DVD Authoring Wish List

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DVD creation software Wish list

Add Photos:
•Easy way to create a slide show of photos
•Want to mix in small video clips into this slide show.
•Nice to be able to add annotation to each image in a overlay or a separate into slide.
•Best method to select which images go where is with a “contact sheet” each thumbnail image can be sorted visually on the contact sheet. This should include video clips, Is is less boring to include some videos. My digital camer can record short clips, want to mix them in.
•Add a sound track. Need to:
o Fit picture duration to sound
o Beginning and end clip and fade in/out for audio. Some program abruptly end sound. Requires external program to edit sound a real pain.
o Should be able to add multiple sound files.
•Program should have some options for the pictures
oBrightness/Contrast to fix under exposures
oImage rotate Left/right to shots of tall things
oAbility to scale image to fit or crop
oSome flexibility on fades
•Main reason to want a slide show is so that there are automatic “Chapters” established so you can jump forward and back one image. Fast forward and rewind do not work as well

ADD Videos
•I use a video editing software to edit the videos but it would be nice to have some simple capabilities:
o Audio/Video fade in/fade out (digital camera video mode has abrupt ends to sound and video. Looks ugly
o Add Titles/text overlay
o Brightness/contrast adjustments

Menus
•Real nesting of Menus
o An item on the front page should be able to point to multiple slideshows and videos
o Menu button image should be slectable
o Should be able to sort menu buttons into any order on the page
o Template for default layouts

VCD/SVCD/DVD/CVD Capabilities
•Should be able to switch from one format to the other
•All programs are too restrictive. If you want to make multiple formats you must author multiple times.

Performance
•The format conversion and verification steps take a long time.. The author should be able to run these in batch. DVD complete adds one file at a time this takes forever and you must be there to feed the files.[/list]

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ON DVD - Dazzle
Ultra simple tool for making a Slideshow on VCD. Primative, no contact sheet for sorting images. Only one sound file allowed. No fade at end of sound so very abupt end of slide show.

Complete DVD
Only 20 movie clips alowed. Nice results possible but takes forever.
Movie files loaded one at a time. Menus changes are constantly lost when you change anything. frustrating to use but some nice chapter capabilities
and menu items can be nested. The order the clips are sorted in make no sense. lots of bugs. Chapters work well, but the fact that the files must be loaded one at a time and it trashes the menu changes with each change make this a pain. can build a DVD with another package in a fraction of the time.

Nero express
Menus are really poor\
Slide shows easy to make but photos only no clips. no contact sheet to sort image order. Loads file in a batch mode Still playing but not the one of my dreams.

MyDVD
Menus are easy to nest. but submenus "look" ugly
No such thing as chapters for movies that you creat outside this program's capture capability. Biggest reason this is not the one I chose. It can be easier to edit smaller clips. The render times are shorter. But still would like to use chapters to ship ahead in video

Ulead DVD factory2 (demo)
Menus pages look great. You cannot control the nesting. Slide shows have the nices editing capabilities, demo limited to 20 pitures, hope product is not. Cannot jump to next image in slideshow or backup. cannot put more than one slidehsow under a menu button. very restirctive.

Help! there has to be a closer match to the above wish list.

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OK, tried the Ulead Videofactory2 DVD again. Can jump forward and Back in Slide show. COuld not on my computer?

[Vejita-sama]

The problem is that you are looking for a program to both author AND produce/encode the elementary streams (eg. slideshows). You can do all of the above with DVD Maestro or Scenarist but they are not very user friendly (not that bad once you get use to them thou).

I use Maestro but it won't re-size for you, you need to prepare your jpg/bmp files in a 3rd party program (eg. photoshop). Menu's, what ever you want. But again it doesn't make/generate the menus only author them. I use DVD Menu Studio for that. etc.etc.etc.

Yeah it would be great to have one tool that could do it all (including encoding ) but it doesn't really exist. Adobe Encore should be fun thou as I expect it to incorporate at least part of photoshop for menu/slide/etc. editing.

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I guess you are right.

I ahve not treid either of the program you've mentioned. running XP so the Maestro is out. can;t afford to mortgage the car for Scenarist.

Using Vegas Video for preparing the video. Does a very nice job, except no batch encoding mode. Too much baby siting waiting to start the next file.

When I take a lot of photos and load them in it takes a lot of time to get the tranisitons right and then there ar no chapters. When I add chapters it takes a very long time. Takes a lot of work to edit the video. I usually make VCDs first to see how well the video plays and to judge the bore factor. When I get it right I make the DVD.

I am spoiled with how easy it is to make a VCD with Nero. Takes 8X more time to make a DVD.