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All reviews for DVD Architect Studio
| 39 reviews, Showing 1 to 39 reviews |
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
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
Review by vlad1999 on
Feb 21, 2009 Version: 5.0
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 7/10
Functionality: 1/10
Value for money: 2/10
Overall: 3/10
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!
Thank you to the developers!
Review by uzi on
Jul 2, 2008 Version: 4.0
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 9/10
Functionality: 9/10
Value for money: 10/10
Overall: 9/10
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.
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.
Review by mpack on
Jul 1, 2008 Version: 4.5
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 7/10
Functionality: 6/10
Value for money: 8/10
Overall: 7/10
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.
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.
Review by lyris on
Apr 16, 2008 Version: 4.5
OS: Vista Ease of use: 9/10
Functionality: 8/10
Value for money: 10/10
Overall: 9/10
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.
Review by rychezilla on
Dec 27, 2007 Version: 4.5
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 8/10
Functionality: 4/10
Value for money: 5/10
Overall: 7/10
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.
Review by mikiem on
Sep 12, 2007 Version: 4.5
OS: Vista Ease of use: 8/10
Functionality: 8/10
Value for money: 9/10
Overall: 9/10
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.
Review by loster on
Dec 17, 2006 Version: 4.0a
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 6/10
Functionality: 2/10
Value for money: 4/10
Overall: 3/10
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...
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...
Review by uzi on
Sep 21, 2006 Version: 4
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 8/10
Functionality: 9/10
Value for money: 8/10
Overall: 9/10
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.
Review by DryMaltExtract on
Jan 27, 2006 Version: 3.0
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 10/10
Functionality: 7/10
Value for money: 2/10
Overall: 6/10
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.
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.
Review by mikiem on
Nov 8, 2005 Version: 2 - 3
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 6/10
Functionality: 8/10
Value for money: 6/10
Overall: 7/10
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.
Review by Craig1394 on
Nov 7, 2005 Version: 2
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 7/10
Functionality: 7/10
Value for money: 7/10
Overall: 7/10
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
When that and some other stuff gets fixed, will become a very good program
Review by plot180 on
Aug 19, 2005 Version: 3.0b
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 7/10
Functionality: 8/10
Value for money: 5/10
Overall: 7/10
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!
Review by Cunhambebe on
Jun 27, 2005 Version: 3.0a
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 10/10
Functionality: 10/10
Value for money: 10/10
Overall: 10/10
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.
Review by midium on
Jun 15, 2005 Version: 3.0a
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 1/10
Functionality: 1/10
Value for money: 1/10
Overall: 1/10
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!
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!
Review by miguelos_net on
May 26, 2005 Version: 3.0
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 8/10
Functionality: 8/10
Value for money: 2/10
Overall: 7/10
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.
Review by mwkurt on
May 20, 2005 Version: 3.00
OS: Win2K Ease of use: 7/10
Functionality: 5/10
Value for money: 7/10
Overall: 7/10
new 3.0 is no big improvement, and subtitles go wrong here.. anyone else have this problem?
Review by Jurito on
May 20, 2005 Version: 3.0
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 9/10
Functionality: 7/10
Value for money: 7/10
Overall: 8/10
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)
- 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)
Review by FokeyJoe on
May 15, 2005 Version: 2.0
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 8/10
Functionality: 9/10
Value for money: 5/10
Overall: 7/10
This new version,kick a$$,give it a shot,u will forget the rest..
Review by GangstaMo on
May 6, 2005 Version: 3.0
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 9/10
Functionality: 10/10
Value for money: 5/10
Overall: 9/10
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!
Review by Duck_Plumber on
May 3, 2005 Version: 3.0
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 9/10
Functionality: 10/10
Value for money: 8/10
Overall: 10/10
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.
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.
Review by bird605 on
Mar 22, 2005 Version: 2.0
OS: Win2K Ease of use: 10/10
Functionality: 1/10
Value for money: 1/10
Overall: 1/10
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.
