DVD Architect - No VCD/SVCD or Multimedia CD Support??

tygrus wrote on 1/21/2003, 12:29 AM
I have played around with the beta version and frankly, I am impressed with the program and the ease with which you can create embedded menus. This program is probably better than most I have used.

Only one draw back..it doesnt seem to be able to let you render the project as VCD or SVCD, yet Vegas Video 4 has such options for rendering video only to VCD or SVCD. Am I missing something or did SF overlook a popular format?

Tygrus

Comments

swarrine wrote on 1/21/2003, 7:27 AM
I would like to know this as well.
Ritchie wrote on 1/21/2003, 7:38 AM
Non-compliant SVCD support (CVD 352x480) would also be nice, since a 352x480 SVCD will play in most DVD players, and can also be transfered to DVD without any additional encoding since this is 'D2' or half 'D1' resolution and an actual DVD spec resolution.
SonyEPM wrote on 1/21/2003, 9:02 AM
Supported:

NTSC DVD 4:3
NTSC DVD 16:9
PAL DVD 4:3
PAL DVD 16:9
----------

VCD,SVCD, and all other variants are not supported at this time.
PeterMac wrote on 1/21/2003, 1:39 PM
Do you really suppose that SVCD/VCD has any future now that the cost of DVD burners and media has fallen and continues to fall? It was fine - and fun - when we couldn't make DVDs, but the times they are a-changin' and I suspect the actual market is now very small.
I would prefer the R&D thrust, which is finite like most things, to be directed to ease of use and more features (subtitles?) within the DVD framework.

-Pete
earthrisers wrote on 1/21/2003, 1:43 PM
Me, too. i.e., I agree with what PeterMac said: keep DVD Architect as clean & technically streamlined as possible, by focusing on DVD. VCD is better served by existing products that aim at that market segment.
Ernie
aussiemick wrote on 1/21/2003, 3:34 PM
Don't forget overseas users who still have exchange problems. Here in australia a DVD burner is over $600 and an update to V4 will cost us over $300 at the most conservative update price. SVCD is still top of the list for us.
seeker wrote on 1/21/2003, 6:05 PM
SonicEPM,

VCD,SVCD, and all other variants are not supported at this time.

That's good news for Ulead. It will probably be a year before I purchase a DVD burner. In the meantime I will be authoring and burning VCDs, SVCDs, and "other variants" such as XVCDs, XSVCDs, and MiniDVDs. CD-R blanks are delightfully inexpensive, and 15 minutes of MiniDVD is "long enough" for many home audiences.

My question is, since a MiniDVD is just a "short" DVD, could DVD Architect author MiniDVDs? Please. Otherwise my near-term money goes to Ulead. I do plan to purchase DVD Architect, though. The only thing at stake is when.

-- Seeker --
seeker wrote on 1/22/2003, 3:49 PM
SonicEPM,

Could you or another Sonic Foundry person comment on this specifically? Even if Sonic Foundry doesn't want to get involved with the "tar baby" of interfacing with hundreds of troublemaking CD-R and CD-RW drives, it seems possible that it would be feasible for DVD Architect to author a short DVD with all the sound and menu goodies and then let us use something like Nero to do the actual burn to a CD-R blank.

I am just looking for a win-win path here, where I get to use DVD Architect to do my MiniDVD authoring in the near term and Sonic Foundry software people don't get saddled with an additional tough task.

-- Seeker --
SonyEPM wrote on 1/22/2003, 4:49 PM
DVD Architect will be able to prepare projects as NTSC 4:3 & 16:9, PAL 4:3 & 16:9, with either PCM or AC-3 audio, for DVD, and burn to DVD using any drive on our supported drives list*.

Anything other use of DVD Architect 1.0, and that means VCD, SVCD, CDVD, burning ripped copies of DVDs from some other source, creating image files for some other burning app...basically anything other than using DVDA end to end for DVD creation, is not supported.

DVD compliant MPEGs, AC-3, and PCM files generated in SF apps will work in DVDA. Files from other sources (as in, MPEGs from the NET, other encoders, ripped vobs etc) are not guaranteed to work either.

*If your drive is not on the supported list, it quite likely will still work, but try burning with the DVDA demo's sample project before purchasing to be sure.

All that said, DVD Architect is going to be a really versatile, stable DVD authoring tool, and a great companion for Vegas 4.



seeker wrote on 1/22/2003, 6:03 PM
SonicEPM

...basically anything other than using DVDA end to end for DVD creation, is not supported.

Sob. I guess I have to take that as a "No", if not as a "Hell No." Although I notice that you did not mention the word MiniDVD anywhere in your message. However, you did exclude "creating image files for some other burning app," so I guess you didn't have to specifically rule out MiniDVDs by name. I think it is a pretty safe bet that my CDRW drive isn't anywhere on your approved list of DVD burners.

I don't know where that "burning ripped copies of DVDs from some other source" came from. Hopefully I haven't somehow gotten a bad reputation on this forum. (grin)

-- Seeker --