Product Description

Roxio Easy Media Creator 7 empowers you to live your digital lifestyle to its fullest potential. Go beyond just CD burning and now organize, edit, preserve and share your digital photos, music, video and data â all within one integrated product that seamlessly combines the complete versions of the latest, award-winning Easy CD & DVD Creator, PhotoSuite, VideoWave, and Napster brands. ... Read more

Features

• Produce professional-looking VCDs, SVCDs, or DVDs
• Includes PhotoSuite 7, VideoWave 7, Napster 2.0, and Easy CD & DVD Creator
• Organize with Media Manager; password-protect and encrypt private data
• Transform still photos with stunning pan and zoom effects
• Take complete control of video with advanced timeline editing tools

Reviews (9)

Doesn't work
This is my first experiance with any Roxio product.I bought it without doing research but on the recommendation of the store manager.He said that Roxio makes wonderful products.

Are you kidding me!The menus are combersome and confusing.The whole program disappears after clicking on a menu option only to reappear a full minute later.

I did like the pan and animated menu features and was able to create one movie.I then started on a second movie using some of the more advanced features but this will not run smoothly.The preview window doesn't synchronize with the timeline indicator.The video preview occasionally is not shown and the audio is choppy and locks into a loop.

This is unusable.A total waste of money.

Stay away - not worth half price.
I have owned and updated this product since before it was bought by Roxio. Now it has been bought out by Sonic. The newest version 7.5 of the product has become bloated and useless, with a built in Napster client as the core feature. Prior version user upgrade prices are handled unethically - The first email they sent me said offered upgrade for $99.99 no exceptions for prior customers (less than a week after I upgraded to version 7.0 which also sent me through the roof - an upgrade that recent should be free), then eventually they sent email offering a lower price but with a 48 hour window, and after about a month I got an email with a half-wise decent upgrade price offer of $29.99, which I took. They have over-hyped version 7.5, which I have found to be mostly useless and frustrating. I spent all weekend trying to burn some DVD movies, only to have half of them ruined because the some features of the product don't work they way they say they do. Very disappointed - I won't buy their next product and I'm looking for something better instead. They're marketing this peice of junk like it's the best product around, and I feel like I've been taken...

cant get it to burn a DVD
I'm sorry but the software seems to have a lot of nice features but I cant get it to do something as simple as burn a DVD.I have tried multiple other programs and never come across this problem before.After a week with the help desk it was...no help.

What a piece of trash.Waste of money & time - BEWARE!
I'm tired of waiting for software that actually works!OK, if Icould rate this a negative number I would.Make sure and back up your configuration and drivers before installing this piece of trash.It has destroyed the drivers on both of my computers (laptop and home).Neither computer will create a CD.It doesn't convert music types (and there is downloadable shareware that does this).Lots of fancy screens, lots of fancy words in their product description.Roxio has joined the ranks of so many other PC software creators (marketing, marketing, marketing).DO NOT BUY THIS SOFTWARE.Matter of fact, send me the $100, you'll be better off!!!!!

Pay $100 to downgrade your music mixing program?!
I have been using the EZCD, now Roxio line of media software to make music mixes for years, since version 2.0.With heavy competition from numerous new music players, I stuck with Roxio and updated from version 6.0 to 7.5, eager to check out and use the promised benefits.Instead I found that 7.5 is actually a major DOWNGRADE of music mixing features and functionality.It's hard to believe, but true.Here are some of the downgrades:
1. 7.5 doesn't list and sort songs by artist or title at all!You have to go by the Windows file name!
2. 7.5 worsens the crossfading control feature, the major benefit of this program over other music mixing programs.7.5 can only apply crossfade or gap settings by whole seconds, rather than fractions as in 6.0, so you can't be as precise with the segues.Also, 7.5 doesn't allow control over the portion of the track you listen to when composing the crossfade, as 6.0 did.
3. 7.5 eliminates the "Audio Central" component of the 6.0 version and uses the old Creator Classic view, with less features.
4. 7.5 won't recognize your mixes (playlists) from 6.0.
5. 7.5 won't recognize and list your song titles and artist names from 6.0.
6. 7.5 has a terrible volume normalizing program that creates big quick blasts of higher or lower volume before finding the normalized level.This feature is applied only when burning, not when mixing, so you can't audition it until it's too late.Volume normalizing is just useless.
7. With 6.0, you could place as many tracks as you wanted into a playlist, then edit down from that to create a mix that would fit on a CD.With 7.5 you are limited to about 100 minutes of material to draw from.

Roxio actually lies about these features in their online "comparison" charts, stating that features which are not functional on 6.0 are present on 7.5, when in fact the opposite is true.This is deceptive advertising.

I have written to Roxio to get help on any or all of this, and I have received no response whatsoever.

