What's better than Media Studio Pro?

Bomoh · Post by **Bomoh** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 12:19 pm

Yes but Walsall did beat the Arsenal in 1934 2-0.

Shorts were long and the ball was made of concrete.......... not like the nancy boys of today.......

Greg · Post by **Greg** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 1:11 pm

Actually Walsall have an impressive record against Arsenal, won 8 drawn 3 and only lost 6, but I'm betting Steve is a City man!

Gra · Post by **Gra** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 11:11 pm

Hi
This seems v. similar to an earlier thread.

I'm sure you're angling for the famous 'broadcast quality' stuff (which is very subjective from all the views I have seen). You can spend a lodda dosh but it comes down to a couple of basic things. Some of us could have the most expensive, top of the range software but it relies on the hardware - e.g. video/ sound equipiment, PC for capturing the images and the basic skill of the person editing. Yes there are irritations, but overall I like the feel, layout and price of MSP (I use version eight).

Some could have the top of the range, mage bucks software and make the final result look like it's put together with a chainsaw and sellotape while others can work miracles with basic software (that makes MSP look like expensive cream de la cream). From my point of view, I'm still at the basic of basic level but I can make v. quick step-ups in the quality of my outputs in MSP.

Equally important, at a personal level, there seems a lot of able, patient people on these web boards that really like to share ideas and give very good advice (that is not necessarily Ulead spesific), without leaving people like me feeling inferior or just dumb.

Owen · Post by **Owen** » Wed Apr 26, 2006 4:31 am

Janice S asked.

What do you all suggest?

I suggest you get as many trial versions of various editing software as you can and give them all a go.

At the end of the day it's what suits you. Your hardware and your working preferences. You could ask ten people what's the best and get ten different answers. There's an old saying "What's one persons meat is anothers poison."

Good luck with your endeavour and let me know what you ended up with.

Cheers,
Owen

krwzmann · Post by **krwzmann** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 4:57 pm

I've considered changing my NLE from time to time. I started with Pinnalce Studio 9 (i forget the number but it was from last year) and I thought it was ok. Crashed alot and I wanted to try something I could consider more 'professional' and I wanted to be able to edit HD.

I searched around and found out Ulead MSP7 could do it with a the upgrade patch and so I gave it a shot, mainly because it was a little more (or actually alot more) inexpensive than other software I was considering. I tried it and liked it.

Over time I noticed crashes and became a little frustrated but after a couple of projects and a few months later, MSP8 came out. I had also upgraded my computer ( I was going to anyways) from a AMD 3400+ (equiv to a pentium 3.4 ghz?) with 2 gigs ram to my Pentium Dual Core 3.0 with 1 gig of ram. Whenever I go back to the AMD 3400+ system, I notice how slow it is compared to the Dual Core but before I ever had my newer system, I thought the 3400+ ran nice and smooth. The 3400+ takes forever to save and is very choppy.

But yea the the newer system is a 'dedicated' editing machine and so the crashes are rare and the editing is smooth for the most part. I still went ahead and decided to give Vegas and Premiere Pro a shot. I guess i'm so used to the MSP8 interface that it's tough (or would be too time consuming) for me to learn it while still completing my current projects in a timely manner.

When people take a look at my productions, they usually think I did my editing on a Mac for some reason and think I used Final Cut Pro. I mention I used Media Studio Pro and they have no idea of what i'm talking about

.

All in all I agree with some of the other posters in that MSP give you the best bang for your buck. The smart compositor really does 'rock' because even other editors in my market ask me how the heck I did it and think I went the route of Adobe After Effects + Photoshop.

If I were to try out another NLE, i'm thinking I would consider Final Cut Pro but then i'd have to purchase a nice Apple system. But for the near future I might have to count that out because a few days ago I picked up another of those Dual Core machines and I guess my thinking was that that system has been working out great for my purposes.

But besides all that mumbo jumbo... if you want to try something else...PC - try Premiere Pro or Sony Vegas / Apple - Final Cut Pro. In my market 'everyone' considers Final Cut Pro the editing programs of all programs.

In terms of the final product produced by the NLE, there's only one effect i've seen that I wish MSP 8 had. I've seen it on slideshows where there's one picture and then there's a zoom out to reveal several pictures...then it zooms out even more to reveal that the several pictures make up one big picture. Not sure if its an NLE that does it or Adobe After Effects.
But MSP has the Smart Compositor

Hopefully the other NLEs don't catch on hehe.

MSP maniac! · Post by **MSP maniac!** » Tue May 09, 2006 1:21 pm

Janice,

I had that video card and found msp8 slow because msp8 requires minimum 1024 X 768 whereas when I ran msp7 on that card at 800X600 it sailed along. I upgraded to a modest radeon 5600 which is nothing special but it zooms along now with TV out on as well.

I am only running an AMD 2ghz with 1024mbs of ram, far less than you, and I have no problem with speed, although I suppose that could be subjective.

On the same system MSP7 is way, way faster that sony vegas or premiere, you have to have a professional system for Avid to get the most out of it. Not sure if it's the same for MSP 8.

