NEW OWNERS...?? Corel Corporation

[jhlent]

How will any of this affect the base Ulead products....

[etech6355]

NEW OWNERS ARE BETTER THEN NO OWNERS
So far Corel appears to be pretty good.

[Ken Berry]

This is hardly news. Ulead was effectively taken over by InterVideo a year or so ago; and then InterVideo in turn was bought by Corel. That was several months ago, if I am not mistaken.

There will obviously be some changes with some of the programs. We are expecting (fearing) for instance, that DVD Workshop will be dropped from the program list of Ulead.

But the main consumer products such as Video Studio and Movie Factory are likely to remain unchanged. There is possibly a question mark over PhotoImpact, given that Corel itself brings out a competing photo editing program (Photo Paint). But if these products are somehow blended, then we hope that the PI proprietary format, used in VS/MF menu templates, will be retained.

[jhlent]

This is hardly news. Ulead was effectively taken over by InterVideo a year or so ago; and then InterVideo in turn was bought by Corel. That was several months ago, if I am not mistaken.

There will obviously be some changes with some of the programs. We are expecting (fearing) for instance, that DVD Workshop will be dropped from the program list of Ulead.

But the main consumer products such as Video Studio and Movie Factory are likely to remain unchanged. There is possibly a question mark over PhotoImpact, given that Corel itself brings out a competing photo editing program (Photo Paint). But if these products are somehow blended, then we hope that the PI proprietary format, used in VS/MF menu templates, will be retained.

Thanks Ken - for the info

I just heard of it today.
Well I am not happy for the loss of any of these...
I am a Fan of VS & PI - and I tried the corel photo paint and didn't like it at all.

[GeorgeW]

But the main consumer products such as Video Studio and Movie Factory are likely to remain unchanged. There is possibly a question mark over PhotoImpact, given that Corel itself brings out a competing photo editing program (Photo Paint). But if these products are somehow blended, then we hope that the PI proprietary format, used in VS/MF menu templates, will be retained.

At least for now PhotoImpact is listed on their site. Some of the missing include MSP, DVDWS, and Cool3D

Corel Product Listing for Ulead Programs

Regards,
George

[sjj1805]

Think POSITIVE.
Let us imagine that the worst happens (and I am not saying it is and I do not have any inside information)
Let us suppose that MediaStudio and also DVD workshop get dropped.

As a User Group what is our best plan of action.
I would say it would be to accept the fact that those are gone and not waste time whinning about it, but instead look at what can be done from a positive perspective.

This would be to start asking the new owners to improve the remaining products by (perhaps over a period of time - not overnight) getting them to evolve the remaining products so that they contain whatever is missing from the dropped line up.

In respect of DVD Workshop that would be to try and encourage them to include things like playlists, a subtitle editor and additional audio tracks into DVD MovieFactory.

In respect of MediaStudio it would include things like the ability to insert transitions on overlay tracks and also to include moving paths into VideoStudio.

Come on guys look on the POSITIVE side.

[Ron P.]

I tend to believe that Corel will gradually evolve VS and DVDMF closer to MSP and DVDWS. The reason I say this is that if you look at their products they also have an application or two that are on the high-end, like Corel Draw Graphics Suite and Corel Painter and Corel Designer, and then the lower end with Paintshop Pro, and now PhotoImpact. So they are obviously not catering to just the consumer market with the less expensive applications.

I also feel that if they do start evolving VS and DVDMF towards their big brothers, the price may increase as well. This could be dangerous for those wanting or can only afford the sub-$100 programs. That could cause Corel to loose customers, which could be more of a loss, then they may be currently experiencing, with those that have went shopping elsewhere due to the uncertainty.

Now if they would do something miraculous like keeping both MSP and DVDWS, AND morph them, or Corel Draw to work in tandem with each other, that would be awesome. I've always thought that Corel Draw is a very powerful program. It sports a steep learning curve, but well worth the time it takes to really learn it.

My last opinion on this is with PI. I hope that they do not do to PI what they have done to PSP. Jasc PSP was a terrific little application. Since being gabbed by Corel, I have never considered upgrading it, and have read numerous posts along the same line. PI is a great program that can do things that are, and I think by design intentional, geared towards the video programs, but lacks big time in things that the other applications like Corel Draw is strong in. That I think is going to be a temporary life boat for the program.

[etech6355]

This could be dangerous for those wanting or can only afford the sub-$100 programs. That could cause Corel to loose customers, which could be more of a loss, then they may be currently experiencing, with those that have went shopping elsewhere due to the uncertainty.

Program stability and support are the most important.

When I get a bad meal at a restaurant I never go back (except to Hooters )

[sjj1805]

.................
I also feel that if they do start evolving VS and DVDMF towards their big brothers, the price may increase as well. This could be dangerous for those wanting or can only afford the sub-$100 programs. That could cause Corel to loose customers, which could be more of a loss, then they may be currently experiencing, with those that have went shopping elsewhere due to the uncertainty. ........

Which is why we must be careful to entice them to gradually change things and not expect an instant overnight miracle. This way they can entice users to purchase the 'latest upgrade' traditionaly released at 12 month intervals and at the same time keep costs in line with other competitors products.

I see this as a long term plan rather than short term.

[GeorgeW]

Which is why we must be careful to entice them to gradually change things and not expect an instant overnight miracle. This way they can entice users to purchase the 'latest upgrade' traditionaly released at 12 month intervals and at the same time keep costs in line with other competitors products.

I see this as a long term plan rather than short term.

That's a nice thought, but when you are up against real life competition, sometimes there's no time to gradually implement a slow and strategic upgrade path.

12-month cycle for new versions -- that might be too aggressive for some folks. You have to reward loyal customers if you want to keep them happy. I know if I am a paying customer, and the software keeps getting updated and costs me each time every ~12 months, I'm going to start getting frustrated about having to pay for new software so frequently.

The tricky thing is to find the right balance considering the competition, newer technology, and how often you want to release a new version.

Regards,
George

[Hugo]

Have to agree with Vidoman - haven't upgraded my PSP since the Jasc days, and I'll stick with what I've got.

Re Corel's ownership of ULead - is that why, when I look at the properties of my files created through VS10+, it shows the codecs as
Sonic Cinemaster MCE Audio Codec ... and
Sonic Cinemaster DS Video Codec.

I remember in the good old days, Corel were known for putting out collections of royalty free photographs. Now they seem to own every second graphics/video package.

Paul

[etech6355]

It sounds like whatever program your using to obtain the video properties of the video is using those codecs. This is normal.