Sonic Solutions Easy Media Creator 9 Suite

highly recommended

Posted Nov 5, 2006 - First an explanation about installation. It is not hard to do but I found the program wants the program disc for every program, at least the 1st time you use each one. I had to keep finding the disc until I figured it out and invoked every program. Once that was done it never asked for the program disc again. That was the only glitch I experienced. The disck authoring is smooth. I've created a library already since the process takes only a few minutes. I also like the new menu options so you can make simple menus or go all out and make artistic unique looking ones. I've tried merging some photos with the panaroma function and have gotten good results. This has spurred me to take digital photos of bigger scenes knowing that I can combine them later in the program.

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buggy

Posted Mar 15, 2007 - My video capture card (ATI AIW 9600Pro) is recognized by the video capture program. However, it is NOT recognized by the Plug&Burn program. Aren't they from the same company? Why would one recognize it and the other not? Plug&Burn is rendered useless by this. I need more flexibility on the burning configuration. I have a DVD burner from HG (HL-DT-ST DVDRR GSA-4166B). It can burn DVD+R Dual Layer at 4 speed. However, my disc is only 2.4 speed. Roxio MyDVD lists 4x as the ONLY speed. That's a good way to ruin a $2.00 disc. I may have to write an ISO image and then burn it to a disc using some other company's software. The video capture software appears under the Roxio 9 "Home" utility. However, it does NOT appear under the windows Start Menu with the other Roxio software. Therefore, I can't go directly to it like I can the other programs in the Roxio Suite. I have to go through the Roxio 9 "Home" utility to get to it. I CAN go directly to VideoWave. Other utilities/programs are also missing under the Windows Start Menu while they do show up under the Roxio "Home" utility.

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Extremely crash prone and serious usability problems

Posted Sep 13, 2007 - This product has serious quality problems worthy of the dot-O that follows its version number. Gosh, I wish I had waited for the dot-two version (9.2+) or ponied up $100 more for the Adobe product. The time that I've spent recovering from crashes, freezes, and amazingly slow performance could have paid for a much better product many times over. I still can't get over how slow it is just to insert a single 3MBpixel photo into my video...I had enough time to read several Google news articles before Roxio finished. At least it works 80% of the time, crashing only once every 30 minutes.

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I agree completely with Software_Bob.

Posted May 20, 2007 - I bought this program mainly for video editing in lieu of Adobe Premiere only because of the wealth of features. However, if the features don't work it defeats the purpose. I had a couple of minor glitches at install (and also was irritated with the constant registration of each module on 1st use?). It didn't like my ATI drivers and Roxio's solution was to reinstall everything including windows, when in fact, ATI had an easy fix on their website. If you've ever dealt with ATI tech support it really tells you a lot about Roxio's. My first task was to copy the install discs. The first disc took 1/2 hour to copy, the second about 4 minutes - a task that usually takes a minute or so on the same system with other burners. Roxio tried to blame the hardware which is not a problem for any other burning program and had no clue why there was even such a difference between the 2 copies. (Note: The hardware is neither outdated, obscure nor underpowered). Next, to test the music module, I recorded an internet stream of an album with 18 tracks (something I do often with Magix Audio Cleaning lab). It produced a .wav file of 1.8GB. I then went to the editing feature which would not open the .wav file giving an error message that the file was invalid? I couldn't open the file in Windows Media Player either. So, I tried my Magix program which indicated an information error in the file, but did open it and automatically fixed the problem and recognized all 18 tracks perfectly and ran in Media Player. I then tried it again in EMC9 and it did open, and I used the auto track recognition feature which marked 20 tracks (2 erroneously). Also, the quality of the recording was not as good as I usually get with Magix. The good news is that the video editing went smoother than anything else, but I haven't tried to burn to DVD yet. In essence, the program is useless in all respects if it can't burn discs properly which should be a no-brainer for this type of software. If the hardware/software meets or exceeds Roxio's own minimums without exceptions listed, then it is expected to work with that hardware/software. Roxio, like too many other software companies today want to blame everything except their pathetic programming and inadequate testing. Conclusion: I'm giving up on these "we do everything, but unfortunately we do it half-a**" programs and stick to ones that do one thing and do it well, and none will be from Roxio.

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"Easy" Media Creator

Posted Dec 21, 2006 - Easy Media Creator works for me since I burn multiple disks at one time. I usually burn 3 DVDs at a time and Easy Media Creator allows for this ability. You have to have multiple burners installed on your system though. I am not sure if Nero offers this feature. I do use Nero at work and it seems to work fine there.

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No stripped down programs in this suite

Posted Sep 29, 2006 - There are over 10 programs put they are tied together nicely. There is the main media menu where you can choose your files and type of projects. I'm a big fan of the music program. There is a wizard which will guide you thru the conversion of cassettes to the pc. It will also add the music track data automatically. Then you can create a disc, cd or dvd with the new digital music files, or put them on the iPod, cellphone, or whatever. I hear that there will be more sites where you can download HD and blu-ray movies. I have a big drive so I won't need to burn dvds yet. When the price comes down on the burners though at least I know I already have the software program.

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Truly one of the best

Posted Dec 3, 2006 - I didn't expect that this suite could handle all the photo editing I needed, but it does. From panaroma merging to cloning, there are superb tools to make changes. Another thing, you can work in layers so that you can keep making changes without affecting the work you want to save. Besides photo editing roxio has added some smart choices to the conversions. I'm interested in seeing more Blueray and their viewer can take advantage of the enhanced quality. Even better I like the new mobile device formats. I've asked for a PSP for Xmas and I don't have to purchase Sony's software since roxio 9 can do the video conversions.

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Good Reviews Can't be REAL!

