DVD authoring tool

[lozina]

I'm trying to find a DVD creation tool that doesn't force you to use stupid template, where you can create your own menu and openign sequence how you want... I thought somethign called DVD-lab pro was the answer but for some strange reason it doesn't let me import AVI files- they only accept MPG. Any suggestions?

 

[JackBurton]

Why don't you just convert your avi files to mpeg2?

DVD-Lab Pro is cool but I like Ulead DVD Workshop 2 to author DVDs. Very intuitive and gives you quite a bit of control.

 

[lozina]

Originally posted by: JackBurton
Why don't you just convert your avi files to mpeg2?

Won't that further compromise the quality of this video? It's already been compressed to get it into an AVI file and I no longer have the source tape

 

[JackBurton]

Well if you are going to put it into a DVD format that all DVD players will be able to play, you'll need to convert it to mpeg2. You can do it before, or you can let the authoring software do it afterwards. Either way, it's going to get converted to mpeg2.

I've converted several divx/xvid avis to mpeg2 and saw no difference. If there was a difference in quality, I couldn't tell.

 

[imported_waldo]

I've personally been very happy with Vegas Video, does the job, is nice, clean, and pretty much keeps me happy. BUt why don't you go for Director or somehting like that?

 

[daniel1113]

I think that Adobe Encore DVD is the best DVD authoring program, mainly due to its integration with Photoshop. It takes time to learn the Encore DVD process, as the menu creation is a bit odd. However, it really is easy to use and can do much more than most prosumer DVD authoring programs. The only downside is that it costs about $500, and if you are just planning of producing a few personal DVDs, it is hard to justify the cost.

Sonic Foundry is also a good program, especially if you use Vegas Video as a NLE. Unfortunately, DVD Architect must be purchased with Vegas Video, and that package runs about $700.

I have not used any of the consumer packages (such as DVDLab and Ulead), so I do not know how they compare.

 

[JackBurton]

Originally posted by: daniel1113
I think that Adobe Encore DVD is the best DVD authoring program, mainly due to its integration with Photoshop. It takes time to learn the Encore DVD process, as the menu creation is a bit odd. However, it really is easy to use and can do much more than most prosumer DVD authoring programs. The only downside is that it costs about $500, and if you are just planning of producing a few personal DVDs, it is hard to justify the cost.

Sonic Foundry is also a good program, especially if you use Vegas Video as a NLE. Unfortunately, DVD Architect must be purchased with Vegas Video, and that package runs about $700.

I have not used any of the consumer packages (such as DVDLab and Ulead), so I do not know how they compare.

Cool man! I'll have to checkout Encore DVD as I feel Ulead DVD Workshop 2 is not that stable. It's ok, but I definitely don't think it's worth $400.

 

[mundane]

I used DVD lab pro for its trial duration. In order to transfer from raw AVI to the mpeg2, I used it in conjunction with TMPGEnc (also has a trial version). It took close to forever on this slow machine (1.4 Duron), but the end result using DVD lab pro was a very nice DVD with menu, chapters, etc. Even with those results, I couldn't justify the purchasing both products when I could use freeware alternatives (which I'm still trying to muddle through ). Who knows, I might go crawling back to them eventually ...

 

[lozina]

Originally posted by: diegoalcatraz
I used DVD lab pro for its trial duration. In order to transfer from raw AVI to the mpeg2, I used it in conjunction with TMPGEnc (also has a trial version). It took close to forever on this slow machine (1.4 Duron), but the end result using DVD lab pro was a very nice DVD with menu, chapters, etc. Even with those results, I couldn't justify the purchasing both products when I could use freeware alternatives (which I'm still trying to muddle through ). Who knows, I might go crawling back to them eventually ...

Yeah actually I'm trynig that combo now- since DVD lab pro mentioned TMPGEnc on it's site I did a search and found they had a trial version also. Haven't got the time yet to try them out but I'm real excited about it.