Encore is our favourite DVD/Blu-ray authoring program - it can do nearly everything you want in a disc - different audio tracks, subtitles, and slideshows.  With version 3 Adobe added Blu-ray authoring and export to Flash to create interactive web presentations.  Now with CS4 this has been developed further and we can now have Blu-ray specific features like pop-up menus.

Adobe Integration

Encore integrates with other Adobe programsl - right click on a menu and “edit in Photoshop” and you can customise your menu to your hearts content. If you want a video menu then use the dynamic link with After Effects to create a fancy background. With both of these any changes you make in Photoshop or After Effects are seen immediately in Encore.

The link with Premiere CS4 is incredibly useful.  Now you send a timeline from Premiere Pro to Encore and it creates a link between the two.  Then when you update the timeline in Premiere whatever changes you make, including changing the chapter points on the Premiere timeline, are updated in Encore.  With previous versions you would have to select export, then encode the video (a time consuming process) then launch Encore.  If you made a mistake in editing then you would have to adjust the timeline in Premiere, re-encode and then re-author the DVD.  Now you make the change in Premiere and Encore changes, chapter points move to new locations etc...With CS4 Premiere and Encore act like one program. You can also have several timelines from Premiere in one Encore project and Encore will sort out all the MPEG settings so they all fit on the disc for you at maximum quality.  

Encore Interface

The main screen of Encore contains lots of windows - just like all other Adobe programs.  It is actually easy to get to grips with once you know the program and the windows all make sense.  The interface is a bit like Adobe Premiere - there is a project window which shows you all the clips you are using (or assets as they are called in DVD writing), this can be split to just show menus or just show timelines.  There is a timeline which shows you the video clips and any subtitles, audio tracks and chapters.  There Monitor window will show the video, and the menu window show the menu.  Then there are windows which allow you to customise text or browse the pre-made menus and buttons.  The properties window is the main one you will use all the time as this is where you link buttons, decide what happens when a clips stops, or turn still buttons into moving ones.

Features of Encore CS4

Encore lets you make DVDs with 32 subtitles, 8 audio tracks, complex navigation, slideshows, in fact nearly everything you want to do on a disc. Sony DVD Architect  does a little bit more - it supports scripting and different video angles - but Encore does do nearly everything you want.

Encore has the same kind of dockable interface that all the Adobe programs share and Adobe have tried to customise keyboard short cuts as much as possible - for example the * key adds markers in Premiere and Chapters in encore. It also uses the Premiere engine for playing back video and can take in video of different sizes and types.

Excellent Encoding

The same kind of  settings and encoding found in the Adobe Media Encoder that ships with Premiere Pro is also in Encore and does good quality and has lots of controls. MPEG encoding is handled by a Main Concept encoder and this does a very good job of keeping a sharp picture with miniumum artefacts.  Main Concept encoding is used by lots of different manufacturers including Sony and Corel (in Movie Factory).   You can encode to better quality using different programs - we still get the best encoding quality at low bit-rates using Canopus ProCoder, and you can happily encode the footage in a program like ProCoder and then bring the clips into Encore for authoring.  This is how the majority of DVC tutorial DVDs are made as we have to fit between 2 and 3 hours of footage on a single layer DVD.

You can also encode faster using hardware and then use the files inside of Encore - either the Grass Valley FireCoder Blu, or the Matrox Compress HD (the latter is not due until July 2009) will make Blu-ray quality H264 video for use in Encore a lot quicker than Encore with make them itself, and can be used in Encore. 

Encore will encode footage in the background while you author the disc and then then finish off any un-created files when you press the build button.

Slide show editor -

Encore’s slideshow editing is lovely - just drag in all the pictures you want to use as a slideshow, add transitions between the shots and a nice pan which can be customised per slide or just tick the random pan and zoom so each slide is subtly different. Bring in some backing music as well and on tick makes the slideshow match the duration of the music.

