Encore users - READ

[clothesburner626]

Stole this from the Adobe sight, agree wholeheartedly with this guy:

Should v2.0 of ANY program be virtually bug-free?

DJ Dee - 08:31pm Jan 17, 2005 Pacific


Would you abandon Encore if Adobe failed to release a virtually bug-free v2.0?

Of course, the odd bug is easily excusable. But "the odd bug" is a world away from Encore v1.51!

I should be more specific in my use of the word "bug": the numbers 224, 47003, 19003, 31302, 45013, 16072, (stop me if I'm getting repetitive), 19901, 29407, 20405, 47007, 16019, 40901, 199688, 199680, 16053, 16033, 19016, 336130, 29407, 16074, 2147024809, 279796, 264449, 262912, 26400, 16037, 20402, 143365, 226051, 27310, 19926, 12004, 19803, 353280, 31203, and of course 1, will ring a bell with many of the people visiting this forum. These, to my mind, are bugs. They constitute areas of code that the Adobe engineers have not patched up. Thus, if you install a certain program, Encore can't handle it. If you import a file and then change its name, Encore can't handle it. If you update Quicktime, Encore can't handle it. And in some cases, if you open Adobe Encore, Encore can't handle it.

And from the sounds of things, this isn't surprising; somebody recently posted here that they had asked technical support if the engineers read these forums in order to keep track of what bugs are cropping up. The shocking response was "some do, some don't". Unless there is some other way for users to report bugs that I don't know about, this essentially means that the Adobe engineers are running blind - working on new features, with no knowledge of the quicksand they are building on top of.

It can be argued that Encore throwing up the errors I listed above is not a fault of the program, but of the user expecting too much or not knowing how to set it up correctly. Personally I think this is a tenuous argument. The vast majority of programs, you just install them and they work, no problems. Encore is uniquely fragile. I have never used a program that crashed even 10% as often.

Some history: Encore 1.00 was a nightmare, and practically unusable for me. I stopped using it until the 1.01 update was released. The update kind of reassured me that Adobe cared about customer satisfaction, but then I realised that the update left most issues unaddressed and even introduced some new errors of its own. Encore 1.5 is, again, better, but still ridden with bugs. Or should I say, Achilles heels. For example, I have just lost a project I worked months on thanks to Encore 1.5 dictating what can and cannot be installed on my system (in this case, Javascript).

Now, there is no doubt that Encore is getting better. Each update has made it slightly more stable. But for how long should we be patient? Encore is still by far the most fussy, fragile program many of us have ever used.

I will probably fork out for v2.0 when it arrives, but it will be a "roll over and take it" scenario as I certainly object to the many many hours I have spent adjusting this, editing that, renaming this, deleting that, uninstalling this, reinstalling that, just to make Encore work. And I won't care a jot about the new features that v2.0 will boast; I just want it as it is, but without the huge threat of errors.

With any other program, I would expect v2.0 to be virtually bug-free. But given Encore's history, concessions must be made. I personally don't believe that Encore 2.0 will be as safe as your average program. I think it will throw up new errors, repeat old ones in bizarre ways at surprising times, and perhaps by the time the 2.01 update is released, I will begin to realise I've been waiting for a reliable Adobe DVD authoring program for two years and just give up and switch to an alternative.

But that is merely speculation. I'm just interested in what other people think can sensibly be expected from Adobe with regards to Encore 2.0. My own view is that they should postpone adding new features until they have ironed out VIRTUALLY EVERY bug/fragility of the code and can offer a genuinely robust, stable, resilient program.

[roma_turok]

Adobe Encore DVD version 2.0 NOT EXISTING.

[mh2360]

I will probably fork out for v2.0 when it arrives.

He never said it did exist.

[roma_turok]

He never said it did exist.

I know, just making the point.

[Muppet Meat]

I have always felt that DVD menus and submenus etc. were something to be designed by artists and creative peoples which places that responsibility upon Adobe most of all.
We need something that works with Photoshop flawlessly in the same way Image Ready does and Encore does just that. But some people could care less for designing buttons and menus. I think Adobe should create a Encore Lite version for those people.
I am currently experiencing little problems with Encore myself but thats just me and I feel Adobe really should address the bugs more than anything because Encore should be the #1 choice for menu DESIGNERS

[clothesburner626]

Encore should be the #1 choice for menu DESIGNERS

Agreed. Premiere 1.5 works flawlessly on my system. To have to manually encode elsewhere and then export to another DVD authoring program is just absurd.

[Muppet Meat]

Another thing I should add is the Encore built-In encoder is really crappy and should be omitted altogether. An option to add a encoder of choice would be the way to go. Sorta like Spruce DVD Meastro or DVD-Lab.