Many of us were left kicking and screaming as both Apple DVD Studio Pro and Adobe Encore bit the dust. The current DVD burning capabilities from both Apple and Adobe are severely limited – which is why many of us are hanging on to old gear simply to burn DVDs.
Why? Because clients are willing to pay us to create DVDs. And, DVDs are a lot easier to control that download links. While the inexorable march of time is toward downloads and streaming, there is still money to be made in DVDs.
Recently, I discovered that Wondershare publishes DVD Creator. This all-purpose tool makes burning a WIDE variety of DVDs possible. While it does not equal the flexibility of DVD Studio Pro – in fact, nothing really equalled this amazing app once you understood how to use it – still, for media creators who still need to burn DVDs AND use current hardware, this software is worth a look.
This isn’t a product review, because I no longer burn DVDs. But I want to share a conversation I had with the team at Wondershare so that you can decide if this software meets your needs.
Product: DVD Creator
OS Support: Mac and Windows
Developer: Wondershare
Website: dvdcreator.wondershare.com/
Price: $49.95 (subscription) $59.95 (purchase) Team licenses also available.
WHAT IS DVD CREATOR
Here are the key bullet points from the Wondershare website.
Create DVDs With Any Video
Edit DVD Video With the Built-in Video Editor
Flexible Customization of DVD Menus
A CONVERSATION WITH WONDERSHARE
Recently, I contacted Webber Zhang, Marketing Specialist at Wondershare to learn more about DVD Creator. Here are my questions and his answers.
Larry: Can we create custom menus for it, or must we only use your templates?
Webber: [We have more than 100 templates available and] we can create more menus for you, if you please tell us the kind of menus you need?
Larry: Can we create or import DVD chapter markers?
Webber: You can do that in Windows version only currently.
Larry: Does it support importing closed captions? If so, which formats?
Webber: Yes, currently DVD Creator supports SRT, ASS, and SSA formats.
Larry: Does DVD Creator support burning more than one movie on a DVD; subject to the capacity of the disc?
Webber: Yes, but it also depends on DVD and movie capacities. For example, burn 4 movies (1G) to one DVD (4.7G). (Larry adds: A single layer DVD holds about 4.7 GB, while a dual-layer DVD holds about 8.3 GB. DVD videos are always standard-definition.)
Larry: Does DVD Creator support chapter markers exported from either Premiere or Final Cut Pro X?
Webber: No.
Larry: Does DVD Creator support more than one audio track, say for different languages?
Webber: Doesn’t support multiple audio tracks.
Larry: Does DVD Creator support more than one caption track, again, for multiple languages?
Webber: Doesn’t support multiple closed captions.
Larry: Does DVD Creator allow us to compress the MPEG elemental in other software then merge them in DVD Creator?
Webber: [We may not understand what you are asking.] As Wondershare DVD Creator provides a “Fit to Disc” option in the software itself, therefore you don’t need to use another software [to compress the video].
Larry: Stories were a big feature in DVD Studio Pro. What they allowed was starting playback at a chapter marker, then exiting playback at the next chapter marker. You could then string these different sections together to play a “story.” Does DVD Creator support stories?
Webber: While you can create and access chapter markers, which allows jumping to a specific point in the DVD, story mode is not supported in Wondershare DVD Creator. But the product team will research this feature in DVD Studio Pro when they have time.
Larry: Does DVD Creator allow creating custom menus?
Webber: Only supports using built-in menus at present. If you want to fully-customize menus, that’ll be another deal.
Larry: Can you customize the background image used in a template?
Webber: Yes. Also, if there’s a large number of users at your end, we can provide full customization service.
Larry: Does DVD Creator support burning a dual-layer DVD for more storage capacity?
Webber: Yes.
Larry: Does DVD Creator support creating a disk image for archiving purposes on a hard drive?
Webber: Supports creating ISO files.
Finally, as you mentioned several video conversion tasks, I think you may also be interested in Wondershare Video Converter (videoconverter.wondershare.com/).
18 Responses to DVD Creator: Another Option to Create DVDs
I sincerely hope this is a good product, as one is needed. I also hope that you get a chance to actually test this, Larry, before recommending it further. I have not tested it either, as the Amazon reviews for this made me back away.
Thanks for this Larry. Some of my clients still want a DVD option. Hopefully my old Mac will never die, but it’s good to know about alternative solutions.
Check out DVD Styler a free application custom menu generation.
Also Adobe has removed DVD authoring from Premier Elements 2019.
