I've been a faithful user of TEMPGEnc's DVD Author for years, to edit mpegs from shows I've recorded off the TV. It has a speedy mpeg encoder and is easy to use, but limited in features, although I made some really slick menu backgrounds and buttons in Photoshop, since DVD Author can import .psd files.

I'm considering upgrading to Authoring Works 4 for a number of expanded features, including the ability to edit AVCHD and some slick pre-made templates.

Is anybody out there using this program for this (or another) purpose? I'm looking for some feedback before I plunk down the money...

I've used it with an Sony HDR-HC3 HDV camcorder to burn blu-ray and it works well. They've upgraded the interface and the transcoding time is very good. You can also do pop-up menus on blu-ray disks.

However, I can't seem to do a full render of blu-ray content. If I "smart render" (no transcode) I can complete a blu-ray disk but a full transcode of all the files always crashes my PC (not just crash but reboots Windows XP altogether. It's not a BSOD because I've got that turned on... I've got 200gb free of HD space and 4gb of memory on an intel dual core system). TMPGenc says it's a hardware issue on my side and offers little other help. I got around this with my Sony camcorder but when I upgraded to a Canon HFS10 last month I *had* to do a full render and, alas, couldn't get anything to build.

Also note that TAW4 will only transcode to MPG2 and not h.264.

Don't get me wrong, I *like* TMPGenc Authoring works 4... I'm just frustrated with it at the moment.