Where to get a good DVD authoring prog

[zed]

Hi,

Where can I get reel dvd, dvd virtoso, maestro etc to evaluate before I make a purchase. These programs are not cheap and when starting out in business i cant afford to buy one that is useless (like DVDIT PE - what a complete waste of money that was)

Appreciate you help.

regards

Zed

[Doom9]

well.. the respective homepages have links to the closest dealers. I'm sure they can set you up as there's no public demo versions and asking for warez is forbidden here.

[Milkman Dan]

What problem are you having with DVDit PE?

After working with DVDWise, and Impression SE, and MyDVD, I found it both the least fussy and the least buggy of all of them. Not to mention the relative ease of use.

But I have good experience with the programs above, so I might be able to help you out.

[zed]

I was not requesting warez, sorry if it came across that way. I have dvdit pe but it is just way too basic for pro use. I need to be able to do animated menus etc and dvdit cant cut it plus the fact it just looks very poor i.e. text quality, the way the buttons look etc ad so on and so on. A complete waste of mone and branded wrong me thinks, i mean with a name like PE (professional Edition) one would expect more.

I have a evaluation version of DVD Motion Pro to try from www.mc2000.com so expect a post about that!!

Zed

[Doom9]

I didn't say you were asking for warez.. just making sure that you know the ground rules from the start so you don't run into danger of violating them and piss people off.

Now.. personally I found the dvdmotion pro demo quite unsatisfactory because of the time limit to tracks you can process and I'm sure you'll have the same problem. So.. as said before.. basically I would try to go by the official distributor in your area. I'm sure that if you're serious about getting a tool if you find it corresponding to your needs that you will get a fully working demo version that allows you to test whatever you need to test.

and btw.. if you're interested about what dvdmotion can do.. I have a guide on the use of that program that pretty much includes the most interesting options you can do. If you want to do something really professional no way goes around Scenarist and Maestro.. and they are very very expensive.

And... I agree about DVDit.. great tool for less advanced scenarios and very easy to learn.. but it has it's problems. For instance I was completely unable to use my pre-made m2v files at all. If you're looking into Sonic tools maybe DVD fusion would be more appropriate. And sonic also owns scenarist now.

[zed]

What do you mean about the time limit on track in DVD motion pro ??, does this apply to the demo version only? If I was to buy the full version would that be any good?. I have tried Scenarist and maestro and found scenarist will not work with Win2k and maestro complains that real preview is not available due to a driver or card missing so have given up going down that route, unless anyone can advise how to get maestro to work?

I quite like DVD Motion Pro so far, it appears to do all that I need but I will have to wait to find out what you mean about the time limit.

I really appreciate the help.

regards

Zed

[Taxidermista]

Install Ravisent Cinemaster 2000 and you will get preview in Maestro.

[zed]

Where do I get that?

Thanks

Zed

[Doom9]

cinemaster: www.ravisent.com

about the time limit: the demo version only allows you to use mpeg2 clips of a couple seconds lenght. The full version has of course no such limit. So.. if you think the feature set matches you needs.. go for it. There's no need for Scenarist/Maestro.. these offer every feature you can do on DVD.. but that comes at a price. And.. Scenarist works fine in W2K... how do you think I wrote the guide on it? Install W98? Hell no!

[zed]

How you get scenarist to work in win2k, when I installed it it came up at the end of set up stating somthing about unable to start a service or something...

Back to dvd maestro...

I have Cineplayer DVD 4.0 but the errors keeps comming up it states:

Real Time Preview functionality will not be available because either the Quadrant drivers are not loaded or the Quadrant card is not installed or both.

I do not have a Quadrant card, does this mean I will not be able to use DVD Maestro?

Thanks

Zed

[Arky]

Hmmm... your most recent post, above, does not appear to tally with your comments in preceding posts!

...Nevertheless, I can tell you that the error you speak of, under Maestro, is because you have not installed Cinemaster DVD player, or have not installed the correct version. I can assure you that, provided the correct version is installed correctly, Maestro will cease to register this error on startup, and rudimentary preview functionality WILL be possible without the need for a hardware cinemaster card. The hardware Cinemaster card is necessary for output to external monitors etc.

The Scenarist error is because you do not have the Dongle correctly installed, or have not installed the dongle drivers. I suspect, though, that despite your protestations to the contrary, the more likely scenario is that you have not (Ahem!) correclty cracked the Scenarist program to prevent it CHECKing for the dongle...


Arky ;o)

[zed]

lol, I gave up looking for demos and as for visiting the reseller well.. I live in the middle of nowhere so to get to them would be an all day thing if not longer so I have had to result to attaining the software elsewhere however it is for evaluation as I am planning to set up a small business and the majority of the money will be spent on the authoring package thats why I want to get the best I can (with in reason) as for scenarist it was lent to me but after finding out how much the product cost to buy I have lets say given up on even trying to use that as I will never be able to stretch to that much!!

What version of the cinemaster dvd player does it have to be to work with Maestro ?

Cheers

Zed

[dood]

I didn't see it mentioned, but Ulead DVD Movie Factory is an amazing authoring program. Chapterstops for existing MPG2 files, cool menu features. Not the most advanced, but a very solid program. There is a free evaluation version at ulead.com. And the full retail or download version is about US$50.