Sony MS3 and dvd

merkelck wrote on 1/14/2004, 5:01 PM
From all the traffic about dvd/mpeg2/authoring, it appears as if Sony would be smart to develop something that really works. I tried the method where you "save to the hard drive" . When you use this method , you can choose the appropriate encoder. I have found that if the total project time is small enough to go on a dvd (approx 1hr) , you can select to use the MPEG2 encoder and then bring the resulting file(s) into MyDVD. If you understand the limitations of MyDVD, you can make an adequate product. One of my projects turned out to be 1hr 52min in length. Knowing full well that this will not fit on a dvd at full quality, I elected to render using the MPEG1 encoder and setting the bit rate for the "low" quality (120min). However, when I take these files into MyDVD it will not burn the disc because the files are too big. It appears that MyDVD is basing that decision on the time code of the material instead of the reduced sizes of .mpg files. It just will not proceed beyond telling me " there is not enough room on the disc". If I remove a couple of clips from the project thereby reducing the overall time, it will work . But the output quality is definitely MPEG1 quality.
To make matters worse, I followed the advice of others in the forum and tried the trial version of the Ulead Movie Factory2. This program did the same thing even though the bar graph at the bottom of the window says there is adequate room. If the overal project time was less than 60 min, the thing worked fine. If you can only put 60 min of material into the project , you might as well go ahead and render with mpeg2 and enjoy the better quality.
Not willing to give up on this project, I then noticed that there is a trial version of the Ulead Movie Factory 3 on their website. So I tried the same project with it and IT WORKED FINE..
And to further rub salt into the wounds, I put the whole project into the Studio8 program and made a dvd the first time out!!!
I guess the answer to this is to just switch to Vegas+DVD. I wonder if that would solve all this once and for all. Is that really the Sony strategy?

Comments

djcc wrote on 1/15/2004, 5:55 AM
Only Sony knows for sure what their strategy is. I suspect the addition of MyDVD was like grabbing something off the shelf... they had the application, and by packaging it with MS, it gave them the ability to claim their product covered the entire process from editing to authoring....

We can only hope that the process will become more integrated/fluid in the future. I, for one, cannot justify the $$$ of Vegas for my part-time hobby!
mmreed wrote on 1/15/2004, 6:12 AM
If everyone sumbits this as a request, maybe they will do somethign about it:

http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.com/support/productsuggestion.asp
obiron wrote on 1/15/2004, 1:23 PM
I have MyDVD version 4.5 that I got with a computer and before I upgraded Video Factory to MS3. What MyDVD does is something called transcoding the audio. No matter what the audio format, be it compressed or not, MyDVD will transcode it to PCM format. PCM format is uncompressed audio (read very large). Furthermore, I don't think that this transcoding of audio is comprehended in it's calculation for disk space. So what happens is that after MyDVD compiles all the audio, video, and menus, then and only then can it determine that there is or is not enough disk space.

I beat my head against a wall for a while until I figured this out. You have to use the trial and error method to deterimine whether or not a compilation will fit. I used +RW until I homed in on what would fit. So, now I don't use MyDVD anymore; I use DVDLab.

Hope this helps.
Ron
merkelck wrote on 1/15/2004, 3:39 PM
That certainly explains a lot. I had upgraded to MyDVD v5 and it did the same thing. After a good deal of trial and error, I have gone to the new Ulead Movie Factory 3. It is available from them as a download only at the present time but it solved my problems. There is a trial version of the new software that includes the MF3 in the "creator" package. But they also offer the Movie Factory 3 by itself. So far it is working well.
Kent
pjetheredge wrote on 1/19/2004, 1:10 PM
Based on your ideas here, I've downloaded Ulead Movie Factory 3, but I'm not tech savvy enough to make it work with the .dvd file that MyDVD created from my .avi file. It won't pull in that file format. What do I do?

Also, the .avi file is 6.37 GB but the video I made is only 1/2 hour long. It has a combination of audio, photos, and soundtrack. I can't imagine it wouldn't fit onto one disc though. Is there some kind of compression I can/should do?

Thanks!
Chienworks wrote on 1/19/2004, 3:14 PM
You need to open that .avi file you created in Ulead Movie Factory and author the finished DVD there. And yes, 6.37GB sounds just about exactly right for half an hour. DV .avi files use about 225MB / minute. When you author the DVD in Movie Factory it will compress your video to MPEG-2 which will be much smaller than DV .avi.
IanG wrote on 1/19/2004, 3:23 PM
You use Movie Factory instead of MyDVD. You can either use a DVD template in MS, render to a mpg file on your HD and then use that file as the input to Movie Factory OR you can render as an avi and use that as the input file. If you're in NTSC land you're probably better off with the 2nd option - MS can't produce AC-3 audio, but Movie Factory 3 can, so you can get more on a DVD if you let MF handle the compression. The downside is that Movie Factory will have to render your avi to mpg, and it will probably do it each time you make a change, so make sure you'e happy with the detail before you produce your DVD.

Ian G.
starfish98034 wrote on 1/19/2004, 3:25 PM
Are you using the Ulead product to do your editing or are you editing in MS3?

All of this is making me wonder why I spent $90 to buy MS3. I find the editing portion fine to use but MyDVD is a pain for all the reasons listed previously. The worst problem I had was that the "Burn" button is grayed out on MyDVD if the file is too large. I spent days trying to figure out what was causing that. Naturally no help from Sonic or Sony in getting that answered. (Thanks to those on this forum for helping my work my way through that one.
IanG wrote on 1/19/2004, 3:35 PM
>I find the editing portion fine to use There's your answer - there's nothing to touch it! I have a recurring vision of Sony execs planning the MS 3 bundle saying "Sonic, Sonic Foundry - same company, right?"

Ian G.
JReed wrote on 1/20/2004, 4:34 AM
So...what's the answer...should I go get ULead's Movie Factory to author with....? I generally burn .avi's under an hour.