DVD Authoring Software: A Content Creation Overview

by Robin Liss
Published on Jul 31, 2001 12:00 AM



It’s doesn’t take just a burner to make a DVD. In order to create those interactive menu’s like all the Hollywood video’s use, and even to create a simple one scene DVD you need DVD creation software. We take a look at three different DVD authoring sotware programs for the consumer in this article.

SpruceUp Technologies SpruceUp $129 Offer’s CD Output, very important for those of you who can’t afford the near $1000 DVD Burner and want to make CD’s that work in your DVD player. Offer’s nice controls for accurate creation of your DVD’s interface with rulers and alignment lines. Spruce up is for the consumer, it is simpler to use than most programs, offering a 1-2-3 step way to create your DVD. A neat feature is that for your Video CD’s you can burn a player right into the CD’s so they will play on any system.

Sonic Solutions DVDit!$499 You can adjust your DVD menu background, insert buttons and have a the software automatically create a neat highlight effect when users click on a button in your DVD menu. The software allows you to link menu’s and video in almost anyway, with timed menus that automatically change after a specified length of time. You can also easily test your DVD before output with the software. The software allows for both CD-R and DVD-R output.

Vitec’s DVD Toolbox$99 Vitec’s product is our least favorite. Although it includes a nice MPEG editor, there are virtually no DVD autoring tools. The program also lacks any tools for directly writing to a CD-R or DVD-R so you’ll have to do that with the software that came with your hardware.

Conclusion The best bang for your buck is SpruceUp’s SpruceUp DVD authoring tools, offering an easy interface at a low cost. If you want to be a power user and have many options look to Sonic solutions DVDit. There are different levels of the software with varying output options. We would recommend staying away from Vitec’s product at the current time.