When I started out using Encore, I didn’t have a clue about MPEG-2 encoding. Like most people, I didn’t really think about it or even want to think about it. I wasn’t interested in determining bitrate or ensuring the best quality encode, I just wanted to make a DVD! Encore made encoding effortless. Import the assets, construct the menus and timelines then build the DVD. Encore features Automatic Transcoding of assets. This means it figures out how much space on the DVD can be used for video and determines the perfect bitrate to make the best use of the space. Mind you this isn’t a catch all. If you use multiple video assets and want them to be encoded differently, you still have to determine bitrate, but for the beginner this feature is great.

Speaking of encoding, Encore features the Main Concept Encoder. Premiere users are familiar with this first class MPEG-2 encoder. While the Encore version has fewer user controls, the encoding algorithms are just as powerful. This means that Encore can reliably crunch AVI video into a quality MPEG-2 video stream. Quality encode equals a quality picture from the DVD.

The Menu Editor in Encore is for all intents and purposes an ultra simple version of Photoshop, streamlined for DVD menus. Encore inherits Photoshop’s Layer conventions. This means a great interactivity between PS and Encore, but also precise control over the structure of the menu. Templates can be modified in minutes or basic menus can be created from scratch in as little as a half an hour, all within Encore. Let’s say you wanted to do a DVD of home movies, and really wanted to use a picture of one of the kids as a button. (Tutorial Coming Soon!) It’s easy. Import the picture into Encore, drag the pic into the Menu Editor, adjust its size, then convert it to a button. Wham! That’s it! You can add text to the menus or on the buttons. The creative freedom just within Encore’s menu editor is enormous.

Creating navigation to, from, and within timelines has never been easier. Create a chapter point just about anywhere on the timeline and give your audience more freedom to move through the content. Off the top of my head I can think of five different ways to link a menu’s button to a Timeline chapter point! I am a huge fan of the pickwhip, but I know Wes likes the drag and drop features. No matter the workflow, you can feel comfortable, even empowered creating DVD’s.

Encore has more features and great little shortcuts for some of the most complicated DVD operations. More than can be explained in this article (that’s why Wes wrote a book!) The take home message is while Encore is anybody can create a DVD with Encore, it is by far the most accessible and user friendly authoring app. When combined with the rest of the Video Collection, it’s a way to completely floor your audience and express your creativity.

In the next article I’ll show you the next big step in Encore’s adolescence: 1.5. The Encore Team continues to push the integration with the rest of the suite, and has added a grab bag of handy tools for even more control of the authoring process. -Graham Shanks