Mine Does NOTHING

reygato wrote on 4/11/2010, 6:11 AM
My DVD architect does nothing. It is basically $100 wallpaper. It does close off when I tell it to, and on a rare occasion when I try to import/open a file it will spill out some error message and crash, but mostly it does nothing. The buttons, tabs, keys etc do nothing when clicked. There is no demo, no tutorial, no anything.
I have deleted and reloaded it, I have installed updates patches etc over and over. I have Emailed Tech support (useless) AND YES we tried it on a different computer (Using XP vs Windows Vista) NOTHING.

SO my BIG QUESTION IS WHAT WAS IT SUPPOSED TO DO?

I am about to get a new computer, and I am going to get some different editing software.
I am probably going to mail this box and software back to Sony with a nasty note because my frustration level is BEYOND anything human now. I probably won't get any money back, but the only other chocse is to toss the whole Sony Vegas 9.0 Platinum package into the garbage, where it belongs, and live and learn and move on.
THANKS

Comments

Steve Grisetti wrote on 4/11/2010, 6:29 AM
This is pretty much unheard of, reygato. Even if some people have had problems getting the program working with some video source files, issues like you're describing are pretty much unheard of. Vegas and DVD Architect are some of the most dependable programs on the market.

I don't know anything about your computer -- how much RAM you have, how much free, defragmented space is on your hard drive or even which operating system you're using -- so I can't recommend any specifics. But you will need a good 20 gigs of free, defragmented space on your hard drive to run practically any program and you do need to go to Windows Update and ensure you have all of your updates.

There are also a number a free or low-cost resources for learning this program. The Sony site itself has some demos. I've also got a book on Amazon as well as as series of free "basic training" tutorials on my site.
http://muvipix.com/products.php?searchphrase=dvd+architect&btn.x=0&btn.y=0

The resources are there if you look for them, reygato. But if you're serious about not even being able to get the program to open -- there may be something much more serious involved with your computer than we can deal with on this forum.

I wish you luck though! It's a great program at an amazing price!
Former user wrote on 4/11/2010, 12:08 PM
Does Vegas work?

Dave T2
Former user wrote on 4/11/2010, 7:14 PM
thanks musicvid. Reygato, you have more patience than I do. I would not have spent more than a month on a program that I could not get to run. Looks like you have been trying for over a year.

Dave T2
Colleen Artz wrote on 4/17/2010, 11:21 AM
I totally understand your frustration. Your frustration in well stated.

I have spent loads of time accomplishing a few tasks over the last month or so due to the fact that the Sony Vegas Platinum 9 won't burn.

I cannot burn a thing from my software. I can't burn videos or audios. I do what work needs to be done on the videos in Vegas and then set up DVDs in Nero. I render the audios in Vegas and then burn them in Nero.

It is unfortunate that the programs can't be used to their fullest. There are so many good features.
Skuzzy wrote on 4/25/2010, 8:14 AM
DVDA is the most convoluted DVD authoring software I have ever tried to work with. There is absolutely nothing intuitive about. Quite the contrary, apparently you have to have a Phd in video editing in order to begin to comprehend it.

There is no clear work area. There is no clear work-flow at all. Does anyone know of a decent DVD authoring package which actually might make sense?

I am tired of beating my head against the wall with this package. I love Vegas Pro as an editor, but DVDA is just horrible. I can't do anything at all either. Cannot get my video into the package. Forget trying to get menus working. I get a blank background with nothing to indicate where chapter stops go or how to get them into the video.

Do not tell me to render the markers into the video. That would cost me another 14 hours of render time. Speaking of which, I take it DVDA is going to re-render the video, again. Yes, lets degrade the video quality more, even if I could get the software package to do anything at all.

No, I do not have a Phd in video editing. No, I do not have as masters in it. I am just someone trying to get my video to a DVD that will play in a DVD player and this software is just so convoluted. I am beyond frustrated at the moment.
Former user wrote on 4/25/2010, 10:02 AM
"DVDA is the most convoluted DVD authoring software I have ever tried to work with"

For a point of reference, what other programs have you tried? Why did you stop using them?

