Wich is the BEST authoring program ?

[LordVader]

I been having problems with all the authoring programs availables in this fu**ing world and no one have an option to accept NON-Compilant videos.


Video Pack 5, is always checking the properties of my videos and if they're wrong, it recompress everything again. ( i don't want this ).

Movie Factory, installs to much crap & codecs and is to complicated to make chapters.

DVD workshop, same history of Movie Factory ( ULEAD Products, pest )

Nero , HAHAHAHAHA ..... come on guys

DVDit, all you guys known the problem with the GOP Secuence, I'm not going to recompress all my videos. ( so forget about this one )

MyDVD, Same history of DVDit. ( Sonic Products )

Spruce UP, I think is great, but i have lot of videos compressed in 44100Khz, and this program don't accept that sampling rate. ( i'm not going to recompress everything to 48000Khz )
I already try to change the properties of the file with DVD Patcher, but that only work for resolutions, i can't use it to change the sampling rate.

Honestly, wich program i should use to make a decent DVD?
Wich is the BEST ?

If there's any way to make one of this programs accept NON Compilant videos, i will really apreciate your help.

[Digitizer]

A decent DVD has to comply with standards. Somewhere along the way DVD players may drop 44100 Hz support all together and you will end up fixing it anyway. Do yourself a favor, convert the audio to 48 kHz and use SpruceUP.

[LordVader]

yeah i think you're right, i will do it. thanx.


Hey, Is there any way to make a Motion menu with spruceUP ?

you know.....

replace a simple picture in the background with a video, like the original DVDs.

How can i do this?

[Digitizer]

SpruceUP can't do motion menus. They are too much work too. IMO not very practical at all, just looks cool. It has more advantages though, like support for AC3 audio. That's why I use it over Ulead - I want my DVD's compliant in the future

[LordVader]

wich program are you using to author your DVD's :

Ulead what ?

DVD workshop or Movie Factory ?

[Mirror_Image]

Sonic Scenarist has a pretty good rep.

[kinneera]

Makes CCE sound like a bargain, though. The entry level version costs something like $15000.

[Mirror_Image]

It's pricey all right! I sometimes wonder if, when they ask for "the best", many people realize how expensive "the best" (of nearly anything) can be. They might get the info they want by asking "What is the best widget for xxx amount of money?"

[3dcandy]

I've been taking a look at Pinnacle Impression Pro 2.2...

Seems OK, but a bit long winded, and menu's really need to be pre-made in Photoshop or something similiar....

Supports AC3, motion menu's, multiple audio tracks, 2 angles...

[Digitizer]

Sonic Scenarist has a pretty good rep.

If you know your warez and a lifetime to learn it.

[pacoreguenga]

Well, you asked for THE BEST and that's it. Scenarist is THE BEST beating DVD Maestro hands down. Maestro costs the same, and has an easier interface, but I just love Scenarist's visual workflow and powerful programming capabilities. Besides, It's more flexible with bitrates than Maestro and if your family lives from your DVD authoring work, It worths selling your car to have it.
Besides, a week should be enough for anyone who has come this far to master this program, with or without a manual, as any user will tell you.
Anyway, it's very limited unless you can also use a Graphics editing app (like Adobe Photoshop), a Graphics Compositing program (like Adobe After Effects), a video editor (like Avid or Premiere) and a good audio editor (like SoundForge, N-Track or Cool Edit)
And a good MPG encoder, like TMPGEnc.

[doson]

A lot of people are saying that Scenarist is the best authoring program, but I just can't find it anywhere! (anyone knows where?), so for now I'm "stuck" with DVDMaestro.

Ohh, talking about DVDMaestro... anyone knows if the program supoorts multiangle? and if does so how can I do it?

[Ekin]

Hey guys I just want share my info on DVD Authoring software. I've try alot of it. From Ulead Workshop, Factory, Maestro, Impression, MyDVD, DVDit, Prassi, Spruceup. All the programs that I've mentioned above. They all don't support a Mpeg2 files w/ 2 audio stream. They all re-encode your files. Well as I know they all don't support 2 audio stream after testing burning it. Unless I am doing something wrong but I guess not. Because my mpeg2 files have 2 audio stream. I am getting Impression Pro and Scenartist. So hopefully those two supports my mpeg2 dual audio stream files.

[kinneera]

We're not kidding, Scenarist can cost as much as a luxury car. If you really really are interested in buying it legitimately, you're not going to be able to walk into CompUSA and pick it up off the shelf. You would have to talk to resellers expecting major customers such as film production studios.

[LordVader]

What about Pinnacle Express ?

is it good ?

[Mirror_Image]

Sonic Scenarist has a pretty good rep.

If you know your warez and a lifetime to learn it.

I wouldn't be surprised if it used a dongle.