Posted Apr 19, 2007 - These excellent reviews must be from Roxio employees! The 3 people I know who have bought this software are having constant problems with it. I am in the same boat. I use it mostly for video and my experience with it is awful. It is clumsy, slow and often (yes often) coughs up an error code that tells you nothing about why it fails. Roxie support has been no help in resolving any of the bugs. I am really sorry I spent money on Creator 9.

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Accessible programs fully loaded

Posted Oct 10, 2006 - At last a company thought of the need to manage mobile phones. Not only can you make ringtones and transfer them to your phone without bluetooth, but you can get your photos and videos onto your pc. I was thinking of getting a bluetooth supported phone, but I can put that off since creator 9 has the tools to manage media. At first the video, audio, and photo programs seemed to be the same as version 8, but then I noticed that more features are there. It may not be obvious at first, but it really shows when you try the enhancement tools. A new tool is the video audio clean up. Of course you can use that feature for audio files too. There are more templates for photo slide shows and menu creation too.

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I attempted a first-time install of Roxio EMC9 but ...

Posted Apr 10, 2007 - I attempted a first-time install of Roxio EMC9 but the install failed with an invalid key error. I contacted the vendor. They sent me a new key. Same error. I contacted tech support. They sent me a new key. Same error. I again contacted tech support. They told me to read their knowledgebase. The knowledgebase was full of people with the same problem who were not getting any answers from tech support. After all this, i bought Nero BurningROM instead and returned this product to the seller. Waste of time, waste of postage. At least it wasn't a waste of money for me.

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Enough changes to upgrade

Posted Oct 28, 2006 - Relative speaking the new version isn't that expensive so some version 8 owners may just upgrade. If you are making sure that you get your money's worth, then look at the new specs carefully. I decided to buy version 9 even though I bought 8 less than a year ago. I was so impressed with 8 that I even reviewed the product. Now that I have 9 I can say I'm not disappointed. The menus remain virtually the same but that almost hides the fact that there's a lot more features. My favorite program is the audio widget which records anything that plays on the pc. There is more timed control and a mute pc sounds button. There are many more choices for creating your own menus. The video editor now chops up footage into chapters. The burning part has added blueray. However you can convert video, photos, and music for use on portables. That includes the PSP portable, perhaps a more obscure format than ipod and mobile phones.

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More than new features - older programs also upgraded

Posted Sep 21, 2006 - In some ways the jump from 7.5 to 8 was more dramatic, perhaps that's why I had to download a major fix. I couldn't believe that 9 installed and worked without any downloads, even small patches. However noting that the move from 8 to 9 is smoother, that doesn't mean that the the new features are less meaningful. If you don't have some sort of digital music/video player, you're likely to get one in the near future. Besides the conversion and compression tools, ver. 9 also offers editing tools to cut out unwanted audio/video, or even to chop them into parts. My mp3 player is frankly cheap and w/o many features, so it's difficult to navigate a podcast. Instead I chopped up the audio into several parts so that I didn't have to worry about finding my place again if I were interrupted. The photo and video programs seem to have the same basic interface as 8, but there are additional tools. No doubt the video program is pumped up since it can handle 32 track editing. The menu creation for media navigation is better than ever. The templates are better looking and you can get some creative one of a kind menus.

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Countdown to Christmas with EMC

Posted Nov 15, 2006 - Since Xmas looms around the corner, I'll use my current projects to illustrate the software's capabilities: media projects: easy to make slide shows, cards, and calendars; even children can use the program photo editing: nice feature of being able to edit the photo while still in the project mode although the functions are limited here; more advanced functions can be accessed in the photo program like transparency, edge fading, cloning, panorama stiching video editing: can add soundtrack, cut video into chapters, add transitions, FX audio editing: imports from different sources including old nondigital recordings, makes transitions and fades disc authoring: just choose the media type and if the files need conversions the program will do them without user specification; disc copy by image creation, disc to disc methods menu/label creation: good number of templates, can use music index to create menu based on artist, genre, title, etc. These are the main program I'm using now. I'll have a background music dvd, slide shows in widescreen format, and some home movies ready for gifts, and all of it will be done with EMC. I'm getting tremendous mileage out of this one suite. Of course after Xmas I'll still have much use for it.

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more device support, more of everything really

Posted Oct 16, 2006 - To be fair emc 9 works with Vista so I don't know if performance would be better on the new OS. I have XP and only a 1.6 processor so I'm using a pc on the lower end of the spectrum. Still I can't complain, most of the tools do the job quickly. Portable devices are a welcome addition considering that most users of the suite have or will have a portable player. I was able to set defaults for my mobile phone so that video footage could be transfered almost instantly. The video size is adjusted accordingly. If you're into music, emc9 can handle recording, conversions, and editing. I've turned many of my cd songs into mp3 files. I was able to set the volume level too. Now that I see the possibilities, I may get a better pc so I can also burn blu-ray dvds. Of course the burners are ridiculously expensive so I'm on the lookout for a deal. At least I know I'll be ready since emc9 has the right tools.

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Astounding new features

Posted Sep 17, 2006 - There are some obvious changes to the program, new portable player tools. The program converts video footage for play on an iPod, PSP, or cellphone. There are a number of compression options to fit more footage on the player. These compression tools are also useful if you transfer from several discs or a larger capacity disc. You can use maximum compression and go from 9GB to 4.7 GB. I have a dual layer dvd burner but the discs are rather expensive so anything that can save space is a big plus. Another big addition is the ringtone creator program. There are a number of smaller programs which do this function, but I'm glad they included it in the suite. This suite covers more than I expected and I don't anticipate that I have to get any more programs to do digital media things.

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