Roxio Easy Media Creator 7.5 review

When we reviewed Roxio's Creator 7 back in June 2004, we were suitably impressed.

For a smidgen under £70 it provided tools to perform just about every CD or DVD related job you could think of. Since then, Roxio has been bought by another software company, Sonic. This new version of the Creator includes some of Sonic's software as well, making it even better value than before.

Like its predecessor, Creator 7.5 gives you the tools you'll need to perform almost any job on your PC that's somehow, even remotely, connected to your CD or DVD writer drive. On running the software you're shown the home screen, which allows you to start a new project or open a recent one. The projects you can start are divided into five categories: music, data, photo, video and DVD. Clicking on a project then opens the software window you'll need to get started.

This is not to say that Creator will walk you through every task, though. Selecting 'Copy tracks from audio CD', for example, doesn't scan your CD and ask where to place the music files; it simply opens the Creator Classic window. From here you're only three clicks away from starting the copy process, but you might need to look at the large paper manual to work out how to do it. The manual is comprehensive, but we were annoyed to see that it didn't organise its content in the same clear way that the software itself does.

The tools on offer in Creator cover all of the traditional uses for CD and DVD discs, such as copying music and data. There's also a complete set of tools for digital camera users, which help you copy pictures from your camera, adjust them, then create a slideshow on DVD. Creator 7's excellent video editing options are also still included. These help you capture video from a camcorder and edit it into a finished project before burning it to DVD. The video editing software isn't as good as dedicated packages like Adobe Premiere Elements, but it's more than good enough for beginners taking their first steps. Roxio's DVD copier has been much improved since the last version we saw. It won't copy protected movie discs, but we created a perfect copy of one film in about half an hour.

All of the new features are similarly impressive. The DivX to DVD creator copies films downloaded from the Internet in DivX format to a video DVD in minutes with no fuss. There's also a new function for converting LPs and tapes to CD, which helps to walk you through the methods needed to connect your turntable and PC with clear diagrams. Best of all, though, is the new backup tool. This uses Sonic's BackUp MyPC software, and has a simple wizard to help you choose files and store them away for safekeeping. It's easy to use, and effective.

These new features add significantly to Creator 7's already impressive abilities. If you've bought a PC with a DVD writer and want to see what you can do with it, this is the perfect package.

Author: Tom Royal