Buying the product

baedaebok · Post by **baedaebok** » Tue Jan 16, 2007 4:03 am

Why is the box cheaper than the download? I just want to install MF5 into my system. Is there any advantage for the download?

Also, I just want to capture, author, and burn DVD's. Is Plus necessary for this? On the website's comparison chart, the products look similar.

Post by **Ron P.** » Tue Jan 16, 2007 4:22 am

1. The cheaper price is a special that Ulead is currently offering. It had a great deal of advantage over the download. If you do not have to worry about high shipping costs due to tarriffs, etc., then the boxed version is the way to go. You will not have to worry about the program being corrupted while downloading, if you have a sudden crash and did not back-up your download, then you stand a chance of just loosing the program all together, with the CD in hand, just reinstall it.

I would say it is not neccessary, but would be better bang for your buck, because the plain DVDMF5 is meant as an addition to the features of DVDMF4 Disc Creator.

Keep in mind that this is a DVD authoring application that provides a little bit of editing, not much. VS and MSP are editing apps that provide a little bit of DVD authoring.

Just look over the comparison chart, and see what the Plus has, and if you would use any of those.

baedaebok · Post by **baedaebok** » Tue Jan 16, 2007 6:13 am

What's the difference between editing and authoring? What part of the process is editing and what part is authoring?

I've used Movie Factory 5.0 Plus (trial) for the past few weeks. I like the features but it can't do the following. Will the purchased Movie Factory 5.0 or Movie Factory 5.0 Plus be able to do all (or some of these)? Which Ulead product will be able to do all (or most) of these?

1) Combine 2 chapters in a clip.
2) Separate (or split up) two chapters at the point of my choice.
3) Put all the chapter thumbnails/links onto one menu screen (instead of only 3 chapter thumbnails/links).
4) Enhance (darken/brighten video)
5) Save AVI files that are middle size. (Right now, I can save small mpeg files (2 GB) or huge AVI files (17 GB) that are too big for my memory. I want better quality file than MPEG but just not as big as regular AVI files.

Ormond Williams · Post by **Ormond Williams** » Tue Jan 16, 2007 9:48 pm

vidoman wrote:1. The cheaper price is a special that Ulead is currently offering. It had a great deal of advantage over the download. If you do not have to worry about high shipping costs due to tarriffs, etc., then the boxed version is the way to go.

The freight cost to Australia by DHL (Whatever that is) would cost me US$90.53 which is a lot more than the cost of the software! I think buying it as a download is best for me!

Guido · Post by **Guido** » Tue Jan 16, 2007 10:05 pm

Charging more for downloads seems so backwards these days. A company can create a single downloadable program or go through a manufacturing process of creating CDs, manuals, boxes, etc, and then ship.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out which costs more. Plus who wants to wait around for a week to install a product when every other program on the Internet you can get the second you buy it.

Strange...

DVDDoug · Post by **DVDDoug** » Tue Jan 16, 2007 11:19 pm

What's the difference between editing and authoring? What part of the process is editing and what part is authoring?

Editing is all of the stuff that's done to "make a movie" after shooting the "film".

DVD authoring is all of the stuff done to make the movie into a DVD. (Menus, subtitles, alternate language soundtracks, etc.)

Even if you're not using these features, you need DVD authoring software to convert the digital video files into the format/structure required by a DVD player (AUDIO_TS & VIDEO_TS folders, 1GB VOB files, etc.). If you just want to play the movie on a computer, you can burn the video file directly onto the DVD as-is without re-structuring it.

There are a couple of other steps that don't fit neatly into "editing" or "authoring". These include encoding (i.e. MPEG-2 and Dolby AC3) and "capturing" (getting the video onto your hard drive). Both Movie Factory and Video Studio can do these too.

1) Combine 2 chapters in a clip.
2) Separate (or split up) two chapters at the point of my choice.

I thought Movie Factory could do that... But, I haven't actually been using Movie Factory lately....

3) Put all the chapter thumbnails/links onto one menu screen (instead of only 3 chapter thumbnails/links).

That might be a trial-version limit. I think the actual limit is 8. If you need more than that, you may need Ulead DVD Workshop. (Workshop is an authoring-only tool. It's more expensive, and it's getting old... hasn't been updated for awhile...

4) Enhance (darken/brighten video)

For that, you need Video Studio, or another video editing program. These enhancement or alteration functions are called "filters".

5) Save AVI files that are middle size. (Right now, I can save small mpeg files (2 GB) or huge AVI files (17 GB) that are too big for my memory. I want better quality file than MPEG but just not as big as regular AVI files.

Video Studio will allow you to save your file in a variety of formats. If you need to save disk space, it's probably best to choose a high-bitrate DVD-compatible MPEG-2 format. Assuming you're making a DVD, the file must eventually be converted to MPEG-2 (the DVD format).

If you want to preserve/archive the exact original quality from the DV tape, AVI/DV (at 13GB per hour) is your only choice. And, AVI/DV is least likely to give you trouble, if you try to edit it later.

All of these video formats use lossy compression (even AVI/DV). Every time you convert from one lossy format to another you loose some quality. If you use a high bitrate, you get higher quality and bigger files because less data is being thrown-away.

