DVD authoring program

[|Carpo|]

Hey!

What program is best and easyest to use when I shall make a DVD with menues and many videoclips?

Pinnacle Studio (This program I use, I love it)
NeroVision Express

-Those program does Doom9 have a guide to-
DVD Quickbuilder
DVD Wise
DVDMotion Pro
DVDit PE
DVDMaestro
Scenarist NT
SpruceUP

Sorry for my bad english

Carpo

[mudda_t]

"best".......TO EACH HIS OWN!
.
"easyest".......for me it's DVDLab. link (http://dvdlab.net/dvdlab/)

[echooff]

Easiest for me is Tmpgenc DvdAuthor Located here. (http://www.pegaysys.com) Comes with a fully functional trial period.

[Pyscrow]

Deleted by Pyscrow, as have coped a strike and been informed in another thread such talk is a breach of rule 6.

[echooff]

Maybe but... Since I am happy with their products I support them and actually pay forit. What a novel concept. :D :D :D :D

[Khambatt]

I got NeroVision Express with my burner and thought it was pretty easy to use. I burned 3 RW discs of AVI's taken with my Digital Camera that played on all 3 of my PCs. It didnt play on my stand-alone player, but I think that's because it's a piece of garbage player.

I then bought a Leadtek TV2000XP Expert capture card which came with 2 ULEAD programs, i think VideoStudio 7 SE and DVDMovieFactory 3 SE. I have to say that I really enjoy using VideoStudio 7 SE. I didn't read one word of the documentation and was successful in putting together my first movie in about 20 minutes. I didnt do a TON of editing, but it did allow me to take a clip and edit it down on screen with enough prompting to get out the fade in and out, people putting their head infront of my Camcorder, and the like. I took about 2 hours worth of captures from my camcorder and turned them into 58 minutes of fun, enjoyable movies on a DVD. I had both video as well as pictures with an overlay'd MP3 track with some "fun" effects transitioning between the pics and it was great.

And frankly, I really enjoyed the DVDMovieFactory program for it's selection of menu layouts that Nero lacks IMO. I picked one of their custom menus, it gave me animated buttons and i layed over an instrumental MP3 for the title music. Only thing I didnt like was it didnt let me pickthe 10 seconds of video to play on the animated buttons and it repeats the music each time the buttons repeat. However, it could have been I was tired and didnt notice how to change it (it WAS after midnight hehe).

I am sure there are other, better programs out there, but for someone who literally opened the box, dropped in the card, loaded the software and clicked some buttons it was about as easy as it gets.

Of course I only put in 1 day's "work" on this new project/hobby of mine, so I may change opinions soon!

[Khambatt]

I was hoping to see more activity on this topic =(

I will say over the past weekend I had to burn 5 DVDs. I have a TV Capture card and copy a few cartoons for my son and then he watches and we erase the DVD when he's done. I had to use NeroVision Express for 2 of the 5 because the Ulead DVD program for some reason had errors. very odd. I like the Ulead program because it makes the titles and menus nicer and easier than the Nero one ... but it was very aggrivating this weekend.

Anyone have anything else about DVD authoring programs and what they like and why. I'm not about to go and buy a dozen programs to test em all, so I prefer to read other's opinions and see what features are in various programs to try.

[mudda_t]

I like the Ulead program because it makes...
Which Ulead program?

[echooff]

Both of the programs mentioned above are pretty east to use. They increase in complexity from there. Both also have free trial periods. Have you actually tried either of them? What do you mean by make a dvd? Most people make a dvd by first encoding a video file to a dvd compatible mpeg file and then using a authoring program to place the mpeg and audio into a vob container. Then they burn it to a dvd. You original statement leads me to think you are using ulead moviefactory. Am I correct?

[Khambatt]

Originally posted by echooff
Both of the programs mentioned above are pretty east to use. They increase in complexity from there. Both also have free trial periods. Have you actually tried either of them? What do you mean by make a dvd? Most people make a dvd by first encoding a video file to a dvd compatible mpeg file and then using a authoring program to place the mpeg and audio into a vob container. Then they burn it to a dvd. You original statement leads me to think you are using ulead moviefactory. Am I correct?

To capture video I use the software that came with my Leadtek 2000 XP Expert capture card. I capture it as either an MPEG2 or an AVI, depending on a bunch of factors. I then use EITHER NeroVision Express or ULead MovieFactory. I dont prefer either right now, though Ulead's menu's are more fun and robust. BUt other than that, they're kinda the same. Right now I'm making copies of some home video, then putting 2-3 AVI's onto the project and burning it.

Not sure if that answered some of your questions.

[echooff]

Yes it did. Both programs you are using are all in ones. A lot of people use them but they are rather limiting. A lot of people here on the forum are much more involved with the process. For instance: I capture using virtualvcr with the huffuv lossless codec into a avi container. I then encode to mpeg2 with avisynth(filtering as needed) and CCE. Then I move on to authoring (where I get really lazy) I use Tmpg DvdAuthor. Finally I burn the output to dvd. As you can Imagine I have a lot of control over the finished product. If this is a project I'm going to share with others, I spend more time time with the menus and authoring. Sonic Senarist is one of the most versatile and powerful authoring programs around IMO.

BTW Noticed your location. I'm up in Jaguar country.

[Khambatt]

Due to me being very "new" to this whole realm of experience, i am going for the easiest possible solutions. I really dont have a CLUE about the technical aspects of the process, so I took the short route.

I am actually encountering problems where burned DVDs arent playing on stand-alone players (or set-top players). They ONLY play on PC players. I'm not sure if it's my drive, my software, or my process. I am actually going to try to post on the right forum about that problem, because it's frustrating as hell =)