I wanted to know what methods everyone is using to create:

1. Cool, custom menus for their blu rays and DVDs
2. How they actually create their DVDs (the final copy) / Blurays
3. With the most minimal OVERALL rendering time.

To tell you my current workflow. I got in to the whole editing / video making playing around with a trial version of Powerdirector (very easy to use program) and that had a built in feature to burn your project straight to DVD or Bluray with menu's.

I then learnt Sony Vegas thoroughly as I found it is so much more powerful in every way.

However, I still use Powerdirector to make my DVDs as i'm just used to it and familiar with 'creating creative' menu's through it.

Problem is, I render TWICE.

I render individual segments from my project using Sony Vegas and output them as 1080p HD .mp4 files and then throw them in to the timeline of Powerdirector, add chapters and make my DVD / Bluray with a custom menu with multiple layers which renders everything again.

Is there any program out their some one can recommend that allows you to get really creative in making menus for your DVDs/Blurays but is easy to use at the same time and which also lets you simply burn your rendered files from Sony vegas without re-rendering.

My current method works very well with minimal glitches. But I like experimenting with new programs.

I don't know how well Sony Vegas interfaces with DVD Architect Pro, but I know from the Adobe side, Premiere CS6 and Encore CS6 work together so that you only have to render once, when you're doing your final output.

Frankly, using PowerDirector and encoding to H.264 before rendering again for Blu-ray is probably dropping your quality down. It would be like recording .WAV audio, rendering it out to 192kps MP3 and then burning it to an audio CD. Ideally, PowerDirector should handle something a little bit more robust, like Lagarith, DNxHD, or even Cineform (though that costs money).

If I know my delivery media is going to be disc, I try to shoot in a format that is supported by the disc. For example, if I'm going to Blu-Ray I may shoot in 1080i60 or p24. On a simple project, I will edit everything in Premiere Pro CC then render the project in the same format. Because it is the same format, it renders very quickly. I then bring the footage into Adobe Encore CS6 which checks the format and determines it is already coded for the media. I add my menus, run a check, and burn to ISO. Encore will only transcode the non-compliant assets which greatly speeds up the process. I prefer to make the ISO file first, then burn the disc using whichever writing program works best for the media. As for cool menus, I make most of my menus from scratch in Photoshop CC and then import them into Encore.

Bob

Thanks for the input.

Encore looks like my best bet to really get creative as I can use Photoshop as well.

Encore looks like my best bet to really get creative as I can use Photoshop as well.

Just keep in mind that Adobe has EOL'd Encore past CS6. So ideally you will use CS6 instead of CC for this. You can install Encore with CC, but Premiere/Photoshop won't communicate directly and you're back to rendering intermediates again, however Premiere will render an Encore ready file so that you don't have to render twice.

You can install Encore with CC, but Premiere/Photoshop won't communicate directly and you're back to rendering intermediates again, however Premiere will render an Encore ready file so that you don't have to render twice.
Encore CS6 and Photoshop CC do communicate without issues. I use Edit Menu in Photoshop in Encore CS6 and Photoshop CC opens, edits, saves the menues without any issues. :)

Same here, I`m using Encore 5.5 & Photoshop CS, no problem!