Thoughts On DVD Architect

[focker]

First of all I would like to state that I am not an expert but I thought I would post my thoughts here regarding DVD Architect.

I have been playing with it all weekend and while the interface and options are nice it just doesn't seem to live up to an all in one expectation as far as I am concerned. The first thing that I particulary do not care for is using background video on menus....it can be done but the video can not be resized...instead it takes up the entire screen...unless there is a way that someone else found but it is not listed anywhere in their documentation. Another problem with it seems to make it very picky for accepting files....and it will not accept elementary streams (according to their manual). If a file is not compliant it will re-render the entire file as well causing more quality loss. While the animated and full motion menus are cool I still find this to be a sub-par authoring software package.

While I think the idea of having an all in one option is good I am very skeptical to actually seeing something that puts the same importance in quality and authoring instead of just ease of use and authoring.

I capture using AVI IO, edit my video using VirtualDub, encode my video using Premiere and CCE, encode my audio using Soft Encode, and author my DVD using SpruceUp and my results are much better with this method than what Vegas Video and DVD Architect are capable of producing.

Has anyone else here tried out DVD Architect? I am interested to know what your thoughts are as well.

[focker]

Well I finished my DVD project with DVD Architect and I must say that I am pleasantly surprised. I was expecting to see major quality loss with the recompression but that was not the case....I am encoding using CCE now so I will compare the 2 but I must say that the software seems to better than I originally thought.

THANKS!!!!

[Nahie]

I've heard a few bad things about DVD Architect, mainly that it doesn't display the timecode of video on the DVD player. I guess it also doesn't accept 16:9 aspect ratio MPEG files, re-encoding them instead (this is a known bug). Combine that with the "won't accept elementary streams" BS and it sounds like one POS authoring system. It is strange but even today, Spruce DVD Maestro is STILL one of the best authoring packages, despite not having a single update for what, almost 2 years now????

[focker]

They are going to resolve the 16:9 bug very soon.....as far as being a POS everyone is entitled to their opinion....while Maestro, Scenarist, and ReelDVD are still tops for what I do the DVD Architect will suit me just fine.....you are correct in that it does not show the timecode that is not a big deal for me.

There aren't too many authoring apps out there for under $1000 that can do and has the flexibility that DVD Architect has IMHO.

Thanks,
Cale