Chapter play lists

Playlists are available in most DVD authoring programs, where you make a list of several clips and the order they should play, but most playlists will play from a specific chapter right to the end of the clips - so if you selected chapter 2 it would play from chapter 2 to the very end of the clip - it would not just play from chapter 2 to chapter 3. With Encore’s chapter playlists you can now choose to just play one chapter from a title - then jump to another chapter in the same title, or, another chapter in another title. How seamless this is will depend on your DVD player.

Flow chart view

Encore has a great flow chart view which makes laying out your DVD quick and easy. Just drag from one clip or menu button to another to lay out your disc. This is a brilliant way to layout a disc, from simple to mega complex DVDs.  This was introduced in Encore 2, but we did not start actively using it until Encore 3 - now we use it all the time as it is quick and most of the time you will get your DVD layout out correctly as well.

Audio - Dolby Digital and Surround Sound

Encore can take in both stereo and 5.1 surround sound files and use them in projects.  If can take any stereo clip and make it into a stereo Dolby Digital file, which is the standard and best format for DVDs.  It does not do 5.1 encoding.  For this you will need to make your 5.1 mix in a different program - for example Premiere can mix a 5.1 soundtrack for you and will output the right kind of file if you buy an extra plug-in from Surrcode to do so, which costs approx £200.

More royalty free menus and media

There is no better way of making a really nice looking menu than stealing someone else’s. Encore has lots of video and still backgrounds to choose from - our tutorial DVDs are all authored in Encore and the menus started life as Encore stock footage!  Once you take one of these templates you can customise it as much as you like, particularly if you have Photoshop as well.  Some menus even have "drop zones".  On the example here the bride picture can be replaced just by dropping in another picture.  The new picture will inherit the properties of the old one - so in this case will have a fuzzy board, an oval vinaigrettes and will be sepia toned.

Blu-ray writing

Blu-ray supports 3 main video formats, MPEG2, H264 and VC1, and can be laid out either like a normal DVD, or with fancier “java” based menus which pop up over the video and can change things like the audio while the video is playing in the background. Encore does not support all of this but does support authoring in MPEG2 and H264, as well as using the full range of features available for normal DVDs in a Blu-ray disc, so you can do Blu-ray discs with subtitles (added in CS4), different audio tracks and slideshows.

Pop-up menus

Commercial Blu-ray discs have menus which pop up over the video when playing. Encore lets you do one layer of pop-up menu (commercial DVDs can have several layers, for example a main menu, that leads to a set up menu, when then leads to a chapter menu etc...).  These are just normal menus with a transparent background which you link to a particular video track or tracks.  Encore CS4 is the only program at this kind of price which can do any kind of pop-up menu.

Encore only supports burning to single layer 25GB Blu-ray discs,  or 50GB dual layer discs.

Make a Blu-ray then make a DVD

With CS4 you can layout a Blu-ray disc, write it, and then change a setting to output it as a standard DVD and encore will simply remake the HD footage into standard def footage.  This feature was in CS3 but the SD versions never came out very well. In CS4 this works.  It has to be said at the time of writing that we have not tested this will all types of original footage as drivers are not available from some of the manufacturers - but all the tests we have done have worked perfectly.

The best comparable program is Sony's DVD Architect which comes withSony Vegas.  Architect can do most of the things encore can do for Blu-ray discs with the exception of pop-up menus.  It also has a few advantages - to read more about Architectclick here.

The other program available is Sonic DVDit Pro HD (which is also sold with Avid Media Composer as  Avid DVD).  This is a very capable Blu-ray program although Encore has more features. Read more on DVDit here.

Export to Flash

Encore can take and entire DVD or Blu-ray and export it to Flash. So without any real knowledge of Flash or web formats you can now produce an interactive video using Encore. It does everything including making a web page with all the required links.