If you've been using Roxio to make music mixes, it's time to look elsewhere.If you haven't been, don't start now.
... Read more

Features

• Turn your DV camcorder footage into a Video CD, Super Video CD, or DVD
• Share disc burners across a network or the Internet with other Toast 6 Titanium users
• Turn still photos into Motion Pictures using pan and zoom, dissolves, and soundtracks
• Schedule regular, automatic back ups for peace of mind
• Burn files and folders directly from the desktop with a single-click, pop-up menu

Reviews (15)

Don't switch doctors.
If you're happy using Toast 5 and are a heavy user of the bundled Spin Doctor, stick with it--unless you have OSX. Toast is the fastest and handiest CD-burning software I've tried, and I was content with my old version until the application for converting analog to digital (Spin Doctor) refused to open up in OSX, even with the update downloaded from Roxio. Toast 6 solves that problem while providing more colorful graphics and increased automation. The defining of a track is "streamlined," which takes some getting used to, and I haven't figured out yet how to edit wave forms, which are proving useless in this version. In order to recognize and remove "dead space" in a radio broadcast, I'm forced either to use the version of Spin Doctor in Toast 5 or go to the PC application, "Cool Edit." I can't speak to the other new features of Toast, as I don't use them much. I do notice, though, that Roxio has cut back a bit on the packaging (no case for the installation CD) and the instruction manual (it's now mostly under the Help menu).

Since writing the above, I've discovered that Apple's bundled "Sound Studio" is the best way to edit wave forms, after which you can burn them to CD in Toast. Moreover, I've discovered that the distortion I was hearing while recording FM in Spin Doctor (only in the monitoring) is not a problem in Sound Studio. For recording LP's, I still plan to use Spin Doctor, but those colorful wave forms are little more than consumer cosmetics.

mmmm... Toasty
Been a Toast user for years. Loved 5... didn't think it could get any better... but they figured out how to improve on something that was already near perfect.

The interface - already super simple in 5 - is better in 6. They got rid of the "Other" menu (thank you) and added in a Video area. Plus you can now do multiple copies like printing multiple pages, and there's burning right from the desktop with a handy Toast It menu.

Now I'm able to burn DVDs when I want and SVCDs when I want - no matter that my burner is external. It's a bit slow on my G4... but the quality is fantastic... and so it's worth the wait. VCD seems faster than in Toast 5.

Motion Pictures is pretty cool. Sure you can do the same thing in iMovie... but it takes about 20 hours longer to get the same thing done.

Spin Doctor is MUCH improved. I don't have many records to import... but it's done the job great on the first one I tried.

The networked recorder thing is really amazing. My Powerbook doesn't have a burner, but I'm able to record to the burner in my desktop machine with no hassle.

It comes with a detailed printed manual... which is pretty sweet (even though I've barely had to open it)... I can't remember the last piece of software I bought that came with a manual... oh wait.. now I can... it was Toast 5.

This software is great... and definitely worth the price.

Discus 3.0.4 upgrade Label/Jewel Case Software is Tops
I own Toast 6 with two upgrades. (6.0.5) Using OS X 3.4 I needed a software update for my LaCie Burner.
The Technical Help is quick and fast at Toast/Roxio. They told me to download it and gave me the link.
Last night I Toasted some CD-ROM's for training Case Managers. I burned Six CD and Printed Labels and Jewel Case Inserts and Tray liner in a half hour.

The extra $20 to upgrade to Discus 3.0.4 is well worth the Time and Money. (Newer Software and Full artwork) Real Pro looking Artwork and Label from a great Library. You can use any brand of Paper (Avery, Neato, Memorex etc.) and even nudge 0.5 mm adjustment if necessary. Memorex tray liners got an adjustment and it work for all futures use of that paper. This software lets you import for iTunes and Toast what you are Toasting for a list of software or Song Lists etc. Software so easy, I did NOT read the directions. Just do what you want to do the MAC way. I Like the Neato Jewel case booklets for Training instructions (Music Album Notes) and Memorex tray liners. I have one software and Four brand of paper
You can even print business cards on which I ton of good comments. "What a Beautiful Card."
Spin Doctor takes out the starches on old LP's for converting to CD's.
I was so happy with the Toast 6 package I did not take the rebate offer. I also used Toast 5 Lite that came with my LaCie.
A New feature lets you Toast to a burner over the internet which are great for Training DVD's to people 15 miles away.

Give the Package Bundle five stars

A must for any Mac owner!
When I bought my eMac, this was the first software I HAD to buy. I make a lot of CDs, so I decided that this was a must, and I've owned Easy CD Creator for the PC, so I knew that it would be easy to use and feature most of the functions I would need.

It's true that it meets most of my needs and with a simple, clean interface. I can make a music CD and store files in no time and it can even create Video CDs and DVDs with menus.

Of course, to many, Toast may seem redundant, as Mac OS X can handle most of your burning needs natively, but I prefer to use 3rd party software for those things, as it was created specifically for that purpose. However, the two things that Toast can do that Panther cannot are create Video CDs and burn DVDs directly from MPEG and Quicktime files without the need to demux audio.

I get some Japanese TV shows from friends in Japan in MPEG format and I like to watch them on my TV, so it's nice to be able to burn them into VCD or DVD format for viewing and backup. If you do a lot of video downloading, this really can come in handy. Also, it works GREAT with EyeTV (sold separately) for the Mac, so you can record your favorite TV shows and put them on CD!

My only complaint is that the DVD/VCD menu option stinks. There is only one menu interface and you cannot choose layout, music, background photo or anything. It's just a plain blue screen with a thumbnail of the video and text titles. And the thing is, it's not very nice--it's borderline gaudy and not what I'd choose for a standard menu layout.

