DVD authoring software

merkelck wrote on 8/31/2003, 3:31 PM
I know that many on here have proclaimed good things about Ulead Movie Factory. Is it any better than the MyDVD that has been shipped with ScreenBlast 3.0? Personally, I am disappointed with MyDVD. I find that the dvd part of Studio 8 is far more versatile even if it is terribly slow. I downloaded the trial version of Ulead but when I load it, it tells me my trial period has "expired." Something "lurking" on my computer seems to think that I tried it before.
The MyDVD seems to be a watered down version ala the version that came with my Sony DRU500. My biggest complaint is that you can not seem to add chapter points after the fact, to a large .avi file. I guess the answer to that is to keep your project in small pieces that represent chapters and move them into MyDVD one at a time. Then chapters points/ menu items will be created.
Maybe I am missing something here. It sure wouldn't be the first time..and probably won't be the last.
Kent

Comments

JohnnyRoy wrote on 8/31/2003, 4:06 PM
You’re not missing anything. When I evaluated which DVD authoring tool to buy, MyDVD was at the bottom of my list. Imagine a DVD authoring program that won’t let you even set chapter points. It doesn’t get much more useless that that. From the posts on the MyDVD forums, it looks like the quality of the software isn’t that good either. Looks just as unstable as Pinnacle Studio.

IMHO, Sony is the one who’s missing the boat here. MyDVD is possibly one of the worst DVD authoring tools around and shipping it with MovieStudio is a slap in the face to the fine developers at Sonic Foundry who produce high quality software. I sure hope it doesn’t tarnish their name.

I’m sorry to hear you can’t try out Ulead DVD MovieFactory 2. Perhaps contact Ulead and explain the problem. It will not give you the flexibility of Studio 8. DVD MovieFactory is still template driven and you cannot change the position of either the text nor the video thumbnails. You can just select different layouts and backgrounds. You can’t even add text of your own. It’s very basic but at least you can add chapter points and its half the price of MyDVD. It's what I used before I got Vegas+DVD.

Too bad Sony didn’t ship a lite version of DVD Architect with MovieStudio. That would have been a winner. Don't get me wrong. MovieStudio 3 is still awesome all on its own and well worth the upgrade. Sony just could have made a better choice for DVD software.

~jr
Aylwin wrote on 8/31/2003, 6:23 PM
Yeah, DVD authoring is one of my biggest problems now too. I can't find anything that's really good value for money. I'm trying out TMPGEnc DVD Author today. Let's see...

I'm still hoping that DVD Architect might be released as a stand-alone though. Packaging it with MovieStudio would've been good. I wouldn't have minded paying extra for the pair.
IanG wrote on 9/1/2003, 5:21 PM
>Yeah, DVD authoring is one of my biggest problems now too. I can't find anything that's really good value for money.

It's not perfect, but I'm learning to love DVD-Lab. If you need flexibility, this has got it in spades!

Ian G.

JohnnyRoy wrote on 9/1/2003, 8:30 PM
Have you burned many DVD’s with DVD-Lab yet? I have a few MediaChance products and I love them. I did hear there were some DVD compatibility issues with playback on some players. This is the only thing that has kept me from buying DVD-Lab because Oscar as created some exceptional products. I’d be interested in know how compatible the DVD’s you make are.

BTW, I use Real-DRAW Pro to make menus and lower thirds. It’s really great. This is the graphics engine that DVD-Menu is based on.

~jr
Aylwin wrote on 9/2/2003, 3:08 AM
Ian, thanks. I'll check it out soon.
IanG wrote on 9/2/2003, 3:50 AM
~jr

I'm still evaluating DVD-Lab, so I haven't burned anything yet. It's a sort of package deal - once I know what I'm going to do with them I'll get the s/w and h/w at the same time. Sorry, that should read "once I know what I'm going to do with them and get my wife's permission..."! I had a quick browse on the DVD-Lab forum - there's some discussion about compatibility, but I didn't see any finger pointing going on.

