Cinematize 2 Pro - 2.03

I have a forthcoming project where I need to convert DVD-Video to DV, edit it, and convert it back to DVD-Video. There seems to be three programs that can handle the initial conversion: Cinematize Pro, DVDxDV Pro and MPEG Streamclip (HandBrake only outputs to MPEG-4 and H.264).

I found DVDxDV Pro to have too simplistic an interface and a lack of encoding options. I also had problems with interlacing in the DV output that I could not fix and the quality suffered greatly as a result. MPEG Streamclip provided many more options, but the DV output seemed to be cropped slightly even though this wasn't set. It's quality was also noticeably worse when compared to the original DVD. I'm not sure if these problems were linked but no combination of settings seemed to fix them. However it is free and is definitely worth a try.

Finally I tried the Cinematize Pro demo. This has a comprehensive set of options for video and audio output, as well as subtitles, in a well laid out interface. The quality of the DV it produced was extremely high, almost indistinguishable from the original DVD, and had no other problems. It also has an excellently written manual. The only thing I would really like to see is single frame stepping when setting in/out points.

Out of the three programs I would definitely say that Cinematize Pro has the best combination of ease of use, flexibility and certainly quality of results, and I hope to purchase it soon.

There shouldn't be any problems installing Cinematize Pro. Users who have reported problems generally find that they arise from one of the following two possibilities. If neither of them apply to your situation, please email us at <support@miraizon.com> and we will be happy to assist you.

A. Your computer has a permissions problem
Solution: Do a repair permissions operation as follows:
1. Go to your /Applications/Utilities folder
2. Run the Disk Utility tool
3. Highlight your hard drive on the left and click Repair Disk Permissions

B. You already have a version of Cinematize Pro installed on your computer
Solution: Check the version of Cinematize Pro by choosing "About Cinematize Pro" from the "Cinematize Pro" menu. If you have an older version of Cinematize Pro installed, uninstall it first as follows:
1. Drag the folder "Cinematize 2 Pro" containing the application to the trash.
2. In the Finder, choose Go>Go To Folder and type "/Library/Receipts".
3. Drag the file "Cinematize2ProInstaller.pkg" to the trash.
4. In the Finder, choose Go>Go To Folder and type "~/Library/Preferences".
5. Drag the file "com.miraizon.cinematize2pro.plist" to the trash.
6. Empty the trash.

Then, install the latest version of Cinematize Pro and things should work.

Got an error message and it would not install. Too bad...wanted to give it a whirl but it never took off!

Demo worked out so I bought Pro and so far it delivers. Frankly, I did not read a page of the manual (PDF) and bought the download version. Point being: I could run the program w/o the manual if I had to! Read - intuitive.

But I did scan the manual while I waited for the first extraction and had I looked at it FIRST I might have been scared away. Appears very deep technically, but that is a good thing. Better than treating users like baboons.

Time will tell, but I think it will do what it promises and better than the usual shareware that only copies VOB files and never tells you how to actually turn those into editable DVD or iMovie files.