Burning a DVD video disc is now becoming more and more common as users get DVD burners in computers. I admit I am obsessed by the process! I look forward to spending time making menus and such with iDVD (see iDVD 3 review), iMovie (see iMovie 3 review) and the like. I pour over the extras on the third party market that enhance this experience. iDrops are third party themes that work with iDVD 3. The folks at iDrops sent us a customized reviewer's CD with five motion themes. We hope to get the others for a more informative and accurate review on all of their themes at a later date.

The themes installed without a hitch and seemed to run without causing any performance trouble. In fact, using the iDrops themes seemed to make iDVD perform better (less sluggish) than when using Apple's own built-in themes. Even when turning off the motion menus, the iDrops themes responded almost instantly in comparison to Apple’s themes causing lag.

I love iDVD 3 and the variety of third-party themes. They expand an already great program into an even greater program. When you purchase a set of themes at iDrops, it usually includes 6 themes (some with motion, some without). You get five or six themes in each package and they currently offer six packages (more on the way). The themes I tried were fairly nice, but it's all about personal taste and usability.

With the review package we were given 5 themes: "Brain Dead", which looks like a fun sci-fi channel intro, "HeadLite II" that resembles a Cartoon Network promo, "Merry Christmas", "Private I", a moody film noir looking postcard, and "RGBees", a very active motion theme. While this set is customized for reviewers and contains a variety of themes that are scattered within other sets, they all had a pro-like, high quality look to them. The themes we were given may be good quality themes, but some were quite "contemporary" and thus not as usable to the typcial family who is getting into DVD making. For instance, a typical family video (except for the Christmas theme) would be out of place with the themes we were given.

The nice part about the iDrops web site is if you are looking to purchase sets, you can preview the animations before you buy at their web site. The iDrops web site also offers some free themes that can be downloaded.

Some iDrops themes have drop zones, which allow you to place a movie clip within the DVD interface and it masks it so you don't see the edges. It's a really nice, pro look. Set 7, not reviewed here, seems to have several motion menus that use drop zones, a feature introduced in iDVD 3.

No bugs to report.

iDrops are a nice addition to companies offering themes. What we've seen here, based on the 5 themes we were given, is impressive in terms of quality pro-like DVD menus. iDrops are slightly higher in price compared to others offering iDVD themes. These companies offer packages of 8 to 12 themes for $25-29 compared to iDrops six themes for $25. You could make the argument that iDrops themes are higher quality and more contemporary than others.

Also, the iDrops folks seems to be taking the "Department 56" approach to offering products. After a certain period of time, they discontinue/retire certain sets. While this might entice those interested in buying themes, it seems it would make more business sense to offer all products all the time, especially to those just getting into DVD making with their first SuperDrive-included Mac. Older sets could be reduced in price or bundled with other older sets to provide better value. In fact, a couple of the themes mentioned in this review are, sadly, no longer available (Headlite II, Merry Christmas).