But, with that aside, this is a product I can wholeheartedly recommend for any Mac user with above-average burning needs.

Burn Baby Burn!
Macs come with quite a robust burner in the Finder and the new iLife '04 goes even further than before in giving users more options to customize their discs. So what exactly does Toast do that the Mac OS can't do on it's own?

- Multi Session Burning
- Encrypt data discs with a password
- Burn exact copies of a disc
- Choose which OS the disc will be compatible with
- You can save a burn project so you can burn it again at a later date

These features alone make Toast a very tempting purchase. Thankfully though, it can do much more and it pulls it all off with ease. Drag and drop is about as complicated as the interface gets, but the results are that you have discs burned the way you want that work the way you want. Toast is a powerful, well-rounded, fully featured burning software that just about every user will find useful.

As a bonus you get Discus (for making labels for all those discs you've burnt) and Spin Doctor 2 (for taking out pops and hiss from imported music from records and tapes). ... Read more

Features

• Fast and reliable CD- and DVD-burning software for the Mac
• Easily make high-quality copies of DVD movies; versatile copier
• Powerful video compression; flexible extraction; informative copy summary
• Full DVD support; personalize with custom disc labels and DVD case inserts
• Share DVD burners with Toast users across the network via ToastAnywhere

Features

• Advanced consumer video editing and disc authoring application
• On-demand access to hundreds of professional-quality functionalities
• Special video effects and more than 100 transitions; image stabilization
• Audio features and effects; advanced video publishing
• Intuitive interface and seamless workflow

Features

• Toast 6 Titanium: CD and DVD burning software for Mac OS X
• Jam 6: DJ-style mixing and mastering software
• Bias Peak Express: powerful stereo editing software
• Dolby Digital Sound: Hollywood-standard encoding and decoding software
• DVD Music Album: hours of music on a single DVD

Reviews (4)

Bling bling music DVDs
Put your music on DVDs... play them in your home stereo... party on.

Plus, burning software that has always been the best!

Toast w Jam 6
The programs included in this box was Toast© Titanium 6 and Toast© with Jam 6. For simplicity sake I will refer to them as "Jam" and "Titanium". Both programs are very easy to use. Just drag and drop and you are on your way.

"Jam" deals with just audio files. That however is mildly putting it. You can make CD's or DVD's like a DJ, digitize analog records and tapes plus make more in depth edits to your tracks in Peak Express. "Jam" is pretty easy to use the interface window gives you all the info about your tracks. You can adjust the "Cross Fades" in between your tracks or you could completely remove them to create a party type mix where the music never stops. You can "Trim" tracks so if you want that track to end sooner you can tweak your "Gain" and "Fade" to really control that track. You know for the songs that have endings you could do without you could quick "Fade" them. After all of your tweaking just burn your CD or DVD straight from "Jam" no need to go to another program. After you select your "Write Speed" for your CD or DVD you can select the option of also having the program eject the media when finished or send it to your desktop or just wait for you.

"Titanium" handles "Data", "Audio", "Video" and "Disk Copy". An interface window similar to "Jam" opens up with the different "Media" tabs on the top of the menu and the "Basic" and "Advanced" features on the left pop-out menu.

For "Data" burns you have six choices when it comes to how you want to be able to access the media later. Choose the one you want, then just drag and drop your files into the interface window hit the red record button tell it what write speed you would like and it starts a burning.

Audio files you just drag and drop and arrange the tracks to your liking. You don't have the same options of adjusting or tweaking your audio tracks like you do in "Jam" you could adjust the pause in between tracks but that's about as much tweaking that you can do. It would definitely be better if you did your adjusting in Peak Express before bringing them into "Titanium". You have five choices to choose from as to the type of media that you want to burn.

Video files just drag and drop your photos or videos into the interface window. You have three choices to choose from. In this program you don't have templates like you do in IDVD or DVD Studio Pro so if you just want something basic this will work great. "Titanium" creates a basic "Menu" so your finished product still can have a bit more professional look. The "Menu" you can have up to three "Buttons". The "Buttons" you can customize a bit; name it, the photo "Button" can be any slide or any frame within the video and adjust the duration of the slides, (if you want them to change automatically or manually). Then hit the red button and a burning you will go.

There is also a neat feature called "Plug and Burn" Just hook up your DV camcorder to your computer put in a DVD and you can burn your tape straight from your camcorder to a DVD. "Titanium" captures the video and puts it on your disc for you. "Titanium" will even rewind to the beginning of the tape for you before it starts recording.

The "Copy" tab lets you make an exact copy of any single-session disc. Audio discs, backup discs, MP3, IDVD and Mac and Windows discs. You have five choices in this mode. It will allow you to do this even if you only have one drive you just have to swap discs when prompted.

Both programs were very easy to use. A step above the basics, but limited when compared to IDVD or any of the higher dollar programs. "Jam" is great if you really want to start getting into controlling your audio tracks a bit more. I would call these programs low-medium range when it comes to skill levels in CD & DVD authoring. They both give a nice intro before getting into some of the higher end and more complicated programs, like IDVD and DVD Studio Pro.

