Need to author blu ray with 5:1 surround

GaryDZ wrote on 4/7/2011, 7:39 AM

I currently have VMS HD Platinum 10 (not Pro). I really need DVDA to be able to author blu ray discs with 5:1 surround which ver. 5.0 does not. Before I invest in VMS Pro (it's the only way to get DVDA 5.2 which does what I want) what do you think the chances are they will add that ability in VMS11, which is rumored to be coming out sometime this year.

Please don't tell me I can skip DVDA and write blu ray with 5:1 directly from VMS. I need menus.

Comments

PeterDuke wrote on 4/7/2011, 4:34 PM

As long as SCS produces the two products there will be a need to differentiate them. Pro features are unlikely to be put into Studio version unless the Pro gets some new features. What's your guess on that one?

GaryDZ wrote on 4/7/2011, 9:14 PM

So you think they made a conscious decision to hold back 5:1 sound for blu ray authoring? Maybe. But why wouldn't they also disable it for DVDs. That would sell even more Pro versions.

PeterDuke wrote on 4/8/2011, 12:17 AM

What to put where is a marketing decision. Don't ask me (or anyone outside SCS for that matter) to justify how they arrive at that.

GaryDZ wrote on 4/8/2011, 5:39 AM

So I guess your question was rhetorical.

Steve Mann wrote on 4/8/2011, 9:35 AM

I suspect that it has more to do with licensing by the Blu Ray Disk Association (http://www.blu-raydisc.com/en.html). Perhaps the cost of the 5.1 license in Sony Movie Studio would push the price above a marketing decision point? Why offer a pro feature in a consumer product if it adds a few dollars to everyone's cost, and few would use it?

I have no view into Sony, but if my experience with an embedded computer manufacturer (in a prior life) is any guide, at least half of the cost of Vegas Pro is licensing.

My personal opinion of 5.1 audio? Most Vegas Pro users don't use it, and of those who do, many don't do it properly. I'm certainly no expert in 5.1, but I've heard some truly awful mixes

GaryDZ wrote on 4/9/2011, 6:54 AM

Thanks for your input Steve. I certainly can't disagree with your assessment of Sony's reason for excluding this feature.
My source files are 5.1 so in my case I just wanted it to pass through to the final product. I think I'll wait to see if Ver. 11 has it and if not, I'll pull the trigger on Pro.

Wovian wrote on 4/13/2011, 6:14 AM

Gary, I was in the same position a few months back so I understand where you're coming from.

I'd purchased VMS 10 with DVDA and was similarly puzzled why you could not burn a blu ray in 5.1 but you could a DVD.

A couple of people thought - me included - Sony had been slightly misleading with some of the literature accompanying VMS/DVDA in its reference to 5.1.

There were also some who played down the lack of 5.1 as inconsequential as hardly anybody owned a 5.1 home cinema system (ridiculous argument and factually incorrect in any event).

Bottom line is I bought Pro but at least it had the advantage of being much quicker with a 64 bit win7 operating system and the low memory issue was history.

I guess you just have to make a choice dependent on how you see SCS going.

Good Luck anyway.