Windows Bluray Authoring Solutions: Encore CS5 or DVDA 5.2?

[Bryan Daugherty]

I edit on a 64 bit Windows 7 system and will not switch O/S at this time. I have been editing with Vegas for about 5 yrs and Premiere for about 3 yrs off and on. For my own projects, I love Vegas and for editing/effects/compositing/etc I am very thrilled with it. Premiere (CS4) I use with only one client that I subcontract for. I have never used Encore or After Effects. I have been shooting all projects in Sony HDV for the last 2.5-3 yrs and delivering entirely in SD widescreen DVD. I currently shoot in HDV (1080i), edit in an HD 1080p project, and render out as 480p (1.2121 PAR). I have tested several projects as Bluray in DVD architect 5.0 (authoring software that comes with Vegas Pro 9.0) with little success for playback compatibility or features.

At this time, I am considering an upgrade to Vegas Pro 10/DVDA 5.2 or Production Premium CS5. One of my major considerations in this upgrade is Bluray authoring. From what I can tell Sony still seems to be ignoring Bluray authoring features and simply offering the same stock features as DVD-r only in HD. I see no mention of pop-up or fly-out menus and this is a huge feature for customers. I also read some time ago that the pop-up/fly-out menu feature in Encore was glitchy in practice.

Can I get some feedback from users about your experiences with these products? I really want to start delivering BD-RE delivery with more than just auto-play or DVD-r style interface that has compatibility in multiple players. What would you recommend here? Thanks.