To choose this option just lay out the disc as normal and choose export to Flash.  With CS4 they have added more options for this including some 720P HD options.  When we produced our Encore tutorial we produced a DVD SD video version as normal and also produced a Flash version @ 720P.  This fitted 4½ hours footage on a single DVD (with the Video DVD we had to split it into two discs) and it was significantly better quality than the video DVD version.  The computer screen appears in the Flash version in the same quality as any computer screen and is very readable.

To play the Flash version you just put the disc in your computer and then access the start page (the index.html page) like you would any web page via your web browser.  With some browsers this asks a standard security question and then works, with other it  just works.   The only thing we added to our Encore Flash tutorial was an auto play function, so it would load automatically when inserted in the DVD player in your computer.  The rest was created in Encore with no extra effort.

Project checking

Once you have finished the disc you have to burn it.  before you do Encore will load the project checker and tell you if there is anything wrong with the disc - menu buttons not linked, buttons over lapping, assets not used.  It will tell you everything that is wrong with your disc - about the only thing it will not tell you is whether you have linked up the button to the correct thing.

Playback via hardware

With CS4 you can see the video as you play it on a proper TV via certain capture cards - either from Matrox or Black Magic. You can also see the disc preview thorugh the same kinds.  This will be either in HD or SD depending on the settings.

Like all Adobe's programs it works on Mac as well as PC - in fact it is the only decent Blu-ray authoring program on the MAC. Steve Jobs, in charge of Apple, thinks that Blu-ray is "a house of pain" and so has no plans to make the DVD program that ships with Final Cut Pro, called DVD Studio Pro, author Blu-ray discs.  You can happily edit in another program, like Final Cut or Avid Media Composer on the Mac and load the clips into Encore for authoring.  The only problem will be that Macs do not come with Blu-ray writers so you will either need to buy an external writer that will work on the Mac or write and image file and then move this to a PC for writing.

How does it compare to DVD Workshop?

A lot of our customers have used the old Ulead DVD Workshop (which no longer exists) and ask is Encore as easy as Workshop.  To be honest Workshop is probably a bit simpler to understand, but that is not because Encore is bad, just that Workshop was really well laid out!  Encore also does more things than Workshop so has more buttons and options which means it is more complex.  In our opinion it is easier to use than Sony DVD Archictect, or DVDit Pro HD.

What’s Good

• Intuitive - Encore is pretty easy to get to grips with, and once you understand the internal logic you will be able to make discs easily. 
• As it is an Adobe program it follows the same logic as all other Adobe programs - for example the character palette which controls how your text has the same controls as Premiere, Photoshop and After Effects.
• Great control over video compression - you choose which assets are compressed and what settings are used for each and then leave the rest on automatic and Encore will make sure your DVD always fits the disc..
• You can configure nearly everything - chose what button is selected when you reach a menu, which audio track or subtitle is chose very easily.
• The link with Photoshop is brilliant for custom made menus. All good programs have a way of making menus from Photoshop files - unsurprisingly Encore is the best!
• Flowchart view makes laying out complex discs easily.
• 2 pass variable bit rate MPEG encoder from Main Concept guarantees excellent MPEG quality.
• Encodes audio into uncompressed, MPEG or Dolby Digital. Will accept 5.1 surround sound AC-3 but cannot make it. Unlike Premiere Pro you do not have to buy an extra plug-in to encode to AC-3.
• Includes region encoding, Macrovision and dual layer support (all will not work with standard DVD-R discs, but you can produce an image to be sent off for professional duplication)

What’s Bad

• You can only buy it in a bundle with Adobe Premiere Pro or in the Production Studio Premium so if you are not planning to edit with Premiere it is reasonably expensive.
• Does not do everything you need for a DVD - some people lament its lack of proper scripting, which you would find in Sony DVD Architect.
• Relinking clips where you have moved a project from one drive to another or used a project which you had stored from ages ago could work a bit better.
• Sometimes Encore will not accept assets which other programs will accepts and you have to do a bit of "jiggery pokery" to make it work.