This is just what the Doctor ordered!!
The addition of Jam has allowed me to make an Awesome musical DVD album!
Jam's new high compression allowed me to make not just a musical DVD but add pictures to view as well for a party i had which was very entertaining to those just sitting around. One DVD with music played from the time of set up until the next morning! AWESOME!

DVD Music Albums & Dolby Digital are Great Additions
Toast with Jam 6 does lots of things very well. And it comes with a great bundle of other applications such as Motion Pictures, Bias Peak Express, CD SpinDoctor and Discus. But the new features that are the greatest for my interests are the DVD Music Albums and Dolby Digital sound encoding. First, the DVD Music Albums allow me to do something that never was possible before: make long-playing music DVDs. I can have about 7 hours of CD-quality music or more than 30 hours of Dolby Digital music on one DVD. The playlists I create are shown as individual albums on my TV and I can see and select any music track on the DVD with my player's remote control. Even though it was created on a Mac it can be played on any DVD player.

Dolby Digital AC3 is the sound format used on commercial video discs (although Toast's Dolby Digital is 2 channel stereo, not 5.1 surround). It sounds great yet takes up much less space than the uncompressed "PCM" sound so you can get about 2 hours of video on a DVD-R rather than just 1-1/2 hours.

Prior to Toast with Jam 6 I couldn't do either of these. I'm happy!

And you should see the fabulous DVD I made of my grandson's first year using Motion Pictures. It's amazing how much is gained by panning and zooming on still images as music plays. From 8 hours old to 1 year old in a 5 minute DVD; he steals your heart. ... Read more

Features

• Includes PhotoSuite 7, VideoWave 7, Napster 2.0, and Easy CD & DVD Creator
• Organize with Media Manager; password-protect and encrypt private data
• Transform still photos with stunning pan and zoom effects
• Take complete control of video with advanced timeline editing tools
• Produce professional-looking VCDs, SVCDs, or DVDs

Reviews (93)

Must Have Product for Digital Video and Digital Camera Users
Easy Media Creator 7 integrates several full-featured applications together to create a software suite with a consistent user experience. In no time, I was using it and creating projects with it. I use Creator Classic all the time to burn data and music to CD and DVD and appreciate the automated backup feature. Even though I use those features all the time, I really bought Media Creator 7 for all the great digital media creation tools.

Photosuite is a wonderful photo-editing product. Since I am a casual point and shoot digital photographer, I use the autofix option all the time to clean up my pictures, plus of course the red eye removal tool and the clone tool (to remove the date/time stamp I forgot to turn off in some of my pictures). I use VideoWave to transfer/capture my video to my PC, and then edit it down to remove unwanted video clips. I also use it to add text using different fonts, styles and effects, plus add transitions between clips, and background sound tracks. When complete, I then send the output to DVDBuilder for authoring to DVD.

I could go on and on how I use it, but the bottom line, this product is outstanding. It is loaded with excellent features and is a must have product for transforming your digital content to marvelous DVD movies or slide shows.

Easy to Use, Great Features and for the Price it's a Bargain
Easy Media Creator 7 offers an easy to learn and understand interface that enables you to quickly use any of the applications that make up this integrated software suite. My daughter just graduated from high school and this weekend I created a video comprised of digital photos and video clips, select music, transitions, titles, etc. all blended together of all the events this past month leading up to graduation. I am so proud of my daughter but also have great pride and sense of accomplishment in what I just did by creating a great looking video that I burned to DVD.

Roxio provides many materials to help you find all the answers, such as how-to video tutorials, and PDF user guides. The Roxio web site knowledgebase also helps you find answers to any questions, and if you still need help, I found their tech support email responses were quick, only taking 1-2 days to get answers.

I recommend this product for people at all levels.

CD and DVD Media Creation Just Got Easy
Creator 7 has so many great features and capabilities that I suggest you do as I did and read the many pro reviews that thoroughly put the program through its paces. For me, my favorite and most frequently used component is storyboard, which enabled me to combine digital photos, video clips, and songs into a slideshow. It has creative features that include the ability to add transitions, titles, and a narration track. Then using the DVDbuilder component, I can create VCDs or DVDs to master my slideshow creation to disc. Overall, this is a great product for anyone dabbling or serious about working with digital media.

Recommend it to everyone
Installed fine on my XP system, although it was a slow process. Nice interface and the tutorials and help files made it easy to learn. Use Creator classic, Photosuite Videowave and DVDbuilder all the time and everything has worked flawlessly. Haven't used all the other features yet, but its nice to know they're there when needed. What a deal - all these features for the low cost.

works great after upgrade
had problems out of box ( mostly with DVD-r burning ) but after a 53MB download from website it's working great. Very easy to use compaired to others I've tried (U-lead, Movie maker). Tutorials are weak, more of an overview of what you can do than a how to, but help files are good. Great product for the money! ... Read more

Features

• CD/DVD burning suite with a complete set of media tools
• All-in-one solution to data, audio, video, photo, and backup
• Make a photo CD, slide show, or DVD from home videos
• Playback digital media files; archive song collection in MP3
• Backup personal data; legally recode DVDs

Reviews (1)

All in one IS the best way to describe this!
I think it's an excellent software for burning CDs and DVDs. I enjoy using all the applications and Nero StartSmart chooses which application would work best for me automatically. Very user friendly and fun to use! ... Read more

Reviews (61)

Worthwhile upgrade for the DVD tools
I used the retail version of Nero 5.5 for 2 years. The learning curve on Nero 5.5 was rather steep (compared to EZ CD Creator), and I ended up just using it to burn CD's and VCD's while using other software for MP3 encoding and video/audio editing.

