"DVD Lab Pro"/DVD Authoring for Mac?

[Paker]

I make easy projects. I often have one video clip or two, maybe add a subtitle from from .srt file. Add a menu with some text, photos and maybe background music. Some times I add some trailers in 4x3 or 16x9 format combined, under different VTS, with VMG menus to be able to combine 4x3 and 16x9 under same menus. And that's it.

I am not mixing with audio or video because that is already fixed by friends of mine.

I have looked a little bit and it seems to be two categories regarding DVD authoring programs. One is like Toast where the user can add a video clip, choose a menu and then its done. The other part is Final Cut Pro that is the other extreme side. I am somewhere in the middle that want to create my one menus, add subtitle, menu audio and be able to have a couple of video clips on a disc.

I have used in Windows a program called DVD Lab Pro v1.6. Its from 2006 but I have issues with it that I cant seem to fix. I have recently changed from a Windows machine to a Mac and I'm running Windows under Parallels Desktop. I'm searching for a replacement for DVD Lab Pro.

There was DVD Studio Pro but has been integrated in Final Cut Studio and that seems to have be absorbed in Final Cut Pro X.

[rumplestiltskin]

If you don't mind embedding the subtitle into the video clip first, iDVD might work. (I must admit I am not familiar with the two "V" acronyms you mentioned.)

[aedipuss]

you might try updating dvdlab pro to the last version available - 2.51 and the demux update and see if that clears up the issues.

[Paker]

I have now looked at iDVD in YouTube and it one of the easy programs with not much control like Toast. It do not have support for subtitles for what I could find. I'm looking for a little more advanced program then iDVD.

I do not know what VTS stands for but did find out that I could not add 4x3 and 16x9 material under the same VTS. With two VTS I could ad 4x3 and 16x9 material on one disc. The problem there was that the menus under one VTS could not link to the other VTS video clips. I then had to use VMG menus. I do not know what VMG is or what it stands for but it just works.

[guns1inger]

VTS = Video Title Set. It is a method of breaking the DVD structure into groups of like content. All titles in a VTS must have the same aspect ratio, same audio charactistics (number and type of tracks etc). A VTS can have it's own menu, but as you have found, one VTS cannot talk directly to another VTS. Generally this is worked around by putting a VMG menu at the top, and returning to this from the VTS menu before heading into another VTS. DVD Lab Pro also used bridges to move between VTS' directly.

Even some of the simplest DVD creators are now smart enough to at least put 16:9 and 4:3 material into separate titlesets.

If you are happy to use Parallels (personally not a big fan - fusion, or better yet, bootcamp, are better options IMO) then you could look at something like DVD Styler, or even AVStoDVD (simple menus, but does everything else you need)