Sooner or later, if you’ve been shooting or otherwise producing high-definition video, you’re going to want to create a Blu-ray Disc. At this point, your Blu-ray authoring options range from well under $100 to burn on a desktop recorder or duplicator, to close to $100,000 for a program capable of producing Blu-ray projects that you can have pressed at a replication facility. In this article, I’ll identify the relevant categories of Blu-ray authoring software and identify the features that differentiate programs within each category.
A SHORT BLU-RAY TAXONOMY
Let’s start with a brief Blu-ray taxonomy. At a high level, there are two types of navigational schemes used with Blu-ray Discs: HDMV, which stands for High Definition Movie Mode; and BD-J, or Blu-ray Java. Each spec comes with a certain set of features. For example, HDMV mode includes pop-up menus, picture-in-picture videos, browseable slideshows with background music, button sounds, user changeable subtitle styles and other features.
BD-J features include most of the features offered by HDMV, plus enhanced menu interactivity, 32-bit color for menus (as opposed to 8-bit for HDMV menus), the ability to access the internet and to read and write to persistent storage in the Blu-ray Disc player, say to store newly available subtitles for a Blu-ray Disc.
For the most part, HDMV authoring features are handled within the primary authoring program, while BD-J authoring is typically handled by a third-party program that produces compiled Java applications (or JAR files) that are integrated by the authoring program. For example, as you can see in Table 1, Sony Blu-print uses its own internal HDMV menu design component, while relying upon On-Q Create, from EnSequence, for BD-J authoring.
In addition to HDMV, there are also other Blu-ray Disc types, including BDAV, which are discs with high definition video but no menus. For these discs, viewers select and play their videos via file managers incorporated into all Blu-ray players. The approach is primitive compared to discs with menus, but once video starts playing, the video should be identical to HDMV or BD-J titles. It’s also a useful format for creating dailies or for previewing the content of HDMV/BD-J discs before menus are complete.
AVCHD discs are another alternative format that was created by Sony and Panasonic for Blu-ray optical disc-based camcorders. By adhering to this format, desktop producers can record HD video with menus onto standard red-laser DVD+/-R discs for playback on Blu-ray players, though the only codec alternative is AVCHD video at up to 15Mbps. While useful in some instances, capacity is limited to 20 minutes or so and playback compatibility among older Blu-ray players is very sketchy.
At a high level, the three levels of authoring relate back to the Blu-ray formats. Only Professional authoring programs can create full spec HDMV and BD-J titles. At the other end of the spectrum, Consumer programs typically produce limited-function HDMV, BDAV, and AVCHD discs, while programs in the Corporate/Event Category support a higher level of HDMV functionality, but no BD-J support, and often can produce BDAV discs for quick-and-dirty previews.
Now that we know the type of discs available, let’s jump into the various authoring categories.
PROFESSIONAL BLU-RAY DISC AUTHORING PROGRAMS Table 1 shows the most relevant features of the three programs in the Professional category; NetBlender DoStudio, Sonic Scenarist, and Sony Blu-print. Note that all three programs support AACS (the Advanced Access Content System) and can output projects using the Blu-ray Cutting Master Format (BD-CMF), so you can replicate your projects at a mastering facility.
TABLE 1: PROFESSIONAL BLU-RAY DISC AUTHORING SOLUTIONS
As you are probably aware, the Sony and Sonic solutions are mature programs with long experience mastering many of Hollywood’s DVD and now Blu-ray titles, while DoStudio is a relative newcomer that first shipped in 2008. Still, with subscription pricing at $279/month, DoStudio is definitely the value leader and could really shake up the market if it gets established. To be fair, however, as the features table illustrates, DoStudio has some catching up to do, and currently lacks critical features like dual-layer support, picture-in-picture, and the ability to import third-party JAR files.
In addition, it’s critical to understand that a complete Blu-ray authoring system needs multiple components, specifically those numbered 1-6 beneath the Tool Suite line, to create a replicatable disc. When pricing a system—DoStudio included—you need to understand whether the system includes each component, and if not, how much the component will cost if purchased from a third party.
Some of these components—like encoding—are straightforward, and if you have an editor like Final Cut Pro or Premiere Pro, you should be able to produce Blu-ray-compatible files. Beyond this, you’ll need a module for menu design, which is usually either a component of the program or a Photoshop plug-in. For example, if you’re a Photoshop maven, note that Scenarist has a plug-in that lets you design your entire menu in Photoshop, layers and all, while Blu-print can’t import a PSD file with layers intact. DoStudio can also import PSD files while preserving the layers for design use.
