DVDA integrates very well with Vegas; it has a dynamite MPEG encoder; and it has an interface that pretty closely follows most other SonicFoundry (now Sony) products.

That said, for the price, it has a surprising number of deficiencies:

1. No end point actions. Virtually every other post in this forum for the past six months has to do with this problem. When a chapter ends, you cannot author an action as to what to do next (go to main menu, go to submenu, play the next clip, etc.)

2. Can't put multiple MPEG files into one title. Coupled with #1 above, this means you cannot create multiple MPEG files and then have one automatically play after the other one. You must first combine these files into one, and Vegas doesn't do this for you (if they are already in MPEG form).

3. No editing of templates. There is very little design capability in the program. There is a shareware template editor, however.

4. No ability to re-import chapters from existing DVDs. This means that if you have created three different wedding DVDs, and then later on want to do a compilation of the best chapters from each, there is no ability to take the information back into DVDA.

5. Cannot handle PCM or MPEG audio without re-encoding. Everything is AC3.

6. Very cumbersome and non-intuitive to create submenus. For instance, if you DO make your entire project into one big MPEG file with the chapter stops already embedded (When you render the MPEG in Vegas, the chapter stops in Vegas are carried across to DVDA -- remember I said that integration with Vegas was one of the good things), you can create one button to "Play All," but to add a scene selection menu you right-click (you have to know this) and select "Insert Scene Selection Menu." That part is easy enough once you know to do it. However, the really icky part is that if you have twenty chapters, you will be FOREVER arranging all the icons and text on the submenu pages because the icons and text are always completely the wrong size, and they don't move around together very smartly.

I can go on, but my point is that for the considerable price, I find it a marginal product. By contrast, I LOVE all the other SoFo products I own (Vegas, VideoFactory, SoundForge, and Acid).

Some apologists on this forum are quick to point out that there are much more expensive DVD authoring programs, and what do I expect for this price? My anser is that I know that there are much more expensive authoring programs, but their price doesn't really reflect superior capabilities, but rather their heritage as software that was released when DVD burners were $20,000. Now that DVD burners are cheap and plentiful, DVD authoring software will follow the footsteps of every other program category, and we should expect totally professional capabilities in the under $500 category. I can still remember, from the early 1990's, that CD authoring software was $20,000 (remember Meridian?).By contrast EasyCD Creator and Nero are now both $100 and they do as much as any of those programs did back then.

I would have to agree with everything John Meyer said. DVDA is a first release and will get better with time. Even so, it’s what I use because it simply works.

I don’t think there is anything else in its price class ($200) really. The sub $100 packages are mostly static template-driven and give you no ability to modify the menu structure or links. The $500 range has some great products with lots of features. So DVDA is the in-between app with the in-between price. The AC3 encoder alone will add $200 to the price of the other applications so its a good deal. Still, things like end action should have been part of the first release. They are a pretty basic staple that $45 DVD apps have. Even so, it’s what I use because it simply works.

Download the demos of the other contenders and see for yourself. And after you’ve spent hours in a DVD authoring program only to have it blow up on you, there’s a lot to be said for something that simply works. ;-)

~jr

Johnmeyer brings up some very good points.

Even for the price...I think that some of these points are very very valid and only lend itself to minor problems with the application. I too have run into most (if not all) of the points he brings up. And, here is what I have found:

1. No end point actions. Yeah, this one sucks.

2. Can't put multiple MPEG files into one title. This isn't actually true. While it is true you can not have multiple MPEG files on one DVD - one start right after the other - you can have a multitude of file ont he DVD (ones that will fit anyway). And, in order to start #2, you have to go back to the main menu. Hence, with point number one...this kinda sucks.

But, you can couple the movies together in Vegas even if the files are already MPEG. It is just you have to re-render to another file. It doesn't just easily join them. And then you run into the problem of making an MPEG of an MPEG. That can cause some issue. But...it can be done.

3. Editing of templates. Yup, there is a shareware editor. But, I rarely work with the templates anyway - so it's not a big deal for me.

4. Re-importing chapters. I never thought about this. Good point. I just finished a wedding video and set all of the chapter points and thought about making a second version and would have had to start all over.

5. The audio is a bit of a drawback - but I have just gotten used to rendering an MPEG file sensa audio - and then a second AC3 file.

6. I tend to disagree with the creation of the submenus. Although everything brought up is technically accurate - the part that I find exception with is moving around the twenty chapters an such.

I have found that the text and the icons move around beautifully when grouped together - I have finally gotten to the point that I don't monkey with the size tool until I have a pretty good idea of where I'm going to want the chapters. Then I go into sizing, move the text separate from the icon - size it, etc - then clickoff the sizing tool - and the text and icons move as one.

But that's just me. took me more than a few DVDs to author until I became comfortable with it.

I too am a dedicated SoFo user (Vegas, Acid, Soundforge).