There are more-compressed options, like DivX, Xvid, or the other various MPEG-4 options. But, don't use a highly compressed format it you want to make a DVD later. You probably won't be happy with the quality and you could have endless problems trying to convert it to DVD format.

sjj1805 · Post by **sjj1805** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 2:44 am

Guido wrote:Charging more for downloads seems so backwards these days. A company can create a single downloadable program or go through a manufacturing process of creating CDs, manuals, boxes, etc, and then ship.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out which costs more. Plus who wants to wait around for a week to install a product when every other program on the Internet you can get the second you buy it.

Strange...

The current lower price of the boxed version compared to the download is a special offer due to expire on 31 January 2007.

heinz-oz · Post by **heinz-oz** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 2:47 am

I guess there are a few CD's too many before phasing out for a new version

sjj1805 · Post by **sjj1805** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 2:48 am

Now that will get a few tongues wagging

Velojet · Post by **Velojet** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 4:21 am

DVDDoug wrote:
1) Combine 2 chapters in a clip.
2) Separate (or split up) two chapters at the point of my choice.
I thought Movie Factory could do that... But, I haven't actually been using Movie Factory lately....

Yes, MF5 can do both of those. If baedaebok (OP) means 'chapter' in the DVD/MF sense, then to "combine [merge?] 2 chapters in a clip", then you simply remove the second chapter marker. Conversely, to "separate (or split up) two chapters at the point of my choice", you just add a chapter marker.

DVDDoug wrote:
3) Put all the chapter thumbnails/links onto one menu screen (instead of only 3 chapter thumbnails/links).
That might be a trial-version limit. I think the actual limit is 8.

You can have more - see the 'Maximum number of thumbnails on a menu' thread.

DVDDoug wrote:
5) Save AVI files that are middle size. (Right now, I can save small mpeg files (2 GB) or huge AVI files (17 GB) that are too big for my memory. I want better quality file than MPEG but just not as big as regular AVI files.
... If you want to preserve/archive the exact original quality from the DV tape, AVI/DV (at 13GB per hour) is your only choice. And, AVI/DV is least likely to give you trouble, if you try to edit it later.
[...]
There are more-compressed options, like DivX, Xvid, or the other various MPEG-4 options. But, don't use a highly compressed format it you want to make a DVD later. You probably won't be happy with the quality and you could have endless problems trying to convert it to DVD format.

Good advice. I started out trying to backup/archive to DivX format (to save space), but ran into audio syncing problems, so changed to XviD, but ran into (other) audio syncing problems ...

So now I simply write back to DV-AVI tape.

baedaebok · Post by **baedaebok** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 7:04 pm

I'm debating whether to buy MF5.0 or not. Should I plunk down the money for this product when even the user's manual isn't inclusive enough.

I read through the online user's manual and I still didn't read a function whereby two chapters can be combined into one chapter. I couldn't find a way to "remove the chapter marker" (as Velojet suggested). After playing with it for awhile, I was able to put in new chapter markers.

I like the added menu features that the trial-version doesn't have. But, if I have only one clip, can I skip the initial main menu screen and immediately go to the screen with all the chapter thumbnails (and their respective links)?

GeorgeW · Post by **GeorgeW** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 7:13 pm

baedaebok wrote:But, if I have only one clip, can I skip the initial main menu screen and immediately go to the screen with all the chapter thumbnails (and their respective links)?

Yes

(when EDITing the Menus, under Advanced Settings you uncheck "Add Title Menu")

In MF5+, if you have more than one clip -- you can "Join" them into one clip, and then have just your "Chapter" menu(s)...

Regards,
George

Velojet · Post by **Velojet** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 8:50 pm

baedaebok wrote:I couldn't find a way to "remove the chapter marker" (as Velojet suggested).

In the 'Add/Edit Chapter' window, select the second chapter of the two you want to combine, and click 'Remove Chapter'. (I have a niggling feeling, though, that this is not exactly what you're talking about, baedaebok - is it?)

baedaebok wrote:I read through the online user's manual and I still didn't read a function whereby two chapters can be combined into one chapter.

Page 11, under 'Add/Edit Chapters': "Use Remove Chapter or Remove All Chapters to delete unwanted chapters." But perhaps it's not easy to find - there's no 'Chapters' entry in the index!

baedaebok wrote:I'm debating whether to buy MF5.0 or not. Should I plunk down the money for this product when even the user's manual isn't inclusive enough?

Yes, the User Manual leaves something (quite a few things, actually) to be desired. So does the product itself (see the Wish List). But IMO it's the least flawed DVD authoring tool (and one of the least pricey) out of the range of flawed DVD authoring tools currently out there.

baedaebok · Post by **baedaebok** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 4:44 pm

Page 11, under 'Add/Edit Chapters': "Use Remove Chapter or Remove All Chapters to delete unwanted chapters."

Velojet, when I "Remove" a chapter, is the contents of the chapter deleted or added onto the previous or next chapter?

GeorgeW · Post by **GeorgeW** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 5:19 pm

baedaebok wrote:
Page 11, under 'Add/Edit Chapters': "Use Remove Chapter or Remove All Chapters to delete unwanted chapters."
Velojet, when I "Remove" a chapter, is the contents of the chapter deleted or added onto the previous or next chapter?

Within the same Title, if you REMOVE a chapter, it's like that mark never existed - so in your terms, the previous chapter is now longer (i.e. it appears to get "added" to the previous chapter, but it was always there -- so it's not really "added").

But don't confuse this with the HIDE Chapter option found in some versions of MovieFactory

Regards,
George

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