it's the Dell Dimension 8250 . Does anyone know if VF would be compatable with the Dazzle Mojave card that came intalled with it?

thanks,
Jill

Grazie is being very polite, but then that's his usual way :)

I've never used the Mojave and have never even seen one. But from all the reports i've hear about them with the Dell bundle (search this forum for "mojave") most people would probably tell you that you'd be best off trashing the thing, uninstalling all the software that came with it, and getting an external A/V -> DV converter box to connect to your firewire port. In the long run you'll be much happier and more productive. It will run you about $300 (US) for the converter and cable though. If you've got a DV camcorder then you wouldn't need any external device to capture from it; just connect the camcorder straight to the firewire port. If you have the DV camcorder and you want to capture from some other analog video source, your camcorder may be able to act as the converter for you. Do some checking around and dig through the forums.

Hope it goes well for you!

thanks Chienworks. You guys have to understand that I'm very green at all of this, and unfortunately got saddled with the bundle Dell shipped.. (BTW , the shipping labels are on the way and and the bundle is being shipped back to Dell)

I will dig around and browse some more of the forums.

Can you tell me, once I settle on the A/V -D/V converter.. what type of software should I be looking for?

My camcorder is analog, so I will be doing all analog capture.

thanks,
Jill

GEEZ LOUISE.. At Chienworks suggestion, I did a search on this forum for Dazzle Mojave . I just finished browsing the forum posts and all I can say is that the Gods are being good to me in that I am just a week shy of my 30 days with this Dell package and can return it for a refund.

The users in this forum seem pretty happy with the Canopus ADVC-100 for capturing.. and all of my capturing will be from analog tape so that may be the way to go.

Once more, can I bother you guys with some other recommendations re software?

thanks!

-Jill

VideoFactory / Vegas works for me. It has native support for firewire captures/print to tape and works seemlessly with such items as the Canopus ADVC-100 and other converters and just about every digital camcorder out there. With the exception of burning SVCDs and DVDs, it's pretty much a complete solution for most everything you can think of doing.

Hi Jill,
Welcome to a more enlightened way, and yours is a path well-trodden by many who are much happier now. Everything Chienworks says is right on the mark; he is one of the most knowledgeable and helpful people here. I'd just add that if you're interested in burning SVCDs or DVDs, Ulead DVD Movie Factory makes a good complement to the Canopus ADVC-100 / Video Factory setup.

And you won't be making movies like this anymore. Audio sync remind you of anything? ;)

Experiences? You want experiences?

Done the VideoWave route - version 3 and 5. Also got Pinnacle's Studio 7 - IMHO not as "function-rich" as VF. VF has 2 video lines and 3 audio lines to play with. S7 has 1 x video and 1 x audio. Got Dazzle Hollywood Bridge - Canopus wasn't available then - but no complaints with the bridge. The bridge is recognised by SoFo. Oh yeah... Software for editing?

READ MY TYPING - "Video Factory.... Video Factory.... Video Factory.... okay?"

It is just so Koooooollllll. I mean it! Once you have spent sometime "doing" and reading this wonderful forum - Hi Guys 'n Gals - you will be well and truly hooked. I am! You really need to muck about with it. Get in there and get down and dirty with it. It has many, many virtues and like a coy mistress [Marlowe I think?] does hide its virtues extreeeemly well.

Truly, I was about to throw in the towel on this video editing business - but SoFo [Sonic FOundry] came through for me and..... SoFar SoGood - GO SOFO! GO SOFO! GO SOFO!

Yes Movie Factory is pretty straightforward - even for me. Some of the final renders are a bit iffy [dodgy/scrappy] but p_l has given me some valuable assistance with this - and yes, p_l I've got some more questions for you. Not quite happy with the quality - yet!

Oooooh... I've now got another video project idea I wanna try - get me off this Forum NOW!!!...

Chienworks - Polite! Moi! [aka Miss Piggy - Grazie flounces hair in dismissive way ] But you did make me smile ;) ....

Have fun,

Grazie

Hi Grazie,

1. TMPGEnc for quality, although VF's MainConcept is fine.

2. Andrew Marvell penned "To His Coy Mistress," not Christopher Marlowe. Click on "Works."

:)

p_l! You'd the Star! You'd the Star!

