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DVD Architect Studio / Pro |
Now available on DVD: your own captivating home movies, multimedia photo albums, and music compilations-complete with dazzling menus, special features, and custom soundtracks. With DVD Architect� Studio software you can swiftly create professional-looking DVDs, even stunning widescreen productions, on your home computer. Simply drag and drop to start building your next blockbuster.
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Trialware ($40) v5.0b  |
7.0 (7.1) 39 votes Guides Similar tools |
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39 comments (5144758 views) |
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Latest version: 5.0b (April 17, 2009) Download sites: Download from author site Windows
More information and other downloads: DVD Architect Pro is bundled with Vegas Pro ($600) Sections/Browse similar tools: Authoring (DVD) Alert me! when this software has been updated. |
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Version history:
Notable fixes/changes in version 5.0b View entire changelog * Fixed a bug that prevented markers from being saved to .m2ts files. * Fixed a bug that prevented subtitles from being turned off via end actions in Blu-ray Disc projects. Similar tools/Alternative to DVD Architect: Adobe Encore DVD, DVD Maestro, DVD Menu Studio, DVD-lab, DVD-lab PRO, Sonic Scenarist, Ulead DVD Workshop Sponsored tools: Guides and How to's: View all guides with guide description here Tool features, DVD Author(BETA!): Import program video stream, MPEG2 video, MPEG1 video, WAV/PCM audio, MPEG1 Layer 2 audio, AC3 5.1 audio, AC3 Stereo/Mono audio, DTS audio, Menus, Audio menus, Author tool still active, Acronyms / Also Known As: DVD Architect Pro, DVD Architect Studio, Sony DVD Architect
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DVD Architect always recodes mpeg and loses sync on audio. Pal MPEG to Pal DVD..No compression but audio out of sync 25 min into DVD. Would be perfect if they could fix this Looking for Advanced Author Package..Have Linux & Win NT Looked at Sony DVD Architect 5... 3/10 (Windows only) Can build use (custom) menus * Wow Very good editing of Menus... can not import menus/templates Always recodes MPegs and looses sync between audio and video if it did not have this problem woud have given it at least 7/10. Power Director 5... 4/10 (Windows only) Can not build use (custom) menus Only 11 Precanned Menus Linear *1* Menu Templates Very weak editing of templates... Can not change or Add buttons to templates. Templates very restrictive can not import menus/templates Power Producer 4... 3/10 (Windows only) Can not build use (custom) menus Only 11 Precanned Menus Linear *1* Menu Templates Bugs 1.Can not scroll menu templates. 2.can not change Frame 3.Can not change button layout 4.can not change button style Corel/Ulead Movie Factory 5..6..7 (6/10) (Windows only) Can not build use (custom) menus Has 40 Precanned Menus Linear *1* Menu Templates Can change button Styles/Frames/Layout Can not add custom buttons to Menu. can not import menus/Templates PGCEdit( Linux and Win NT Versions) Fantastic IFO editor ....But does not edit vobs Can add buttons but these do not show on DVD visually . Since program can not edit Sub pictures in vobs Still looking for a good (Advanced) DVD Author Program
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I love this tool! Actually I love Vegas Video too, I've been able to do all I wanted so far using these two amazing tools! DVDA works really well if you know what you're doing! It really lets you into the 'pro' field, but again, you need to 'play' a little bit with it to be able to know what you can do! Thank you to the developers!
