Proper authoring in Windows
 

For some reason Adobe Encore is almost impossible to use on my main editing computer, the problems according to adobe is either some codec conflicts or the fact it don't support Windows Media player11 on the same system. The problem is that it won't load the encoding presets and Adobe support can't figure out why, but blames either WMP11(which i need to import some clips) or maybe some other codec...great!

So now I'm faced with the choice to either upgrade to Encorecs3 or Premiere CS3 if you want since it's a part of that now or find an alternative.

But what proper alternatives are there for windows? It should manage to do Blueray to, although not the most important....

Sonic has DVDit PRO as their cheapest option, but my experience with Dvdit 6 ain't what you could call good. I've had issues with getting it to understand that when i tell it that a clip is 16:9 it ain't 4:3, quality issues and so on.

DVD architect is now a part of Vegas so sony's prosumer software is no-go.

The more professional solutions from Sonic would be nice treat, but they come with a pretty steep price tag.

Anyone with some good ideas?

For basic DVD authoring Nero 8 Ultra works decently. Not fully HD ready yet, but you can even use it to burn HD content onto an SD DVD in AVCHD format.

Check out http://www.mediachance.com/
They have different levels of DVD authoring, but I would recommend DVDLabPro.
I have been using the original DVDLab since they first put it out and it has never let me down. It's a great product. Also totally free download and fully functional for 30 days (at least it used to be.)

If you can get DVD Architect 5 (in the Vegas bundle) at a reasonable price, you might consider it. DVDA might be bundled with the Vegas product, but it's a completely separate application from Vegas. The installations are separate.

Of course, we have yet to see DVDA 5, so we don't know it's quality for BD authoring. However, I recently completed a DVD project, and was very happy with the experience and the results.

Christian,

you're still having problems? wow. I use encore 2.0 and have WMP11 on my work system and its fine. I had similar problems and we wound up uninstalling several things, like Audacity, and I cannot remember what else and then updating everything and reinstalling and its worked well since.

Now, I did just install Super Converter today and will have to check tomorrow. fingers crossed!

I highly doubt its WMP11, as both are working on my system, but there was some kind of conflict, that was resolved when we cleaned things up. We first tried reinstalling Encore and the Disc wouldn't start properly and we still had problems, then we updated things and the re-install went smoothly.

sorry for the ramble, but I remember we discussed this a while back, and hoping something I typed here might help you. ;-)