Ok to ugrade from VS 7 SE to 10?

THXTOM · Post by **THXTOM** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 12:55 am

Hi all, first post....TIA.

I've finally gotten around to transfering VHS-C & 8MM to my PC for archiving to DVD.

Ive got an ADS Instant DVD+DV capture box for the analog end of things...It came with VS7SE & DVDMF 3SE....

I have DVDMF 5+ coming in shortly.

Have gotten to "know" MF3SE pretty well and decided to move up to the features of 5+.

Have just dabled with VS7SE and fiqured to get the lastest version of this also.

My ? is, anyone have problems uprading from an earlier " SE" version to a full.
I see on the upgrade info page it's do-able, but I dont want any headaches...

Tom

heinz-oz · Post by **heinz-oz** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 1:01 am

As long as your PC is up to it, my suggestion would be "better than minimum spec's", I can't see why you would have a problem with the upgrade. As long as you do not try to capture from your ADS device with it. Keep your version 7SE handy for that because it will have been tweaked to work with your device, the upgrade won't.

Post by **Ron P.** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 1:04 am

Hi Tom,

The only SE version I've upgraded from was MSP7 VE. While it is not an SE, it is the same. It was a freebie that is given away in magazines. I used it to upgrade to MSP8. I still have MSP7VE installed and it posses no problems.

For the VS versions, I started with VS5, which was a SE, however was not labeled as such. It came bundled with my ATI AIW video card. I used it to upgrade to VS8 (I skipped 6 & 7). I no longer have VS5 installed, however I did have it installed alongside of VS8, and VS9 for awhile. Again no problems.

So I don't think that you will have any problems with the upgrade. You don't need to keep VS7SE installed. VS10+ will just ask for the serial number of your qualifying upgrade version.

THXTOM · Post by **THXTOM** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 1:21 am

Wow, thanks for the quick replies.

Ok, since I'm really new to this, what more does VS10 offer over DVDMF5+ to nesistate having both and upgrading to ver 10?

Ive looked at the "compare" page, but I'm still too new to understand some of the things mentioned on that page.

At this point in my "capturing, authoring, burning" carrer do I need to upgrade at this point just "because"? I realize thats purely a personal call, but would like to here your reasons for all of these programs.

I ve read on other boards you "need" this prog for this, then this prog for that. Some look a little out of my leauge at this point, but if I need'em, I mize well dive in....

thanks, Tom

Post by **Ken Berry** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 1:25 am

But bear in mind what Heinz has said about the VS7 SE version coming with an Ads device being tweaked by Adstech to work with their card.

To explain a little, this is what Adstech tends to do with all their cards, though more up-market cards like the DX-2 now comes bundled with VS9SE. That too has special drivers added by Adstech so it can be used to capture direct from their card if the user wishes to.

However, Adstech devices also normally come with their own capture software called CapWiz. Normally we tell people to use this to capture with. It is good software and can capture good quality mpeg-2 which is DVD-compatible. If you *do* want to upgrade to VS10+ (and I too would recommend it), just be aware of this. You will need to capture using CapWiz but then open the files for editing in VS10+. The latter will NOT be able to capture direct from the Ads device simply because, for proprietary reasons, Adstech has not provided the drivers to allow it.

But don't be stumped by this requirement to use 2 programs. It is dead easy to open files captured by CapWiz in VS.

And many of us on this Board use a variety of programs in any one project. I for instance usually capture DV using a specialised (and free!) program called WinDV. It only works with DV format (i.e. not your Ads card), but does an excellent job. I then edit in VS10+, use Nero Wave Editor to do my voiceovers, and Sonic Fire Pro to do my background SmartSound background music (a cut down version of this is included in VS10+). And then I either author (burn) the disc using MF 5+ or, more recently, DVD Workshop. Others may use even more programs!

But this is absolutely normal, and as you get more confident, often provides a better overall result than simply relying on one program.

heinz-oz · Post by **heinz-oz** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 1:34 am

It all depends on what you want to do.

If VS 7SE does all you want, don't upgrade.

