Vegas 4+DVD includes the following: Vegas 4, DVD Architect, and the 5.1 Surround AC3 encoder. You can encode AC3 with Vegas 4, or with DVD Architect (by just dropping an AVI or MPG file on DVDA) and you can use the AC3 encoder with ACID Pro 4.0. It’s the same as if you bought the 5.1 Surround AC3 encoder separately, so this is definitely a good deal.

~jr

It doesn't make any sense to encode AC3 in DVD-A without Vegas. You can't set any panning in DVD-A without mixing it first in Vegas? Without mixing in Vegas first DD5.1 is just 6 channels of the same audio.

I don't think you can buy DVD-A without Vegas, anyway, so that's kind of a moot point.

> It doesn't make any sense to encode AC3 in DVD-A without Vegas

Sure it does. AC3 is a compression algorithm used for both Stereo and 5.1 Surround. So if your source is Stereo (which is 100% of my sources) it makes perfect sense to drop the MPEG file on DVD-A and let it convert the audio to AC3 Stereo. It saves you from having to render a separate AC3 stereo stream in Vegas.

Also, you can take any WMA or other formatted video file and drop in on DVD-A and it will make MPEG2 DVD compliant video and AC3 Stereo audio for you. This saves you the step of loading it into Vegas just to render. So it there are lots of reasons to let DVD-A do the encoding for you.

~jr

What is the point in changing your PCM stereo to AC3 2.0? You're not saving all that much disc space. Any ol' package can do stereo. One of the best features of Vegas 4 and DVD-A is AC3 5.1. Again, that can not be effectively encoded in DVD-A alone.

Thank you for the enlightenment JohnnyRoy. You clarified that Vegas+DVD has 3 components; Vegas, DVDA and Encoding. I have to presume then that encoding is not possible with the trial demo download (2 components which are Vegas 4 and DVDA), as it does not sound like encoding is part of DVDA in itself. BTW, you stated in your last reply "There are lots of reasons to let DVD-A do the encoding for you". So again, does DVDA have the encoding feature built into "it"?
Earthrisers, you mentioned that DVDA is not available seperately so it's a moot point. You must not have understood my question. I want to download the trial version of Vegas+DVD. In the trial version, there are two downloads, Vegas & DVDA. We know that Vegas mixes 5.1, but does not encode. I presumed that DVDA must encode, but in my reading of various threads and press, it seems it might not. We all know that Vegas+DVD will encode AC-3, so the only conclusions are either it is done within DVDA, or there's a component not available in the download trial that will do this. That is all want to know! If the trial version does not allow encoding, that's ok too. I just want to know if it's because it's disabled or because it is not actually a part of DVDA. Ok, here's the best way to ask this...IS AC-3 encoding a component within DVD Architect? If the answer is no, then downloading Vegas+DVD trial version simply does not include this application. Yes, I know there are 3 parts to the process, Mixing (Vegas), Encoding ( ? ) and Burning (DVDA). The trial version of Vegas+DVD lets you download Vegas 4.0 (mixing) and DVD Architect 1.0 (burning). What is the name of the unknown application seen as ( ? ).
I really appreciate the replies on this so far, but I'm either too dense to have gotten the answer to my inquiry or I've been unclear. I hope this helps....TY! :-)

MPEG encoding is included as part of VEGAS and as part of Vegas + DVD

AC-3 encoding is included as part of Vegas + DVD only.


MPEG and AC-3 access is NOT available in the demo (licensing issues)

Tampa,

> What is the point in changing your PCM stereo to AC-3 2.0? You're not saving all that much disc space.

The point is, an hour of PCM stereo is about 620MB, and hour of AC-3 stereo is about 85MB. That is a significant savings (around 7:1). You can only get about 60 minutes of video on a DVD using PCM stereo whereas you can get 100+ minutes at the same video data rate. (at least I have) I think AC-3 Stereo gives you a huge improvement in disc space.

You probably haven’t noticed because you do 5.1 and that probably takes more disc space than 2.0 even as AC-3. I gotta believe that 5.1 would take a tremendous amount of space if you could render it as PCM. Many people complain about DVD software that only does PCM because it takes up too much space. Some packages will encode MPEG audio and that works but it’s not “officially” part of the NTSC DVD spec (just PAL). That’s why you need AC-3 Stereo.

Miagi,

> So again, does DVDA have the encoding feature built into "it"?

No, it uses the AC-3 encoder plugin that comes packaged with it.

OK, let me try and clear this up. Perhaps I wasn’t clear in my post. Vegas 4, and DVDA, and the AC-3 encoder are 3 components. You can buy Vegas 4 separately. You can buy the AC-3 encoder separately. You cannot buy DVDA separately but DVDA comes packaged with the AC-3 encoder included. So technically, when you buy Vegas+DVD you get Vegas+(DVDA+AC-3 Encoder).

So you are correct that the encoding is not part of DVDA itself. It is a separate component that is packages with DVDA. I guess the thinking was, if you’re not going to make DVD’s then you don’t need the AC-3 encoder with Vegas. When you buy Vegas+DVD, they through the AC-3 encoder in because you’re gonna need it. At that point you can use the AC-3 encoder with DVDA, Vegas, ACID Pro, Sound Forge, etc. because it’s a separate component that they all recognize and share as a plugin.

> Ok, here's the best way to ask this... IS AC-3 encoding a component within DVD Architect?

No, the AC-3 encoder is a separate component that is shipped when you buy Vegas+DVD but is not available in the trial download. Both Vegas and DVDA can use it. Perhaps they should call the bundle Vegas+DVD+AC-3.

Here is a quote direct from the Vegas Product Family web page:

The 5.1 Surround Plug-In Pack lets you encode your surround mixes to Dolby® Digital AC-3 multichannel 5.1 format and burn to DVD. Please Note: The AC-3 Encoder is included with Vegas+DVD software.

Did that help?

~jr

Yes, JohnnyRoy, it is extremely clear, thank you very much!!! :-) Sorry to put you through all that, here I was trying to see what the demo would provide and it turned into all this, but your time to break it down is very much appreciated. Thank you again for your knowledgable breakdown, and I hope you don't feel it was a waste of time because you brought up some other very interesting points, hopefully that will help others as well. Thank you again! :-)