Looking for professional DVD Authoring Software

[leglez]

Ok me and some friends have been working on a movie for almost the past year and editing in Adobe Premiere Pro. We have it all done but need menus for the DVD and need to turn it into DVD Format. I am looking for a good DVD Authoring Software. Right now I have VSO Convert X To DVD. I am looking for something that allows you to make menus like this: HERE. Something that allows you to have a picture (Or preferably a Flash animation) and then the buttons:

Play (Plays the movie from the begining, going through all chapters but no bonus material)
Chapters (Select a certain chapter)
Bonus Material (Contains deleted Scenes, Commentary, bonus footage)

And then on each of the sub pages have a link back to the home menu. Kinda like a professional movie. Is there any software that allows you to do this?

Or is it possible to add these types of menus from Adobe Premiere Pro

 

[VisionxOrb]

the more exspensive route, adobe encore, the cheaper route, ulead dvd movie factory.

Also i think nero recode in nero 7 allows you to build custome menus but im not sure.

 

[Tsaico]

I was looking for something like this, and I just downloaded the trial for the ulead dvd factory. It is surprisingly good for a $40 product. I did find there were some limitations as to how well the animation plays in a DVD. You can make your own menus, but it doesn't seem to want to do embedded ones too well. I could make a menu that would go back to the origional one, but could not make one that was another layer deep. I just wanted to show a menu that allowed you to choose a picture slide show and other was video. Then in the picture I wanted to do by special event or by thumbnail. When I made a DVD with no video other than a animation, and a few Pics, (it is just a test) I found my DVD froze when trying to do the sub menu. You select the choice, then it just sat there.

I tried it on another DVD and player and same result. I am not sure if it is user error or the application, but I don't want to blame myself and since the rest of the software seems pretty straight forward out of the box, I am hoping it wasn't me. If I rule it out, then i will post back here. But as a side note, a friend of mine does some video work, and he uses premiere and encore together to make some pretty cool stuff. But since that package is liek a grand together, 40 bucks will have to do for now.

Good luck. Let us know how it all goes.

 

[Atvar]

Sonic Scenarist is the industry standard for dvd production. Its what we use and it gives complete control. Basically you use photoshop to create your menus, overlays etc. All the layout and programming is done in scenarist. Steep learning curve but you have complete control. It might be more than you are looking for though ;-)

 

[Trevelyan]

Adobe DVD Encore is very good, but a little expensive.

Ulead DVD Factory will probably work for you.

 

[gsellis]

Originally posted by: Atvar
Sonic Scenarist is the industry standard for dvd production. Its what we use and it gives complete control. Basically you use photoshop to create your menus, overlays etc. All the layout and programming is done in scenarist. Steep learning curve but you have complete control. It might be more than you are looking for though ;-)

You forgot to tell him how much it is. It is still $20k+ for the base version, right?


Are you satisfied with the quality of the M2V and AC3 you can export? The inexpensive route is AVI -> M2V/AC3 using Pegasys Tsunami or CCE Basic (both about $60). CCE is slightly better M2V, but does not do Dolby-Digital. The best CineCraft Encoder is $2k and does more than dual pass VBR and does multipass CBR. Showdowns show that the results from the SP version of CCE (the $2k version) match Scenarist with the hardware.

I use Tsunami as it has AC3 Dolby Digital Stereo. If I need Surround, I have to use my editor, which does Dolby 5.1, but the licensing is strange and the encoder is only a very good single pass.

For DVD authoring, Mediachance DVD-Lab Pro V2.x is a killer find. It is $200+ (and has a 30 day, unrestricted free trial). It has even added multi-angle with the latest version. And I know that Oscar, the creator, is working on HD-DVD from a post he made at a MS forum. The interface is almost exactly like DVD Maestro, which is no longer made (I own a copy, but it is harder to use - but it will write the volumes to DLT tape for Glass Mastering - with DVD Lab, Gear is recommended.)

 

[SuPrEIVIE]

you can try dvd architect, although it is packaged with Vegas, does not work to well with avi files though

 

[gsellis]

Additionally -

www.discmakers.com can author it for you as part of a package. They have about the best price on mastering. Know that 1000 DVDs is a stack about the size of a refrigerator.

Also, read this thread (the thread) and buy the book (this book)

 

[Atvar]

You forgot to tell him how much it is. It is still $20k+ for the base version, right?

Well yea its not cheap. About 5 grand but I mean, it will get the job done and then some ;-) And you will know dvd inside and out when you get it done