Just wondering what the preferred authoring tool is for DVDs ?

Although its not crucial is there anything that will also let you do in-dvd menus ? I'm sure I heard that somewhere ?

I use WinDVD Creator Platinum. V2 is out now.

Superb for creating easy titles with load of transitions to choose from. Easy to import pretty much any video format and edit simply. The menu creation is superb too, you can draw and move you menu buttons around just like a paint package. Once you're finished you can either write to DVD/Mini-DVD/SVCD etc or write to a movie file. Highly recommended :)

[Edited by DJ Dunk - 10/30/2003 8:58:08 AM]

Just what I needed to hear. Cheers Dunk :)

What are you going to use to write to DVD.
I was all set for Nero6 but am told it is not so good.
Can't formulate an opinion but Nero5 doesn't give me grief when burning CDs.
I'm hoping to get DVD compiling/burning over the next couple of weeks so am interested in opinions/experiences.

No probs, it the only software I found that was really easy to use but powerful too. Better than the Roxio offering (Videowave) IMO.

May have to think about upgrading to V2 myself :)

WinDVD Creator does it all :D Create the DVD and burn straight to disc :)

I only use Nero 6 or Alcohol 120% apart from that for CD Burning.

[Edited by DJ Dunk - 10/30/2003 9:10:54 AM]

Muppet that I am, I just looked at the link you made and saw it burns too.
A question though. If I make a DVD from home movie footage, when I burn it can I make it region free instead of being R2.
Does this depend on the DVD drive. I am gravitating toward Pioneer 106 as it seems to be the most highly recommended. This will be R2 so will it encode any burnt DVDs as R2 also?

Hmmm, good one. AFAIK it does not add any region encoding so it should work on any player :)

I my opinion, you need to pick the best tools for each task (capture/edditing, encoding, authoring, burning). I've found that "all in one" packages often have limitied edditing, poor encoiding results or retrictive menu option.

For pure DVD authoring I would recomend DVD-Lab. It only takes seperate video/audio streams but will demux mpgs if that's all you have. You can create great menus, menu transitions, slideshows, etc. It's being imporved all the time. Take a look at the trial version and see what you can do with it. I think it's great. It's like a professional DVD authoring tool at a very good price. :)

Keep it simple IMO. Leave the fiddly stuff to the pros ;)

Had no problems with encoding quality/speed or any other authoring faults with WinDVD Creator. Does exactly what is says on the tin without the over complicatedness {is that a word ? :D) of many of the other products I trialled. Just my opinion of course.

Hey, I'm not knocking WinDVD creator, mainly because I've never tried it ;)

I just like the flexibility of using specific tools for specific tasks. OK. It may take longer to create the final product, but I know it will work and look excatly the way I want it. I want my DVDs to look professional :p

Now, if you do want to get complicated, you can use IfoEdit and start edditing the DVD program code before burning. :)

True, agree entirely :) Just think if people need to ask then they are most probably after something all-in-one ;)

Good thread this.
Nimbus, DVD-lab does look good. But so does WinDVD :confused:
But can you elaborate on the specific tools you are using.
I don't want to over-complicate anything in the beginning if its going to make the whole process a nightmare.
I'll more than likely have to download trials of both and see how I get on.

Edited to add Good Point DJ Dunk

[Edited by Bajie - 10/30/2003 10:22:38 AM]

OK, maybe it was the thead title. DVD Authoring is purley the creation of menus structure, links, playing order etc from already created assets (video, audio, menus backgrounds).

If you are new to DVD creation then I would recomend an all-in-one package. That will give you an introduction to the steps involved on creating a DVD (capture, editing, encoding, authoring, burning). If you are happy with the output then great. If however you want greater flexability and control then you would be better using seperate programs for each task.

This is what I use...

Capture/Edit = Premiere 6.0
Encoding = TMPGEnc (slow but great results and v flexible)
Author = DVD-Lab
Burn = Nero 5

With this I can pretty much create anything I want (at the moment ;)). I even used a freeware animation program to create an intro for all my DVDs. I can make PAL or NTSC (for my US friends), 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratios (I was testing my camcorders widescreen option. Going to see the final results on my brothers WS TV today), set the bitrates to make sure I get optimim quality vs size. There's a huge amount to learn and discover. :)

I guess you just have to find what works best for you. You can get in as deep as you like. It's a great hobby and I'm spending way too much time on it now..(apparently) ;)


Let me know if there's anything I can help with.

If you want to make region free dvd's use AnyDVD from Slysoft.com
This application sits below the windows drivers and disables region encoding,FBI warnings ect. If you have this application running when burning a region protected DVD it will remove the protection from the master disc and the resulting "backup" will have no protection or warnings ect.
I personally use this and CloneDVD for all my backups. I have used about every make of software out there and this give the best results. Its quick simple and I never get any costers unlike when using say DVDXcopy and they allways work in other peoples DVD players unlike as before DVDXcopy.

dvdxcopy stops my pc from detecting my dvd drive!

DVD Authoring and DVD ripping are two different things ;)

Thanks a lot Nimbus.
I'll "try" to have a go over the week and post therefore be asking for a lot more advice very soon.
HAven't got DVD writer yet but it won't hurt to get familiar with the s/ware and I should be able to view results on the pc anyway.

If you have a CD writer you may be able to create miniDVDs. These are DVD created onto CD-R. Not all players will accept them, and you need to set the bit rate lower (I've used 6000kbps which gves good quality). You will have to check if your burning software will allow you to create miniDVDs. Some won't give you the option of DVD format if they can not detect a DVD writer. Due to the smaller capacity of the CD-R you will only be able to get approx a max of 13 - 15 mins on a CD-R...

I'm going to order the Pioneer 106.
What is the preferred flavour of DVD media to use. I want to get some "Cheap 'n' cheerful" discs for my practise runs and some good quality discs for copies I will be sending to family.

Many recomend any disks with RITEK04 dye. I've just bought 2 x 10 pack @ £9 per pack. I would avoid going for anything too cheap. There's no point in spending all that time and effort in making a good DVD made only to find that you can not play it in a few months time because it was burnt on cheap media.

I also bought a couple of Pioneer DVD-RWs for testing my projects before buring onto DVD-R. Some people don't bother with DVD-RW as DVD-Rs are relativly cheap, but I've found them very useful to have and have re-written to them many times without a problem.

Take a look here for media...