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labs<br />
Sonic ReelDVD 3.1.3<br />
format Windows 2000/XP<br />
price £140 plus VAT<br />
<strong>com</strong>pany Sonic Solutions, www.sonic.<strong>com</strong><br />
contact Sonic Solutions, 020 7437 1100<br />
minimum specs Pentium III processor,<br />
800MHz , 256MB RAM, 2GB hard drive<br />
space, SoundBlaster <strong>com</strong>patible sound<br />
card with DirectSound support, CD or<br />
DVD-ROM drive<br />
digit rating ★★★★★<br />
Ideal for entry-level users, ReelDVD is a simple application. It has an open interface<br />
with a Windows-style explorer window. The Storyboard area is the starting point for<br />
assembling assets and elements. Files dragged into the Storyboard from the Explorer<br />
window are given the once-over by the application and a window pops up to say<br />
whether or not the format is supported. Only MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 video is supported,<br />
so transcoding needs to be <strong>com</strong>pleted before bringing assets into ReelDVD.<br />
The storyboard builds up an arrangement of tracks, icons for menus, and<br />
connectors between them, which is ideal for the non-linear nature of DVD authoring.<br />
Once tracks are in the Storyboard, their <strong>com</strong>ponent parts, known as streams, can be<br />
viewed in the Track Editor. Here is where the button highlights and subtitles for each<br />
track are set using up to 32 subpicture streams, as well as the language for the audio<br />
(up to eight streams). The Track editor also allows Dolby <strong>Digit</strong>al audio files to be<br />
synced with the timecode in the video stream.<br />
Multi-layered PSD files can be imported intact, so that you can automatically<br />
define subpicture overlay masks and button hotspots for menus. In a further nod<br />
to professional authoring, button routing can be set up in the preview window while<br />
playback flow, End actions, and simple point-&-click programming can be set up<br />
in the Storyboard. There’s no facility for DVD-ROM content but ReelDVD will allow<br />
you to create a DVD-Video from prepared assets with little fuss.<br />
IF YOU’RE<br />
SERIOUS ABOUT<br />
AUTHORING, IT’S<br />
WORTH LOOKING<br />
AROUND TO TAKE<br />
ADVANTAGE OF<br />
THE LATEST<br />
TECHNOLOGY<br />
98 d<br />
if the viewer has seen it before.<br />
The power to access these<br />
features is what sets the higherend<br />
packages apart from the host<br />
of DVD authoring applications.<br />
The high storage capacity<br />
of DVDs can hold multiple types<br />
of information on one disc, which<br />
allows a degree of interactivity. For<br />
example, a band’s music DVD could<br />
hold extra material in a DVD-ROM<br />
section such as screensavers or<br />
Flash movies. The amount of space<br />
Ulead DVD Workshop 2<br />
format Microsoft Windows 2000/XP<br />
price £153 plus VAT, upgrade £76 plus VAT<br />
<strong>com</strong>pany Ulead Systems, www.ulead.co.uk<br />
contact Ulead Systems, 0<strong>04</strong>9 2131 512 6850<br />
minimum specs Intel Pentium III<br />
800MHz or higher, 128MB RAM, 500MB<br />
of hard disk space, Microsoft DirectX 9<br />
and DVD-ROM drive<br />
digit rating ★★★★★<br />
DVD Workshop features a simple interface and has plenty of wizards to help you<br />
along. A well-sized Preview Window dominates the screen, with a Media Library<br />
to the side, and a Content Window in the form of a filmstrip below, used to define<br />
the order of material.<br />
DVD Workshop restricts the project to a single video track and there is very<br />
much a linear approach involved, with five tabbed windows carrying you through<br />
the authoring steps. Encoding is handled by Ulead’s MPEG-Direct codec so you<br />
can capture and translate any analog or DV footage into MPEG in one step, including<br />
video from non-copyrighted DVDs.<br />
Automatic scene detection in the form of Split by Scene allows the software<br />
to capture, detect, and arrange clips automatically, but there are also simple controls<br />
to trim or cut clips into separate files, insert chapter points and add background music.<br />
For more <strong>com</strong>plex projects you can add or import up to 32 separate subtitle tracks<br />
<strong>com</strong>plete with customized text, as well as eight audio tracks and audio fading options.<br />
Button routing facilities are available – you can manually assign <strong>com</strong>mands to a playlist<br />
to control how menu buttons behave.<br />
The interface is far from sophisticated but this will suit many users who just need<br />
to assemble a project quickly. Recent update patches have provided support for duallayer<br />
authoring so this relatively inexpensive offering is still a valid package to consider<br />
for more professional work.<br />
used for video dictates the<br />
amount of interactive material<br />
you can include.<br />
Interactivity<br />
For this reason, <strong>com</strong>mercial movie<br />
releases, which use high-quality<br />
video and audio streams packed<br />
on dual-layer discs, usually display<br />
little interactivity, while discs<br />
featuring less or lower quality video<br />
content, intended for play on a PC,<br />
will boast more interactive features.<br />
Web access can be built into<br />
DVDs, embedding hyperlinks or<br />
within DVD-ROM content, so that<br />
if the disc is being viewed on an<br />
Internet-connected PC, a Web<br />
page can be accessed. The buttons<br />
point to the corresponding Web<br />
links, and are stored on the DVD-<br />
ROM section of the disc. On a<br />
corporate DVD, you could embed<br />
links to a sales site or prompt<br />
a sales request by opening the<br />
user’s email program.
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