Now have now dumped Adobe edit using Davinci Resolve 16
Looking at website, I see 2 menu templates that aren’t cringe-worthy
After reading this I am still going to continue to boot into Sierra to work in DVD Studio Pro (Sierra is the last MacOS that still allows you to work with DVD Studio). I still shake my head at Apple’s decision to abandon DVD authoring. As you correctly state there is indeed still a viable consumer demand for this service. Unfortunately Apple bailed on disc burning shortly after BluRay became the “new kid on the block” and chose not to develop or expand DVD Studio software to support BluRay authoring or the inclusion BluRay burners in its computers. Now with the introduction of Catalina and it’s support of only 64bit apps I can not justify the expense of the long awaited return of a MacPro tower (as I am certain it will have Catalina pre-installed). As a former Apple Creative (who trained in both Final Cut and DVD Studio, Larry you were our “go to” for the answers we needed for our customers) I grow ever more sad at the feeling of abandon Apple leaves me with every time they take our choices and needs away.
Betsey:
Thanks for your kind words!
I agree, Apple killed DVDs way too early. DVD Studio Pro would have died by Catalina anyway, but, sigh…, I wish DVD Studio Pro could have lasted a few versions of the macOS longer.
Larry
I just purchased the wondershare DVD creator today, then realized I cannot burn it on my new computer. Can I save it on a stick.
Sandra:
That depends upon why you can’t use it to burn DVDs. I’d contact the support folks at Wondershare and ask their advice.
Larry
A long-winded rant can be boiled down to this: no one has even matched, let alone exceeded, DVD Studio Pro. This is what we want. Why doesn’t Apple sell it so that a new owner could offer it again and maybe tweak it (DO NOT remove its old features though – we like those!). I have tried Roxio and other knock-offs and none of them have been any good in my opinion. They are bent on providing awful menu templates and no means to bring in our own JPEG and Photoshop files like DVDSP allowed. We want to be able to place the links/buttons where we want. The new twist that came after DVDSP is the need to easily convert MP4 to MPEG2 files and burn those to disc. Yes, there is a need for this because “old people” need it on a DVD. They cannot fathom watching video on computers. The knock-off companies’ editing tools are not very easy to use in my opinion (old FCP was easier) because they are very clumsy and not precise enough to my liking.
Brian:
I agree with your frustration and need. I, too, wish DVD Studio Pro could be brought up to current spec.
Larry
So can DVDSP still be purchased somewhere? I just saw somewhere where they said it was a free download. And what is the last FCPX OS that it worked on? I’m using Mojave but my wife has El Capitan on her MacBook Pro.
My need is DVD authoring software that supports closed captions/subtitles.
Ken:
Maybe on EBay, but DVD Studio Pro hasn’t been sold for several years. It is not now, nor has it ever been a free download. The best OS for it is OS X 10.6.8, however it should run up to OS X 10.8.x.
Larry
Last supported MacOS for DVD Studio Pro is Sierra. Recently tried to install in is a Fusion Partition running Sierra on a new MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2019) only to find it could not be installed when DVD Studio reported an unsupported Graphic Card. Thought I’d found a work around but sadly the limitations of the app are more then just the MacOS.
Just found last version of FCS 7 listed here: https://www.mercari.com/us/item/m91974261589/
CAUTION, make sure it is not and Upgrade version or you will NOT be able to register the KEY. You need to find a full version if do not have a key from an earlier release.
Here’s another offer on eBay for the Educational Version of Final Cut Studio 7:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Apple-Final-Cut-Studio-Academic-Version-MB647Z-A/303620939965?hash=item46b137e0bd:g:Lr8AAOSwSDddgA0g
Limitations of Educational version was that it’s registration Key was not upgradable for future release, that’s a mute point since this was the last version released, it is identical to the Retail Version and offered at a great price.
I’ve been trying to convert my old movies on double layer DVDs (my clients wanted only DVDs 2010) and I haven’t found a software that could do it. No matter what output format I choose it doesn’t work. I am now on Catalina… should have waited to upgrade to that OS… a few apps don’t work anymore. I purchased iSkySoft (same as Wondershare I think) which works well to convert any single layer DVD but not with double layer DVDs – it outputs only half of the double layer DVD each time though it shows “Successful” at the end of the process.
Any idea which software can convert double layer DVD to an MP4 file?
Thanks.
Nicole:
Try Handbrake and let me know if that works. Also, try using a different DVD player, if possible.
Larry
The best DVD and Blu-ray authoring software on the market is TMPGEnc Authoring Works. The price is steep though: $100
Frank:
Thanks for sharing this. Here’s the link to the software:
https://tmpgenc.pegasys-inc.com/en/product/taw6.html
This is Windows 64-bit only.
Larry