I've never really had to deal with making dvd's or bluray. This month has been a huge learning experience for me, bluray has been out for a while but I've never really dove deep into the physical media side until now.

So I have to keep these files as crystal clear as I can, I spend a few days of trying to get my files to compliant, trying to use the correct encoding options (going deep into the entire h264 encoding thing you can do a lot more, but it gets complicated). Turned to adobe encore, because it's part of my adobe suite. First 2 projects are fine, then the next ones crash, after crash, after mysterious debug messages, and build errors it's not even funny. I was pulling my hair out, so I googled some authoring software, none of which fit the bill. There was always something wrong with 1 of them, either I get no preview, I get no format support or whatever.

Then a lightbulb in my head, that reminds me. I have a second machine with DVD architect pro on it. The projects that I would get crashes in adobe premiere turned out flawless in dvd architect. I found that encore can't handle huge video files or projects with lot's of video, dvda takes it like a pro. no build errors at all. Downsides? No dts, no pcm 5.1. But freeware called multiavchd allowed me to simply reauthor the dvda build with the pcm and dts tracks and they've been playing flawlessly and beautifully. DVD saved my a$$ I completely forgot it had existed. Build times are around 2-3x more than encore, but it's worth it honestly than having random crashes.