I thought I would share the results of a little experiment I ran over the weekend. In large part due to advice from this forum I obtained the above three applications. The conditions included editing, authoring and then burning from the same MPEG2 clip captured from VHS tape. (note: I cannot capture in anything but MPEG2).
Steps for each application were roughly as follows:
Screenblast MS3.0: Import MPEG2 clip into application, cut, add transitions then re-render to MPEG2, add, using the enclosed MyDVD, chapter points (at least try), menu, and burn to DVD.
ULead MF 2.0: Import MPEG2 clip into application, cut, add chapter points and menues, then burn to DVD (I could not tell if it re-rendered).
TMPGenc Author: Import MPEG2 clip into application, cut, add chapter points, menu and burn.
The results were very clear: TMPGenc was far superior to Screenblast MS in overall image quality, and somewhat superior to Ulead. The downside of TMPGenc is that the transitions are very abrupt; where as in Screenblast there are of host of effects that can be employed. I could not find any transitions in Ulead MF.
Conclusion: If image quality is more important than a smoother looking production TMPGenc Author should be the choice. I really could not think of a reason to purchase Ulead MF, as it cannot add those smooth transitions and its image quality is not quite that of TMPGenc; in addition TMPGenc is more user friendly.
Comments are welcome.
Allen
Steps for each application were roughly as follows:
Screenblast MS3.0: Import MPEG2 clip into application, cut, add transitions then re-render to MPEG2, add, using the enclosed MyDVD, chapter points (at least try), menu, and burn to DVD.
ULead MF 2.0: Import MPEG2 clip into application, cut, add chapter points and menues, then burn to DVD (I could not tell if it re-rendered).
TMPGenc Author: Import MPEG2 clip into application, cut, add chapter points, menu and burn.
The results were very clear: TMPGenc was far superior to Screenblast MS in overall image quality, and somewhat superior to Ulead. The downside of TMPGenc is that the transitions are very abrupt; where as in Screenblast there are of host of effects that can be employed. I could not find any transitions in Ulead MF.
Conclusion: If image quality is more important than a smoother looking production TMPGenc Author should be the choice. I really could not think of a reason to purchase Ulead MF, as it cannot add those smooth transitions and its image quality is not quite that of TMPGenc; in addition TMPGenc is more user friendly.
Comments are welcome.
Allen