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This software was ultimately a disappointment. First impressions were good: it has a clean user interface quite reminiscent of DVD Maestro, very easy menu creation, it didn't take long at all to get to a working DVD. The details led to frustration however: in most good Windows software you can right click on an object to access its properties. In most cases DVD Architect doesn't follow that convention - so it takes longer to find out how to do things. Then I tried importing elementary video streams: as others have discovered .m2v files are not supported, you have to create a program stream. For some reasons the test DVD's I burned didn't handle the "First Play" feature right. Although the disk seemed to mount ok, the DVD menu didn't appear until I hit the play button, then the menu button to cancel the (seemingly randomly selected) title that started playing. Then I tried to find out how to add descriptive captions (using subtitles) to my videos... nothing in the "how to", nothing in the help, search online and horror: I have the "Studio" version of the tool, and apparantly that doesn't support subtitles or multiple audio tracks. None of this was made clear to me when I bought the tool. It seems that if I want subtitles then I need to buy the "Pro" version at ten times the price (and the Pro version seems to be hard to get in the UK). In other words, the Studio version is crippleware, and I got suckered. So, I'm still looking for a decent, affordable, semi-pro DVD authoring package.
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Don't be fooled by DVD Architect's fantastic user interface - this is not a "burn your home movies to DVD" program (unless you want it to be). Compared to certain other authoring solutions which could politely be referred to as a usability joke, Sony DVD Architect is simply a joy to use. The price is an absolute bargain (you get Sony Vegas, DVD Architect, and the AC3 Audio encoder) and I don't think the interface could be any cleaner. DVDA lets you import AVI files which it will then convert to MPEG-2 using its internal MainConcept-based encoder, but for higher quality, you'll likely want to encode using an outside application like Cinema Craft or TMPGEnc (I'm currently using the latter). One down-side which won't be a problem for most: if you want to author multi-angle DVD, it would appear that you're limited to importing AVIs and relying on this internal encoder. Creating layered menus with appropriate highlights is very easy too, although the manual could make this process a little clearer. The newer Pro versions also allow accessing SPRM and GPRM variables, which really opens up the possibilities. For example, you can access the SPRM variables to detect what audio track the user has selected, and display a different menu page with appropriate visual feedback. Subtitling is really easy, too. Pressing CTRL+SHIFT+T adds a new subtitle event and places the cursor in the editing box. The [ and ] keys define start and end frames for the event (dragging the mouse on the timeline works, too). You can import Mac DVD Studio Pro subtitle scripts, or Sony Vegas region scripts (which I believe share the same layout). Currently, there is a bug where importing the said scripts will cause all line breaks to be double-spaced: this is solved by importing the script, saving, exiting, and reloading. Voila: your line breaks will now only last one line. Granted, the possibilities aren't as limitless as they'd be with a program like Scenarist, but I think it's safe to say that DVDA gives you the functionality you're likely to need for almost every project, with almost none of the headaches. From my point of view, I can spend more time perfecting the video encode and menus and less time learning an unappealing, poorly designed piece of software. Don't be fooled by the wide audience this program seems to aim for - it's capable of seriously powerful stuff (incidentally, version 5 which was just announced a few days ago, is reportedly adding Blu-ray Disc authoring to the mix, which I can't wait for). Any usability quirks I've experienced are incredibly minor and are justified by this program's interface and bargain price.
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For some reason 4.5 no longer supports the import of m2v files which makes this program useless to me. Very disappointing. I'm sure it is great otherwise as I think the program itself is the best out there but to remove support for m2v's has me miffed. I am going back to 3.0 which is almost exactly the same with m2v support.
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DVDA version 4.5 seems to be version 4 updated to offer official Vista support. No new features listed on Sony Creative Media site or noticed using program.
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Decent authoring program but complains about elementary streams. Subtitle support is only their format or mac dvd studio pro. Also lacks support for MP2 audio even when authoring a PAL project. Seriously the program is $500 is should support more subtitle features, MP2 audio, and support more then two subtitle formats.
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about MPEG's that DVDA wants to re-encode - try renaming the video files by changing the extention fom MPG to VOB - that worked for me. Other problems I had with DVDA was sound, but after some time I realised it wasnt DVDA causing problems, but the original sound within the video file. A freeware like Gui For DVD Author will accept even MPEG's with problems and still will make out a result that will play on the average DVD player, but DVDA will want to re-encode as soon as it finds something that is not quite right about the MPG. Like I said, rename it to VOB, or sometimes re-muxing the MPG will work as well. Tsunami DVD Author may work faster but faster doesnt always mean better.. after quite a few years of video editing I came to the conclusion that in many cases, slower meant better quality.. that's just my opinion. At the end of the day, there are other DVD authoring packages out there who will, eventualy, deliver what the user wants, I guess DVDA will provide more 'shortcuts' to the target. I hope this helps...