I recently bought a DVD burner and now need DVD-savvy software. The DVD and video tools in NeroVision Express (NVE) that came with Nero 5.5 didn't impress me. I have Magix Video Deluxe 2.0 for video editing, and it came with DVD burning tools, but it was so buggy at dealing with large MPEG files that I desperately had to look elsewhere. So I have been trying out Nero Ultra 6.3.1.15 for the past week strictly on the DVD functions, since I know that CD (and VCD) functions worked flawlessly in Nero 5.5. The basic Nero Burning Rom user interface in 6 Ultra isn't much better than 5.5, although it's prettier. The Nero StartSmart interface is a lot better than Nero Wizard. It took a few minutes to get used to StartSmart, but now I'm sold on it.

NeroVision Express 2 (NVE2) is quite an upgrade over NVE, especially since the DVD encoding tools don't require an extra-cost add-in. I was able to pull in large (1 Gb) files with only a few seconds delay for loading each file (Video Deluxe can take up to 10 minutes each), split/crop them inside NVE2, add chapter markers, and create decent DVD menus.

I made a 2 hr 10 min (4.2 Gb) DVD using a mix of clips from 8mm video via an ATI All-In-Wonder analog capture card, MiniDV, and photo slideshow output from Video Deluxe (it has a lot more transition effects than NVE2, and still works pretty well for small files of up to a few meg). I was able to burn them to DVD+RW and DVD-RW with only minor startup issues on a 1.1GHz Athlon and NEC ND-1200AD DVD dual-format burner with Windows 2000. The 4.2 Gb file took 15 hours to encode to DVD format files on the hard drive. But actual burning takes 25-40 minutes depending on media type. There was little online or help documentation to explain the benefits of encoding to the hard drive, but it will save time if you need to burn the same project multiple times. Most notably, I am able to do almost everything using the tools in Nero 6 Ultra - something not possible (or at least with satisfactory results) with Nero 5.5.

Nero Cover Designer is quite handy. It's powerful enough for the enthusiast, with basic text, image, and database tools. But it's not for professional graphic artists who need borders around text, translucent fills, or aligning objects with each other.

Small problems I ran into with the DVD creation process:
1. One bug I found in NVE2 was not being able to splice more than one movie clip back-to-back with one another on-the-fly - it allows you to do it, but produces an obscure error at the start of the burn process. The workaround was to add each movie clip separately and list them as separate movies (with their own chapters) on the DVD menu, or use NVE2 to combine multiple clips, export them to a single clip, and then use only the new combined clip.

2. Another more annoying bug with NVE2's DVD encoding is that audio will sometimes lose sync with the video by a few seconds. I'm not sure what exactly causes this or how to fix it, but I can live with it for what I'm doing.

3. Nero Cover Designer has an annoying bug in the user-defined Paper Stocks utility where you are not allowed to specify paper orientation, yet it defaults in portrait (which is useless for doing something such as a custom DVD insert stock). You can't modify the predefined stocks either.

These are relatively minor problems. It was very stable, and never crashed Windows. I'm satisfied enough that I will spend the money to upgrade from 5.5 to 6.3 just for the new DVD features in NVE2. But if I was just burning CDs, VCDs, and MP3s, I'd stick with Nero 5.5. I would have given it 5/5 stars if it didn't have the audio/video sync problem.

Great Product, Very Slow Support
I have been a fan of the Nero line for a good while and still love the product, but their support response time has got to be the slowest. As some have already mentioned, I recently had to wait over a week for a response to a simple registration question I had -- I had to reinstall my system and needed my registration key. I figured I'd have a response the next day considering how simple it was but no. Other than that, though, I'm still satisfied with the product.

Good software suite
I just bought a Plextor 708A burner, and opted to use this suite rather than their packaged software (Roxio). I found Roxio to be very glitchy. Nero is pretty user friendly and runs smoothly on my Dell Inspiron 8100, 1.6ghz, 384mb Ram, 30gb HD. Be sure to visit Nero's website for their update package, which makes a huge difference in functionality.

Support Sucks - Stay Far Away
I sent them an email with a support question and it took almost a week one time and the other time I'm still waiting (3+ weeks). Call me stupid, but I even called them once and was ripped off to the tune of $1.29 minute. Nothing like buying it all over again!! I ditched this piece of trash and now have Roxio Easy Media Creator 7 and it works great and their support for the one time I needed it is far better - received an email response in a day.