BD-J capabilities vary by program. Both Scenarist and Blu-print can work with JAR files created by third-party Java programs. Scenarist includes a Java development environment called Eclipse, though it’s a free, open-source program that you could easily obtain on your own and requires extensive hand-coding. IN contrast, on-Q Create, the third party BD-J module recommended by Sony, offers a more visual, WYSIWYG authoring environment. Interestingly, DoStudio creates all menus in BD-J using its internal GUI menu design component, with no scripting, but won’t accept third party JAR files until the end of 2008.
Surprisingly for experienced DVD authors, none of the tools come with a preview module. Instead, you have to write the project to disc and use a third party tool to preview your title. Sonic should work with any off the shelf software player, while Sony and NetBender require customized versions that you have to get directly from the software vendor.
Finally, verification is the process of ensuring that the Blu-ray disc is compliant with the specification, and is essential to producing a disc without errors (for an excellent discussion of Blu-ray verification, see Geoff Daily's article). If you’re producing a disc for replication, be sure to price-in the cost of getting the title verified.
Those considering a program in this class should go far beyond a features table comparison. To provide some additional context, I asked each company to explain their unique competitive advantage and give me their rough "elevator-pitch."
For Sony Blu-print (Figure 1, below), the key value-add was workflow. Specifically, according to Rob Aubey, technical specialist for Sony Creative Software. "Blu-print started life as an in-house tool for producing DVDs and later Blu-ray discs for Sony’s own extensive catalog of movies. Since it was developed by actual disc producers, it was designed to allow the author to concentrate more on navigational authoring, as opposed to details like the file system layout and Blu-ray specification processes that other tools force you to consider. This makes Blu-print the fastest, easiest way to develop Blu-ray compliant content compatible with the broad base of Blu-players, including PS3."
Interestingly, Sonic’s most significant high-level feature is a non-abstracted interface that gives producers direct access to specification level controls. Here’s a comment on Scenarist (Figure 2, below) from Chris Neely, Sonic’s VP of product development: "Scenarist BD Edition provides the comprehensive specification control necessary to develop highly-interactive titles that through its non-abstracted user interface allows maximum compatibility across the widest possible range of players. Scenarist BD Edition also includes the Scenarist Designer Photoshop Plug-in for fast and efficient menu asset creation, and is designed for easy workgroup integration with Sonic’s Hollywood-standard CineVision encoders."
Finally, NetBlender CEO John Harrington positions DoStudio (Figure 3, below) as an affordable, intuitive tool for DVD authors migrating to Blu-ray. According to Harrington, "DoStudio BD Authoring Edition is a point-and-click Blu-ray authoring tool that maps the DVD authoring workflow to Blu-ray disc creation. With the included Photoshop importer, menu design is easy and familiar, and our flexible licensing model makes professional BD authoring attainable for mid-sized authoring and production houses."
That’s it for professional level tools; now let’s look at Corporate and Event-level tools.
CORPORATE/EVENT/PROSUMER-LEVEL AUTHORING
The corporate/event/prosumer market is probably more familiar to a broader base of readers, and includes Adobe Encore, Sonic DVDit HD, and Sony DVD Architect Pro 5. By way of background, DVDit HD was the first to offer Blu-ray Disc authoring compatibility, extending its DVD authoring capabilities to incorporate high-definition video and slide shows, and burning the result to Blu-ray Disc. This is a pretty good description of how all three programs approached the Blu-ray space. That is, none of the programs in this category currently offer any Blu-ray-specific authoring functionality that extends beyond their DVD authoring features, which means no pop-up menus, picture-in-picture or multipage menus. In addition, no product in this category can support BD-J. That said, the new version of Adobe Encore (CS4), which will ship later this year, adds pop-up menus to the mix. (Click here to read my tutorial on Blu-ray pop-up menu creation in Encore CS4 on EventDV.net).
In politically correct alphabetical order, Adobe Encore (Figure 4, below) has some notable advantages. It’s the only cross-platform program, which makes it the only Mac option in the corporate/event/prosumer category. From a design standpoint, it offers the best integration with other Adobe design tools, including Photoshop and AfterEffects, as well as Flash output, a convenient way to produce high-definition web content.
