Why can't DVD Architect be stand alone!!??

zstevek wrote on 2/4/2003, 6:24 PM
I am very interested in purchasing DVD architect as a standalone product (VV3 works just fine for me), but I read that the only way to purchase it is bundled with Vegas 4. Why can’t you buy DVD Architect as a standalone if you have VV3?? What does Vegas 4 have that makes it the only program Sofo includes DVD Architect with? That just does not make sense to me. If this company wants to increase the potential for revenues you would think they would try and get some deals with HP or Sony and get their product bundled with more DVD burners.

Heck I would even consider purchasing a DVD Architect “lite” version if it were available. In these tough economic times I really don’t think high cost is a good approach! You need a balance and a choice for consumers in various price ranges IMO.

Comments

craftech wrote on 2/5/2003, 12:49 AM
I agree
DataMeister wrote on 2/5/2003, 2:23 AM
Or perhaps they should have automaticly incuded DVD Architect with Vegas 4 and simply given a single upgrade price like $249, or $499 new.

Then make some large improvements for version 2.0 and switch to standalone versions the way CD Architect is now.

JBJones
tserface wrote on 2/5/2003, 8:29 AM
A "Premiere" friend of mine said that it came with Sonic DVDIt LE which works fine for what he wants to do and he got the educational version for $240. I haven't used Premiere for some time, but he says it not does the preview before rendering stuff like Vegas. I still don't like the Premiere interface.

Tom
jetdv wrote on 2/5/2003, 9:32 AM
DVDit LE is a LAME authoring program that cannot use AC-3 audio, cannot set chapter points, and does not have motion menus or buttons. There is no comparison between DVDit LE and DVD Architect - DVD Architect wins by a mile.
nolonemo wrote on 2/5/2003, 9:49 AM
On the other hand, it seems to me that DVD Workshop is a more powerful authoring package overall. The only advantage I see to DVDA is the ability to import chapter points from VV. BTW, isn't the AC3 encoding done in V4? I don't think DVDA will *encode* AC3, only author it, just as DVD WS will. Correct me if I'm wrong.
DataMeister wrote on 2/5/2003, 12:28 PM
In my view authoring and encoding mean just about the same thing. Vegas creates the 6 sepparate channels of sound, but it can't encode those 6 channels into the AC3 stream. You could however save it to a WM9 file and play back the 6 channels.

What I don't know, is how DVD Architect recieves the 6 channels of sound from it's video files. I don't know if there is some universal way of saving 6 sound streams in the video file which DVD Architect then can read or if Vegas 4 has it's own unique way of saving the 6 channels of information to where only DVD Architect is required.

JBJones
mikkie wrote on 2/5/2003, 12:42 PM
If enough people keep asking, maybe they'll consider DVDA standalone &/or an LE.

Myself, figure it's either a marketing decision or a licensing issue - in either case enough people asking can't hurt, and might nudge the marketing folks in those directions.

mike
SonyDennis wrote on 2/5/2003, 12:48 PM
JBJones:

You can render AC-3 from Vegas 4 (using the AC-3 5.1 surround plug-in, included in the Vegas+DVD package), this is what DVD Architect opens.

If you have 6 mono WAV files (or 3 stereo, or whatever) from somewhere else, you can setup a Vegas project to route these to the right channels to be encoded to AC-3 (or surround WMA/WMV for that matter).

DVD Architect can do AC-3 stereo encoding, Vegas 4 does AC-3 5.1 or stereo encoding.

I hope this helps to clear things up.

///d@
DataMeister wrote on 2/5/2003, 3:43 PM
I'm assuming the AC-3 5.1 surround plug-in included with DVD Architect is the same one that can be purchased sepparately for ACID Pro 4?

JBJones