I wish there was a way to combine these two programs. Each is good in its own right, but there are problems.
Ulead:
1) If the file is an MPEG2 or MPEG1 (nice for putting several VCDs on one DVD) it does not force a re-encode, which significantly decreases the render times. DVDs look just as good as the ones DVDA spends hours reencoding.
2) Seems to actually burn faster for me.
3) It's way easier to create submenus and choose what things are linked to each other.
4) If you drag multiple videos into the dvd lineup you can set it to play them all straight through.
Cons:
Lack of support of Divx, WMV, Xvid conversion/rendering.
Poor menu text and alignment options.
DVDa
1) Great menu creation tools, text resizing, etc.
2) Optimization is nice (although if you have the space to make a 10gb dvd and use dvd95copy/dvd2one/instantcopy/dvdshrink to reencode it you can save much time)
3) Support of Divx, Xvid, WMV
4) Slick interface, autmatic placement of buttons
5) Animated menu buttons.
Cons:
Insane render times, sometimes forces reencodes of MPEG2's rendered with Vegas using the DVD template. Forces reencode of MPEG1's. Takes forever.
Things both programs are missing that would make them unbeatable:
Support for multiple audio tracks (ideal for director's commentaries)
Ability to pause a render and close the program, turn off the computer, check email whatever and restart the program and start the render again at the same place. This would help make DVDa's render times more bearable, ie, if a render is going to take 28-40 hours as some have I could render when I go to bed and when I awake simply pause the render and start it again that night. It might take 3 nights, but there are rarely times when I can leave my computer alone for 28-40 hours.
Ulead:
1) If the file is an MPEG2 or MPEG1 (nice for putting several VCDs on one DVD) it does not force a re-encode, which significantly decreases the render times. DVDs look just as good as the ones DVDA spends hours reencoding.
2) Seems to actually burn faster for me.
3) It's way easier to create submenus and choose what things are linked to each other.
4) If you drag multiple videos into the dvd lineup you can set it to play them all straight through.
Cons:
Lack of support of Divx, WMV, Xvid conversion/rendering.
Poor menu text and alignment options.
DVDa
1) Great menu creation tools, text resizing, etc.
2) Optimization is nice (although if you have the space to make a 10gb dvd and use dvd95copy/dvd2one/instantcopy/dvdshrink to reencode it you can save much time)
3) Support of Divx, Xvid, WMV
4) Slick interface, autmatic placement of buttons
5) Animated menu buttons.
Cons:
Insane render times, sometimes forces reencodes of MPEG2's rendered with Vegas using the DVD template. Forces reencode of MPEG1's. Takes forever.
Things both programs are missing that would make them unbeatable:
Support for multiple audio tracks (ideal for director's commentaries)
Ability to pause a render and close the program, turn off the computer, check email whatever and restart the program and start the render again at the same place. This would help make DVDa's render times more bearable, ie, if a render is going to take 28-40 hours as some have I could render when I go to bed and when I awake simply pause the render and start it again that night. It might take 3 nights, but there are rarely times when I can leave my computer alone for 28-40 hours.