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.
Review by blazey on
Feb 16, 2005 Version: 2.0
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 10/10
Functionality: 8/10
Value for money: 8/10
Overall: 9/10
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.
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.
Review by Zocky on
Aug 10, 2004 Version: 2,011
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 7/10
Functionality: 9/10
Value for money: 8/10
Overall: 8/10
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..
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..
Review by gangstaMo on
Jun 12, 2004 Version: 2.0
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 8/10
Functionality: 9/10
Value for money: 5/10
Overall: 8/10
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.
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.
Review by ghosty6 on
Jun 8, 2004 Version: Version 2
OS: MacOSX Ease of use: 10/10
Functionality: 9/10
Value for money: 10/10
Overall: 10/10
Great software. Version 2.0 supports AC-3 (version 1.0 already did it) as well as subtitles. Easy to work along with Vegas 5.0. You can import subtitles created with Subtitle Workshop or even export subtitles created with DVD Architect 2.0. Still very easy to use. A must have tool. One of the best ones, if not, the best one of its kind.
Review by Cunhambebe on
Jun 7, 2004 Version: 2.0
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 10/10
Functionality: 9/10
Value for money: 9/10
Overall: 9/10
this program is useless to me.
When you try to put a VOB file it's not going to reconize the AC3 one, so no sound at all. Don't buy it.
When you try to put a VOB file it's not going to reconize the AC3 one, so no sound at all. Don't buy it.
Review by eburini on
May 28, 2004 Version: 2.0
OS: MacOS9 Ease of use: 3/10
Functionality: 8/10
Value for money: 1/10
Overall: 5/10
Its sad for a program that cost so much and don't surport
DVD-Video. You can input vob files, but no audio from a vob files. A little slow to.
DVD-Video. You can input vob files, but no audio from a vob files. A little slow to.
Review by Timmychuck on
May 17, 2004 Version: 2
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 5/10
Functionality: 1/10
Value for money: 4/10
Overall: 1/10
Version 2.0 answers most, if not all, of the complaints about version 1.0. Multiple subtitles... multiple audio tracks... end actions for menu items... 2.0 should more than reward the patience of those who "suffered" through 1.0, and make the decision to buy easier for those still sitting on the fence.
About the only negative I could add is that the increased complexity has somewhat diminished DVD Architect's ease of use, but I think that it's a fair tradeoff for most people, especially those who've waited for 2.0's enhanced features.
About the only negative I could add is that the increased complexity has somewhat diminished DVD Architect's ease of use, but I think that it's a fair tradeoff for most people, especially those who've waited for 2.0's enhanced features.
Review by MJPollard on
Apr 20, 2004 Version: 2.0
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 8/10
Functionality: 9/10
Value for money: 9/10
Overall: 9/10
No multiple audio track support. No subtitles. Professional? No. Good for producing home-movies, barely competitive with Roxio Easy CD and DVD creator? Yep.
Review by kurt_kober on
Mar 8, 2004 Version: 1.0 (sony ver)
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 7/10
Functionality: 5/10
Value for money: 1/10
Overall: 5/10
This was the first program I had used to make DVDs. I've tried many products since then and nothing even comes close to the functionality and ease of use that DVD Architect features. It's compatible with nearly all video types (unlike gay Adobe Encore that'll only take properly formatted mpgs). It does have a pretty slow render time, but I've yet to have it mess up a single render/burn as long as its on 1X. Also, it's intrafunctionality with the other Foundry programs makes it easy to switch between this vegas, acid, and sound forge.
However, I would never spend $600 for it... so if you wanna stay legit go with something like Ulead's lineup.
However, I would never spend $600 for it... so if you wanna stay legit go with something like Ulead's lineup.
Review by Valkyr on
Feb 15, 2004 Version: 1.0
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 9/10
Functionality: 8/10
Value for money: 4/10
Overall: 10/10
I really love this tool for authoring my church youth events. I can encode things with Vegas Video 4 at really high bitrates and then in DVD Architect I can shrink them to fit on a DVD. The quality still looks great even after reencoding! I love this program! The motion menus, the background audio option, all of it works great for me! The only drawback is that the learning curve is a little steep.
