Should I Get DVD-Lab or Something Else?

[TenaciousJP]

A group of friends and I are planning to shoot a full-length feature. When it's done, we'd like to make a DVD with all the bells and whistles one would expect. We plan on having stuff like commentary, alternate audio tracks, deleted scenes, trailers, interviews, etc.

So far, I've heard great things about DVD-Lab. If I'm correct, it supports multiple audio tracks (with the help of other software) and 16x9 video, right?

However, I thought I read that it only supports single VTS output. Doesn't that mean that I can only have one MPEG-2 clip in my DVD project (which would be my feature)?

Also, I have another question. I've searched the site and haven't really found a simple guide to creating removable English subtitles/captions for my original movies.

Whenever I've required captions, I just used TitleDeko in my Adobe Premiere program and outputted a "hard-subbed" video. Is there any type of program that allows you to create subtitles this easily?

Well, thanks in advance. I'm sure that I'll be able to get on the right track with the help of the experts on the forum.

Thanks,
J

[FOO]

You can have multiple clips. just not totaly different
kinds of stuff on one DVD. like a PAL movie and a NTSC movie .
You probably don't need that.
get the demo and play

[housepig]

agree with Foo - I just made a dvd that had 30 mpeg clips in it. the big thing with outputting only one VTS is that you have to be careful not to mix audio formats during authoring.

as for subtitles, check out this guide:

http://customlogick.4t.com/reviews/sub.htm

lots of good information and a step-by-step tutorial using freeware tools.

[rallynavvie]

My question is how are you going to fit all that stuff on a DVD-R? Or are you writing to DLT and sending out to have DVD-9s pressed? If so let me know who you're going through and the prices because I may have a pretty big project coming up for 100+ discs.

[TenaciousJP]

Thanks, Foo! Yeah, I'm only going to use NTSC video and AC3 audio on all the clips.

Also, thanks for the great guide, housepig! I think that guide is exactly what I was looking for. I don't think that DVD-Lab supports subs, though. Well, that guide is good to have anyway.

reallynavvie, we're not doing that big of a project. It's just something for fun. I suppose that if we end up with tons of content, we'll just make a 2-disc (DVD-R) edition. Usually, I've been able to fit a lot of content on one disc by being very careful with the encoding process. If we do get into the stage where we are writing to DLT and having DVDs pressed, I'll let you know about the prices, etc.

Thanks, everyone! I really appreciate your awesome expertise.

-J

[Thinkoba]

DVD-lab will support multiple VTS probably in 1.4 version.