I've used Movie Factory 1.0 for a large project recently - about 4 hours of video and had very good results from the software - no coasters.

The problem I ran into was with the DVD players. I have a Samsung player (2 mos. old) and they work great. My parents have an AKAI (1 month old) and they work great. My in-laws have an RCA (about 2 yrs. old) and it's a little more fussy - at Thanksgiving it worked and at Christmas it didn't. At Christmas I was using a CD-R. I don't remember for sure but I think I was using a CD-RW at Thanksgiving. I hope to try both again in the next few weeks.

I actually tried a different brand (forget which one) before I bought my Samsung that didn't work period. The salesman said, "Any progressive scan DVD player will read VCD's." - Well, it ain't so! I brought it back and they gave me the Samsung player for $80 (their cost - normally $120)!

In summary I've been happy with Movie Factory (although I'll probably upgrade to 2.0 sometime soon) - it did everything I needed it to do. You just have to be careful of the players.

Hope this helps a little!

DRF

Maybe I'm the dummy(don't feel you need to answer that) but can't you just render to VCD from Vegas?
I've used Nero successfully before also, but my last project was right from Vegas.
Worked great.

M

I like to use Nero because I am usually doing more than one video to a disk. Vegas does not give you the option to use multiple videos, unless you make them on the same project.

Otherwise, you are right. ( I don't know about the dummy part :)

Dave T2

Dave - I'm using Nero 5.5.7.8. Unless I need to update something, I prefer to not fix what ain't broke, so I didn't check to see if this is the latest version or if newer updates are supposed to work better. And that is kinda the reason for me asking the question, actually.

MyST - Get outta town! VV can do VCD? What will they think of next? How'd you find that out? Read the manual? (AWK!) Guess I better start pushing a few more buttons in VV. Gee, maybe VV4 will even be able to cook my beloved popcorn too???

From what I'm seeing so far, I think they're running neck-and-neck, ie they both work. Is that about the consensus?

Thanks!
R

"MyST - Get outta town! VV can do VCD? What will they think of next? How'd you find that out? Read the manual? (AWK!) Guess I better start pushing a few more buttons in VV. Gee, maybe VV4 will even be able to cook my beloved popcorn too???"

Do I sense sarcasm? You did ask for options for a relative newbie...I supplied one. Along with stating that I had used Nero successfully also.

M

I also use Nero for burning specifically for SVCD and XVCD since these formats are not directly supported from within Vegas. Nero does a great job burning these disc types. Just be aware that not all DVD players support VCD/SVC/XVCD. The great thing about Nero is that you have the option of burning non-compliant VCD for players that can support this type of format, the quality is fantastic.

My apologies, MyST. I did not mean any disrespect at all, to you or anyone else. It's just hard to convey humor (or embarrassment) in writing.

I was trying to make light of the fact that I didn't even know VV could do VCD's, and like everyone else I am anxiously awaiting the release of something that is stacking up be even-more powerful than what we already have at our disposal. Nope, no sarcasm intended.

I do appreciate knowing VV can burn VCD's. But that sorta begets the question now as to why other folks also use 'external' tools to do that. Comments?

R

No problem.

"Vegas does not give you the option to use multiple videos, unless you make them on the same project."

There's part of the reason.

M

Ronbo:
No need to feel dumb. This is a wonderful time to be involved with video, since things are happening so fast. Flip side is that everything is very confusing, since things are happening so fast.

I would urge you to jump into the DVD waters right now. DVD burners are getting cheaper all the time, and you could probably pick up one for not much more than $200 these days. Ditto for media; the very-high-quality Apple DVD-R blanks just dropped in price from $5 to $3, and cheapo blanks can be had for less than $1. The problem with VCD is that the quality is crummy. The problem with the miscellaneous other formats is that they are not universal standards, and thus will perhaps be unplayable in 10 years.

A cheap DVD authoring tool like Ulead DVD MovieFactory ($50) is really all you need to get your feet wet. BTW I use Nero to burn my DVDs from hard disk. You might want to go to Nero's site (www.ahead.de) and download the latest version to update your copy. The latest versions fix various little things without (to my knowledge) introducing new problems. I think they are now up to 5.5.10.

Nero incorporates "Burn-Proof" technology that prevents the creation of coasters due to buffer underrun. That's not to say that your DVDs will play on every player. New players are happy with DVD-Rs, but many older players choke. Same's probably true with VCDs.