Not as good as Roxio Creator 7
I found DVD compatibilty issues with Nero during playback that Creator 7 did not have. There are also a lot more features and an easier user interface in Creator 7. ... Read more

Features

• Includes the simple-to-use TMPGEnc DVD Source Creator for easy encoding
• Add the power of 2-channel Dolby Digital Audio with the TMPGEnc Sound Plug-in AC-3
• Create your own titles, transitions and menus with a library of buttons and artowrk

Reviews (1)

A Great Graphics Labeler For Many Needs
At the time this review was written, a product description was not provided above. If this is still the case I would suggest you go to the Version 4.0 of this product listed on Amazon. You will also find customer reviews, lacking here at this time. The latest Version of this Product, is Version 4.3. Maybe the number was rounded.

Some items included with this package worth noting are: Label applicators for 5 ¼ Discs for both full and standard hub labels. In terms of ease of use for centering or placing the label correctly I would give Sure Things product a better rating than the Stomper or Fellows applicator I have used. It also comes with an applicator not listed on the box for something I am not familiar with.

In addition samples of the label stocks for the CD/DVD needs you might have are also provided. This might suggest they are more interested in selling labels than software. After using and seeing the output this software provides with the ease of use you might see why.

If you are looking for a product providing intuitive menus leading to great graphics and labeling, this is one from my limited experience I would highly recommend.
... Read more

Amazon.com Review

Admit it: After installing your first CD burner, you transferred everybyte of audio and data on your hard drive to CD simply because it was so coolthat you could. Whether you're an audio-CD burnaholic or simply perform theoccasional hard-drive backup, Easy CD Creator 5 offers excellent options forgetting the job done. This powerful program delivers an exhaustive collection ofdata transfer and formatting options behind a super-slick interface.

Pick just about any file format and this program provides an innovative way ofstoring it on CD. Burning an audio CD is a piece of cake for this tool, as iscreating a video CD and picture slide shows, transferring audio from a cassetteor phonograph to CD, and archiving a hard drive. A nifty CD label creator helpsorganize your archive as well.

As expected, audio CD burning options are comprehensive. In addition toCDA-formatted audio (playable in most CD players) a great feature converts MP3tracks into CD audio (and vice versa) and pumps up the audio quality of MP3files lost during compression before transferring the batch of tracks to disk. Asound-transition control allows you to fade songs out or in, add a gap betweentracks, or crossfade songs (great for mixed CDs featuring live recordings). Forthose party-mix CDs culled from various sources, a normalizer function smootheseach track's volume levels across the CD.

Easy CD Creator 5 is much more than an audio-CD burner. A photo-sharing toolframes pictures into self-running slide-show presentations that can be backedwith music. Videophiles will enjoy the video-CD capabilities. You can add anyQuicktime, AVI, or series of still images to the layout interface, configure thelayout, then burn the CD as an MPEG-1, viewable in compatible DVD players.

CD burning is a CPU-taxing endeavor that'll spit out flawed disks if thehardware isn't up to the task. Easy CD Creator 5 requires a 200 MHz CPU orfaster, and the recommended 64 MB RAM should be doubled to avoid those annoyingbuffer-overrun error messages. But if your system is up to par, Easy CD Creator5 should churn out CD after CD of beautifully formatted disks. --EricTwelker ... Read more

Reviews (391)

Easy CD Creator 5.0 Platinum Appears to be Working Fine
After I installed Windows XP Home Edition on my Dell 8200, I decided to update my 5.0 Basic edition to the Platinum edition. It appears to be working well after I installed it and its patches. However, do not restart the computer after installing the main program and after each patch as Roxio suggests or the program will not work. First install the main program, then xp_up_platinum.exe, then ecdc_v502c_up.exe. Finally, restart the computer.

CD Burning for Dummies
OK, so you just want to burn music CDs and save Data?? Then CD Creator Platinum 5 should be your #1 choice. In spite of what some of the previous reviews have to say, this product is the best and easiest format you can get. Make CDs, labels and save data simply and easily. If you want life to me more complicated than that, look at other products that do everything but shine your shoes, if of course you can figure out how to use them in six months or less. Roxio should still offer this product as the down and dirty option to the new and very complex products that they and other companies now offer. Find CD Creator Platinum 5 and buy it. It really does the job.

Windows XP Users Beware of the Product
Easy CD Creator works fine on older versions of Windows. But don't try to use it on anything newer than Windows 98. The program freezes so badly it can't be soft booted. The CD's are ruined forever. Sometimes the drive won't even open, it just keeps burning for hours and can only be stopped by a hard boot. The "fix" for Windows XP from the Roxio site took 50 mins. to download on dialup and then it failed! My advice is to avoid Easy CD Creator until Roxio comes out with a better product.

Better than Version 6
Although not perfect, I've used Roxio CD/DVD 6 Platinum and Nero 6, and returned to using this product. This should also be called "Burning CD's for Dummies", it is THAT easy to use. I've also used it to burn VCD's without a hitch. If all you want is a fast disk copier and compiler, this is for you.

one flaw
I'm actually quite satisfied with this software, except...

"DirectCD" (thier drag & drop feature) is buggy. I have CD Creator 4 on my old desktop and recently bought a laptop with CD Creator 5 pre-installed. Of course, the two versions are compatible when it comes to "burned" files, but all the files I had temorarily stored on a "Direct CD" disk were simply ERASED when I tried to access them on the new version!!!