The latest beta has motion thumbnails, so I'm torn between not wanting to evaluate unreleased s/w on the one hand, and playing with a shiny new toy on the other! Regardless, I think it's very likely I'll get DVD-Lab, so I'll let you know how it goes.

Cheers

Ian G.
wobblyboy wrote on 9/4/2003, 11:00 PM
Just break down and buy Vegas+DVD. It will make you happy.
filmy wrote on 9/5/2003, 12:25 PM
>>> Just break down and buy Vegas+DVD. It will make you happy.<<<

Can't do it - I think this has been discontinued? Go to the main page and click on the link and this is what you get :

"Sorry, Sonic Foundry no longer sells Vegas+DVD."

I have tried to look around the forums to see if there is any sort of notice but I have not found anything other than the above.
IanG wrote on 9/5/2003, 1:14 PM
Are you sure? I can find lots of opportunities to buy them on the site, but I can't find that message.

Ian G.
SonySCS wrote on 9/5/2003, 2:51 PM
Oops. I really, really thought I'd posted my message in this forum.
Anyway, Vegas+DVD is for sale -- the "Sorry, Sonic Foundry no longer sells Vegas+DVD" was a mistake and thanks to Filmy it was short lived.

So Filmy was right and now Ian is right.

Clear as mud,

Suzan
IanG wrote on 9/5/2003, 5:17 PM
>Ian is right

Suzan, I lived for that day! Thank you, you've made an old man very happy!

Cheers

Ian G.
GerryLeacock wrote on 9/7/2003, 8:21 PM
Ian, I also am evaluating DVD-lab. No matter what MPG I try to put from the asset screen into the movie screen, it tells me that there is error in the video and sound. They are MPG's that were rendered with VF3. Any idea what it doesn't like anything I have? My only thought is that I am rendering MPG-1 and it only accepts MPG-2.
IanG wrote on 9/8/2003, 2:35 AM
Gerry - I had the same problem - if an asset's not DVD compliant it wont be accepted. I now render using the DVD PAL template and everything's fine. It's a pain when you're starting to evaluate the s/w, but now that I've got past that I'm using transitions between menus, intermediate movie clips, different audio clips with everything, and it compiles in seconds!

Good luck!

Ian G.
GerryLeacock wrote on 9/8/2003, 10:02 AM
Thanks Ian, you've got me on the right track, but I still can't get the train to move.

In VF, I went into File --> Project Properties ---> and then was confronted with 5 PAL possibilities. I tried all 5, and still got the same error message.

Also, isn't PAL the European standard, which means to me that the DVD won't play on a North American DVD player??

What am I to do now? Thanks in advance.
GerryLeacock wrote on 9/8/2003, 10:11 AM
Omitted to mention....then I rendered the movie as an MPEG-1.
IanG wrote on 9/8/2003, 10:31 AM
Aha! It has to be MPEG-2, DVD-Lab doesn't do any rerendering. I don't have access to VF at the moment, but the MPEG-2 DVD templates are "Make Movie" options. There are templates for PAL and NTSC, but I'm in the UK - hence PAL. DVD-Lab supports both.

BTW, you're welcome to contact me directly at Ian.Gore@fshfc.org - SoFo seem very tolerant of discussions of competing products, but I dont want to wear out our welcome!

Cheers

Ian G.

GerryLeacock wrote on 9/8/2003, 12:36 PM
Ian, I just now registered the MPEG-2 plug-in for VF, and my problems seem to be solved. I'll keep you informed of my progress via your e-mail address.

Thanks for your help!

Gerry Leacock
e-mail: gerry_leacock@mts.net
the_ripper wrote on 9/10/2003, 10:03 AM
I use software that came with my Radeon 8500DV card for rendering, and ULEAD for burning with the Sony DVD Burner. I also do not like the myDVD software.

The best part of this setup is it does on the fly rendering into DVD Mpeg-2. No more 6-8 hr rendering from an AVI. On the downside, it is hard to edit the rendered Mpeg-2 file. For quick and dirty DVD production though I like it. -the_ripper