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Good tool. Many features that I like. However, when using TMPGEnc DVD Pro it was able to make my dvd fast and did NOT bitch about the format of my mpg videos. DVD Architect however decided that it MUST re-encode all my videos and their audio when I know for a fact that they worked fine on my dvd player as I had done a test dvd using TMPGEnc. VERY disappointing.
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Reading prior comments on subs... To import text-based subs use (freeware) Subtitle Workshop or similar and save to "MAC DVD Studio Pro" format. Works great, with no problems. DVDA creates a new sub track from text that looks better then those on many retail DVDs. Prog like Recode may have more prob with them when converting to Nero Digital. With DVDA subs are inserted into their own tracks, you drag right or left to sync, & they can be previewed with video & audio tracks (including ac3) but it's memory intensive. Importing chapter text lists would be nice, but it is only sold with Vegas, & the idea is you set your chapters there, importing them with the Vegas encoded mpg2. Otherwise it takes very little time to copy/paste chapter time into window, hit enter to go to that point on timeline, click icon to insert chapter, hit enter to accept chapter after optional naming. Only oddity I've found is need to mux video-only .m2v *Without* using/supplying audio track for DVDA to accept. MPEG Tools does this well. Otherwise most prob. I think using DVDA are caused by poor documentation. There are very many options & many can't be found easily if at all in help files.
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I was having major problems with subtitles, so I search in Google and what do I find? Numerous posts and info agreeing with my 8 hour long discovery that subtitle support is mostly crap in this program. It won't accept my converted .sub file (using srt to sub v1.1) , it won't accept .sup or .srt files, it ignores the frame markers set in the converted sub file and thus, the timing is all off. I should not have to go through and completely re-time over 700 lines of dialog because some programmer is too lazy to include support for .sup or .srt files! I suppose if you are creating your own subtitled program from scratch, it would be an ok program for you. I love the rest of the program, though.
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Great program, easy of use BUT...too buggy on the menus. I still don't get it why they don't fix these bugs, specially when you transform the main menu in loop. Always crashes. When that and some other stuff gets fixed, will become a very good program
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DVDA 3.0a rocks! Sometime ago, people would dream of DVD Maestro. I'll tell you all something: I don't need it. DVDA 3.0a is definitey a Pro and it is here to stay! It supports multiple audio and subtitle tracks, menus keep the same highlighted button after they loop; the option reduce interlace flicker is available for menus and clips and many more features...It's never been so easy to create subtitles and motion menus with DVD Architect (and Vegas). What a great application! My congratulations to Sony!
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One word: SHEET. It's only sheet. This program doesn't work. In particular the new multi-angle function. Another thing that doesn't work is setting the start and the end point into a movie, because in the preview show it correctly, but once the dvd is made, the positions are completely wrong. I repeat, this program is SHEET.
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I was looking a DVD Maestro replacement. This software get very close. It's much simpler to use. But some limitation: * Do not accept graphic subtitles (SON,SUP,BMP). * Only import text subtitle format : MAC DVD Studio Pro & Vegas (you can convert any formart to Studio Pro with Subtitle Workshop) * Do not import text chapter list. Another good enhancement should be to import more subtitles text formats (SRT,SUB, etc.), graphic subtitles (SON,SUP,BMP) and common text CHAPTER LIST !!!! A bug, that makes the first subtitle to stay permanently on a screen, does not change as a video goes on. This issue has something to do with subtitles and chapter transitions. Last shown subtitle line freezes at a begining of every new chapter until a new subtitle appears. GREAT TOOL... Need to work on it and lower the price!
