Hmmm. I don't believe it's the registration problem. Before i registered
VideoFactory, it just wouldn't let me place MPEG files on the timeline.
It never crashed though. It just considered MPEG files to be an invalid
source type. This sounds like a more severe problem than that.

I dunno about their rinky dink registration bit, but I still can't edit anything that I'd LIKE to!

Oh Sonic...... any help????

Please don't tell me I made the wrong choice in software here, that'd kill me as there were three competetors products sitting there I picked the middle of the road price wise, and this one as I had heard of Sonic..........

If you're going to discourage people from calling you for support, and pressure everyone into ONLINE service, I would have thought that 24 hours later I'd have had a reply from you on YOUR forum.

Not mad, Not ranting, just starting to get really frustrated here..........

Hey Scott!

SonicFoundry doesn't guarantee any support in the user forums. This is
just a place for us users to swap horror stories and solutions we've
found, although occasionally some of the Sonic techs will make some
comments too.

If you need rapid support directly from SonicFoundry, you may use this
form to receive eMail support:
http://www.sonicfoundry.com/support/supportmail.asp

or search their knowledge base here:
http://www.sonicfoundry.com/support/supporthome.asp

Both of these options are free. If you're in a bigger hurry, there is
phone support available for a fee:
http://www.sonicfoundry.com/support/supporthome.asp
but not on weekends.

Hope this helps! I just don't want to see you expecting definitive
solutions from the forum. That's not what it's for.

Scott, where are you getting these .mpg files from? It might be possible
that whatever created them isn't formatting them exactly to the MPEG
specification. I've had a few .mpg files i've downloaded off the 'net that
wouldn't open in VideoFactory (though i don't recall any ever making it
crash).

Try creating a fresh .mpg file in VideoFactory. Place any .avi file that
opens on the timeline and render it to .mpg. If nothing else, just put a
still image or a text media on the time line, anything so that you have
something to render. Then try opening this .mpg file you've created in
VideoFactory and see if that works. If it does, i would suspect the format
of the files you're trying to use now.

Please let me know if this works or not.

As a side issue, MPEG is a very poor format to use as a source when
editing. Is it possible to obtain your original files in .avi format instead?
MPEG compression adds a lot of fuzziness and artifacts to the picture
and if you use MPEG for your source, then render to MPEG again, you'll
just be compounding these flaws.

Thanks.

I can't believe some companies, you get to play email tag for help, OR PAY even more money on a product when the problem could very well be what you're describing with the mpg's.

I captured some video from a VHS to my computer via a ATI Radeon all-in-wonder card.

I saved the files into mpg as 30 minutes of video in an avi format would be unreal, and I wanted the files read by just about anyone. I shyed away from the mp2 as some systems might have a problem reading that????

Either way, I just captured a 30 minute clip from vhs, and it's rendering it from a mp2 to a video cd, if that works I can live with it, Considering the mpg was 1.1 Gigs and the cdvcd will be 229megs I gotta wonder what its going to look like...

Ultimately though once I come up with a good combination I'll be a happy camper....But man its slow!! Even on my 700mhz its over 2 hours to render.

Thanks again for the help. Gotta say though this is the worst company I've seen yet in over 20 years of computing as far as support goes.

One thing to consider as an addition to an earlier response, maybe something is unusual about the format of your file. When you select a file, VF tries to obtain info about it, such as the frame size and rate, type of data, etc. Maybe your file is causing say, a division by zero error or something like that? If it's a clip you're able to share, it might help if you could send a copy to Sonic where they can debug it properly.

I've dealt with horrible companies for tech support, and am a programmer for a company that prides itself on how responsive our own tech support is. We answer questions at all hours, any day of the week, but then our products cost a few hundred dollars minimum. Sonic is somewhere in the middle on their support, but for a product that costs only $50, I'd say they're doing very good based on what I've seen.

Not from where I'm sitting.

InfoPop just bought the forum software I use, I paid $50 for IT and even after getting bought I can STILL email, or go to the forum and get answers the same day.

Oh look, it's three days later and Still not a peep out of Sonic.

I can handle the email or forum route, let's face it, it's cheap. much more cost effective no matter how you slice it. BUT, if they expect me to buy their product and then PAY them the same day to get tech support on the phone?? at 4$ a minute?? NOPE.

They not only bump'd their heads, they fell down and still can't getup.