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Jimco Software Reviews - Sonic DVDit Professional 6 (continued)
OpenDVD
In addition to the new UI features I've already discussed, DVDit includes other great new features as well. Take a look at the status bar shown in figure 3. You'll see that the old staples from version 5 are there, but there's a new checkbox for OpenDVD. This is an exciting new feature for DVDit and also for other authoring packages that choose to take advantage of it. In fact, the inclusion of OpenDVD support alone makes it worth switching from another authoring package to DVDit. It really is that cool of a feature.
Figure 3 - OpenDVD is an exciting new feature!
Anyone who's done any amount of DVD authoring knows what a hassle it is if you need to modify a project after it's been burned to DVD. What I'll typically do is burn the authoring files to the DVD along with the video. That works okay as long as your DVD content is not too large, but even if you have the space, it's a hassle and it requires that the new edits be done in the same package that originally created the project.
 . . .the inclusion of OpenDVD support alone makes it worth switching from another authoring package to DVDit. It really is that cool of a feature.
OpenDVD solves that by allowing any OpenDVD compliant authoring package to open the authoring package right from the DVD content itself! This is an incredible technology and you can read about it in detail in Sonic's whitepaper on the topic.
What Was Good Is Still Good
When I reviewed DVDit 5, I commented on the versatility of the timeline. That's still here in version 6. You can add chapters wherever you want them. Sonic has added support for up to 8 audio tracks and 32 subtitle tracks! What's more, you can import chapters from Avid applications (though not from Vegas, my editing application of choice.)
Another great feature of DVDit is the ability to create your own multi-layered menus in Photoshop. DVDit Professional 6 now includes menu templates (see figure 4) that you can edit yourself right within DVDit. You can move menu elements around, add or remove buttons, change backgrounds, etc. If you want to take your editing one step further, you can use Adobe Photoshop or any other graphics program capable of editing the Photoshop format.
Figure 4 - DVDit Templates
I'm not much of an artist, but I can tell you that being able to create customized menus, button highlights, etc. in Photoshop is a tremendous advantage to me. In cases where I need a special touch to my menus, there's simply no substitute for the ability to crank something out in Photoshop.
Authoring
When I reviewed version 5, I was critical of the fact that layout guides were missing and alignment was poorly implemented. Sonic informed me quickly thereafter that they were working on improving this for version 6. Good news! They did and positioning and alignment are now considerably better. You have a snap to grid control as well which makes authoring much more pleasant.
Simulation and Burning
DVDit Professional 6 beefs up the simulation piece quite a bit. It can now preview the final device's aspect ratio, the subtitle button, the audio button, and language settings. When you're ready to burn, DVDit will perform just as well as it does with menu creation. You can burn to any DVD media or you can write DLT for a replicator.
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