15-Minute Reviews :: Apollo DivX to DVD Creator v4.6.6

Hello all and welcome to another 15-Minute Review! Today’s application is Apollo DivX to DVD Creator version 4.6.6 by Apollo Multimedia Software – An application to help you convert your AVI files to DVD.

Software Description

As Giveaway of the Day states:

“Apollo DivX to DVD Creator transcodes and burns movie files into DVD disc. With DVD encoding and burning engine integrated you can easily Merge up to 4 hours of multiple movies or episodic files to standard MPEG2 Video and burn it into a DVD±R/RW disc that playable on car or home DVD player. Apollo DivX to DVD Creator supports most popular format on internet such as Divx, Xvid, AVI and stream formats.supports both NTSC and PAL TV system. Supports widescreen and standard TV.”

Quick Pros

• Easy-to-use one page interface
• Supports any AVI file you have the codec for
• Conversion and creation is very quick
• Resulting quality is what is expected

Quick Cons

• No editing functionality at all
• Lacks drag and drop functionality
• Really short on options

Expansion

Hot on the heels of the title Apollo DVD Creator review when it was posted on Giveaway of the Day two days ago, comes Apollo DivX to DVD Creator. While I was expecting an identical interface to the other application, I was surprised when I did launch the application for the first time; Instead of a three-tabbed wizard-like interface, Apollo DivX to DVD Creator uses a single window layout. On the top half of the screen is a table area which lists the files you’ve added to the current projects, including Add and Delete plus two buttons to rearrange the order of the videos. Below this is a meter showing how much space you have remaining on a DVD as well as a preview window and the settings. Overall it is simple to get going, but most of the simplicity comes from the lack of control over function.

While the application indicates it only supports DivX, in reality it supports DivX, xvid and all the other AVI codecs, so long as the codecs are available on the system. It does also support MPEG-2 formatted files. While this is not as many file formats as DVD Creator has, it does cover quite a few formats nonetheless. You do need to ensure you have the codecs on your system first (Trying to play back your videos to make sure they play back properly.)

As with DVD Creator, DivX to DVD Creator is extremely quick in its conversion process. I tested the same videos as I used last time (Since they were AVIs) – 4 minutes and 48 seconds worth. The actual conversion process seemed a hair faster at 1 minute and 39 seconds (About 10 seconds quicker), which is a reasonable speed indeed, considering some of the other applications I’ve tested in the past taking multiples of time to re-encode. The resulting file quality was also acceptable as well, which I am pleased at.

Some downfalls here however. While DVD Creator only had one editing function for the input videos, trimming, this application has no editing functionality, which means you’ll likely want to break out another software title (VirtualDub is one of my favorite) to do your editing. As well, I did notice in this title the lack of drag and drop functionality to add videos; Making you first use the little Add button (Which looks like a film strip) to find the videos to add.

In my opinion, the weakest portion of this application is the lack of advanced output options. Currently, there is only the choice between PAL and NTSC formatting, and aspect ratio. I’m surprised there is not a choice offered to change encoding options or anything, though granted this application is geared towards being as simple to use as possible, so adding these options would take away from this aspect as well.

Final Verdict

If simplicity and ease-of-use is what you need, and not a lot of options to confuse you, this application may be a good choice for you. If you’re looking for a bit more punch, such as options over your output beyond the basic options as well as the capability to edit the files some before going onto your DVD, you may want to continue hunting a bit more. As for getting this application for free, it does what it is intended, albeit a bit weak, it may be worth taking a look to see if it is what you like; If nothing else, the sheer speed of processing videos may be worthwhile to you. As for paying $24.95 for this title, I would have a difficult time justifying the price with the lack of video editing functions. An alternative I do use is a title called Sothink Movie DVD Maker which provides much of the same functionality as this title, and is free.

Posted by BladedThoth on Wednesday, November 07, 2007