DVDStyler 2.5 implements subtle redesign, supports videos with no audio

Alex Thuring has released DVDStyler v2.5, a major new version of his open-source, cross-platform DVD authoring tool.

DVDStyler v2.5 makes it possible to create video DVDs from a wide range of movie formats, including most common ones, and comes with full menu-creation tools for crafting the perfect video DVD.

Version 2.5, also available in portable form for Windows PCs, comes with a number of notable new features, including support for video files without audio streams, new frame spinning controls and redesigned chapters and cell properties dialog boxes.

The most drastic design change has been implemented with the Chapters and Cell Properties dialog boxes, where users must now double-click a chapter entry to open a separate dialog box for placing chapter points into the movie.

More subtle changes have been made to the Video Properties dialog too, with the Fade In/Out options are now placed side-by-side rather than one on top of the other, while there’s a slight tweak to the timeline slider too.

Version 2.5 also adds a new frame spinning control, but we could find no evidence of it or how it works. Also added is support for a 700MB CD disc, and version 2.5 also gives users the option of justifying text on menus to the left and right.

DVDStyler 2.5 also adds support for video files that don’t contain any audio streams, plus SMPTE time codes in the chapter list. Users can also now set the default chapter length to zero in order to disable the creation of chapters.

A number of minor fixes have been implemented, including rendering of video buttons, and the display of the start and recording time. FFMPEG has also been updated to version 1.2, and some minor translations (Spanish – Argentina, and Hungarian) have been implemented.

DVD Styler v2.5 is a free, open-source download for Windows and Linux (the Mac version should follow shortly). Also available for Windows users is DVD Styler Portable 2.5.