MF5+ is coming already if I read your previous post right. That is a fully blown consumer/prosumer DVD authoring and burning software. It has limited editing capabilities though. I would recommend to use an editing suite like VS or even MSP with it.

If you only ever wanted to edit your video with VS and are happy to burn to DVD with basic, well, not even all "that basic" DVD menu capabilities, VS10+ would do that too. It wouldn't give you all the burning capabilities that MF 5+ does because it is not a burning package, but it is a much better video editing software than MF 5+.

It's horses for courses, really. You have to be the judge of that. When you look at my sig tag below, you will find I use a lot more than just these two.

However, I never upgrade because there is something new out there. If the existing stuff does what you need, don't waste money on the latest just to find that now your system is lacking somewhere.

Just my two pennies worth.

THXTOM · Post by **THXTOM** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 1:36 am

Ken Berry wrote:But bear in mind what Heinz has said about the VS7 SE version coming with an Ads device being tweaked by Adstech to work with their card.

To explain a little, this is what Adstech tends to do with all their cards, though more up-market cards like the DX-2 now comes bundled with VS9SE. That too has special drivers added by Adstech so it can be used to capture direct from their card if the user wishes to.

However, Adstech devices also normally come with their own capture software called CapWiz. Normally we tell people to use this to capture with. It is good software and can capture good quality mpeg-2 which is DVD-compatible. If you *do* want to upgrade to VS10+ (and I too would recommend it), just be aware of this. You will need to capture using CapWiz but then open the files for editing in VS10+. The latter will NOT be able to capture direct from the Ads device simply because, for proprietary reasons, Adstech has not provided the drivers to allow it.

But don't be stumped by this requirement to use 2 programs. It is dead easy to open files captured by CapWiz in VS.

And many of us on this Board use a variety of programs in any one project. I for instance usually capture DV using a specialised (and free!) program called WinDV. It only works with DV format (i.e. not your Ads card), but does an excellent job. I then edit in VS10+, use Nero Wave Editor to do my voiceovers, and Sonic Fire Pro to do my background SmartSound background music (a cut down version of this is included in VS10+). And then I either author (burn) the disc using MF 5+ or, more recently, DVD Workshop. Others may use even more programs!

But this is absolutely normal, and as you get more confident, often provides a better overall result than simply relying on one program.

Thanks, Ken. I guess its back to the Ulead order page then

And thank you to the rest of you gentleman also...

heinz-oz · Post by **heinz-oz** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 1:38 am

As usual, Ken has beaten me to it again

but reinforced again something I said earlier. If you want to continue using the ADS card for capture, keep the old stuff running and use the new, if you decide to go that way (it's not compulsory to upgrade

), for your editing and authoring.

THXTOM · Post by **THXTOM** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 1:42 am

heinz-oz wrote:It all depends on what you want to do.

If VS 7SE does all you want, don't upgrade.

MF5+ is coming already if I read your previous post right. That is a fully blown consumer/prosumer DVD authoring and burning software. It has limited editing capabilities though. I would recommend to use an editing suite like VS or even MSP with it.

If you only ever wanted to edit your video with VS and are happy to burn to DVD with basic, well, not even all "that basic" DVD menu capabilities, VS10+ would do that too. It wouldn't give you all the burning capabilities that MF 5+ does because it is not a burning package, but it is a much better video editing software than MF 5+.

It's horses for courses, really. You have to be the judge of that. When you look at my sig tag below, you will find I use a lot more than just these two.

However, I never upgrade because there is something new out there. If the existing stuff does what you need, don't waste money on the latest just to find that now your system is lacking somewhere.

Just my two pennies worth.

Heinz, I agree, I never upgrade other apps just because new versions come out. So from your reply I guess you let- VS handle the editing end of things and MF the buring. All though MF "can" edit and do menus and such, VS is better suited or more flexable for the editing.

Tom

THXTOM · Post by **THXTOM** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 1:49 am

I feel better now that I posted this ?

I now feel I have a road map for succesful tape transfers.

*keep using CapWiz
*edit with VS7SE, (or 10 if I decide its a "must have").
*Burn with MF5+

All your insights are very much appreciated.

