5.1 surround sound

      create 5.1 tracks in premeire but don't see the point if you can't encode
      it in encore




I've never done this, but from reading previous messages here my
"general" understanding is that you create the 5.1 in Premiere and
then Encore will USE that sound when it builds the DVD

You can also import surround formats into Encore that were created in a proper
DAW - which is the best way to do this IMHO.
Premiere's SurCode DOlby Digital Encoder is seriously good - and very cheap as
well. If only the rest of Premiere's Audio side was as good as the encoder. :(

Encore will accept - and preview (depending on your system) the following
streams
1 - Dolby Digital
2 - Dolby ProLogic (do *not* allow Encore to transcode to Dolby Digital)
3 - Dolby ProLogic II (see above)
4 - Dolby Digital with Dolby Surround flags properly set (This would need to be
done properly. It is when you take a 5.1 discrete mix & encode it to a
stereo Lt/Rt matrix surround file. Encore's consumer grade DD encoder will not
set these flags)

You can also import & author - but not preview - DTS Core audio.
This can be either full or half bitrate (1.509Mb/sec or 768kb/sec)
In the Blu Ray department, I also believe Encore will accept DTS-HD Master Audio
(lossless) as well as DTS-HD High Resolution (up to 3Mb/sec as opposed to the
usual 1.5Mb/sec of DTS Core Audio).