DVDA2 vs. Encore?

MZ wrote on 4/19/2004, 11:25 AM
I have Vegas+DVD and Adobe's Video Collection, but I only use the Adobe Encore part of it (and Premiere Pro for making animated GIFs).

How does DVDA2 stack up compared to Encore? If it's got the same capabilities I'd just as well get rid of all things Adobe and go to the new V5+DVDA2 package (well, truth be told, I'll do that anyways).

Mark

PS. For those who'll just say "look at the white papers," I'm reading, I'm reading! I'm just a slow reader. Not to mention Vegas enthusiasts, in my observation, love to extol the virtues of their babies whenever given the chance ;)

Comments

pb wrote on 4/19/2004, 1:44 PM
I am an Encore owner/user only because of the end actions and, because I am lazy, the ablity to go to DLT easily. I shelved ReelDVD after I bought Encore. Once I have acquired DVD-A 2 I will park Encore. I find Encore very cumbersome and since I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer, I prefer simple programs such DVD-A.

Peter
kentwolf wrote on 4/20/2004, 6:19 PM
In my opinion, Encore still beats DVDA2.

I got tired of waiting for end actions, so I went over to the Encore camp and I'm not coming back.

What DVDA 1.0 did, it did very well. I am sure 2.0 will too.

To me, the integration with Photoshop (Encore) is a tremendous feature. You can make buttons, themes, etc, very easily in Encore instead of having to do the XML thing in DVDA.

Encore also has some features that DVDA doesn't.

I am sure DVDA 2 will suit most people. It's a huge jump from 1.0. Plus, if you don't own Photoshop, that is a considerable expense to be considered.

I am extremely pleased with Encore.
pb wrote on 4/20/2004, 10:55 PM
If you go to bysusa.com you can buy a legitimate version of Adobe Photoshop 7.0 for 49.95 while supplies last. We called Adobe and verified this old software is updatable to Photoshop CS for 250 CAD/200?? USD. kentwolf is right about Encore being a good program and if you can get Photoshop for 50$, better than DVD-A 2, I guess. Adobe Elements (Photoshop very Lite) works fine with Encore and is about 100$ at Staples.

Peter
kentwolf wrote on 4/21/2004, 1:02 AM
>>...Adobe Elements (Photoshop very Lite) works fine with Encore...

I have heard that you are very limited with what you can do, like layers; which is very significant in Encore.

At least, that is what I heard...
Ros wrote on 4/22/2004, 6:14 PM
I just called Adobe customer service about Photoshop 7.0 ( $49.99 ) at bysusa.com.

They told me that bysusa.com is not an authorized adobe dealer, so I would not be able to register my product at Adobe and therefore not be eligible to purchase Photoshop CS upgrade.

This is what they told me !

Robert
NaperRick wrote on 4/23/2004, 5:41 AM
Layers work just fine in PS Elements. I have never used Encore, but I have used both Photoshop 6.0 and Photoshop Elements and while there are some things that Elements does not include, most of the needed features are there, including some that Adobe didn't really mean to include (like Alpha Channel). The URL below is a good site to learn about both Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. I pointed you to a translation page to correlate the terms used in Photoshop to those that were changed in Photoshop Elements.
http://www.arraich.com/elements/pse_translation1.htm

Rick
nolonemo wrote on 4/23/2004, 12:41 PM
Damn, I ordered one and it has already shipped. Oh well, PS7 will be fine for my needs anyway.
pb wrote on 4/25/2004, 10:54 PM
Bizarre that there are different Adobe repsonses to questions about the the upgrade path. One of my coworkers bought the 49.99 disc after Adobe told her it was only "technically legal" but because the software comes with a legitaimate derial number, there was nothing stopping her upgrading. She was down at Staples buying the upgrade this weekend and I am sure it will work fine. I guess it is the same as upgrading the "light" versions of DVDit and the Photoshop that used to be bundled with Pinnacle crap.

In any event, Photoshop 7 is all most of us will ever need anyway and for 50 bucks, you can't go wrong.

Peter
nolonemo wrote on 4/26/2004, 9:53 AM
Peter, would you post your friend's upgrade experience here when she does it? I'd hate to spring for the upgrade only to find I couldn't activate it (apparently the new Photoshop uses an activation scheme similar to Vegas). If the upgrade is a no-go, I can certainly live with PS7 for 50 bucks.

Thanks,

Nolo
kentwolf wrote on 4/26/2004, 12:25 PM
>>>...the new Photoshop uses an activation scheme similar to Vegas...

Photoshop's is even more stringent. (Photoshop CS)

It's air-tight! :)

Photoshop even senses when I restore a disk partion and tells me that it looks like my system changed...even though it's a clone/restored disk partion.

It's extremely easy to re-activate (assuming you're connected to the internet), but I have never seen any software that senses the whole disk partion change.

I wonder if it's keying on the master boot record, or something as obscure as that.

It's pretty slick.
nolonemo wrote on 4/26/2004, 1:36 PM
Kent,

I saw a post on the dpreveiw.com (digital photo) forums from a poster who was incensed and claiming PS8 activation had altered the MBR (apparently leading to some bad problem for him), so perhaps you're right.

Slick it may be, however, air-tight it's not. There is a crack for it out there. It certainly does discourage more casual sharers than was the case when all the program required was an installation key, though.
kentwolf wrote on 4/26/2004, 1:56 PM
>>...There is a crack for it out there...

Oh, I am sure there is, but that's not my scene... :)

I have had no issues with MBR alteration. I run a dual boot system. From what I see it may sense an otherwise-altered MBR.

Oh well... :)