Encore CS4 also added support for dual-layer 50GB Blu-ray Disc authoring and subtitle support, two features missing from the CS3 version. But since it’s sold only as a component of Premiere Pro ($799) or with more costly postproduction suites, it’s an expensive option for Final Cut Pro users or other producers seeking Blu-ray Disc authoring capabilities. Table 2 (below)shows how Encore stacks up against the other two current contenders.
TABLE 1: PROSUMER BLU-RAY DISC AUTHORING SOLUTIONS
Sonic’s DVDit Pro HD (Figure 5, below) is the only standalone Blu-ray authoring program in the group, and by far the cheapest at $299. Though it runs only on Windows, the Sonic product manager was quick to point out that it should run fine on a Mac using Boot Camp, Parallels or a similar program. Though DVDitHD could originally only output to BD-R or BD-RE, its most recent version added support for AACS and CMF output, which makes DVDitHD the only authoring program capable of producing projects for replication. While this sounds silly for the Corporate/Event crowd, when you consider that BD-R and BD-RE compatibility is still pretty iffy, it’s definitely worth considering for some projects, and it’s nice to have a highly usable, $299 option (though obviously verification is a concern).
While DVDit Pro HD can’t actually encode video into VC-1 format, it can pass through previously encoded VC-1 streams, and can also create titles with different codecs, which could be important if you’re consolidating multiple titles or legacy MPEG-2 and new H.264 video. DVDitHD is also the only tool that can support up to 7.1 surround sound, a nice option for music videos and other video with surround sound content.
Finally, Sony’s DVD Architect Pro 5 (Figure 6, below), announced at NAB 2008, ships with Vegas 8 and offers a very wide range of Blu-ray authoring capabilities, including multiple-angle support. DVD Architect Pro 5 is also the only program to produce AVCHD discs, which means limited-quantity HD video on a DVD-RĪR disc, though as I mentioned, compatibility may be a problem for older Blu-ray players.
Next up are consumer products that cost around $100.
CONSUMER PRODUCTS
As a class, consumer products offer all of the levels of Blu-ray authoring discussed above, including limited-feature HDMV, BDAV, and AVCHD, and none offer BD-J compatibility or support for AACS/CMF. For the most part, the available authoring features available in Consumer products are less than those in the Corporate/Event/Prosumer class; for example, no tools in this class offer subtitles, multi-angle video or multiple audio tracks.
TABLE 3: CONSUMER BLU-RAY DISC AUTHORING SOLUTIONS
At a high level, there are three classes of consumer programs that offer Blu-ray authoring, as shown in Table 3 (above). The first class is Authoring tools that have been extended to include Blu-ray. These tools were originally designed to facilitate a range of DVD authoring activities, including one-step tape-to-DVD production and file-based authoring, and now can also produce BD discs. This category is worth exploring if you’re editing with a product or product suite that doesn’t offer Blu-ray Disc, or need one-step tape-to-Blu-ray conversion. But true video editing is generally limited.
The second class, Editors with Authoring, includes programs that originated as video editors and later picked up authoring functionality, which now includes Blu-ray. For the most part, these tools offer limited feature HDMV authoring, though Vegas Movie Studio offers only BDAV authoring. This category is best if you need a video editor as well as Blu-ray authoring tool, and don’t need one-step tape to Blu-ray conversion, which usually isn’t available in this product class.
The final category of programs includes pre-mastering tools originally created for data and backup functions that have been extended to incorporate video editing and DVD and Blu-ray authoring. My concern in this category is the quality of the editing and authoring functions because they’re clearly secondary to other features. Roxio’s Easy Media Creator gets a pass in this regard, since the complete version includes MyDVD for authoring and VideoWave, a competent, if not extraordinary, program for editing.
On the plus side, these programs provide a range of essential data related functionality, and a version of the program may have come bundled with your Blu-ray recorder. Roxio Toast is the only native Macintosh alternative to Adobe Encore, and costs much, much less, which makes it worth considering by all Final Cut Pro producers seeking Blu-ray authoring capabilities.
When comparing tools in this category, be sure to verify that the tool produces the type of disc that you’re targeting (with menus, BDAV, AVCHD) and that it enables tape-to-Blu-ray Disc capture, if that’s a desired feature. Also, note that I’ve reviewed many of these products for PC Magazine or EventDV, so if you Google my name and the product name, you may find a review that delineates the product’s Blu-ray-related features.
Jan Ozer (jan at doceo.com) is a contributing editor to EventDV and Streaming Media and the author of Critical Skills for Streaming Producers, a mixed media tutorial on DVD published by StreamingMedia.com.