Vegas +DVD upgrade vs. other DVD authoring apps

foredogg wrote on 3/26/2003, 10:18 PM
Hello,
I use VV3 and have Ulead MovieFactory 2 for DVD burning. I am a newbie/hobbiest and will probably never use all the new color correcting, etc. advanced features in V4 so I am wondering is it worth it to upgrade to Vegas+DVD just for DVD Architect?

I want something more powerful than MovieFactory where I am not restricted to icons/video tabs and can be more creative in the DVD menus like using text as the links to launch the video and be able to do the cool effects like some DVD have where there is motion after you click the link.

Anyone know of other good DVD authoring programs? Or is Vegas+DVD worth the upgrade for DVD Architect? I did download the demo but didn't have time to play with it much and it already expired.

Thanks,
Travis

Comments

jetdv wrote on 3/26/2003, 11:20 PM
The beta expired. The demo should work fine. Just download the demo and try it. The menus are very flexible.
foredogg wrote on 3/26/2003, 11:57 PM
hey thanks jetdv, it worked. Thought once you installed a product it would prevent you from using it again. Forgot about it being a beta version!
foredogg wrote on 3/27/2003, 12:26 AM
wow, just played a bit more with +DVD...impressive! I think I'll upgrade!
Hey thanks jetdv.
Cheno wrote on 3/27/2003, 12:48 AM
You can burn the sample project to test it out. For the upgrade price, soon to be much more, it's almost a steal. Very flexible application.

mike
foredogg wrote on 3/27/2003, 1:06 AM
You mean the $399 any Vegas to Vegas+DVD upgrade price will go up soon? Is it a promo intro price?
jetdv wrote on 3/27/2003, 10:41 AM
I believe introductory pricing ends at the end of this month. The special initial upgrade pricing ended March 15th. Consider buying before April 1 or be prepared to spend some more money.
Jsnkc wrote on 3/27/2003, 11:01 AM
The vegas 4 editing program is a must have, the DVD authoring program is not the greatest, but it is pretty comparable to DVDit, MyDVD, and Ulead DVD movie factory. Although the Sonic Foudry authoring package does give you more flexibility with the creation of menus, so I would definatley pick it over at least the Sonic packages, but the Ulead DVD authoring package is very similar in capabilities to the SF one, but will probably cost you more in the long run, so go with the Vegas + DVD
nolonemo wrote on 3/27/2003, 11:21 AM
If you are not going to upgrade to V4, and you don't care about AC3 sound, I think that DVD Workshop at around $300 will give you more bang for the buck (unless SoFo is going to give you a free upgrade to DVDA 2.0)
vitalforce2 wrote on 3/27/2003, 12:12 PM
Pinnacle Studio 8, with the latest bug patch, doubles as a very flexible and full-featured DVD menu maker. There are chronic problems reported in the Pinnacle forum, as to doing a good burn, but the users often use Nero 5.5 to take the _TS files created by Pinnacle and do the burning.
wobblyboy wrote on 3/27/2003, 1:58 PM
Check the "What DVD Architect does that other applications do not do" thread in the DVD Architect portion of this forum. Note that DVD Workshop is great but dosen't give you previews of motion menus and buttons, automatic scene selection menu for chapter points, time line editing for start, end, and chapter points. AC-3 encoding, recognition of Vegas markers as chapter points, plus a number of other features noted in the DVD Architect thread.
BD wrote on 3/27/2003, 6:44 PM
foredogg,
I'm an amateur who just upgraded from V3 to V4+DVDA -- because the AC-3 audio feature (which uses less DVD space) will enable me to make longer home movies on a single disk, because it links the video editing and DVD authoring programs, and because I've learned to absolutely trust sonicfoundry's products.

Brandon's Dad
foredogg wrote on 3/27/2003, 10:06 PM
Thanks all for the info. I was impressed with the DVD Architect demo over what I have now, MovieFactory 2, and would be very interested in playing with AC-3. However, since I have a few more days till the price goes up, I'll look at Ulead's DVD Workshop. But as Brad's Dad said, I've also learned to trust SoFo's stuff so I'm kinda leaning toward the upgrade.
Thanks all! Travis