I notice you have three hard drives, but is your video storage set up for this? I also have three, I put MSP program on "C", downloaded video from firewire on "D" and MSP has "E" for "video preview files".

I use just the western digital 7200rpm 8mb cache drives, nothing else.

Hope this helps.

sjj1805 · Post by **sjj1805** » Tue May 09, 2006 2:12 pm

MSP maniac! wrote:I notice you have three hard drives, but is your video storage set up for this? I also have three, I put MSP program on "C", downloaded video from firewire on "D" and MSP has "E" for "video preview files".

Here is a little something I am including in my current tutorial I am working on

Janice S · Post by **Janice S** » Thu Aug 03, 2006 6:38 pm

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'm growing to enjoy Media Studio more each week, or perhaps each month. Don't want to rush it.

But I've been so busy, so little time. It's been a while since I was here. My job took me to new lands, interviewing the people who ran those BBS's back in the 80's. Long before the web came along, the BBS was king and it was pretty exciting.

Anyway, I'm back and ready to learn. I'll post more questions as I can think of them. And it looks like I have something from GeorgeW to download and try. That'll have to come a bit later.

Thanks for all your help.

Jance

Markmen · Post by **Markmen** » Thu Aug 03, 2006 8:13 pm

Janice,

That's interesting. That is, the BBS part. Are you a journalist? Have you reviewed Media Studio?

Also, if I might ask, are you doing anything or writing anything about those BBS systems which use to rule the world? Can you tell us any more?

Alan

Janice S wrote:
But I've been so busy, so little time. It's been a while since I was here. My job took me to new lands, interviewing the people who ran those BBS's back in the 80's. Long before the web came along, the BBS was king and it was pretty exciting.

Jance

neonbob · Post by **neonbob** » Sun Aug 06, 2006 9:26 pm

I have Avid Liquid 7.... It's a good program, but it reqires a pretty fast machine and a good quality video card.

Avid has sped things up a little by fixing it so that the video card memory takes some of the rendering responsibilities. Because the video card is involved with rendering it has to be good and it has to be 256Meg for hd editing.

The timeline playback is silky smooth.... unlike MSP (don't get me wrong, I like msp), but the timeline playback can be a little jerky and rough compared to AL7. MSP gets around this by using a proxy... where as in liquid... none is needed. The silky smooth palyback is directly from the timeline. This enables you to gain tremendous control over any micro editing that needs to be done

Liquid also has direct timeline dvd burning and MSP does not... wish it did.

It is tougher to learn than MSP though, and it is nowhere near as clean and organized. MSP is also not near as dependant on expensive hardware the way liquid is. You can run MSP on fairly slow machines if forced to do so... but liquid...NO!

Terry Stetler · Post by **Terry Stetler** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 2:20 am

Liquids future is highly questionable given the downturn in Avid's stock and its propensity for acquisition expendatures. Cuts may have to made, and their low-end products are most likely the first.

Some analysts have even mentioned Avid itself as a takeover target.

neonbob · Post by **neonbob** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 2:46 am

Terry Stetler wrote:Liquids future is highly questionable given the downturn in Avid's stock and its propensity for acquisition expendatures. Cuts may have to made, and their low-end products are most likely the first.

Some analysts have even mentioned Avid itself as a takeover target.

"Tewksbury, Mass. – August 2, 2006 – Avid Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVID) today announced that it has acquired Sibelius Software Ltd., for approximately $23 million in cash. "

A short time ago Avid bought Pinnacle.... and now Sibelius for a mere 23 million.... I don't think we need to worry too much about Avid right now.

Devil · Post by **Devil** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 8:27 am

neonbob wrote: A short time ago Avid bought Pinnacle.... and now Sibelius for a mere 23 million.... I don't think we need to worry too much about Avid right now.

Never heard of over-stretching? Many, many companies, from AOL-Time-Warner down, have overstretched their resources and have had to subsequently divest. I suspect InterVideo may be another case, by their effective purchase of Ulead. The analysts think so, at least, although the analysts are right only half the time, as they work by number-crunching vast amounts of data and then choose the results out of a hat!

Terry Stetler · Post by **Terry Stetler** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 8:45 am

Sibelius is just the tip of Avids acquisition-itis. Before Sibelius it was Pinnacle and before that it was M-Audio, a maker of excellent audio cards and other audio gear.

Analyists look at this and the losses in their consumer division negatively, which is why their stock tanked last week. Next the analysts will look to see what Avid does about it, if anything.

If they don't like what Avid does then their stock will drop further, making them a cheaper takeover target. The more under-valued its stock becomes, the more the acquistion bankers and other companies will start circling like vultures.

neonbob · Post by **neonbob** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 10:41 am

You're missing the point... look at the latest aquisition date.... August 2, 2006. This happened last week. What you are seeing in the index is a bunch of nervous investors NOT hard times.... quite natural. You go out and spend 23 million in cash and you would have to be dumb NOT to expect some of your investors to get a little edgy. Avid went little south directly after the Pinnacle buy as well. Given a little time, things will settle out.