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Thought I had to say something about Sony's DVDArchitect version 3. I have made a couple projects with it and it performed as advertised. I haven't done anything with subtitles so I can't comment on that. I have used the new feature of playlist's though and it worked extremely well. I use MainConcept mpeg encoder with a VBR of 6500 with closed GOPS and have not experienced any compatability problems with my streams. There are other DVD Authoring Applications that have problems sometimes with streams created by TMpgenc. Perhaps DVDA 3 is not the problem there. Anyway...I was somewhat disappointed in the new feature that allows import of PSD files. Seems they only allow for two types of layers, Button layers and frame layers. What happened with just a plain text layer?? It is not there. There is also no layer for just graphics, although when creating a menu in DVDA 3, there is an option to import a graphic. Seems the PSD import is not implemented fully. I was able to create a nice version of switched menus with the new button feature, "Auto Activate", It works as advertised. Also you can now copy all of the text, buttons, frames, etc. from one menu and paste onto another menu with the same attributes. This helps tremendously when creating switched menus. When I went to compile my DVD i got an error message that I had more than 99 movies in my DVD that some DVD players may not play the DVD. I didn't have that many movies in the DVD. Maybe it counts menus as well as movies. So I feel that I got an erroneous error message. I compiled anyway and the DVD played in every player I tried it in. I burned using Nero as the DVDA 3 burner engine is somewhat suspect. Overall...it is a step up from version 2 but not a complete enough package for me.
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new 3.0 is no big improvement, and subtitles go wrong here.. anyone else have this problem?
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I find this tool is the most customizable that I've found. However, it does have problems. The ones I found are: - Extremely fussy about standards, but doesn't tell you what standard you've breached (doesn't like them all in its documentation either), though trawling the net helps - You can't have subtitles at the very start of a picture compilation. Workaround is to leave a black picture as your first picture, creating a gap (need only be a second or so) - MPEG encoder is quite poor quality. I always encode with TMPGEnc (hence why I'm always battling with the video standards)
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This new version,kick a$$,give it a shot,u will forget the rest..
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All I can say is, the new version 3.0 is a hell of a lot better than the previous versions....also with dual-layer support!
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I tried DVD Architect 2.0 and it seemed like a great program except when it began rendering the video (which took 3 hours) and then froze when it was 90% finished.I can't really say that it is good because I have yet to get it working properly.
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This is the best all purpose DVD Authoring tool I have found. Forget Encore - too buggy - forget DVD Lab - too confusing - forget TMPGEnc - too limited. With this new version you can perform almost any task you can think of. If you have Photoshop 7 and really know how to use it, you can create very complex roll overs and button effects. Unfortunately, this will not create menu transitions like DVD Lab. That is a terrific feature that really adds that "Hollywood" feel to a DVD. Perhaps the next version will support it. DVD Architect offers complete drag and drop functionality as well which makes it very easy to throw together a quick DVD. I couldn't live without it.
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Could not resist to try this proggie... It took me 3 days to make my first dvd the way I wanted. Still get stuck from time to time. But... It`s final product is great. MP2 sound is transcoded to 2 channels AC3, slide show works great with the music background, don`t need to transcode files if you don`t want, adjust bitrate separately for each part of your DVD... So, if you have some previous knowledge in authoring, try this one, if you don`t... try ULEAD DVD WORKSHOP. Those are my two favorites. Subtitle support SUCKS, so if you want PERFECT subtitles, go with DVD WORKSHOP.
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Great upgrade,but some minor bugs... Main Menu does not loop,try different settings does not help,a workaround is to loop to movie,after playin once very picky on AC3 audio encoded with other software.. Chapters settings seems buggy after burning,play well in Preview. Tests were done,with a movie Rec with a DVD Recorder..
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I thought I was stuck on Maestro, until DVDA2 came along. This is the best Authoring tool around, in my opinion. It still has problems with AC3 files(takes a long time to load them) But overall has all the functionality of Maestro and More.
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