 after rebates, it's worth it to try it out. And the card will work with tons of other capture apps, I'm doing some testing now with iuVCR that looks promising.

- housepig

[ktnwin]

donpedro,
as I said earlier, neoDVD supports a fixed menu structure:
1) first level: up to 6 thumbnails, one per video
2) second level: each video can have up to 6 chapter points
The menu background is selectable from a predefined set or from your own BMP or .JPG file. Menu layout can be chosen from a set of predefined layout (4 or 6 I think, did not pay attention to this).
Whether you want menu or not, it's there !! If I don't want menu, I just feed the VIDEO_TS thru DVD2ONE and bingo in 5 mins, I got a new VIDEO_TS folder for movie with chapters but without menu.
If I want a more customized menu, I could use neoDVD to capture/encode to MPEG-2 directly, then use a different software to create menu and author the DVD.
Personally, I hate fancy menu(s) like the ones on most commercial DVD titles, so neoDVD is fine for me.

Quality of the DVD authored by neoDVD is great, comparable to PS8 at high quality. neoDVD Plus version also encode audio to AC3 Dolby if desired. This is a nice surprise since we all thought that really fast software encoding normally yield lousy quality.

What I like about neoDVD is its speed and picture quality. It does live up to its advertisement (which is kind of rare).

The user interface is not very intuitive, but after two days, I figure it out and even taught my wife to capture and convert VHS tapes to DVD (now she does it all, I don't have to do it anymore - GREAT). It's very easy to use once you know it.
For most VHS tapes (aleady edited) to DVD, this one beats other software that I used. For editing movies, I still have to use PS8.

[Vejita-sama]

I thought I would give this program a try to compare it to my 'standard method' of capturing with VDub and encoding with CCE.

Here's a question, I tried NeoDVD standard w/ the Aver EZMaker card and it video quaility is acceptable. However, the audio is out of sync?! It's about 0.5 secs late. This was capturing at medium quaility (352x480) MPEG2.

Is this happen for you? I've got an AMD 2200 so I doubt it's my CPU. Truth be told if I could capture VHS tapes to real time MPEG2 with decent quaility that would be easier (ie. fewer steps) than encoding and given the so-so quality of my source I'd like to get this working.

[Bob W]

I thought I would give this program a try to compare it to my 'standard method' of capturing with VDub and encoding with CCE.

Here's a question, I tried NeoDVD standard w/ the Aver EZMaker card and it video quaility is acceptable. However, the audio is out of sync?! It's about 0.5 secs late. This was capturing at medium quaility (352x480) MPEG2.

Is this happen for you? I've got an AMD 2200 so I doubt it's my CPU. Truth be told if I could capture VHS tapes to real time MPEG2 with decent quaility that would be easier (ie. fewer steps) than encoding and given the so-so quality of my source I'd like to get this working.

I use NeoDVD Plus and capture directly to DVD compatible mpeg2 and I have had zero problem with audio or video. The program along with the Aver capture card is dead on and very fast.

[Vejita-sama]

Well I'm using the same videocard and software (neoDVD Standard which came with the card) and the audio is out of sync Like I said about 0.5secs late, while my VDub captures are dead on.

Oh well, I have no idea why I'll play with it some more. As I said in previous post VDub/CCE has always worked but for most VHS captures if the quaility of the MPEG2 capture is 'more than good enough' I'd rather save the time and just capture/author/burn.

[Bob W]

There is an update to NeoDVD Standard so if you haven't updated the program do so.

[Bob W]

OK so I took a look for you at what the NeoDVD Standard update does and this is what they say "Improved audio/video sync during live capture". You may get the update here. http://www.mediostream.com/support/softwareupdates.html

[ktnwin]

Vejita,
since I capture VHS tape via my digital8 camcoder pass thru mode, I never had any audio sync issue.
I bought both the AverDVD card+neoDVD standard (10$) and neoDVDPlus(50$). The Plus version encode audio in AC3 Dolby digital and therefore give more room for video.
I have not tried the AverDVD capture card yet (still in the box), I would expect audio sync issue to (plan to get a second PC to install this card on , plan to capture TV program using my VCR as the TV tuner).
I have been very happy with the quality and the speed of this new "VHS to DVD" process using neoDVDPlus.
Let us know if you have any luck with the audio sync issue.

One question though: you have no audio sync problem when capturing using VirtualDub, which compression format do you use for this capturing ?

[dcsos]

Neo DVD Plus is very usable if limited..(no editing-stock menus,etc)
I've had very good results going directly from Televison Broadcast
direct to DVD for short music segments.
When I want to capture One Song to One DVD no editing..
The quality at 5000cbr is good enough to watch this DVD any time..
And the audio's in sync too!

No POST PRODUCTION..go record..the result is a settop dvd..
(I usually go to my DVD RAM or the harrd drive just in case of a false start or sutch- so its go...record..copy to finalmedia)

[akrasna]

Hi All,

I agree with lots of what is written here, I had used ads instant DVD and ati AIW. The AverDVD card seems to be the easiest, the Video quality seems better (at least than ADS). And the NEO software is FAST ... (if a little weak in the features)

I too have the darn audio sync problem.
An interesting point is it seems to be worse with older tapes.

I installed the neoDVD upgrade - and maybe it helped a little but not much

Some questions?
I had tried,as listed, the "IU" driver but it just got me messed up cause it installed a tuner - which I don't have.
Is there a driver .. that is better than the one on the cd that comes with it?

Also I am using an embedded sound card .. will swapping to a SB 5.1 help?

My hardware is fast (2.4mhz etc.) and bios is updated.

I want to be able to do a single pass - so all these break down split and buil ups don't seem like a great solution for me.

Another ? a bit different.
Are you able using the latest neoDVD standard to create automatic chapters WHILE doing the direct one step to DVD process?

Thanks
Allen