I've painfully learned my lesson and will never trust Direct CD for anything important again. You should burn all your files on rewritable CDs to make sure they're cross compatible and don't get lost! ... Read more

Product Description

Capture and import any video from camcorders VHS tapes DVD recorders TV programs slideshows and digital filesImport and edit DVD discs recorded with set-top DVD recorders and play them on any DVD playerTake advantage of the latest technology to design personalized fun-to-watch DVDs with speed & unlimited creativityEnjoy and share professional-looking movies with motion menus on any DVD player or computer ... Read more

Features

• Capture and import any video from camcorders, VHS tapes, DVD recorders, TV programs, slideshows and digital files
• Import and edit DVD discs recorded with set-top DVD recorders and play them on any DVD player
• Take advantage of the latest technology to design personalized, fun-to-watch DVDs with speed & unlimited creativity
• Enjoy and share professional-looking movies with motion menus on any DVD player or computer

Reviews (1)

Ulead DVD MovieFactory 4
I have been using the try before you buy copy. And so far it has done everything that I have asked of it. I look forward to using the full version. I really like the fact that I do not have to use a menu with it. Which makes it like using a VCR and having the tape autoplay when you put it in. Menus are good if you are wanting to add extra stuff. But make no sense to me if you are only putting a movie on the DVD. I also found it easier to edit the beginning and ending of a movie. I look forward to using more of the features. ... Read more

Reviews (34)

Better than the rest.
So I bought a MiniDV Camcorder with FireWire (IEEE 1394) out and I wanted the best video editing software, but I also wanted something intuitive and fairly easy to use I also wanted something stable that wouldn't lock-up or crash my computer all the time. In my quest for the perfect video editing, burning package I tried Unlead VideoStudio, Sonic MyDVD/Mr. ShowBiz, Pinnacle Studio 8 and then finally ScreenBlast MovieStudio. All the other programs mentioned I found extreemly unstable (save Sonic MyDVD) and while some of them were super easy to use (e.g. Pinnacle Studio 8) that easy of use came at the price of flexability.

For video editing (primary what I was looking for) ScreenBlast Movie studio stood out above the rest with drag and drop video editing, it was the only program I found that took a multi-track approach to video and audio editing, this provides a great iterface for some of its FX (some of which are common only to high-end packages, such as Choma-Keying/bluescreening), the core engine of ScreenBlast MovieStudio is the same of Sony's higher end Vegas 4 product (Vegas 4 is the video editing counterpart to Adobe Photoshop and ProTools in my book, it has no equal for what it does), perhaps a better name for ScreenBlast MovieStudio would have been Vegas 4 Lite, but Sony wanted to make this product target a very specific market.

DVD burning is only average (this is the reason I'm only giving this 4 stars), Screenblast renders the MPEG-2 then hands it over to another program to burn the DVD (Sonic MyDVD actually), so you're limited to the average consumer grade menu editing structure, this is the weak point of this software, but you can always use a seperate program to burn your DVDs and author your menus (I perfer TMPEG DVD Author). This design seems awkward, but it's required because ScreenBlast Movie Studio (like Vegas 4) were designed to be a general multi-track audio/video editing software package, MPEG-2 (DVD preped video) is one of many codecs supported, the reach of this program goes out much further (you can even use it as a multi-track recording studio and ignore the video editing all togeather) the higher end Vegas 4 doesn't even come with DVD authorware unless you buy Vegas 4+DVD, you have to keep in mind these two products are both developed by Sonic Fondary and started off as the same application.

So if you want the most simple all-in one solution and you don't want to spend any time learning you might look elsewhere, if you want real power in the video/audio editing department (beyond cheesy effects) and you don't mind investing a few hours, look no further.

Great Value for the Price, with Some Exceptions
You get a lot for your money in an easy to use package. The instructions are easy to follow and the timeline approach is the best. Integrated Mpeg 1 & 2 output is a strong plus.

I have two gripes regarding this software. The software opens correctly, but as soon as I move the cursor over any area of the Media Pool window, the program instantly shuts down and exits back into Windows. This consistently happens after dozens of attempts to access the Media Pool window. There are no error messages. I can move my cursor over and access any other area of the screen including accessing the Transitions, Video FX, Text & Backdrops and Explorer tabs. I can still use the software using the Explorer tab, but this one bug still bothers me. I've heard from others that this is a fairly bug free and stable program, but I have run into this bug.

The claim that this software has "integrated" DVD burning is totally false. It comes with Sonic MyDVD 4.5, which is a purely standalone package and not a good one at that. Sonic should have included a lite version of DVD Architect with this package.

Excellent Editing Very Good Output
I've used Adobe Premiere in the past, excellent but too expensive, I tried Ulead what a horrible experience, pinnacle reviews said crash after crash. Based on the reputation of Video Vegas I gave this product a try and it is really excellent.

I've used it so far to create 2 online projects for work documenting team meetings and posting the video online. It's easy to work with different pieces of the timeline and then output them in an appropriate format like Windows Media 9.
Excellent integration with external codecs - quicktime, wmv, mpeg1 and 2, and real video. The only drawbacks I've found so far are no control over the output only fixed templates. For example if you wanted to fine tune the audio bit rate, SB will not let you do that. Oh well I guess it is an entry level package. Secondly, the outputted MPEG is a little bit halo prone. It's supposed to be main concept encoder, but since you are not allowed to tune it at all, there's no way to fix it.

