Leawo Blu-ray Creator is perfect for decrypting and burning Blu-ray discs, but it is less effective for ripping to different media types or video editing. If you want to make a backup copy of your favorite Blu-ray movie, Leawo is the software for you. With Leawo, you can easily organize and edit video clips to prepare them for burning to a play-ready Blu-ray Disc. The video editing capabilities are basic, but useful. You can adjust colors and lighting to optimize the look of your home video and give it a finished touch. With this Blu-ray burning software package, you can even stamp the finished product with one or more watermarks or logos to give your video a professional touch. With this list of features, backed by its perfect set of decryption capabilities, Leawo Blu-ray Creator wins our TopTenREVIEWS Silver Award.
Perhaps Leawo's greatest downfall is its burning speed. While it isn’t the slowest application we reviewed, it did take more time to complete a full copy than the other products in our comparison. At 103 minutes per copy, Leawo comes up short to the tune of around 20 minutes. If you’re producing large numbers of Blu-rays (IE: backing up a substantial collection in its entirety) then this could add up quickly and become a hassle. However, if you’re just making a one-off copy or you’re convert BDs as you buy them, you won’t likely notice the time differential.
Beyond that, what Leawo gives up in speed, it makes up for in spades of quality. The BDs that Leawo produced were some of most clean and crisp transfers we saw in our tests. This is the perfect software for backing up your prized Blu-ray collection in all of its high-definition glory. If you’re willing to wait an extra few minutes for the software to finish its burn, you will be rewarded with near-perfect copies for your viewing pleasure.
If you’re concerned that you won’t be able to back-up some of your favorite Blu-rays, let Leawo assuage your fears; Leawo provides decryption capabilities for every type of Blu-ray protection currently in use. Don’t worry, your first-edition Avatar Blu-ray can rest safely in its jewel case while you enjoy the film from your freshly burned backup copy.
The menu maker is simple, but it's only somewhat customizable; all the templates consist of a background image and a list of options in the center of the screen. Chapter selection menus are composed of six boxes with thumbnail clips and a decorative border. If you are picky about design, you may be frustrated to discover that although the background image and background music are fully customizable, you can't choose the border style. You will be stuck with whatever design the template starts you off with. Nevertheless, the menu creation tool is more than sufficient and you will be able to assemble everything in a snap.
Although the application performs well in most circumstances, we were surprised to discover some stability issues. The most inhibiting problem we encountered was with the built-in video player on the right half of the screen. Every time we attempted to play a video in this player, the entire application ceased to function and spontaneously shut down. This could naturally become very frustrating if you need to watch the clips while you arrange them. Frequent saves and backups are advisable. The video editing tools also could have run more smoothly. The image jittered and did not look professional.
Leawo’s Blu-ray Creator is fantastically easy to use. We had no problem ripping, configuring and burning our Blu-ray discs while touring Leawo’s list of features. While we had the occasional hiccup with the software as it was running, any issue we had was easily and quickly solved. The list of output formats is slim, but when all you want to do is copy a Blu-ray, this is a complete non-issue. And it makes the whole process much smoother; no more deciphering lengthy filetype descriptions to find the one you want—Leawo just works.
We experienced no problems at all while installing the software on our testing computer. The installation wizard was quick and efficient; the whole process took only a few clicks and lasted less than a minute.
If you need help getting up and running with Leawo’s Blu-Ray Creator, there’s plenty of help available for you online in the form of tutorials and FAQs. If you need more hands-on support, you can send the team at Leawo an email or chat with them directly via their live chat feature.
Leawo Blu-ray Creator has a gentle learning curve. The range of specialized features makes the software highly navigable– you can't get lost in crazy options that you don't even have. Leawo's decryption capabilities make it perfect for creating backup copies of your favorite Blu-rays, so if this is your primary goal, Leawo will serve you well. The menu and video editors are not sophisticated creation tools, but they offer a good alternative for hobbyist filmmakers who lack the budget or expertise to use the host of applications that would otherwise be necessary to do the job.
