How make Screenblast AVI->DVD

lbeck wrote on 3/10/2004, 10:14 AM

Just so you'll know where I'm coming from -- I'm an experienced Studio 7,8,9 user. Like many contributors to this forum, I've been looking for a better product. I just purchased Screenblast 3.0 and am impressed with its functionality and robustness. I especially like the ability to do a "trial-render" on a portion of the project to check it out, and the ability to crop video.

I just completed my first project and went to burn it to DVD. I found that there was no way to do this directly (I don't think) but was directed to MyDVD by the software. Still no real problem, except that I didn't want to spend half the day going through the HTML maze to learn how to do it. Is there any written documentation for MyDVD. I haven't been to the Sonic site yet, but there wasn't any on the ScreenBlast installation CD. I deal a lot better with printed material that I can dog-ear and highlight than HTML files that disappear as you "turn the pages."

I wound up importing the ScreenBlast AVI file to my good-ole standby Studio 9. There I was able to quickly add some nifty menus. It rerendered overnight and is still rendering as we speak.

This system will work but it seems a circuitous route to get something going. Maybe if I can learn more about MyDVD I can do it all within the same software envelope. So...back to my original question -- Is there any MyDVD documentation available for download. Alternately, do you have a suggestion for how I can go directly from a Screenblast project file to Studio without a rendering step in between, or how to use the ScreenBlast AVI without having Studio re-render it.

I haven't thought this through fully. Any input will be useful.

Thanks.

Lee

Comments

cbrillow wrote on 3/10/2004, 10:56 AM

Overnight & still going, eh? Is that typical for your system or a vaunted Studio bug?

I'm in the same position with Screenblast. The only DVD I've burned from data produced by it, I burned in Studio. The good news is, it worked fine. I wrote a DV AVI, which I took into Studio, added a menu, etc -- just as you did.

I'd think the best shot for minimal rendering time in Studio would be to write a DVD-spec MPEG2 from Screenblast. Of course, that makes adding menus in Studio an iffy proposition, thanks to Studio's legendary propensity to produce OOS projects with MPEG video source, but I think it's worth a try. And, doggone it, OOS is why I'm here in the first place...

I'll be on the lookout for reports on your progress, and will also document mine in this forum.

Roadkyng wrote on 3/10/2004, 10:57 AM

This may seem obvious so forgive me, but why not print out the Help file? That is what I do when I buy a package I will be using extensively. You may also be able to go to Adobe's site and do a pdf file conversion of the file and save that to your HD.

And check out DVDRhelp.com forums. They may have a guide you can use which gives complete instructions.

lbeck wrote on 3/10/2004, 12:24 PM

Racer,

I know of course that I can print the HTML presentation. Usually, though, help files are arranged differently than topic chapters in a book and frequently have lots of redundancy. I'll probably just not use MyDVD if I have to do that. It's just a shame that a product like MyDVD would come without instructions except for the help files. Usually there's a PDF file available on the installation disk for those of us that want that kind of support. I was hoping that maybe someone with the full version could post such a file or direct me to a place where I could download it.

cbrillow,

Yep, the ScreenBlast render took a little over 9 hours @ 1.5Mhz to make the AVI (2hrs, 54 min). After putting the menus in using Studio 9, I had to re-render. Started at 11:00 last night and it was still chugging away when I left for work at 7:00 this morning. That's a lot of CPU time for one project, not counting the time to construct it.

I may become smarter as I use the SB software, but it's looking likd I may need to continue to be wed to Studio. I've gotten familiar with the software and somehow don't have the OOS problem any longer. I don't know whether the software improved or whether I've just been lucky. It's just a shame that ScreenBlast appears to have taken video editing to a better level for those of us in the <$100 market but has taken the software only 95% of the way. Unless I find some revelation that I have yet to find, I'll probably continue to use ScreenBlast to edit my video and Studio to make menus and burn.

Like you, I'll continue to check this thread for other suggestions.

Thanks to you both.

Lee

ADinelt wrote on 3/10/2004, 6:43 PM

Hi Lee:

Don't know if you have tried it or not, but DVD-Lab is quite good at authoring and burning DVDs. It is flexible and very powerful.

Al

starfish98034 wrote on 3/11/2004, 8:23 AM

I found MyDVD rather easy to use but the fact that you can not make menus with it drove me to by DVD-Lab which works rather well for another $100.