I think a lot of the issues with architect will and can be definately worked out in later versions. But for what it is worth - I'm sticking with it.

That' my 2 cents.

5. DVDA does support PCM as WAV audio. It will recompress it if it isn't an off the peg PCM rate for DVD-Video. So 48kHz, 16bit stereo PCM is fine and passes through the engine onto the build/compilation. You can also, if you have the desire and media to support (equal or better), use 24bit 96kHz PCM directly through DVDA1.0.

DVDA is wisely positioned as an extension to Vegas4. Hopefully it will blossom to the point where Sony will place it head to head with the mre expensive products. As said earlier, for the legal encoding of AC3 2.0 and AC3 5.1, DVDA, even if you never had Vegas4 and had to buy Vegas4+DVDA instead of upgrading, works out very cheaply and effectively.

DVDA only seems set to go so far and for power users, or for those who expect the natural flow of other ex-SoFo apps, it isn't the best IMHO. Where I might need end-action but already had Vegas+DVD, I'd probably dabble with MediaChance's DVDLab before considering Encore/ReelDVD/Impression/DVDjr.

If I was hoping to make a glass master/replication from DVD-R or DLT, I'm not sure what I'd do. Probably I'd outsource this creative task until it costed in to do the upfront creative part. DVDA and DVDLab don't fill the VOBs to 0.99GB per file for instance, so they immediately look unlike the "Sonic" cousins.

Encore, DVDLab, DVD WorkShop and ReelDVD don't attract me enough to consider them as the general purpose route to vanilla DVD making. As a Vegas (and Premiere at work) user, DVDA albeit quirky is nice.

I'll be closely watching the improvements of DVDA and DVDLab. I also believe that with DVD writers being commodities, that generic authoring to a high level of complexity won't be far behind. Even with M$ preparing their own authoring in Win2005, the AC3 encoder won't be wasted in what I've bought (or put on the credit card anyway ;) )

The tribulations of authoring are quite similar to the desktop publishing wars of yesteryear.

DVDA 1.1 or 2.0 shouldn't be quite so limited and hopefully can be bought standalone so I can recommend it to other platform users.

Today, if asked by other platform users, I say if not replicating (until proven over time), buy Encore.

kilroy,

kameronj has it right--it depends on what you want you want to use it for.

DVD-A is a nice consumer, perhaps low-end prosumer, dvd authoring application. It has a pretty easy interface, but it's worth reading the manual to unlock all of it's features. There are some quirky ommissions with this 1.0 release that have been brought up elsewhere in this forum, but for someone who is just starting out, these sorts of things won't be as noticeable of an issue. If you don't have a NLE software package, then the Vegas-DVDA bundle might be the ticket. If you are already using another NLE, then you might want to consider another app (you can't get DVD-A by itself). It offers 2 ch and 5.1 SS ac3 encoding. Unless you are doing a lot of sound mixing (I'd rec. getting Acid 4 with SS plugin if you do anyway), there isn't a great advantage to 5.1 encoding over 2 ch Dolby Digital. Stereo ac3 encoding is finding it's way into lower priced apps--it's even in Sonic's entry level MyDVD 5.

If you jump to the high end, you're looking at the Sonic line of products (Producer and Scenarist). Scenariist is in the 10's of thousands, and Producer (last I checked) was under 10K. Unless you are doing very high level authoring, it's hard to justify the cost. A lot of the features these apps offer can be reached by mere mortals, but it requires buying a Mac and DVDSTudio Pro 2.0.

There is a big 'inbetween', where many of the rest reside (and some would include DVD-A, although I think it's closer to the consumer end). ReelDVD and Encore are perhaps the front runners, but DVDWS (which will release it's 2.0 version this fall/winter) is right behind (popularity wise, but not feature wise) . Impression Pro from Premiere I'll mention only because you might run into it. On paper it offers a lot of features, but (IMO), is way too buggy and menu creation requires more than entry level Photoshop skills. It's dropped in price from $1000 to $199, but it hasn't had an update since 4/02--and I don't think there ever will be one. If you plan on doing this for a living, then I would get ReelDVD. It recently had a price drop, and it's compiling engine is the same one used in Scenarist (the defacto Hollywood dvd authoring app). Encore does a lot of things, but it has it's own quirks (it's a 1.0 release as well). I think Adobe is definitely committed to developing this app over time, so choosing it now wouldn't be a bad decision.

If you're dabbling in dvd creation, then DVD-Lab is a low cost alternative. On the one hand it offers some features you can only find in higher level apps (like auto-activation of buttons), but lacks others you would find at a higher level (like multiple audio streams). The discs it creates are not as univerisally accepted in set top players as compared to ones created by ReelDVD. For that reason, if you are going to do this for a living, save yourself a head ache a buy a more field tested app like ReelDVD. If it's for fun and home use, then you're not out much to give it a try and see if it works on your system and players.

Jim