Best DVD authoring software « Videomaker Community Forums

nobody
Member

The DVD auhtoring software review in the latest issue is incomplete without the review of DVD-lab by Media Chance http://www.mediachance.com/dvdlab/index.html. I have used DVD-complete, Ulead, DVDit, DVD Maestro. DVD-lab ($80) beats the hell out of all of them! I can safely say that it is begining to compete with ReelDVD, Encore DVD and has a potential to compete with Scenarist, except for some features like ac3, multiple audio tracks etc. But it is a product still being developed. I would say, take a hard cold look at $80 list price and the professional features that it offers, before you dump your money somewhere else.

Posted 8 years ago #
nobody
Member

ulead dvd studio 2 comes out in january and has many new features like AC3, copy protection, regional settings, 8 audio tracks, and 32 subtitles

Posted 8 years ago #
nobody
Member

I ran the trial after a vastly frustrating experience moving a wedding video to DVD using DVDit. DVDLab looked to be a serious contender -- its guides weren't stellar and still left me with some issues multiply linking video (there's a way to have chapters both play through and terminate if the flow is designed right, correct?), but otherwise, great experience designing a disc. HOWEVER, the DVD I created was herky-jerky after authorization through multiple codecs (this was meant to be a codec trial, not necessarily an authorization trial), and I've had smooth results in other programs up to now. Dunno what went wrong -- could be operator error, could have been a bad disc, could have been my burning software -- but I'm tentative to give this a recommendation until I see the thing put out a perfect disc.

Posted 8 years ago #
nobody
Member

I use DVDlab only to author DVD. I do not use the codecs built-in, since DVDlab recommends DVD authoring only. I understand that the developer has targeted authoring only. Since the product is very new, there would be issues. We have to see how soon they get resolved, provided the developer is notified. He seems to be a one-man-army doing a very good job so far!

I would not use built-in codec at all, unless it is for chapter transitioning.

Posted 8 years ago #
nobody
Member

^ ^ ^
I'm not ready to write off DVDLab yet -- not in the slightest, after the hell I've faced in authorizing (as many of us have.) I just had unexpected results that I haven't been able to resolve against the application yet.

For those who test the program, here's my situation: encoding was done with several different apps (LSX chiefly, within Premier and in independent applications), and burning was done through Adaptec (which was also used to burn a similar DVD-R disc through DVDit without problems.) DVDLab didn't touch most of the video, except to authorize it to the the disc format (one clip was assigned chapters, but this was an experimental codec test that didn't turn out.)

What I'm seeing in the DVDLab disc is a frame pause/pulse -- it looks like every key frame is being held, pausing the video for a milisecond every second or so. I haven't tested the disc on my PC DVD player (it's the most reliable video player I own), so I have some more tests and checks to do, but I didn't see these results outside of this app, so I can't recommend it unless I know that it wasn't this program creating the error.

Posted 8 years ago #
AnneFil
Member

I used Ulead Picture Show Ver 2.0 but something went wrong when I wanted to go back and add more pics for slideshows. It asked me to delete the pics I added the day before. Called Ulead and got nowhere. I just picked up Roxio Easy Cd & DVD Creator Ver 6. Have not opened the box yet, trying to get info from you guy's. I do slideshows, with transitions and music to show on my DVD player to TV. any good suggestions, has anyone used this program yet?

Posted 8 years ago #
jimbodeanny
Member

I absolutely LOVE Adobe Encore DVD. It is the first program I've used that has EVERY feature I can think of along with a great interface. I've used many authoring programs, My DVD, DVDit, Ulead DVD Workshop, Pinnacle Impression, etc and this is BY FAR the best I've used. If you have the $$$ give this program a run for the money!

-Jim

Posted 8 years ago #
nobody
Member

I bought mediostream NeoDVD plus and even with their upgrades I think it kinda sucks! The audio encoding is aweful! Most of the features only work sometimes or cause the program to lock up. I would advise against buying it and wonder if anyone knows a better program in the $100 -$150 range

Posted 7 years ago #