Dave T2
Steve Grisetti wrote on 4/25/2010, 10:06 AM
I'm curious too, Dave. I can't imagine a more intuitive interface than DVD Architect's!
cbrillow wrote on 4/25/2010, 1:35 PM
"I am tired of beating my head against the wall with this package."

I think you're making it difficult on yourself. Start with a simple project to learn the workflow and work your way towards more complex ones. It's not all that difficult. Sounds like you're waiting for something to 'click' in your head. Once that happens, you'll see that it really isn't all that hard to make a DVD that plays in a DVD player.

As far as rendering is concerned:

1) The suggested method is to render to MPEG-2 from Vegas using one of the DVD Architect Video Stream templates. You may want to consult a bitrate calculator to ensure that the all of your audio, video and menu overhead will fit on the disc size that you've selected. If necessary, click on the Custom button in the render template and adjust the bitrate, using the numbers from the calculator. This will ensure that DVD-A will not have to re-render, costing you time, aggravation and video quality.

2) Render the audio as AC-3 separately from the video. It takes only a fraction of the time that rendering video does.

3) There's a script that you can run in Vegas that will create the .sfl file with the marker information in situations where you've not clicked the "Save markers in media file" during the actual mpeg render. This saves a LOT of time, as you don't actually have to re-render to correct this omission.

4) Come back when you're a little less frustrated. Plenty of good people here to help...
Skuzzy wrote on 4/25/2010, 5:16 PM
Yes, I was extremely frustrated at the time of that post.

I have been using (dont laugh,...too loud) an old copy of Pinnacle's DVD authoring software. It was simple, easy. I liked everything being done on the timeline. Want a menu? Open the menu panel, drag it to the timeline. Want a chapter? Press a button and drag the marker where you want it, type in a name, done. Nice motion menus as well. It also automatically calculated the bitrate needed to fit the project onto the DVD. It was really good at that. DVDs come out 98 to 99% full.

However, that old version finally stopped working for me on my new computer. It goes through the motion, but creates a DVD loaded with errors. I knew there would be a day when that 7 year old package would croak.

So, I am now stuck with DVDA. I say stuck, as I have had it for well over a year now and never have managed to figure out to do much of anything with it.

I was afraid you were going to tell me to render in Vegas first. When I first tried to get something done with DVDA, I had to render a project a dozen times and never could get it to where DVDA would make a disc. It just complained the video was too big. Yes, I used a bit-rate calculator. Obviously I must be an idiot. Letting DVDA re-render was not help either. The video looked horrible, which is too be expected when you render a lossy format twice.

Whatever I learned over a year ago has gone the way of the dinosaur. The interface looks as foreign as anything I have ever seen.

cbrillo, you are correct. I am hoping something will finally click, as I have spent the last 12 hours trying to figure out how to do,...well,...anything. The documentation is not very helpful. Is there a tutorial someplace that shows how to actually do something in DVDA?

I really have no idea how to even start. The terminology is foreign to me. That tree listing in the upper left panel makes no sense to me at all. I have no idea what it represents and have no idea what the terminology means.

The center panel does not make any sense either. Heck, the only I recognize is the timeline in te lower right, but it does not appear to be useful for anything that I can tell.

I do apologize for the frustrated post before. I know it is my own ignorance getting in the way, but not understanding something well enough to be able to ask a question just puts me right over the edge.
cbrillow wrote on 4/25/2010, 6:44 PM
No need to apologize for your frustration and no need to feel inadequate about your ability. It's just that you haven't yet found your Rosetta Stone for DVD-A. It will eventually make sense.

Coming from the ultra-simple (and often ultra-maddening) world of Pinnacle Studio, it's easy to see why you find DVD-A confusing. Many of us, including me, have trod the same path.

There are a number of resources that can help you get going. Why not send me a private message and we can take this to email? I'll ask a question or two to help figure out what the best approach is to get you going.

Are you up for that?
Steve Grisetti wrote on 4/26/2010, 4:42 AM
Have you gone through the free Basic Training tutorials I linked you to above?

They'll take you a long way toward getting up and running with this program.