hi there,
hands up all you dudes that want DVDA to create DVD's with multiple video clips...
it's so basic that I'm really surpriced that SF didn't implement it. most DVD software can handle that.
/jocke

I want it! I want it!

This was the 1st problem that I discovered with DVDA. Due to DVDA's overall strengths, I just try to work around the lack of the "end action" feature.

Yes! that's what I want DVDA to have.

Seems to be the most common problem talked about on these forums.... hopefully in version 1.0d? Seems more like a bug that should be fixed rather than a new feature to have...

Until SF adds the required features, if your DVD player allows it... start playing your DVD back at any of the items, and set your player to "repeat disc." It'll play from that point to the end.

Uh, and then repeat starting at the begining!-)

I'd also like DVDA to have the option to begin playing the DVD after a per-determined amount of time. Many of the newer commercial DVD's do this. If you rent/buy/borrow a newer movie DVD, stick it in your player, and do nothing... the movie doesn't wait for your popcorn to finish poping; it just begins the movie for you!-(

I basically agree with almost all that you said. DVDA is a neat piece of code which seems to have *almost* all that it needs to effectively balance between functionality and useabilty. No bells and whistles, but lots of useful details.

For the record, I tried everything that I could lay my hands on (VideoPack, DVD Workshop, Dazzle, DVDit, ...). In the end I came back to DVDA.

OK, it doesn't handle multiple clips *and* menu chapters. Right now I am overcoming this joining all clips with TMPGEnc and using the resulting single clip.

In time, I hope that SoFo will pause a little bit of their affairs with Sony and write the two lines of code necessary to have this facility included :-)))

I'm currently using DVDA because of its seamless 16:9 menu/content support.

However, the inability to link clips into one continuous play makes DVDA more of a toy program than a real authoring app.

The fact that I have to have one long video and then copies of each segment in order to offer a complete set of menu choices is not just annoying, but ultimately means DVDA doesn't provide basic functionality.

In addition, the menu highlight goes back to the top choice on the menu screen whenever a viewer returns to the menu from playing a selection.

Issues of these kind just should not exist, or else the advertising for DVDA should include a list of what it will not do that most purchasers might reasonably expect it should do.

rw.

If you put your single video into the main menu, and then create copies of that menu item you can control the entry point for those other buttons by changing the start point and thus, have entries into multiple chapters on the main menu, WITHOUT, having to insert other smaller sections of video.

This is discussed in the online help.

I do agree that there should be a way to easily stitch programs togethor rather than using the audio assembly feature.

That does work, but it takes longer to render the program and you don't get chapter entry points.

At this point I don't view the putting togethor files as that much of a big deal, after finding out I couldn't do it. I simply put everything togethor in VV4.

The biggest hassle was finding the chapter points and thumbnail spots. I believe you can put in markers in VV4 and bring them into DVD architect.

DVD architect, kind of like VV4 has all kinds of functionality in it but you have to hunt around to find it.

I like the way it handles audio, added a nice sound track to the menus.

However, the one thing I could not find, is how to preview a startup video and sound. It seems that the preview mode skips right to the main menu?

Oh, and it seems the video window in the buttons is fixed????

David

I went ahead and made a separate post of it because my question is slightly different. But YES, YES, YES!! You should be able to make a DVD that will string multiple files together in a single play, uninterrupted by returning to a menu. Just got Vegas a couple of months ago and am about to author my first DVD. This is one of a very few disappointments I've had yet with the Vegas 4 +DVD combo.