Jacks of All Trades

Way back in 1999, CD-burning drives were just beginning to cross into practical price ranges. A video-editing computer was still an expensive and tricky beast to configure and no one thought DVD burners would be inexpensive and widely available anytime soon.

The typical software bundled with a typical circa 1999 CD-R drive was barely enough to burn a data CD or audio CD. Even today, the software packages that come in the box with most CD and DVD burners are not the same as the full-featured premium suites a number of companies offer. The core of this software is still burning discs and the software is usually very good at this. As these packages have gone from simple data burning to also include audio CDs, MP3 ripping and video DVDs, most companies have built more comprehensive packages of applications, or suites. These suites handle all of your needs as far as basic disc authoring is concerned. Let's investigate some of the features found in a typical disc-authoring suite.

Video Editing
Frequently, the video editing features found in a suite tend to be rather basic, but functional. They're great if you need to throw a simple, quick project together. They're no replacement for your beloved copy of Avid, Premiere Pro or Vegas if you're embarking on a more involved project, but if you're just cutting up a single-track project and audio needs are simple, you'll find what you need.

Disc Authoring
Most disc authoring suites support a wide array of disc formats. Most packages burn DVD-video projects and audio CDs to a broad variety of discs, which can include CD-R and DVD-R data discs and burning MP3 discs for use in mobile digital audio…