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Want to burn music to CDs and video to DVDs? You don't need separate applications, following Sonic's announcement of MyDVD Studio Deluxe 5, the company's first all-in-one product for creating multimedia DVDs and CDs, as well as upgrades to its MyDVD product line.

Sonic's upgraded MyDVD applications focus on ease of use and are designed so that beginners can burn their first DVD within ten minutes of firing up the products, says Charles Wiltgen, Sonic's product marketing manager. Under the hood, however, Sonic's MyDVD application has the same engine found in professional Hollywood-level products, he adds.

MyDVD Studio Deluxe 5, considered the flagship product of the line, includes both Sonic's MyDVD application for burning DVDs, and its RecordNow Deluxe application for burning CDs. You launch and use each program separately, but they have similar interfaces for easier operation and come packaged in the same $99 application suite.

The programs are also bundled on a number of DVD and CD burners.

New Functions

The upgraded MyDVD application includes integrated video editing, so users can edit videos in real time inside the application, with no rendering, Wiltgen says. The video-editing features support titles and credits. The latest MyDVD also offers chapter point editing, which lets you create chapters similar to those generated in professional DVD releases.

Also new in MyDVD 5 is Dolby Digital encoding, which enables you to fit 20 to 50 percent more video on one disc.

MyDVD 5 includes Sonic's OpenDVD technology for reediting previously burned rewritable DVD discs. This feature has been available in previous versions, but users haven't always been aware of it, Wiltgen says.

"People are often afraid, once they burn a disc, it's frozen. So this relieves one major discomfort for users. They know they can go back in to that disc they've created and add more content," he says.

On the audio side, MyDVD Studio Deluxe includes Sonic's RecordNow application. It supports audio CD creation, disc copying, data backups, and unlimited MP3 ripping. Other features in MyDVD Studio Deluxe are a software-based DVD player and integrated disc-labeling tools.

More MyDVDs

Sonic is also releasing several stand-alone versions of its MyDVD application.

MyDVD Studio Video Edition 5 offers CD and DVD video authoring tools for $80. It includes the integrated video-editing features and the software-based DVD player found in the Deluxe version.

MyDVD Deluxe 5 offers CD and DVD video authoring, with integrated video editing, in a $70 package. MyDVD 5 offers basic CD and DVD video authoring for $50.

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