I'm a fairly experienced Movie Studo/Video Factory user, who just recently got a DVD writer. I wanted to share my experiences of creating my first DVD. At this point, my DVD requirement is pretty basic - I want to have a menu and chapter points, and have it fairly easy to do.
I had searched this forum before starting, and knew that MyDVD didn't allow entering chapter points, except with a "workaround. So:
My first DVD (with MyDVD)
I decided to give MyDVD a try, using the "workaround" (Answer ID 907). Rendering individual loop regions (for each of my 12 chapters) was a bit of a pain, but easy enough to do.
I then added these to MyDVD. I was pleasently surprised how quickly I could create a menu. I then created the DVD.
It worked - but I had 2 issues with the way the "chapter points" were handled:
1. The "chapter points" were actually separate files. This means that I can't skip to the next chapter by using the corresponding button on the DVD player. Also, the DVD player always shows chapter 1.
2. Worse yet, I get a pause between each file. On my "set top" DVD player, this is a significant pause (~ 2 seconds). On a PC it is shorter, but still noticable.
I had not seen either of these 2 issues mentioned. With these issues, I was not happy with the result. So:
My second DVD (using Ulead DVD Movie Factory):
I downloaded a trial of this software. I rendered my file to mpeg2 in Movie Studio, and imported this (single) file into Movie Factory. Very quickly I was able to create a menu I was happy with, and create "real" chapter points.
I created a DVD with this, and yes - I can advance to the next chapter using the buttons on my DVD remote, and best of all there is no pause when moving to the next chapter.
Summary:
- For me, the published workaround for the lack of chapter points in MyDVD isn't acceptable, especially the pause between "chapters" (files).
- I'm very impressed with the ease of use of Ulead Movie Factory. I can imagine getting to a point where I want to do more complex menus and want something more, but for now this seems just what I need.
Mark
I had searched this forum before starting, and knew that MyDVD didn't allow entering chapter points, except with a "workaround. So:
My first DVD (with MyDVD)
I decided to give MyDVD a try, using the "workaround" (Answer ID 907). Rendering individual loop regions (for each of my 12 chapters) was a bit of a pain, but easy enough to do.
I then added these to MyDVD. I was pleasently surprised how quickly I could create a menu. I then created the DVD.
It worked - but I had 2 issues with the way the "chapter points" were handled:
1. The "chapter points" were actually separate files. This means that I can't skip to the next chapter by using the corresponding button on the DVD player. Also, the DVD player always shows chapter 1.
2. Worse yet, I get a pause between each file. On my "set top" DVD player, this is a significant pause (~ 2 seconds). On a PC it is shorter, but still noticable.
I had not seen either of these 2 issues mentioned. With these issues, I was not happy with the result. So:
My second DVD (using Ulead DVD Movie Factory):
I downloaded a trial of this software. I rendered my file to mpeg2 in Movie Studio, and imported this (single) file into Movie Factory. Very quickly I was able to create a menu I was happy with, and create "real" chapter points.
I created a DVD with this, and yes - I can advance to the next chapter using the buttons on my DVD remote, and best of all there is no pause when moving to the next chapter.
Summary:
- For me, the published workaround for the lack of chapter points in MyDVD isn't acceptable, especially the pause between "chapters" (files).
- I'm very impressed with the ease of use of Ulead Movie Factory. I can imagine getting to a point where I want to do more complex menus and want something more, but for now this seems just what I need.
Mark