The latest version of Roxios DVD creation software bolsters authoring, video editing and design capabilities. The company says it empowers you to create Hollywood-quality DVDs. We think that perhaps its being a little optimistic.
MyDVD 8 Premier ($69.99), which introduces significant enhancements including advanced video editing capabilities and authoring tools, high-quality transitions and effects, customisable menu templates, and support for high definition (HD) video.
The company says the software will have particular appeal to existing MyDVD users looking for more creative control and greater authoring flexibility.
MyDVD 8 Premier includes most things you need to present personal photos and videos in a professional fashion. Automated video editing features allow you to create polished video productions in a few mouse clicks, while straightforward authoring tools enable you to generate DVDs with attractive motion-video menus, animated buttons, and Dolby Digital sound.
MyDVD 8 Premier claims to make it easy to create personalised DVDs with custom designs and full-motion, multi-chapter menus with advanced navigation. It features a new project tree viewer, which provides a hierarchical view of the DVD project layout, allowing you to navigate through project layers during the DVD creation process.
The software also gives you full control over menu and submenu customisation, as well as navigation, including the ability to define play sequences for titles, chapters, button properties and actions. Output options include standard and widescreen formats to allow you to optimise discs to take full advantage of modern living room entertainment systems.
You can import and create photo slideshows with up to 999 photos in full-screen or widescreen format, and add transitions, motion effects (pan and zoom) and audio tracks. It also enables you to touch-up photos if needed using the built-in photo editor, which includes functionality for making common adjustments such as removing red-eye, rotating, cropping (including a predefined 16:9 widescreen setting), and AutoFix.
The automated CineMagic Editor quickly turns raw video footage into a professional-looking video production complete with soundtrack and effects, as well as Storyline and Timeline Editors, which offer hands-on control for detailed editing. The powerful Timeline Editor provides a finite, multi-track editing control and even greater flexibility with in-place editing and video alignment control.
Other key new features include a new interface, designed to maintain ease-of-use without sacrificing power. It also includes MyDVD Home, a launch pad providing easy access to all components and task assistants such as CineMagic and SlideShow Assistant, which provide step-by step guidance.
MyDVD 8 Premier now enables you to easily capture high definition video from HDV camcorders. In addition, it provides HD video file support - including DivX HD and MPEG-2 HD - as well as support for a wide range of analog and digital camcorders and video formats, including MPEG-1/2, DV-AVI, TiVo, WMV, and DivX 6.
MyDVD 8 Premier also includes SmartScan, which allows you to quickly capture specific scenes from you DV camcorder, and Plug & Burn, which automatically transfers the entire contents of a DV camcorder tape to DVD with a few clicks.
A library of more than 300 Hollywood-style transitions, 2D/3D effects and overlays. Transitions can be automatically added to buttons, slideshows and tracks, as well as applied to individual clips or to entire video projects. In addition, MyDVD 8 Premier allows you to use multiple video overlays to create dramatic picture-in-picture and chroma key effects.
New menu template designs are provided for the creation of attractive, customisable. Each new style features an entire family of coordinated menus, and can be customised with your personal videos and photos. In addition, MyDVD 8 Premier now includes professional-quality 16:9 (widescreen) motion menu templates in addition to 4:3 (full-screen) templates.
Finally, MyDVD 8 Premier offers a number of new capabilities to help you better manage, organise, and access your digital video and photos. This includes support for UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) sharing, allowing you to access your media stored on any UPnP-enabled device on a home network, and LiveShare, which allows you to permit family and friends to easily browse and download your photos to a PC using any Web browser.
In addition, enhanced Windows Media Center file support and TiVoToGo capabilities allow you to create DVDs of your favourite TV programs and play them back on a laptop or DVD player.
In addition to MyDVD 8 Premier, Roxio today also introduced MyDVD 8 Essentials ($49.99), designed for entry-level users and individuals requiring basic authoring and light editing features. MyDVD 8 Essentials offers the same user interface, new styles, transitions and effects as MyDVD 8 Premier, and supports standard definition camcorders and formats.
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