1. Love the "Marvellous Andrew" website - AND the music - Wild! Now what on Earth would he have made of this - Metaphysical WWWW! Can just 'bout hear Olivia Newton John "Let's get Metaphysical! Physical! Metaphysical!" - OR even Kylie -phew I need a cold shower!

2. Tempgenc - ooher! D'yer fink I can cope with it? Ah go on... give us a clue of what to do.... Or do I reeeallly have to grow-up? Doah!

Thanks,

Grazie

Take your VF DV-AVI, convert to MPEG with TMPGEnc, then take that into DMF's Author Menus > (next) > Add Mpeg File...

Voilà.

Grazie wrote:-
>S7 has 1 x video and 1 x audio

I'm no great fan of Studio, but I thought it had more than 1 audio track? The reason I'm unsure is I've just deleted Studio from my PC in favour of VF. If only choosing my children's Christmas presents was such a simple decision!

Cheers

Ian G.

To be precise: Studio has 1 video track, 1 title track, 1 audio track for video’s audio, and 2 audio tracks for voiceover / music / whatever. So the main difference in tracks is:

1) Video: VF has 2 video tracks and Studio has 1 video track and 1 title track. The title track can only be used for still image overlays. You can place a Hollywood FX transition on it and assign it a video but this requires an upgrade to HFX Plus or Pro and VF is a lot easier to use if all you want to do video overlays.

2) Audio: VF’s 3 audio tracks can be used for anything while 1 of Studio’s 3 audio tracks can only be used for the original audio that came off the video. VF also has far greater audio filtering capabilities (since Studio has none)

Also VF has a greater number of transitions, video FX, audio FX, it does pan and scan and zoom, alpha overlay, transparency, handles MP3’s better, I could go on, and on. Studio does have Alpha Magic transitions which VF doesn’t and it includes SmartSound built in so you can auto-generate royalty free music. So each product has its pluses and minuses. If you can afford it, I’d get both (I did).

I used Studio for over a year before I upgraded to VF and then Vegas. I purchased the additional Hollywood FX Pro for Studio for $69 and I still use it by exporting video from Vegas, using HFX and then importing back into Vegas. It would be nicer to have an HFX plugin for Vegas but this will have to do for now. The latest version of Studio 8 has DVD creation capabilities that rival DVD authoring programs costing $500. I use it for DVD authoring of my MPEG files from Vegas and it does a really nice job.

Unfortunately, Studio has some severe quality control problems. The software never works right out of the box without patching it and Studio 8 is still not working as advertised for some customers (me included). I could not recommend it to a new user for this reason alone. VF and VV have been rock solid on my system. I have never encountered video software as stable as Sonic Foundry’s and recommend it highly.

~jr

you guys and gals are great! thanks for all the solid advice.. as soon as my Dell shipping labels get here, this bundle is outta here, and I'll be looking to get the Canopus, VF and the Ulead DVD Movie Factory. I **think** I had seen that the Ulead was coming out with a new version later in Dec, but when I went back to their website.. I couldn't find anything about it. Maybe it was a ***dream** ;-)

Anyway, thanks again for all your help, it has been a very frustrating 3 weeks with this package..

And, if ya'll don't mind.. I'm sure I'll be visiting you from time to time.

tt,
Jill

Johnny - thanks for clearing that up.

When I found S7 really difficult to do voice over and use that track and then the other options I found within VF I just threw in the towel with S7. The other thing is that in VF you can "pull" the linked audio from a video clip onto the "other" audio lines - don't think you can do that IanG? I was soughta correct but didn't give enough - spell-out the detail I was thinking of. I think of audio as that which I can manipulate as part of the video - yeah? I do understand I can import CD and other audio onto the remaining S7 track, but I don't think I can "pull" down an exsisiting Audio-video stream to the other remaining audio lines.

VF IS the way to go. Newbies could find the hill a bit steep - BUT then the view you get when you finally get there allows for greater visions - AND beyond the original foothills. Studio7 helped me to prepare my base camp for the journey - With VW I wouldn't even have got out of bed!

Wiscoy - just read your 7:54 message. Way to go!

Grazie