I would wait. I never buy any software anymore that I can’t try first.

The mention of DVDit on the SoFo web site makes me nervous. DVDit is not known to be very stable or functional. If you look at their forums they look a lot like Pinnacle's with most people not getting it to work at all and asking for their money back. (not good) I was hoping they’d ship a limited version of DVD Architect. I hope Sony knows what they’re doing. I would have avoided DVDit like the plague. We’ll just have to wait and see.

~jr

Still no one with a copy? As of this morning, it looks like it's available by download, although the price is the same as the package. I got a speedy reponse email from customer service who said it should be available in stores by mid-September. I just wish there were a downloadable demo version ...

Well... at least you can download the manual from the Sony Screenblast site. [PDF link] It looks exactly like VideoFactory with a third video track and some new transitions and FX’s from Vegas. This is great for VideoFactory users. I upgraded to Vegas primarily because I couldn’t live within the two tracks that VF had. I think the inclusion of a third video track blows all the competitors away on its own. And it’s not even listed in the comparison chart with Studio 8 and VideoWave. Studio 8 has one video track and one static image overlay track (that doesn’t accept video) and MovieStudio has three (3) video tracks. Come on guys that’s something to showcase in the comparison!!!

Looks like DVD burning is supplied by MyDVD 4.5 and is a separate install (i.e., no integration) The manual says to save your project as an AVI file for use with MyDVD which means it will use the MyDVD MPEG2 encoder and not the MianConcept encoder. I don’t know if that’s good or bad. (unless MyDVD uses the MainConcept encoder too)

The upgrade is only $29.95 and it’s downloadable so you should be able to get it now if you own VideoFactory. You can’t argue with the price. MyDVD alone is $79.

~jr

JohnnyRoy,

You always have such great information. I've downloaded the manual and I'm going through it. It doesn't seem to have too much more than I was able to figure out with the Video Factory 2.0 demo I downloaded a couple of weeks ago.

I don't know what the MyDVD 4.5 can do. I got a version of MyDVD when I bought my DVD burner, it seems to be able to create very simple DVD menus, but doesn't give me control over any aspect of it other than choosing a "style". Maybe it's just a simple OEM version and the 4.5 has more features?

I'm one of the many Pinnacle Studio 8 users that's looking for more video editing capbilities (pan & zoon, etc). I'm really comfortable with Studio 8's DVD authoring, I can make any kind of menu, as simple or as complex as I can yet imagine, including still and motion backgrounds, sounds or music, multiple pages, etc. Will MyDVD give me this? I've visited their web page and read some online information, but I don't know if I trust my simple knowledge of the terminology to know if I can build DVD menus on my own from scratch.

Or maybe I should stick with Studio 8 simply for the DVD authoring, and do most of my video editing in Movie Studio where I can use 3 video tracks, do pan and zoom, not wait 30 seconds for the software simply to start, and hope every time I resize the timeline that the software doesn't crash.

I guess I'm about ready to just buy Movie Studio 3. I really appreciate all the advice everyone has given.

MyDVD is developed by Sonic Solutions (no relation to Sonic Foundry). You can checkout their website here:

http://www.mydvd.com/default.asp

I doubt that Screenblast comes with a full "Plus" version of MyDVD, most likely it is similar to the stripped down version included with your DVD drive.

Eric,

Your impression of MyDVD is correct. MyDVD is just a template driven, easy to use, but very limited package. It doesn’t even come close to what you can do with Pinnacle Studio 8. That’s why I’m shocked that Sony picked it. DVD Architect is closer to Studio 8. When I was looking for a DVD burning package, I looked at several key players and MyDVD was one of them. I check out their forums and there were lots, and lots, of unhappy customers. I check out the features and found you could only set a chapter point during capture! If you brought in your own files, it wouldn’t let you set chapter points. I hope that has changed and the code is more stable with 4.5.

That said, Sony didn’t have many options. Pinnacle Systems just bought Dazzle DVD Complete so they could kill it (and they did). Ulead has their own competitive NLE to MovieStudio so they probably weren’t willing to partner. That leaves MyDVD as the only one to partner with and I would guess it’s the same version that comes for free with many DVD burners plus a new set of menu templates from Sony.

If Sony was smart, they would have released a stripped down version of DVD Architect, (just like VideoFactory is a stripped down version of Vegas) with no AC3 and the ability to set markers in VideoFactory that become chapters when you burn your DVD just like Vegas does. This would be more competition for Studio 8. This would have also given them a common code-base for DVD authoring which would increase stability of the product just like VideoFactory and Vegas have. Finally, it would have preserved the user’s learning curve in upgrading to Vegas+DVD since all the software would have the same look and feel. This is a major advantage for the VideoFactory to Vegas upgrade path. What the heck was Sony thinking???

The new features in MovieStudio 3 are still far above the competition like Studio 8 and well worth the upgrade price. I wouldn’t let MyDVD influence your buying decision. Since it’s a separate application you could always use any other DVD authoring program you like. I personally, would upgrade for the 3rd video track alone. I rarely use more than 3 video tracks in Vegas. ;-)

~jr

jr,

I totally agree with your comments. I've just upgraded to Movie Studio 3.0 and am very pleased. However, I wish DVD Architect was available as a stand alone purchase.

Aylwin

Too bad about Dazzle DVD Complete getting killed. That's the app I use to generate DVDs. (I edit in VF, render to AVI, then load into DVD Complete to add chapters, menus, etc.) It's a low-end piece of software, but is pretty flexible and more importantly never crashes (must be why Pinnacle wanted to kill it). I always use Nero for the actual burning of the image, however. It burns the most stable and readable DVDs that I've seen.

Gotta go...time to upgrade VF to Movie Studio 3!

I know all about not upgrading the software in the middle of a Project, but, I want to upgrade from VF2 to ScreenBlaster 3, and have some projects "on hold", so need to know if the project files are compatible.

I guess they will be, just need to know for sure.

Of course they are.

In fact, despite the name change, Screenblast still thinks it's Video Factory -- but with some new features!

You'll be fine. Go for it. It's the best $30 you'll spend on your computer this year.

I have Uleads Video Studeo 6 and it does everything I want except cropping.

Does anyone know if MS 3 will save to MPEG-2 as a file using a variable bit rate of 2000 at 640x480? I have found this to give excellent quality and compression. I was able to compress 135 minutes to 2 GB. Is this type of compression and saving as a file available?

I downloaded Vegas and found the frames so tiny compared to UL VS 6 that they were hardly usable.

I have never used Movie Factory so some insights would be very helpful.

Thank you

Neo1, what do you mean by "frames so tiny"? Most everything in Vegas is adjustable. What frames are you talking about?