Review by preacher238 on
Jan 22, 2004 Version: 1.0D Build 230
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 7/10
Functionality: 10/10
Value for money: 8/10
Overall: 9/10
fyi according to sony, the new version D is only the rebranding to Sony from Sonic Foundry and contains no functional enhancements
Review by daves on
Dec 4, 2003 Version: 1.0D
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 8/10
Functionality: 6/10
Value for money: 7/10
Overall: 8/10
I am just really learning about making DVD's and I found this program to be very good. The menu creation process is fairly intuitive and produces very good results. The motion menus are good as well as adding in a menu audio track. The confusing part for me so far is the file format that must be adhered to when creating your DVD. It will re-encode any MPEG-2 file that is muxed with audio(PCM). You have to Mux the video stream with no sound and then pop in your AC-3 encoded audio track. You don't have to, but it will re-encode the audio if you don't.
Overall this product is much more powerful and accomodating than say, DVD Movie Factory 2. I found it to be a solid product with alot of potential upside. Two thumbs up.
Overall this product is much more powerful and accomodating than say, DVD Movie Factory 2. I found it to be a solid product with alot of potential upside. Two thumbs up.
Review by joecav on
Nov 13, 2003 Version: 1.0c
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 8/10
Functionality: 9/10
Value for money: 9/10
Overall: 9/10
I Tried it and it is the worst program Sonic Foundry/Sony has made. I have Used Vegas 4.0 and Acid 3.0 and they are really great! But this one must have been put together in short time.
Trying to line up menu items is a pain. Full motion menu backgrounds look just ok. And if you do use motion backs keep them AVI and under 1GB.
The ease of use is great just like and other Sonic Foundry/Sony Product. If they could fix some of the issus in an update I would use it. But right now its to frustrating.
Trying to line up menu items is a pain. Full motion menu backgrounds look just ok. And if you do use motion backs keep them AVI and under 1GB.
The ease of use is great just like and other Sonic Foundry/Sony Product. If they could fix some of the issus in an update I would use it. But right now its to frustrating.
Review by TechyDude on
Nov 2, 2003 Version: 1.0c
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 9/10
Functionality: 1/10
Value for money: 4/10
Overall: 6/10
OK, the first comments are seriously flawed, as I've put
as many items on a menu as I wanted
(you stop adding when the buttons get too small, eh?)
Also no re-encodes were ever necessary except with extra AUDIO i've used- not from the imported clips..
THAT IS, if you, like me, use VEGAS 4.0 to encode your clips, they just drop in and bring any chapter info you want right with them (the companion ac3 and mpgs, i'm referring to here)
The re-encode I've encountered is tiny as I usually put a background audio clip under my menus and this short sample (5 to 50 seconds usually) gets re-encoded..I could avoid this by making the clip as an ac3 in VEGAS but ..what the heck its a short re-encode, so, I let it!
The motion menu Item works great and is very intuitve
but I've encountered trouble looing only..So I've also used VEGAS to create sub loops instead of using the easy way within ARCHITECT
If you don't have VEGAS 4 to make your clips for this program..READ THE IMPORT CHARACTERISTICS very carefully...as even the defaults in VEGAS 3 are not IMPORTABLE to this application...
(THIS IS BECAUSE IT WANTS TO SEE A SILENT, but MUXED companion to a stand-alone ac3 for best result ..no re-encodes, please use VEGAS 4. or furnish this kind os file)
as many items on a menu as I wanted
(you stop adding when the buttons get too small, eh?)
Also no re-encodes were ever necessary except with extra AUDIO i've used- not from the imported clips..
