Since you did not state a price this is the killer app (to bad you can't get it retail anymore)...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3803140780&category=21166

Other than that my choice (given your list) on the PC would be ReelDVD or Encore (beward Encore only runs on XP).

Maestro *was* good in it's day. If you look at DVD Studio Pro 2 you will see that there is a new king in town. I've used both packages and Studio Pro is definately a step up from Maestro.

"beward Encore only runs on XP"
That is one of the main thing that is really stupid for Adobe to do, first they stopped Premiere for the Mac, then they only make Encore for the PC. I think Adobe is starting to lose their mind by alienating many users.

>>…I heard some rumours about VV5. Does this mean that DVDA will be released in a new version too ?…>>

From the press release:

"Sony is also announcing the release of its new Vegas+DVD Production Suite, which includes Vegas 5, a Dolby® Laboratory-certified multichannel AC-3 encoder, and an upgraded version of its DVD Architect authoring and production software.


New features in the DVD Architect 2 software include: subtitle and alternate audio track support, enhanced disk optimization tools, external monitor previews, support for 24P DVD encoding and much more. "

Hopefully much much more will include end actions, scripting, CC and more otherwise it still can't compete.

Thanks for your input.
Ok, I did not state my price limit - it would be somewhere around 300...400 USD.
So ReelDVD is somewhat above this limit and more importantly it does not support multichannel audio AFAIK.
Ulead DVDWS also lacks multichannel audio capabilities.
DVD-A seems to be the only application in this price range (besides DVD lab) which supports multichannel audio.
It seems I should wait at least for VV5.

Basically I would prefer dts over AC3 but to my knowledge only a few application like Maestro, DVD Creator, Scenarist, Panasonic and DVD Wise and DVD lab currently support dts.
Has anybody been using DVD Wise ?

Boris

Boris, I'm curious, why do you prefer DTS to Dolby's AC3? No hidden agenda, no set-up for a later attack, I'm just thinking you might know something I don't!

J--

Reel DVD actually does support multichannel audio, you can have up to 8 tracks. For $599 it is a great price for the program, I'm sure if you did a little searching you could find it cheaper than the retail price. It might be worth spending an extra hundred bucks to get something that will work.

I would vote on ReelDVD even though it is a little over $200 more than you budgeted.

Reel DVD:

Multiple Audio and Subtitle streams - Give your DVD international appeal, with up to eight audio and 32 subtitle tracks alongside the video presentation. Whether it's a sales presentation or indie film, you can instantly broaden its appeal.

Subtitle editor - Quickly and easily add subtitles on-the-fly. Just move the cursor to the timeline position for the subtitle, and enter the text.

Dolby Digital audio - ReelDVD automatically converts your audio to stereo Dolby Digital for professional set-top playback.

Motion menus - Allow users to interact with the video content by adding button links on top of video.

Slideshows - Program advanced interactivity for sophisticated titles, or turn a collection of stills into an interactive slideshow.

Audio Format Support :
Dolby Digital stereo
MPEG-1 Layer II stereo
PCM, WAV, AIFF 16-bit, 48 KHz stereo
Automatic stereo Dolby Digital transcoding from PCM and MPEG-1 Layer II source material.

DVD-Video Specification Support:
Universal regions (all regions enabled)
999 movies, stills, slideshows and stillshows
Eight audio tracks
32 subtitle tracks
Slideshow support
DVD-5 support
UDF/ISO 9660 formatting
16:9 aspect ratio support
Next, Previous, and Return link programming
Menu button command programming
Chapter point programming
Link to chapter points

ReelDVD uses the same multiplexing engine as Sonic Scenarist...the widest range of compatibility across the full spectrum of available DVD players. To the user, the multiplexing process, where all the video, audio and menus are compiled into a finished DVD, is just another progress bar, but in fact, the exact way in which this is done can have a large effect on DVD player performance and compatibility.

When I was researching this question last year I discovered a nasty secret about ReelDVD--yes, you can do multiple audio programs, but you can't build a menu for your DVD that will allow the user to select the audio program. Instead they suggest that you put a notation on a menu to the effect of, "To select the commentary track for this movie, use the Audio button on your DVD player remote control."

At least that's how it was last year.

I suspect the next version of DVD-A will be a very happy surprise for current users.

This is the only time I will ever recommend Adobe for anything but Encore DVD right does every thing a prosumer needs.

Yes, Encore DVD works well.

It's a bit funky to learn, but once you learn it, you can do amazing things very quickly. It's at version 1.0.1 at the moment, but Adobe usually comes out with a 1.1 or 1.5 version for free after a few months. That's what they did with InDesign, anyway. I suspect that they will with Encore, just to capture market share.

The current version has been solid for me for well over a month now.

Encore is terrific!

Ralph LaBarge author of:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1578200822/ref=pd_sim_art_elt/102-2878759-0420130?v=glance

moderates the Inside DVD forum at DV.com

http://www.dv.com/jive3/forum.jspa?forumID=23

I have read this forum for quite some time and have seen him consistently recommend this application for DVD authoring:

Heuris MPEG Power Professional v2 around $600 retail.

http://www.heuris.com/MPEGProducts/MPP2/mpp2line.htm

John

I didn't think of it until now--check out Ulead's DVD Workshop. The latest version apparently has all sorts of bells and whistles.

Basically I would prefer dts over AC3 but to my knowledge only a few application like Maestro, DVD Creator, Scenarist, Panasonic and DVD Wise and DVD lab currently support dts.

Have you priced DTS encoders lately? :-)

If you have $1,000 to burn you can get the DTS encoder. That's why I bought the Sony Vegas AC3 encoder and settled for just ac3.