Video and Disc Images
Working with video in Ashampoo Burning Studio 7 went well. The disc copy function was quick and easy, copying data cd’s and dvd’s as well as video discs. BS7 will not, however, make a copy of a commercial disc. You’re on your own there. The RIAA is watching.
Making a video DVD was effortless. I used a wide variety of video formats, from .wmv to .avi. I burned 2 avi files totaling about 1400megs as a video DVD. The entire encoding and burning process took about 2 hours on my machine, which, I’m sorry to say, isn’t exactly bleeding edge of technology. The disc played on my home theater system, the kid’s $30 dvd player, and the Sony Playstation.
As you add files to a video DVD project, BS7 automatically prepares to burn at the highest quality possible. As you add more files, it reduces the quality to make the project fit on the media. Most other apps I’ve used, you had to do this manually, at least clicking a couple warning boxes.
I created VCD and SVCD discs from mpg’s and wmv’s, then made some disc images. Ashampoo will create and burn in usual image formats including .iso and bin/que./
One impressive bit is that even though I used about 8 CD-R’s, and 6 or 7 DVD-R’s, I did not end up with a single coaster. I usually ended up with at least one every time I tried to use Nero.
One thing I wanted to touch on was the performance variation from machine to machine. I was perusing the user reviews on BS7 at CNET and noticed the wide variety of comments. As usual, you dump the extremes at both ends of the spectrum as whack-jobs…erm…’statistical anomalies’ but are still left with users who report that BS7 was blazin fast and exactly as advertised, as well as users bemoaning 9-hour video conversions and stacks of coasters.
I have personal experience to add to that, BS7 would hand me an ambiguous error box each time I tried to add an .avi to a video DVD. Contrary to some reports in the CNET reviews, I had a reply from Ashampoo’s support team in less than a day. I use VLC from Videolan.org for my media player, which requires no codecs, so I never even thought of codecs as a possible issue. The support staff had me install a pack of codecs, and all is well. So, remember, if you have trouble with this software, look at the usual suspects. Poorly coded app in memory or trojan that got by your malware solution and is randomly gobbling memory or CPU cycles and borking a burn? Bad memory? Computer trying to do too much at once? I can’t count how many times I’ve been told by someone “I have NOTHING open!” only to look down at the 2 dozen or so icons in the system tray. Don’t forget, of course, missing codecs.
Overall, I was impressed with the software. Not so much with the download/registration process though. I have now received nearly 15 emails from Ashampoo in the week or so since I first handed over my address. I know I mentioned that before, but I got another one a little bit ago, and it stirred me up a bit. Steven isn’t the only one around here who gets cranky. Ask my wife.
Like Crossloop, the interface is nice and clean, everything I want is easily at hand. However, Ashampoo has, for those of us who like to feel a little more involved in the experience, expert functions. I do not call myself an expert on anything, for responsibility usually follows such an admission. At any rate, if you prefer a little more control, you can change filesystem settings, enable Joliet and UDF, even make bootable discs.
In the Internet tab in the taskbar, you find an option entitled ‘Buy Recordables Online’. This takes you to an Ashampoo website where you can order and purchase all types of recordable media. The prices aren’t too bad, either. Very interesting. Didn’t expect that one.
I hope I’ve managed to cover enough to give the readers a good idea of the benefits of Ashampoo Burning Suite 7.
Pros: Clean design, full-featured yet simple to use, reasonable price. Good support.
Cons: Email advertising after download is over-the-top. The one error message I got was completely useless for fixing the problem.
See Also: Ashampoo Burning Studio 7 – Part One
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