Program run through:

Let’s start by taking a brief look at TMPGEnc DVD Author 3 functions.

Start:

In the above screenshot we can see the applications splash screen.

Once the application has started we are presented with the main TMPGEnc DVD Author 3 project window in the above screenshot. In this window we can see options to start a new project, open an existing project, location settings for PAL and NTSC, launch the DVD writing tool and the help button.

Source:

In the above screenshot we can see the main source window. From here we can select a file for authoring by selecting the Add file option, select the source wizard which will guide the user through selecting the input file format, and lastly the add slideshow option.

The add file option brings up a standard Windows file selector dialog

The source wizard allows different file formats to be imported into your project.

Selecting the Add Slideshow option opens the window in the screenshot above and allows the user to add pictures and audio. The slideshow editor also offers the possibility to add a transition effect between two pictures and automatically adjust the duration to the audio background duration.

Menu Wizard:

From this screen we can select to create a menu using templates, custom and no menu. The aspect ratio of the menu can be set to 16:9 or 4:3.

In the above screenshot we can see a list of the menu templates provided.

The next screen allows the type of menu to be used. Automatic, top menu only, track menu only and top and track menus.

The above screen allows us to set how the DVD will playback on our set top player.

Menu Custom settings:

This screen allows a background picture to be selected for our menu.

On this screen we can edit how the menu is displayed, set loops, set time duration, set background music and various other parameters.

This screen allows audio background music to be selected and edited for use in our custom menu.

The links editor allows the menu structure to be edited.

Editor:

In the above screenshot we have the main editor window; this allows our content to be edited. With features for cut and paste of segments of audio and video and editing and importing key frames.

Simulation:

The simulation window allows us to check how our DVD will play on a set top player. This is very useful for checking that all tracks will play and our menu items all work properly.

Output:

The output window allows us to set the target size of our project. (Single layer DVD, double layer DVD, or a custom size). Here we could also select the target drive for burning our project to DVD media and also set any “Post” tasks, such as closing the PC down when complete.

This window also starts the whole authoring process and builds a compliant DVD file set if this is a DVD project rather than a DivX project, this also includes transcoding the files if required.

Options menu:

Here we can see the options menu. This menu allows the preferences to be set for TMPGEnc DVD Author 3.

Let’s move on to the next page where will test TMPGEnc DVD Authors performance...

Introduction

Authoring performance tests