[tjclement]

I have tried all the authoring programs mentioned. The one that I found best for my purposes is DVD Complete by Dazzle Multimedia. This is the ONLY one that I found that would convert my DV files to DVD, and burn them where they would work on my DVD Players (I have 2 DVD Players) using both DVD-R and DVD-RW. This program I mentioned is also very easy to use, but incorporates some very powerful routines, such as moving video icons, background music, up to 8 overtures, as well as the ability to create DVD labels including the type just like the professionals use (in the large cases you get when you buy a DVD videos).

[rayjr13]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Digitizer wrote:
Mirror_Image wrote:
Sonic Scenarist has a pretty good rep.


If you know your warez and a lifetime to learn it.


I wouldn't be surprised if it used a dongle

Yea, pretty sure it uses a dongle gotta hate assembling those duplicates hehe

[LordVader]

Thanks to "3dcandy" for the suggestion about Impression PRO.

i got it in KaZZa.

This program is Amazing , support up to 8 audio tracks, Angles, Motion Menus , Dolby Sound, etc.

For those who know how to Work with FILMSTRIP formats in Photoshop , this is a great option to make Motion Menus.

"15fps Motion Menu will be fine" , I love it.

[LordVader]

Don`t let this topic die.

I wanna hear other suggestions, which programs you prefer and why.

[denoneil]

Scenarist is about US$22K.
If you're thinikng about a semi-pro level authoring app I would condsider ReelDVD. It is slightly more than Impression, but has an excellent compatibility record with set-top players, it uses the same engine as Scenarist, and it has a built in AC3 encoder. Impression supports AC3, but only if the file is already in that format. Reel will convert your wav files into AC3 (stereo). This frees up a huge amount of space as well. I've been able to fit 2hrs 20min of video on a DVD-R because the audio takes up little space once encoded in AC3.
A typical standalone AC3 encoder would be about US$5-600 on its own, so US$1000-1200 is not bad for ReelDVD. It won't be available on Kazaa, there's a dongle.
Depending on where you are, there's probably a reason why all of the authoring apps are re-encoding your audio stream. Mpeg Layer II audio is only supported on PAL set-top players. NTSC players must have Dolby or PCM.

[Lamont Cranston]

Mpeg Layer II audio is only supported on PAL set-top players NTSC players must have Dolby or PCM.

I have 4 Sony and 2 Panasonic standalone NTSC players which all play mpeg 1 layer 2 audio.

[denoneil]

They may support it, but the DVD Spec does not require NTSC players to do so on a DVD. Many higher level authoring programs will not allow you to create an NTSC DVD with MPEG Layer II Audio for this reason.

[Lamont Cranston]

They may support it, but the DVD Spec does not require NTSC players to do so on a DVD. Many higher level authoring programs will not allow you to create an NTSC DVD with MPEG Layer II Audio for this reason.

Then the DVDR specs listed on the left <--- are not correct? According to these specs mpeg 1 layer 2 is supported if it is not the only track. AC3 is a very expensive option because of the licensing fee and LPCM chews up disk space and video bandwidth.

[denoneil]

I've double checked myself to verify... According to Sonic, MPEG Audio is not a required format of NTSC DVD players, as it is with PAL. If your NTSC set-top player supports MPEG Audio, it is an additional benefit, and NOT required per DVD Spec.

I'd be happy to encode some ac3 files if you needed them done. They take up much less space than PCM.

[kinneera]

It is my understanding that MPEG1 Layer 2 is different from MPEG2 audio. MPEG2 audio (capable of multi-channel sound) is not a required standard on NTSC DVD's but MPEG1 audio is. In any case, if your DVD player handles VCD, you can be sure it will play MPEG1 Layer 2 audio, although it may expect 48Khz if it is paired to an MPEG2 video stream.

[denoneil]

Ahhhhhh... Thank you kinneera. I knew there had to be something I was missing in this thread. I work strictly with MPEG II DVD's, and wasn't even thinking about MPEG I.

[Lamont Cranston]

This may be obvious... but don't confuse Mpeg2 audio with Dolby Digital(AC-3). They are not the same. Here is an article which points out the differences:
http://www.studio-sound.com/archive/nov97/tech_coding.html

[Baldrick]

According to this
http://www.dvddemystified.com/dvdfaq.html#3.6.2
should mpeg1,mpeg2 be supported in all players...even though ntsc requires dd or pcm in at least one track. And as all players support VCD they should have no problem decoding the audio.

My favorite authoring tool is dvdmaestro, fairly easy to use, supports everything and doesn't have any inbuilt converting crap...but it is a bit too expensive though.

[alexhuang]

I just updated to Ulead DVDWorkshop 1.2. It seems that it won't re-econde my mpeg 2 anymore this time. Even there is still some problems (slow motion menu rendering, weak menu navigation controls) in this product, IMO, it is the best product I will suggest.