What DVD-A does that others don't...

DigVid wrote on 3/25/2003, 8:48 AM
Okay, after too much coffee and little patience here goes.

I come from using DVDit!PE and SpruceUp 1.1 with a slight knowledge of ReelDVD and here's how I think they compare with this new kid on the block.

First, I must say that with the Sonic Forum I have heard many complaints about DVDit! over the years and many of them were justified IMHO. I was happy with DVDit!PE because I got it for $380 as an upgrade price for buying a DVD burner. However, the folks that bought it for $1K really took a beating, I think, until really its newest vers. 2.5.4.

Even DVDit!PE only offered Dolby 2.0 (or PCM) encoding and decoding. 5.1 Dolby (encoding or decoding) is not an option as it is in DVDA. ReelDVD will decode but not encode 5.1 DD, though it will encode 2.0 DD.

DVDit!PE allows only one title set. DVDA offers multiple title sets (a feature that you must pay many thousands of dollars for from any Sonic Solutions offering). ReelDVD doesn't have it and even the more costly Producer doesn't.

No motion menus in DVDit!PE (2.5.4), yet DVDA has them (and motion buttons) and it allows easy creation of them.

DVDit!PE uses a single color highlight and creates blocky (TV unfriendly) menus, while DVDA has beautifully smooth menus with easily resizable fonts and buttons and multiple color and opacity highlight choices.

DVDA has grid choices, title-safe and action-safe options, DVDit! has none of that.

You can import more different audio types into DVDA then you can with DVDit!

Also, SoFo's products are made for Windows and they follow the conventions that most are used to working with in Windows. Too many other companies seem to treat their (Mac) ports as though they are making fun of us Windows users with interfaces and workflows that (in a word) suck!

So, is DVDA perfect maybe not, but for its cost I think it's magnificent. It has utilized many of the requests from users of other "low cost" DVD authoring packages and added a few nice surprises of its own that I still haven't touched on.

I applaud SoFo for this whole Vegas4+DVD package thing.

BTW, I never had crashes with DVDitPE either on XP Home (boy was that an issue for many). DVD production (much less video production) takes effort from the user and thank The Maker for that!

Comments

jetdv wrote on 3/25/2003, 9:21 AM
Small correction: DVDit PE is at version 2.5.4. There has been no version 3, version 4 promised last summer and then last fall never materialized, and version 5 was promised in early 2003 and is still being promised as "soon".
DigVid wrote on 3/25/2003, 12:17 PM
Yes, yes. Like I said too much coffee (vers. 2.5.4 - see we've waited so long that it seems reasonable to imagine a 3.x vers).

One other thing that I read was someone wanted "end actions" that I thought they wanted a video to be broken down into say 3 chapters and be able to both run the video, access chapters that then play through to the end of the video, AND access chapters that only play the selected chapter. And, all stems relate to the original MPEG2 (so that you don't have to waste valuable DVD space with repeated MPEGS).

Well, I just created a DVDA DVD that does just that, and all I was even able to pace all buttons on one menu. No other "affordable" DVD authoring app does that at least not the current (vers 2.x) DVDit! series!

Just look under the hood of DVD-Architect 1.0a it has some really cool and fun stuff in there.

BTW, I use a Pioneer DVR-A05 burner and DVDA not only recognizes it perfectly, but records 2x to DVD-RW and 4x to DVD-R and it erases faster than even the newest version of RecordNow MAX (which I also love). DVDit!PE 2.5.4 records only at 1x (with the A05) and takes forever to create builds, etc, etc.
nolonemo wrote on 3/25/2003, 2:25 PM
DigVid,

how about a tutorial for your play all/chapter play setup?

Thx.
jetdv wrote on 3/25/2003, 2:53 PM
For the "chapter" play, all you need to do is change the in-point to the beginning of the "chapter" and the out-point to the end of the "chapter". For the play all button, the in-point is the very beginning and the out-point is the very end. However, this assumes that ALL chapters are in ONE file. When using multiple files for your chapters, you would need end actions to tell it to go to the next file.
DigVid wrote on 3/25/2003, 3:45 PM
"When using multiple files for your chapters, you would need end actions to tell it to go to the next file."

And, of course, DVDA doesn't have that command...

However, my thought is that one could still use a composite file of all material you would want encoded to MC-MPEG2 in Vegas4 then separated into chapters (split up) in DVDA. In any other program you would have to have separte files (taking up more disk space) AND most importantly the command (which is missing in those other apps to play just the isolated chapter (without continuing to the end of the video). This is a nice use of "multiple title sets", which are just not normally available in an authoring package anywhere near this price point.

A trade off, perhaps. But, I personally still think that SoFos DVDA solution offers better options than past products and the price can't be beat for the versatility (at least for what I currently require)...
jetdv wrote on 3/25/2003, 4:12 PM
We are actually in agreement. I currently use a single file to create my DVDs. I was just pointing out the other case - multiple files requires end actions to perform the same task. However, that doesn't mean I wouldn't like end actions to be implemented in a future release - even end actions when the sub-section of the larger piece finishes. It just gives more flexibility.
DigVid wrote on 3/25/2003, 4:23 PM
Absolutely, and thanks for the mini-tutorial...

But, in lieu of the fact that they didn't include "end actions" (at this point anyway), I'm just pointing out that what they did come up with is pretty clever. I'm really having fun with DVDA and don't miss the other apps I was using before. Even with their "end actions" option - they sucked!

Now DVDs play with proper time, chapter (and even title) readouts and even the TS_Video folder looks to be much more orderly. I love it.


Now, if I can just configure me a new P4 hyperthreader. So many options, so little time...
tlparker wrote on 3/25/2003, 6:05 PM

OK, newbie (just using demo's now, actual product "on the way") question, but what determines whether DVDA content is all one file (which I understand you can create chapters to reference parts of) or multiple chapters/files? If I create a DVD's worth of content in one Vegas "session" with chapter marks, I'm assuming I can easily render this out, send to DVDA, and have chapters represented in DVDA to work with, allowing me to set up a "play all" option or menu items for the individual chapters.
DigVid wrote on 3/25/2003, 6:27 PM
Correct!

The cool thing about DVDA is that you CAN set up chapter points in Vegas4 or even Sound Forge (which I do sometimes) simply by using the "m" key.

Once you get the video (Main Concept DVDA MPEG File) done, go to DVDA and drag it into Main Menu, double click it and (in the media properties area) either use your original chapter points or make new ones and use the set in and set out points to define your special lone chapter areas (using ctrl arrow). You can also add your PCM or DD sound file here. These can then be made into menu icons for "separate" chapter access. The Main video will also play through complete and you can access chapters that run through as well from that main video - just like (not kinda like) the Hollywood DVDs do. Trying it is easier than explaining it.

The best thing about this is that only the original video will be used so that no redundancy takes place - very nice.
wobblyboy wrote on 3/26/2003, 1:47 PM
I.m glad that you pointed out the DVD Architect has many advantages over other more expensive products. However, you forgot a couple: 1. Timeline editing for start, end points, and chapter points. 2. Automatic scene selection menu to set up chapter point links. 3. Music compliations, slide show, and single movie project options. 4. REAL TIME PREVIEW of motion menus and buttons.
PeterWright wrote on 3/26/2003, 6:41 PM
And another - the ability to accept and realtime preview almost any format video, even wmv ...
wobblyboy wrote on 3/26/2003, 10:08 PM
The list just gets longer!!