DVD WORKSHOP R.I.P. (at least for us)

GeorgeW · Post by **GeorgeW** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 5:33 am

froggy_doddy21 wrote:Re: 16:9 menus

About 2 months ago I wanted to test MS2 w/ 16:9. I did not have a 16:9 camcorder then and used a 4:3 video CROPPED tp 16:9 (w/ VS10). That seemed to work fine.

Then for the menus, I clicked on the 16:9 button in WS2 and created widescreen menus. Then I burned it and played it on my 4:3 and everything came out in 16:9 (black bars on top and bottom). Seemed easy enough. Am I missing something? I'm wondering why it';s not working for you guys? Maybe it worked for me beacause I didn't watch it on a 16:9 TV or that my video wasn't native 16:9 when I first shot it?? I dunno?

Are you saying in the MENU step, you clicked on a 16:9 button

If so, can you describe where that button is

(the one I have under the Preview screen is ghosted in the MENU step).

Regards,
George

tecstar · Post by **tecstar** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 9:12 am

I don't want anything complicated, but I don't want to build my menus with a wizard or pre-defined template. I want then to look and work the way I want them to.
It seems incredible that DVDWS2 is the only product of its kind!
This surely is enough reason for Ulead to give us DVDWS3?

I suppose the alternative is yo use Photoimpact to build custom menus.

sjj1805 · Post by **sjj1805** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 12:02 pm

froggy_doddy21
Don't confuse 16.9 menus with 16.9 videos. If you prepare your video beforehand with an editor such as VideoStudio / MediaStudio so that it is DVD compliant, then you can retain the 16.9 aspect ratio of the video.

The menu is the part you build in DVD Workshop - the bit where you select things like PLAY / SELECT SCENE / BONUS FEATURES / LANGUAGE and so on. DVD Workshop only creates 4.3 menus.

They will stretch and fill a wide-screen TV screen but circles will appear oval, squares will appear oblong. Another benefit of creating a proper 16.9 menu is you can arrange the layout of your menu so that it will fit that screen shape more effectively.

GeorgeW · Post by **GeorgeW** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 12:40 pm

sjj1805 wrote:froggy_doddy21
Don't confuse 16.9 menus with 16.9 videos. If you prepare your video beforehand with an editor such as VideoStudio / MediaStudio so that it is DVD compliant, then you can retain the 16.9 aspect ratio of the video.

Steve, DVDWS2.x can encode 16:9 video (not menus). At least it has worked for me when I provided 16:9 DV .avi's

Look under the CONVERSION section here:
DVD WS Comparisons 1.2 vs. 2.x

Regards,
George

froggy_doddy21 · Post by **froggy_doddy21** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 1:27 pm

When I created my 16:9 menu in WS2, I used a photo that I had PRE-CROPPED to 16:9. It seemed to work great.

Thinking about it. I never added (photo or video) buttons when I did it. The "buttons" I used when I tested it were all text. So maybe that's why I didn't have any issues with it. I'll have to play around with it tonight after work. So I guess you guys were right, from the sounds of it.

I can't believe that with all the software out there, and with all of our knowledge and testing - we can't find a suitable replacement for WS2. What if we start a new thread and list all of the DVD authoring programs and then Each one of us can try a different one (using a free trial) and report back on here?

DiscCoasterPro · Post by **DiscCoasterPro** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 1:52 pm

Sony has released its DVD Architect Studio 4 as a stand along program. It only costs $50 bucks. It can do pretty much everything mentioned.

GeorgeW · Post by **GeorgeW** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 2:05 pm

DiscCoasterPro wrote:Sony has released its DVD Architect Studio 4 as a stand along program. It only costs $50 bucks. It can do pretty much everything mentioned.

It does give you manual control over Menu navigation, and has other nice features builtin.

It does not include (afaik)
-Vista certified (although maybe that's coming?)
-HD-DVD
-Blu-ray
-multiple audio tracks
-subtitles
-slideshow is limited (no pan/zoom -- only slide-to-slide)

Regards,
George

DiscCoasterPro · Post by **DiscCoasterPro** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 2:10 pm

Sony has released its DVD Architect Studio 4 as a stand alone program for 50 dollars, and it can do just about (if not all) that has been mentioned.

tecstar · Post by **tecstar** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 2:58 pm

tecstar wrote:I suppose the alternative is to use Photoimpact to build custom menus.

