DVD Authoring Software Review: InterVideo WinDVD Creator Platinum 2 (page 2)
Direct to Disc
We've wrestled with Direct to Disc features in other apps. The promise always seems simple, but it never is. Sometimes the program captures to the hard disk first and then burns to DVD. This is easy, yes, but not exactly what we expected. WinDVD Creator 2 does capture and burn straight to DVD, provided your computer is fast enough. We tested on an HP 3.06GHz machine recording to a 300n DVD+RW drive. We had little success burning straight to DVD+RW discs: if anything was going to crash WinDVD, this process was it. DVD+R discs worked very well, however. If you have finished content that just needs to go to disc from your camcorder, this is a very nice feature. You can stop recording and add programs to the end of the disc later and then finalize it to work in your living room DVD players.
Not Bad
WinDVD Creator 2 doesn't break much new ground, to be sure, but it is a decent app, all the same. We found it to be uncomplicated to use and backed by solid technology. The 110-page printed manual with lots of pictures is well done, but the Help doesn't cover any more than the manual, so we were left with questions. (For example, should we have even tried to use DVD+RW discs for direct recording?) In the end, our analysis is that the program works as advertised, and it works well.
TECH SPECS
Version: 2.0B014.55C00
Platform: PC
Operating System: Windows 2000/XP
Processor: Celeron 800MHz
RAM: 128MB
Hard Disk: 70MB
Additional Requirements: 48kHz sound card
Audio Encoding: PCM, MPEG, 2-channel Dolby Digital
Printed Manual: 110 pages
Demo Version: 30-day trial, watermark
Upgrade: $50
STRENGTHS
- Fast, quality encoding
- Direct to DVD+R disc recording
- Stereo Dolby encoding
WEAKNESSES
- Windows 2000/XP only
- Weak titler
- Ho-hum templates
SUMMARY
WinDVD Creator 2 is a solid competitor in the sub-$100 capture-edit-author-burn category.
$100
InterVideo Inc.
47350 Fremont Blvd.
Freemont, CA 94538
(510) 651-0888
www.intervideo.com
