DVDA or ?

Steve672 wrote on 4/23/2003, 2:45 PM
I've spent quite somtime looking at old threads re: what can and can't be done by DVDA. Personally I bought it with VV4 but am a bit reluctant to start using it because of some of some of the short commings raised in the past on this forum. If ease of use, motion menus, clear output and AC3 is a priority, are there any suggestions as to which software would fit the bill.

Excellent discussion here: http://www.sonicfoundry.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?ForumID=4&MessageID=142279

but somewhat outdated.

Steve S

Comments

jetdv wrote on 4/23/2003, 2:55 PM
DVDA still works - even if it is missing a few features. If it does everything you need, no need to look elsewhere so try it first. If it doesn't, how much do you want to spend? You can find other authoring products from $50 to over $25000.
Steve672 wrote on 4/23/2003, 2:59 PM
I appreciate what you're saying, I guess I was just wondering in case things don't go to my liking, what are my next options. It's also nice to know what others use -- points out strengths and weakness of your own program.

Certainly less than $500.
Zorro2 wrote on 4/23/2003, 10:06 PM
Certainly less than $500.

OK, how about MyDVD Pro? You can spend the dough, but trust me, DVD-A is better, even at version 1. Another sonic solutions choice would be ReelDVD. Not bad, they didn't write the program, but managed to rape a lot of people with their pricing. Reward those rapists if you like. Personally, I think SOFO will charge forward in version 2 to beat them without all the bad karma. (Right, DVD-A development team?)
bcbarnes wrote on 4/24/2003, 9:28 AM
While waiting for DVDA to get some of the more "enhanced" features we're all asking for, you might want to check out "DVD Complete". It's $99, and does motion menus and chapter points. The menu themes can't be configured very well through the GUI, but the scripting language that creates them is pretty straightforward and easily editable. This program was written by DVDCre8, and is sold by Dazzle. It doesn't support AC-3 audio, but you can use either PCM or MPEG-II (although MPEG-II isn't in the NTSC DVD Spec, most newer DVD players will support it). This is actually the program that I switched FROM to start using DVDA.

wobblyboy wrote on 5/2/2003, 10:45 PM
DVD Workshop would be my other choice. I have and use both. I like motion preview in DVD Architect and linking capabilities in DVD Workshop.
nolonemo wrote on 5/3/2003, 4:28 PM
DVD Workshop does everything I want except recognize chapter markers in a Vegas render, and its menuing capability is much more powerful. The fact that I have to pre-mux AC3 and mpeg before authoring is a non-factor since I have to render AC3 and video separately in Vegas anyway.