[George Knochel]

Yes, most of the YouTube “training” isn’t much true coursework type training.

I’d recommend training you pay for, such as Lynda.com, Ripple Training, and Color Grading Central masterclass, to fully learn DaVinci Resolve. These are full courses, with practice media, so you can follow along with the instructors, who are very good teachers.

[George Knochel]

Well, I’ve tried the past three days to try and purchase DaVinci Resolve 12.5 Studio, with dongle, and everyone is Out Of Stock!

First I tried the BlackMagic Online retailers listed on their site, such as B&H Photo and Adorama, etc. Nope. Out of Stock, “don’t know when we will be getting some in (or even if we will?) . . . But it is at least listed at $299 now.

Then I tried some local stores (some just guys working out of their house), listed for my state, and the same story. Out of Stock and one said “oh, we don’t carry that anymore”. What?

Nobody really seems to care, is the feeling I get. Even BlackMagic, because they could have seen this chaos coming, one would think. Changing from dongle-based to license based, why didn’t they simply offer the newest 12.5.5.026 version also in a license based for example, with download and payment straight through BlackMagic?

So, does anyone know anything? I asked BlackMagic Support by email, haven’t received any reply yet. I called their 1-401 Support phone number, was put on hold, and hung up after 18 minutes waiting. Great service. Guess they don’t really want to sell it.

[George Knochel]

I just used Premiere Elements 14 for DVD authoring, of a memorial video I just finished with Final Cut Pro X on my Mac. Premiere Elements has many different types of templates. You can bring in your finished .mov or .mp4 or whatever file into Elements, then use the “Chapter Markers” to mark points on your timeline, and make each marker a DVD marker, either for the Main Menu DVD menu page, or one of your Scene Selection markers. Then also put an END marker at the end of the timeline. For each marker, you can choose the thumbnail picture or motion that you want for that marker.

Then click the bottom TOOLS button and choose DVD Menu, choose a type of template you want, and it will automatically come up with the Main Menu, plus as many Scene Selection menus as needed for all the markers that you put on the timeline. Then when you PREVIEW the MENUS, you can see that it highlights each scene selection as you move over it, either with a DVD remote or with your mouse.

And yes, many templates let you drag and drop any picture or video you want to be the background of the menu. I’ve used Encore years ago, but Elements is much quicker and easier to use.

[George Knochel]

I just used Premiere Elements 14 for DVD authoring, of a memorial video I just finished with Final Cut Pro X on my Mac. Premiere Elements has many different types of templates. You can bring in your finished .mov or .mp4 or whatever file into Elements, then use the “Chapter Markers” to mark points on your timeline, and make each marker a DVD marker, either for the Main Menu DVD menu page, or one of your Scene Selection markers. Then also put an END marker at the end of the timeline. For each marker, you can choose the thumbnail picture or motion that you want for that marker.

Then click the bottom TOOLS button and choose DVD Menu, choose a type of template you want, and it will automatically come up with the Main Menu, plus as many Scene Selection menus as needed for all the markers that you put on the timeline. Then when you PREVIEW the MENUS, you can see that it highlights each scene selection as you move over it, either with a DVD remote or with your mouse.

And yes, many templates let you drag and drop any picture or video you want to be the background of the menu. I’ve used Encore years ago, but Elements is much quicker and easier to use.

[George Knochel]

Rob,

You may find this technique useful, from Cinemalhoa

https://www.fcp.co/forum/4-final-cut-pro-x-fcpx/21739-stabilization-and-multicam-clips

George

[George Knochel]

So far, nobody has mentioned Adobe Premiere Elements 13, their latest consumer Video/still editing and DVD authoring product.

I have used Premiere Elements since version 1, in 2004, to do many DVDs for relatives and friends, and it will do Blu-Ray also. All in one product, has the basics and complex types of edits for video and stills, and very good DVD authoring, with around 75 nice Menu templates, and more can be found for it by searching the internet.

The DVD authoring is easy, and does multiple menu screens and buttons, etc., — I use both this one and Adobe Encore CS6, but this Premiere Elements is easier than Encore and enough for my needs.
Costs around $87 at Amazon, download for the Mac or PC, or choose “Platform Mac/PC” for the retail box, which has install discs for both the Mac OS X and PC Windows, and use on both computers, but not at the same time.