Comments

ralphied wrote on 1/24/2003, 9:27 AM
1) VideoFactory is extremely stable. I've used it for about a year now and I've never had it crash. This is very rare for low-cost NLE packages.

2) Audio and video always in sync. This was the biggest problem I had with VideoWave -- the audio & video were constantly getting out of sync.

3) Precise editing control. With the timeline showing the audio and video in real time, you can be extremely precise in your editing. VideoWave, with only it's storyboard view, was a joke. You could never figure just where the audio aligned with the video. This was important for me because I wanted to do a slideshow video of my daughter for a high school graduation present. I mixed still pictures with short video clips all set to 4 different background songs. I found VF to be very easy to get exactly what I wanted.

4) Sonic myDVD is primarily a DVD authoring program. It has very limited editing capabilities. And, as for its DVD authoring capabilities, it does not handle variable bit rate MPEG-2 files well at all.

5) For $60, VF2 can't be beat for editing purposes. Extremely easy to add numerous special effects, titles, transitions, etc.

6) You cannot burn DVDs with VF2 -- you need another package. I use Ulead's DVD Movie Factory. Version 2, which was just released at the beginning of the year, is a very good authoring package for $45.
discdude wrote on 1/24/2003, 9:34 AM
Obviously, anyone posting on this board would think that Video Factory (VF) is the best budget video editor out there.

However, I sorry to report that VF has no DVD burning capability. You can edit great videos in Video Factory, but you have to use another product for DVD burning.

If you check out the front page, you will see that Sonic Foundry is working on DVD Architect. Personally, I would say that there is a fair chance that the next version of VF will include some sort of DVD burning capability, possible as an extra charge add-on (Video Factory + DVD?). Till then, you'll have to use another program for DVD burning; a lot of people seem to like Ulead MovieFactory (~$50).
IanG wrote on 1/24/2003, 12:14 PM
Not only is it stable, it's stable on a wide range of PC configurations with most if not all versions of Windows.

The learning curve's a bit steeper than Studio, but the built-in tutorials and the support from this forum are excellent. The results are definitely worth an hour or so's extra effort! Anyway, you get the time back by being able to do things quicker.

Realtime preview of effects - you can see what they're doing as you add them.

It's fun!

Ian G.


JohnnyRoy wrote on 1/24/2003, 6:43 PM
> Obviously, anyone posting on this board would think that Video Factory (VF)
> is the best budget video editor out there.

Perhaps one might think its obvious for this board, but go to the Pinnacle Studio board and ask how it stacks up and you’ll get 20 appends telling you that it’s a piece of junk and not to buy it. Likewise on the Videowave boards. Mostly very unhappy users. But you come here to SoFo and you’d be hard pressed to find an unhappy user. That speaks volumes for the quality of SoFo’s products like VideoFactory.

It’s the best darn NLE for under $100 bar none. When you outgrow it, there is a very attractive upgrade path to Vegas Video. Download the 30-day trial and see for yourself.

~jr
jgr wrote on 1/27/2003, 3:08 AM
Thanks for all the great advice. I really appreciate it.
lifeizgud wrote on 1/27/2003, 12:02 PM
it's well worth buying the main concept mpeg-2 plug in also. so far it has the best quality of any mpeg-2 encoder.