14 DAY TRIAL // The DVD creating business keeps on growing and if only some entities were able to create DVDs in the past, now every home user can save the video memories on DVD. There are lots of softwares on the market that can convert a regular video file (MPEG, AVI) into DVD. The process has become as easy as converting a video file from one format into another.
All such softwares I have encountered until now are extremely easy to use and they generally have a wizard-like interface that guides you step by step all the way to creating and burning the output result. That is if the software is equipped with a burning tool, but most of them are.
Besides the stand alone burner they have developed, Freetime MediaSoft Inc. also came up with a DVD authoring tool designed to help you create real DVDs with chapters from the video you have on your computer.
The application can convert lots of video formats (RM, ASF, WMV, AVI, MPEG, DivX, Xvid, MOV), but for some of them you will need some additional equipment installed on your computer. For ASF to MPEG1, MPEG2, VCD, SVCD, DVD you will need the Microsoft Media 9.0 RunTime LIB, and for converting the RM or RMVB files, installing the latest version of Real Media Player will do the trick. And you won't even have to look for them on the Internet as in the Readme file that can be displayed after the application is installed you will be given all the necessary links.
Some codecs are also useful in the process and the developer highly recommends installing the FFDshow codec package. This codec is free of charge and the download link is also supplied in the Readme.
WinXDVD Author comes at a $29.90 price and the trial version offered by the developer is fully functional, but there are some restrictions in what concerns the maximum chapter duration (cannot exceed more than five minutes) and the producer watermark put on the final result. It is a pretty big one so you will not be able to use the DVDs created with the trial version for anything else but testing the program.
The interface is easy to use and a drop of originality makes it different from similar softwares. The main application window displays all the jobs you can use the program for: Video Disc Builder, Convert Video to VOB, DVD Menu Creator and Disc Burner. The options are not interdependent and can be used separately as stand alone applications.
If you decide to create a DVD, SVCD or VCD disc from the beginning then each of them will follow in the order displayed on in the main panel. Of course, for SVCD and VCD you will no longer benefit from the menu creation step. Unfortunately, I was not able to create a VCD or SVCD disc no matter how hard I tried. I guess that, like the Background music feature, these options are not yet implemented.
But DVD video creating works just fine, so I will focus on this. The Setup Source Clips, besides setting the image ratio and giving the details about the clip (resolution, audio/video channels, framerate, duration) allows the user to split the video every user defined number of minutes and add a DVD menu. But the novelty in this window is the possibility to add subtitles, a SRT image or text. The size can be modified, which is a good thing as users' preferences are as varied as their needs.
Next step is creating the DVD menu. The flexibility of the application allows the user to move the chapter thumb anywhere in the window and if the backgrounds offered by WinX are not to your taste then feel free to customize it with an image from your computer. Double clicking on the chapter thumb will pop up the clip properties where you can change the name, font and its color and size. The title can also be customized in the same way.
The final step is a two in one solution for building the DVD and burning it to the disc. All there is to do in here is to specify the path for the temporary directory, set the burning device, press start, wait for five seconds and for the process to finish.
The Good
WinXDVD Author is simple to use and the step by step wizard will assist you through the DVD creation process.
It is flexible enough to let the user drag the titles in the menu window and to customize the background.
The Bad
Menu music is not implemented yet. Creating VCD and SVCD discs did not work. The watermark on the final result takes a lot of the video and its movement only makes the testing harder as you cannot see the quality of the conversion.
Burning speed cannot be set.
The Truth
All in all, the software is good enough for home use. The quality of the image and audio is almost insignificant and the output result is far better than in other similar applications.
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:
