DVDit! 5 review: do not buy this trash

[lordsmurf]

I bought DVDit! 5 when it came out, tested it with some MPEG2 test files (pro files, not mine), used it on some slideshow projects, an AVI source project, and several MPEG1 projects. Worked alright.

Had a lot of PC trouble since I bought it and today, so I essentially used the software 2-3 days and then not at all for a month or more.

Recently, I wanted to use it. Got PCs back fine. Have work to do again. This fu***ing program will not accept ANY of my MPEG2 sources. None of them. Not ATI MMC files, Womble files, MainConcept files, Procoder files, TMPGEnc Plus files, DVD recorder files, not even a few pro DVDs ripped to source.

Welcome to DVDit! Hell. Population: you.










Nothing can be done about this. I've got memos in the Sonic tech support box waiting to be answered. Let's just say I'm not happy about this. I think it's a defect in the software. I'm guessing it's attuned to their transcoder file specs, and anything that skews from that (even if it is STILL a compliant DVD MPEG2 file), it will be rejected as "bad source".

Spent $149 for something I'll use maybe twice a year (MPEG1, slideshows) and cannot use the other thousand times (MPEG2 DVDs) that I'll need it. That won't work.

This is an upgrade? I think not.
DVDit! PE 2.5.4 has no troubles on the same files.

Lots of other random errors too. See image 4 up there? Seriously .. what the f--- is that? There was ONE menu, with TWO links, and all linking was done correctly. Huh? Orphaned? In fact, the DVDit! error code file is too big to open in Notepad, and it'll crash WordPad.

I'm a bit angry right now.
I needed that software today. I don't want to use something else.

[lordsmurf]

No response to my tech support inquiry.

Thanks Sonic!

Enjoy the credit card chargeback.

[DereX888]

Unless you've paid with amex, you may have a trouble getting chargeback to your CC since it is more than a month later.

BTW- thx for the warning
I never like this proggie, its unlikely I would ever test it again, but anyway - at least I know what to tell friend wht to avoid.

Angry smurfs look really funny hehe :P

[lgh529]

Unless you've paid with amex, you may have a trouble getting chargeback to your CC since it is more than a month later.

Its 60 days for most cards, MasterCard, VISA, American Express, and Discover. American Express is the best to help with this though.

[lordsmurf]

After a month, I get this as the reply to my DVDIT! 5 problem:

I'd like you to try upgrading to 5.3

MyDVD 5.3 Support Version [S/Nxxxxxxxx]:
http://xxxxxxxxc.com/MyDVD53xxxxx.exe

Let me know if this works,

******* dumbass!

[disturbed1]

I'd like you to try upgrading to 5.3

MyDVD 5.3 Support Version [S/Nxxxxxxxx]:
http://xxxxxxxxc.com/MyDVD53xxxxx.exe

Let me know if this works,

******* dumbass!

That's just not even right. So, did you ever reverse the charges?

[lordsmurf]

Yes, the bank did it. All SONIC did was waste my time. They have a 30-day money back guarantee, and I was complaining after about 2-3 weeks. I never got a response until just a few days ago. My bank does not take kindly to bad companies peddling crap (and breaking their own policies or not upholding their end of the bargain) and screwing us customers (or at least trying to).

I bought DVD Workshop 2 AC3 instead, as it seems to work rock-solid now after recent patches/updates from past months.

DVDit! PE was nice, but not too advanced, not anymore. I still use it, good for mid-level projects that do not need motion menus or multi VTS.
ReelDVD was advanced, but not too nice to use. I only use this when forced. It does a good job, but it's a bit cludgy for me because I want to work fast.
I think I've about had it with SONIC products.

DVD Workshop 2 is doing what I want, and with great ease.
About time authoring software got both good and easy at the same time.
I just hope I don't find big flaws later on. Happy so far.

[Bondiablo]

Is it possible to make DVDit 5 transcode only the audio if both your video and audio are DVD compliant but you want the WAV converted to AC3?

Have you tried using a DVD compliant ntsc film video as your source in DVD Workshop 2? As far as I can tell workshop doesn't support NTSC Film.

[lordsmurf]

Nope. DVDit! 5 is 100% gutter trash crap. It insists on re-encoding everything. Sonic engineers are retards.

Every single magazine/online review was made using it as an encoder. More stupid reviewers.

DVDWS2 does not seem to play nice with 23.976 3:2 files. I use DVD Studio Pro or TDA for that kind of source. No one program does it all, they all have some fluke. Some more than others.

[Bondiablo]

Damn, scratch two more off my list. I just wanted to find one that could correctly handle 16x9, ntsc film and convert wav to ac3. Didn't realize that was asking so much. Thanks for the info though. With my luck the only one will be studio pro and I don't have a mac. I always dismissed TDA because of the web activation, same reason I stuck with 98 and 2K over XP, don't want to support that crap.

[dcsos]

Well its very nice to know that DVDit 5.0
continues the lengthy tradition
of completely BUGGY USELESS TIMEWASTERS
Sonic's ports of CREATOR are on WINDOWS

The original program was coded for MACINTOSH
and when it showed up on WINDOWS it was riddled with so many
bugs, MICROSOFT was studying their code, i'd expect :-)