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NTI CD & DVD-Maker 7 Titanium
SYNOPSIS:
As video production pros, most of us aren't in the market for consumer media creation tools. But that doesn't account for the oft-noted pro appeal of iLife on the Mac side, and suggests that many Windows users might find uses for a comparable jack-of-all-trades tool. NTI's CD & DVD-Maker 7 aims to be just such a tool, and it outstrips leading all-things-to-some-people competitor Roxio on the DVD authoring side, where videographers looking for a quick and clean DVD finish may need such a tool most. Much of the emphasis here is on automatic movie creation (courtesy of muvee), which is an excellent call for NTI's consumer audience but of little more than busman's-holiday interest to event video pros.
PRICE: $79.99
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Newtech Infosystems
www.ntius.com
Over the last few years, two programs have raised the bar for entry-level video and DVD creation: Pinnacle Studio 8 and Roxio Easy Media Creator. Both products have gone through some changes since those releases-Studio has entered the "Studio Plus" era, and Creator 7 works for Sonic now. But it was those two releases that changed the stakes of the game: Studio 8, by pioneering DVD menu creation from the timeline and (in version 9) importing pro-style cleaning effects like auto color correction from higher-end stablemate Edition; and Creator 7, by revolutionizing consumer media creation application design with unprecedented integration of a wide range of tasks.
Creator 7's influence has been more noticeable; all the top products in the field seem to have "8-in-1" or "9-in-1" offerings these days, particularly those with Roxio-like roots (i.e., products that debuted as CD recording tools). Nero is the most prominent. I don't find Nero's multitask implementation as smooth as Roxio's, but there's no denying its market impact; its surprisingly strong showing in EventDVs Reader's Choice Awards DVD Authoring category (at this writing, it's running fourth behind pro contenders Apple DVD Studio Pro, Adobe Encore DVD, and Ulead DVD Workshop) demonstrates its appeal in the videography market for DVD creation. What's more, Nero isn't really worried about competing with Roxio these days; they've carved out a sizeable portion of the DVD burner bundling market, and have placed most of their emphasis on advancing their Nero...