Tom

heinz-oz · Post by **heinz-oz** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 2:02 am

You got it

, but in my case it's a bit more complex

. I do most of my editing in MediaStudioPro 8 because it is an even better editor than VS 10+ and only use VS10+ for quick projects and to learn a bit more about its use to be able to advise people on this forum better (I recently won this program in a Ulead PhotoImpact competition and would not have bought it otherwise). The last version of VS I used was a SE version which came bundled with some hardware I bought, VS 5 SE I think.

My workflow usually looks like this:

1. capture to DV-AVI type 1 from my camcorder via firewire, split by scene.
2. edit in MSP 8 or VS 10+, sometimes in MSP 7.3 if I need CGInfinity or VideoPaint features
3. generate the DVD compliant mpeg2 file from the program I used for editing
4. import this mpeg2 into MF 5+, create my menu structure and "burn" to either DVD folders or ISO image on my HDD. DVD folders I use if I have a hunch that the resulting file may be a bit too big to fit on a disk. I can then use DVDShrink on these folders to reduce the size to fit.
5. Burn the ISO image or DVD folders to disk with NERO 7 or MF5+. I have had the occasional coaster burned from DVD folders with MF5+ that's why, often, I use NERO. ISO images with MF5+ have not given me any problems thus far.

Hope this helps with your decision making.

THXTOM · Post by **THXTOM** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 2:15 am

heinz-oz wrote:You got it , but in my case it's a bit more complex . I do most of my editing in MediaStudioPro 8 because it is an even better editor than VS 10+ and only use VS10+ for quick projects and to learn a bit more about its use to be able to advise people on this forum better (I recently won this program in a Ulead PhotoImpact competition and would not have bought it otherwise). The last version of VS I used was a SE version which came bundled with some hardware I bought, VS 5 SE I think.

My workflow usually looks like this:
1. capture to DV-AVI type 1 from my camcorder via firewire, split by scene.
2. edit in MSP 8 or VS 10+, sometimes in MSP 7.3 if I need CGInfinity or VideoPaint features
3. generate the DVD compliant mpeg2 file from the program I used for editing
4. import this mpeg2 into MF 5+, create my menu structure and "burn" to either DVD folders or ISO image on my HDD. DVD folders I use if I have a hunch that the resulting file may be a bit too big to fit on a disk. I can then use DVDShrink on these folders to reduce the size to fit.
5. Burn the ISO image or DVD folders to disk with NERO 7 or MF5+. I have had the occasional coaster burned from DVD folders with MF5+ that's why, often, I use NERO. ISO images with MF5+ have not given me any problems thus far.
Hope this helps with your decision making.

Thanks for the workflow Heinz.

I guess right now thats my problem, I've been hopscotching around with differnet apps, I need to get a "workflow plan" like yours and stick with it to assure consistency and build familarity with the apps I have.

I like the video_TS folder idea and using Shrink/Recode....

Post by **Ken Berry** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 3:05 am

Just to throw a sort of spanner in the works (just when you thought it was safe to put your foot in the work flow!

) If you are already getting MF5+, I think you will find it does most things on the editing side at least as well as VS7 -- and especially VS7 *SE* (which is a crippled version in other ways). And it does some things on the editing side a lot better than VS7 -- greater flexibility on the audio side, for one.

In other words, I suspect that with your current set-up, I would probably not use VS7 SE at all, if you decided not to upgrade to VS10+, but do the whole lot with MF5+.

That being said, however, you will find -- if you download even the trial version of VS10+ -- that it has so many more bells and whistles for editing than either MF5+ or VS7, that it is a case of chalk and cheese. As Heinz has said, VS10+ has even a pretty sophisticated burning module these days. It can't quite do everything that MF5+ can on the authoring side, but it comes pretty darn close. If you hadn't already ordered MF5+, I would have suggested instead that you first opt to upgrade to VS10+, and think about MF5 later...

heinz-oz · Post by **heinz-oz** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 3:29 am

Exactly my sentiment also. Too late though if MF5+ has been ordered.

Have a go at it with MF5+, once you get it. If there are editing tasks you cannot do with it but need, either finish in VS7SE if possible, or get the trial version of VS 10+ and see how you go with that.