What is everyone using as a replacement for Encore?

Copied from another message... I have NO personal knowledge

An alternative forum https://forums.creativecow.net/adobeencoredvd
Both do author Blu-rays but DVD Architect has problems with H.264 so using MPEG2 is a must
Encore alternative http://tmpgenc.pegasys-inc.com/en/product/taw6.html
Also https://www.vegascreativesoftware.com/us/dvd-architect/

Hi T

You really don't have many options these days if you remove Scenarist from the equation, although it must be said that here.

Scenarist is the only optical disc authoring tool still under active development, and still supported. They have tools for both SD (DVD) and HD (Blu-ray) with Scenarist SD and Scenarist BD respectively, and we own perpetual licenses for both as well, so no pesky subscription fees that leave you with nothing as soon as you stop paying. Just sayin', and getting back on subject now. The downside is that these are neither of them what you could ever call budget tools. The upside is that not only are they still actively supported (which means you get bugfixes and first-class one-on-one support when you run into things you cannot work out - and they will arise as this is full-spec authoring to full industry standard, the entire DVD specification on tap right here and it is seriously bloody good at it too with for me just 2 major flaws, one of which is due to get fixed if not done in the new v5 (will be updating my 4.x version when I have got current jobs out of the way as it's a pain to archive a project before completion and madness to swap whole versions mid-project too).

Another upside is that when you compile there are options that will speed things up, such as outputting the DDP cutting master at the same time as the playable proof image so your play testers are certain in the knowledge they are testing the same multiplex that is used for the masters.

For DVD, there is another option as well - it's discontinued now but there are still support forums that are watched over by people I trust implicitly in their advice and have no hesitation in recommending it even though it is now what it is, and that is Media Chance Labs 'DVD-Lab Pro 2'. This - come to think of it, all DVD authoring tools, should be used in conjunction with a superb piece of donationware called 'PGCEdit' which is literally the Swiss Army Knife of DVD authoring, allowing you access to edit any commands, colour options and even routing of any playlist in the DVD without having to go bak into the authoring tool to re-author the disc. As long as the basic elementary streams are good, you can fix anything at all with PGCedit, save the project (which will back up the original IFO/BUP files that are what a player uses to access the VOB content files in the disc and it is these that PGCEdit can manipulate) and burn a new proof disc if required, or even just preview the edited VIDEO_TS folder. It is truly indispensible. 

Back to DVD-Lab 2 though. This really is a high end authoring tool and it is seriously cheapp as well as with a full feature enabled free trial, although the website does not say how long if I recall it is either 21 or 30 days. It does assume a certain amount of basic understanding of the DVD structure, but there are superb tutorials for those who are only familiar with full abstraction layer tools such as Encore was - DLP2 is capable of 3 modes of operation, either with or without abstraction layer enabled, or a partial abstraction layer mode where it only supplies limited commands. This is massively useful if you are creating Video_TS projects for use other than a standalone DVD-Video disc plus it allows you to directly manipulate the VM Command codes from various objects to custom VM scripting - something Encore users were after throughout it's development & tragically short life. Better still, it has a built-in syntax assistant for custom scripting. Scripting can be done in addition to abstraction layer commands, either prior to them or after them, or else it can replace the AL commands altogether. This results in a much leaner, faster disc with no frippery enabled except for code you write yourself or, if you want, a hybrid job with sections in each method. It all depends on what you wannt to do, and again DLP gives you full, 100% access to the whole DVD format.

Master output is limited, and it cannot do DDP master images or add any encryption flags such as CSS or Cinavia, but personally I believe these to be a futile waste of time & money for the developers. You will require a 3rd party DDP image creation tool however, unless the factory accept Video_TS folders or ISO images, should be okay with DVD5 single layer but DVD9 requires mastering to DDP or CMF-DDV standard. There are various options, depending on your setup.

All the above is PC only, Scenarist 64-bit, DLP likewise IIRC but may also have a 32-bit option. I cannot remember.

I highly recommend all the above. What to do for Blu-ray is another matter though, as Scenarist is expensive & like all full-spec tools, PC only. You may also want to check out DVD Logic though, as these guys make some great software including gems like DVD ReAuthor (great for tweaking an existing disc - run the process & open the results immediately in Scenarist SD for editing) as well as a few budget to semi-pro Blu-ray tools.

It's a crying shame Adobe have never tried to resuscitate Encore. I am certain Scenarist LLC would license an authorcore again, and where Encore filled a unique place in the market was not it's ability to integrate with the other Adobe tools (although let us be honest that in itself is enormous) but it's ability to handle both DVD and Blu-ray and do this cross-platform too - nobody else ever did this and still don't. Scenarist needs separate installations & licenses for SD/BD and you certainly cannot set things up to do both from a single project. Adobe had something unique that should have been huge if they had spent the time to develop it properly. I still remember 15 and more years ago trying to get the devs to alllow scripting & better surround support - it was all there in the AuthorCore SDK, it just needed the Encore GUI to control it's access. But it was dropped, and the excuse was "DVD is dead", which it certainly is not.

I am always happy to try & help with any of the tools above