Stevek,

Don't forget DVD-Rs. Actually, I don't think it would be ideal to burn a DVD from inside Vegas Video, simply because there is a lot more to authoring a DVD than just coming up with a good movie or music video. DVDs have menus and the menus can have a lot of features. While the menu itself is onscreen, there can be background graphics, menu button graphics, and background music for the menu. Pretty much anything you see or hear on a rental DVD. And you divide the DVD contents up into chapters that correspond to menu items. The menu structure can be as complex as you want it to be, with submenus that are selected from the master menu. The basic tree structure of a DVD is significantly different from the multi-track structure of many Sonic Foundry apps.

Although there are some inexpensive entry level DVD authoring programs, like Ulead's $49 DVD MovieFactory, there are some more full-featured DVD authoring programs, like Apple's DVD Studio Pro ($999) or Sonic's ReelDVD ($1,499) that cost quite a bit. Much more expensive DVD authoring programs are available, like Sonic's DVD Producer priced at $4000.

I personally would like to see Sonic Foundry market a DVD authoring product with capabilities competitive with Apple's DVD Studio Pro but priced much less. The authoring and the burning are separate functions and Sonic Foundry might choose to license the burning engine rather than develop it inhouse. And of course, from my own viewpoint, I would like to see Sonic Foundry support putting surround sound, both analog and digital, on the DVDs. DVD Studio Pro can do that now with a plug-in.

-- Burton --