THAT IS, if you, like me, use VEGAS 4.0 to encode your clips, they just drop in and bring any chapter info you want right with them (the companion ac3 and mpgs, i'm referring to here)
The re-encode I've encountered is tiny as I usually put a background audio clip under my menus and this short sample (5 to 50 seconds usually) gets re-encoded..I could avoid this by making the clip as an ac3 in VEGAS but ..what the heck its a short re-encode, so, I let it!
The motion menu Item works great and is very intuitve
but I've encountered trouble looing only..So I've also used VEGAS to create sub loops instead of using the easy way within ARCHITECT
If you don't have VEGAS 4 to make your clips for this program..READ THE IMPORT CHARACTERISTICS very carefully...as even the defaults in VEGAS 3 are not IMPORTABLE to this application...
(THIS IS BECAUSE IT WANTS TO SEE A SILENT, but MUXED companion to a stand-alone ac3 for best result ..no re-encodes, please use VEGAS 4. or furnish this kind os file)
Review by dcsos on
Sep 27, 2003 Version: 1.0
OS: Win2K Ease of use: 10/10
Functionality: 10/10
Value for money: 4/10
Overall: 8/10
Everything it advertises it does, it does very well.
You get exactly what you’re paying for.
The only things I really dislike are:
You can't bring in Photoshop images / layers.
Your buttons must be square, and any transparent areas in your buttons show up as white. Very annoying when your button is round!
You can't make a chapter menu with more then 6 chapter links on the same menu page.
You can't link from one sub-menu to another sub-menu on another branch of your menu tree.
You can't lock out remote control keys. I like to prevent people from skipping over my first play videos. You can't prevent that with this program.
If your going to make a motion menu, it's best to leave the video for your menu as an AVI file, it will force you to re-encode the video again when it starts to make the disc.
It only supports full 720x480, no MPEG-1 either.
Your main menu always plays directly after the first play.
Every video returns to the menu it started from when they finish, they can't go from movie to movie.
Sonic Foundry's CD Architect was the most amazing product when it was introduced. i expected more with DVD Architect then what I actually got. Every bell & whistle was in CD Architect. They left a lot out of DVD Architect.
You get exactly what you’re paying for.
The only things I really dislike are:
You can't bring in Photoshop images / layers.
Your buttons must be square, and any transparent areas in your buttons show up as white. Very annoying when your button is round!
You can't make a chapter menu with more then 6 chapter links on the same menu page.
You can't link from one sub-menu to another sub-menu on another branch of your menu tree.
You can't lock out remote control keys. I like to prevent people from skipping over my first play videos. You can't prevent that with this program.
If your going to make a motion menu, it's best to leave the video for your menu as an AVI file, it will force you to re-encode the video again when it starts to make the disc.
It only supports full 720x480, no MPEG-1 either.
Your main menu always plays directly after the first play.
Every video returns to the menu it started from when they finish, they can't go from movie to movie.
Sonic Foundry's CD Architect was the most amazing product when it was introduced. i expected more with DVD Architect then what I actually got. Every bell & whistle was in CD Architect. They left a lot out of DVD Architect.
Review by Neishaverse on
Sep 25, 2003 Version: 1.0b
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 8/10
Functionality: 8/10
Value for money: 6/10
Overall: 7/10
pretty basic dvd authoring though very simple to use .. main feature is that it enables ac3 5:1 and mpeg encoding for vegas .. which is the main reason its a good value ..
Review by BJ_M on
Jun 22, 2003 Version: 1.0c
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 8/10
Functionality: 6/10
Value for money: 6/10
Overall: 7/10
Nice tool for authoring motion menus. The tool is very easy to use. I use already encoded MPEG files which are recognized by DVD Architect and are not re-encoded. The audio is always re-encoded, even if the format is correct, I don't know why. I use this tool to digitalize my video-tape collection to DVD.
Jack Visser.
Jack Visser.
Review by JackyX on
Jun 22, 2003 Version: 1.0
OS: WinXP Ease of use: 9/10
Functionality: 9/10
Value for money: 7/10
Overall: 10/10
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