Just realised that in VS you can only use a title menu and chapter menu, so you still cant do all the linking etc DVDWS2 can.
I'll take a look at Sony DVD Architect.

tecstar · Post by **tecstar** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 3:14 pm

DiscCoasterPro wrote:Sony has released its DVD Architect Studio 4 as a stand alone program for 50 dollars, and it can do just about (if not all) that has been mentioned.

Well, it lookes very good and got a great review in a UK PC magazine. http://www.pcpro.co.uk/shopper/reviews/ ... tudio.html

So I may download the trial and give it a whirl - and its only 26 of your great british pounds on amazon. Shame on you, Ulead.

GeorgeW · Post by **GeorgeW** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 4:16 pm

tecstar wrote:So I may download the trial and give it a whirl - and its only 26 of your great british pounds on amazon. Shame on you, Ulead.

Well, MF6 Plus gives you "Basic" HD-DVD authoring (I don't think Sony will ever give anything HD-DVD), direct recording to Blu-ray, audio cd's (regular and MP3), disc tools, dvd playing software (WinDVD8), DVD Copy Software (DVD Copy 5), Video Editing similar to VideoStudio (easily apply Themes, and can also do some basic editing), Exporting files such as DVD-compliant, HD MPEG2, and DivX, and a subtitle track that can be turned on/off during dvd playback. And also Vista ready, and supports AVCHD source material...

Where DVDA4 Studio wins (and this might be the critical difference for some), is the ability to manually control menu setup/navigation...

Regards,
George

tecstar · Post by **tecstar** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 7:43 pm

Well, MF6 Plus gives you "Basic" HD-DVD authoring (I don't think Sony will ever give anything HD-DVD), direct recording to Blu-ray,
Not worried about HD until the format wars subside.

audio cd's (regular and MP3), disc tools, dvd playing software (WinDVD8), DVD Copy Software (DVD Copy 5),
I have other apps for this stuff

Video Editing similar to VideoStudio (easily apply Themes, and can also do some basic editing),
already have VS9

Exporting files such as DVD-compliant, HD MPEG2, and DivX, and a subtitle track that can be turned on/off during dvd playback. And also Vista ready, and supports AVCHD source material...
Not winning features for me at the moment

Where DVDA4 Studio wins (and this might be the critical difference for some), is the ability to manually control menu setup/navigation..
Ahhh! The critical difference for me! Including WS menus without having tweak it, and at under 30GBP ($50) it can be replaced in the future without losing too much. (130GBP for the Full DVDWS2 is a big outlay in comparison)

GeorgeW · Post by **GeorgeW** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 8:13 pm

tecstar wrote:Where DVDA4 Studio wins (and this might be the critical difference for some), is the ability to manually control menu setup/navigation..
Ahhh! The critical difference for me! Including WS menus without having tweak it, and at under 30GBP ($50) it can be replaced in the future without losing too much. (130GBP for the Full DVDWS2 is a big outlay in comparison)

Yes, MovieFactory 6 (and some earlier versions of MF) has 16:9 menus as well (without needing to do any tweaks). It appears DVDA4S could be a good fit for your needs (i.e. you don't need any High-Def DVD Authoring or AVCHD support, and you don't need any of the other features and complementary software that Ulead provides in the MF6 Plus version).

If you do go with DVD Architect Studio 4, be aware that current versions of DVD Architect have an embedded "navigation" error that prevent discs from playing in some DVD Recorder/Player units (Note: the recently released 4b Patch for the FULL version of DVDA 4 addresses this issue, but I don't think Sony has released an equivalent patch for their Architect Studio version). I believe the error is due to incorrect "Start-bytes" for the addresses of several items in the DVD's IFO's. To manually fix it, you can open up an authored DVD in PGCedit -- a popup message will ask you to resolve some "invalid stream references...", and by checking OK, it should fix the navigation/start-byte problems...

Regards,
George

tecstar · Post by **tecstar** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 8:35 pm

Thanks for that George,.
I take it if a write the files to disc rather than a DVD i can then correct the error and burn on to dvd.

GeorgeW · Post by **GeorgeW** » Thu Mar 01, 2007 8:51 pm

tecstar wrote:Thanks for that George,.
I take it if a write the files to disc rather than a DVD i can then correct the error and burn on to dvd.

Yes, that should work. I haven't used the Studio version in a while, so not sure how well it burns to disc from DVD Folders (but if you have other burning software to burn the DVD-VIDEO from DVD Folders, you should be all set).

In either case, the TRIAL should give you a good idea of how well it will meet your needs...

Regards,
George