Magix Movies on CD and DVD 5.0 review

In case the name doesn't give it away, Movies on CD and DVD is designed to take video from a variety of sources and stick it on to optical discs for playback in DVD players and PCs.

The crude name isn't an accident, though: Magix hopes to attract users who want simple, quick results without having to master the intricacies of PC video production.

You can import footage from hard disk, MiniDV cameras, video capture devices and both analogue and Freeview TV cards. It even has an electronic programme guide (EPG) built in for scheduled recordings, although after a 60-day trial period it costs £15 a year. You can use DVDs without CSS encryption as a source and there's an option to re-compress dual-layer DVDs to fit a single-layer disc, but this process is short of options and painfully slow.

Magix suggests you can copy encrypted DVDs by plugging your set-top player into a video capture device, although copying commercial DVDs is illegal and Macrovision copy protection means it's unlikely to work. The software presents the import options clearly, but importing files from hard disk incurred lengthy delays as the software inspected files.

An Edit tab offers various basic video-editing tools. Some, such as cropping and automatic colour correction, could be useful, but they're buried under a confusing interface with too many superfluous features and options. The Burn disc tab presents basic DVD menu design tools. While it has a sensible range of options for customising discs, the interface is a little perplexing and doesn't guide new users through the process.

Movies on CD and DVD is a well-conceived product, but not as easy to use as it should be. Unless scheduled TV recording and the EPG are essential features, we'd recommend Ulead's DVD MovieFactory 5 instead; see What's New, Shopper July 2006 for details.