Comments

kentwolf wrote on 1/15/2004, 11:51 PM
DVD-A doesn't even come close to Encore feature-wise. I have both.

There were *several* Encore bugs, most of which were fixed with the 1.01 patch. It is much, much better now. There were a lot of issues addressed to only call it a .01 update. It was a very significant update.

There are a LOT of Encore settings, thus, there is a lot to watch out for with regard to how you set it up, but it is extremely flexible and can do just about anything you want...probably even more.

You've got to read up, but it has a TON of features.

With respect to your Themes question, with Encore, you can use Photoshop, and make just about any kind of menu, menu element, etc. you want. It is a really slick idea, and works well. With DVD-A, you have to know XML, which, apparently, most people don't, nor do they want to learn.

DVD-A does, however, make rock solid, good DVD's. I have made many, and they are all good. They just have nowhere near the features of Encore DVD's. For many, DVD-A features may be just fine.

Plus...DVD-A is a lot cheaper. Plus, if you don't have Photoshop, that is also expensive, but very good.

I absolutely love Encore.

For what it does though, DVD-A does it very well.

I'll bet Sony upgrades it significantly with the next release, but you never know...

I'm sticking with Encore, if for nothing else, the Photoshop integration.

Vegas is still the KING of video editing, hands down. Premiere Pro leaves a lot to be desired.

For me, the ultimate combo is Vegas + Encore.

...and there ya' go... :)
farss wrote on 1/16/2004, 5:18 AM
kentwolf,
even if you do know XML a 'theme' doesn't get you much with DVDA, that's more the reason that nothing much has happened in the way of new themes.
I don't really lnow that much about Encore but there's no reason why you cannot use PS to create the elements of a DVDA DVD, backgrounds, buttons etc.
It's fairly surprising just how much you can do with DVDA, I've yet to actually hit a project where I've hit a limitation. My last one freaked me a bit, the client was talking quite complex menus and actions and I thought that's it, time to buy a Sonic product but when we wnet through it all he realised that he needed it to always go back to the main menu (phew!). Kind of wierd, what a lot of people see as a restriction turned out to almost be an asset.
gold wrote on 1/16/2004, 5:38 AM
I have been quite happy with the combination of tools provided in Vegas+DVD and Adobe Video Suite. They both exist nicely together on the same XP system. I can port video and audio from one package to the other. Adobe Encore's free update made it a very clean tool for the finished product. Vegas AC3 (now that I have all the learning curve behind me) is the best way to do 5.1 audito editting; the Sony/Sonic Foundry guys did a fantastic job on the 5.1 tools. So basically I would recommend that you use both and make it one big tool set. Between the two you can produce "highly professional looking DVDs." Be not concerned about posts that have mentioned one package tromping on the other, both seem to work flawlessly and stay in their own boundaries. Both are fine products; neither provides everything but both do everything I need. I've noticed that both forums reference that the other product does "this" feature better, so it's obvious that a lot of others are using the two suites as a total package, Encore would be the final tool for multi-audio track commercial looking dvds whereas Architect would provide wedding and other quick turnaround dvd's--you could make the wedding dvd during the reception and send it with them for viewing on the honeymoon during cool down periods (they are somewhat application oriented), currently, with the other programs used for preparing the audio and video.
Gold
For you wedding shooters, here's how the fast turn around could work. Small computer in back corner of church with Vegas+DVD and Hauppage 250 capture card installed. Radio-linked [or hard wired] video/audio from camera to video capture card inputs. Capture video live to computer during wedding [capture reception to tape for later more complete dvd]. Around shooting reception. Use nanopeg editor that comes with Hauppage to in a matter of a few minutes [this tool doesn't render-it just cuts and splices the mpeg2 raw files] clip out the areas of video not desired. Import directly into DVD-A [prebuilt project with photos of rehearsals and bachelor/bacheloret parties in slide show] add a few chapter marks (about 3 minutes) and burn to dvd (1 hour) while filming reception. Hand to happy couple as they leave. Add reception and have another dvd fed-exed to their honey moon suite for later viewing. I know this is somewhat off track from the original post; but I'm not fond of comparing vendor products in one of the vendor's forums [doesn't seem right somehow].
vegasnewbie wrote on 1/16/2004, 11:05 PM
Thanks very much for these most informative replies. I like the idea of using both and making it one big tool set as suggested by "Gold". I guess that much depends on each individual project that you complete. If you want a more elaborate design than is possible with "Architect", then you could use "Encore". I think I would like to get to know both programs in some detail.

Regards, Fred