Lastly the NTSC mpeg2 video it creates is actually non-compliant for DVD production, since it only supports mpeg audio. In the US you really should output either PCM or AC3 Stereo. Neither of those are an option. I've filed a bug against Sony, but they have not responded. If sony would allow a little more control over the output I would definitely give this package 5 stars.

First the pros: excellent stability, very easy to use capture, good editing capability, easy to generate output.
Cons: lack of control over output.

Get this if you want a "better" home movie.
Look, you want to make your home movies interesting to watch...right!? You want some flexibility in your video effects and transitions...right!? You want to score your clips to existing CD tracks...right!? You're not afraid of spending a few hours on your PC instead of using a cut/paste video editor...right!? Get Screenblast. This software is great for someone who is interested in quality video editing. Even if you're a beginner, the tutorials will walk you through every step. The only part I didn't like about the package, is the DVD authoring software from Sonic DVD (Not part of Screenblast). It's like working on Windows 98 with 32MB of RAM. Buy the cheaper version of Screenblast without My Sonic DVD and find something that let's you display more than five buttons per screen. Anyway, good luck and enjoy this crash-free, easy to use video editor.

Frustrating
I wish I had not purchased this software. It has many flaws. One, if you have several pictures on your timeline and wish to extend or shorten the play time of that particular picture, you have to edit ALL the pictures after it. Not much fun when you have 50 pictures up there! Pinacle automatically moves surrounding pictures, much easier! ... Read more

Features

• Burn the highest quality, most compatible CDs and DVDs
• Make exact copies of CDs or DVDs; backup valuable information
• Easily move from editing to burning to labeling
• Manages all optical types of media
• Re-edit DVDs and VideoCDs burned with OpenDVD technology

Reviews (7)

Perfect !!!!!!!!!!!!!
the reviwers above don;t know what theya re talking about. This is a very simple, good software.....

No problems wahtsoever. make sure you understand the intricacies of CD, DVD writing, compatibility etc etc. If you don;t understand, don;t just blame the software.

Good concept but has many bugs.....
Got this program with my new Dell computer. I spent hours putting together a great DVD with photo slides and videos. When I went to burn it to DVD it kept coming up with errors. I looked up the error on the website and it said that some sound or video files may be in a different format than what are supported by the program... so I created a new slide show with no music as a test - same errors appeared. The only way I got a DVD to burn was when I went directly from my camcorder to the DVD burner using this program. Lots of time wasted here. Very disappointed.

Absolute waste of money- will not create a viable DVD
Absolute waste of time and money. #1: install disk has a setup file that causes install not to work on some machines. Have to figure out on your own, through vague knowledge base, then download proper setup file and copy everything to HD to install. Already that's a lot of time wasted. #2: unable to consistenly capture from Sony D8 camcorder- MyDVD drops it intermittently, other capture apps capture fine. #3: after going through hoops to get video captured and ready to burn, after one or two failed attempts at burning (stability issue), final disk is not usable because audio and video are out of sync. #4: tech support is a joke. Nearly useless knowledgebase, unresponsive tech support staff. DO NOT PURCHASE IF YOU DON'T WANT TO WASTE LOTS OF MONEY AND TIME.

Good for burning DVD's
I use this for the basic function of taking video files I've created (using other software) and burning them onto a DVD. Sonic is simple to use and flawless at this. (Note that I haven't used the video editing tools though -- I use Pinnacle and MS Movie Maker -- so I can't speak to it's quality for that).

For making a DVD from a collection of video files, Sonic makes it simple to make interesting menus with background images, sound, etc.; preview your DVD; then burn it.

It also has a nice feature for taking a collection of digital photos and combining them with a background song (mp3) into a little slide show as one of the clips on a DVD.

I recommend it highly for these specific tasks.

Bad At The Basics
I received the deluxe version with my Dell Media Edition compter. While this program has many bells and whistles actually editing video is awkward and frustrating. Fine tuning is difficult. I'm trying to edit home videos plus edit commercials out of movies recorded from TV. While this process should be easy this program makes it much more time intensive than it should be. The program is also fairly unstable. It seems to regularly lock-up while working on files much larger than 1 or 2 gigs. And that's on a new computer with plenty of memory. ... Read more

Features

• Search the Internet for hundreds of online stations -- then record them directly to your PC memory
• Powerful recording tools let you capture audio from up to 8 stations at once
• Automatically deletes duplicate songs to save hard drive space
• Record music or talk from the Internet directly to your hard drive -- and add key information like song sname & title, for easier organization
• Rip, edit and convert your files with splits and fades, and convert freely between WMA, MP3 and WAV formats

Features

• Produce professional-looking VCDs, SVCDs, or DVDs
• Includes PhotoSuite 7, VideoWave 7, Napster 2.0, and Easy CD & DVD Creator
• Includes Wiley Publishing Roxio Easy Media Creator for Dummies book
• Includes Iomega Micro Mini 128 MB USB 2.0 drive and 3 Imation DVD+R 4x 4.7 GB discs
• Take complete control of video with advanced timeline editing tools