Expert’s Rating
Pros
Cons
Our Verdict
Some family redevelopment add cosmetic niceties , such as a new interior decoration . Other upgrades , such as a unexampled roof , may not tot up curb appeal but are nevertheless important investment for the future . DVD Studio Pro 4 falls into the second family .
Last yr ’s DVD Studio Pro 3 offered some gorgeous new carte du jour - design and slide - show options (; September 2004 ) . The enhancements in DVD Studio Pro 4 are less enhancive and more foundational . Because of the nature of DVD Studio Pro 4 ’s betterment , this upgrade , while excellent , may not be a must - buy for DVD Studio Pro 3.X user .
An (Almost) Familiar Face
DVD Studio Pro 4 looks and works the same way its predecessors do . you may work in any of three authoring modes — Basic , Extended , and Advanced — which offer varying levels of controller over the authoring unconscious process .
If you ’ve used DVD Studio Pro 2 or 3 , you ’ll palpate at nursing home with version 4 , but your existing projects might not . Apple changed the room DVD Studio Pro yield school text in version 4 , and when you open up a project from an earlier version , its menu text edition may expect formatting readjustment .
Because of this annoyance , I do n’t commend throw to version 4 while you ’re in the heart of a labor you started with an earlier version . Indeed , if you have complex task make in an early DVD Studio Pro adaptation , it ’s bright to keep the older version set up in vitrine you need to burn extra copy of a task or modify your oeuvre .
Unfortunately , Apple makes it hard to retain this decisive tie to your sure-enough projects . When you instal DVD Studio Pro 4 , the installer supersede any previous version . ( This take place with other members of the Final Cut Studio family , too . ) It seems potential to keep back the previous version of DVD Studio Pro by rename its program image before installing version 4 , though Apple discourage doing so . DVD Studio Pro 4 ’s ware manager told me that the only Apple - recommended method of retaining an quondam translation is to instal the new variation on a separate startup partition or tough campaign — or on a unlike Mac .
Apple ’s software documentation should mention this . If you ’ve created large projects in other DVD Studio Pro versions and you anticipate require to access them again , plan your upgrade scheme carefully : either establish DVD Studio Pro 4 on a disjoined startup drive or divider , or allocate time to tweak your erstwhile projects for DVD Studio Pro 4 .
HD for the Few of Us
The most forward - looking addition to DVD Studio Pro 4 is support for high - definition ( HD ) video . DVD Studio Pro 4 supports HD from several perspectives . For one , you’re able to encode HD video into stock - definition ( SD ) data formatting , creating conventional discs that will play in all of today ’s DVD players . This is alike to how iDVD 5 (; April 2005 ) handles HD video , and it ’s the most sensible approach for content producers who are blast in HD but need to deliver projects in a format that most multitude can really watch .
If you care to trample the bleeding edge , you could create HD - DVDs by encoding your HD picture in one of two contraction formats : MPEG-2 or H.264 . The latter format is the new MPEG-4 variation that ’s supported by QuickTime 7 . It ’s also part of the HD - videodisk stipulation , one of several vie standards for eminent - definition DVDs .
There ’s just one job : no current consumer DVD actor can play back HD - DVDs . Manufacturers have show prototype at rule , but you wo n’t ascertain any players at your local Circuit City . If you cauterize an HD - DVD , there ’s just one place you’re able to act it : on a Power Mac G5 ( not on a Power Mac G4 or any PowerBook ) running OS X 10.4 and Apple ’s DVD Player 4.6 .
high-pitched - definition DVD players may not be unwashed today , but DVD producers who want to be cook for the future can go now . you may inject and edit in HD , and have mainstream DVD in SD . And when HD becomes mainstream , you may switch out your SD plus for HD versions , and easily reconstruct your projection .
DVD Studio Pro 4 also establish it well-to-do to create hybrid discs that contain the same message in both SD and HD formats . Current videodisc players but ignore the HD content . ( Of course , HD video will take up a significant amount of infinite on a platter , make less available for SD content . )
Preview of Tomorrow
About those HD discs that play only on sure mack : they look striking . Viewed on an Apple Cinema HD Display , they offer an tempting look at the reach - out - and - meet - it clarity that tomorrow ’s HD players will provide .
DVD Studio Pro 4 adds a welcome addition to its simulator mood , which let you try menus and preview your DVD . If you connect a 2d Cinema Display to your Mac , you may have DVD Studio Pro route its simulator preview to that display . This cater a resplendent full - cover prevue of HD mental object .
you may also associate an analogue monitor for preview if you have a PowerBook , adapter , or picture card with an S - TV output . And if you connect a Dolby decoder to your Mac , you’re able to preview surround sound .
Fine-tuning
DVD Studio Pro 4 is more tightly integrate with Apple ’s movement than it used to be . If you use Motion to make motion menu and transitions , you’re able to set marker in Motion 2 that assure DVD Studio Pro 4 where to loop a card or switch a transition .
DVD Studio Pro 4 also adds a VTS ( Video Title Set ) editor in chief . If you ’re make complex labor contain numerous scripts and menus , you could use the VTS editor to finely keep in line how the DVD ’s data is organized on the magnetic disc , thus minimizing delays when a user voyage the phonograph record .
DVD Studio Pro 4 perform well in my tests , but it apportion a glitch with reading 3 : extended postponement occur when you use the arrow keys to nudge the placement of multiple buttons on a menu . Apple is cognizant of the trouble but has n’t announced a pickle . ( The job persists in DVD Studio Pro 4.02 , an update that ready a variety of other bugs . )
Macworld’s Buying Advice
DVD Studio Pro 4 is a jaw - dropping economic value , tender feature that even five - figure DVD - author systems ca n’t match . If you ’re setting up your first videodisc - authoring system , look no further .
But should DVD Studio Pro 3 user upgrade ? If gamy - definition video is n’t on your radar , consider sticking with version 3 , particularly if you do n’t need the VTS editor , Surround Sound preview , and other variant 4 enhancements . For producer of workaday DVDs — education TV , weddings , and other events — DVD Studio Pro 3 works just all right .
But for main filmmakers work with high - definition video or Surround Sound , and for game developer creating complex script and interactivity , DVD Studio Pro 4 is a success . It ’s a full - featured tool for create the most - complex DVDs — and a great way to set for the eld of high - definition DVD .
