Movie Factory should work for you.
Video Studio has more editing features, and Movie Factory has more DVD authoring features. For most people with a digital video camera, Video Studio is the best overall choice. Some people use both programs.
I suggest you download the trial version of Movie Factory, and maybe the trial version of Video Studio too.
I have a DVD with some stuff I recorded on my camera, it's I believe in DVD format (which means it has those VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS folders or something like that). I need something that will let me edit the "movie", i.e. I need to cut out some scenes and then save the edited movie back into the same format.
Both programs can do that. Use the
DVD Import feature to copy the movie(s)/program(s) onto your hard drive as a single MPEG-2 (.MPG) file. But, try-out the trial version first! DVDs from some cameras & DVD recorders seem to give Ulead trouble. (If you do have trouble with the trial version, post a question here and we may be able to help. You don't get official tech-support 'till you pay.
)
Also, MPEG-2 files can sometimes be troublesome. Download the trial! I had to buy a special-purpose MPEG editor (from
Womble). (In this case I would use Ulead to import the DVD to an MPEG file, edit with the special editor, and then use Ulead to author and burn the DVD.)
I have a few movies in .avi format. I need to convert the .avi movies into DVD format and burn them onto a DVD.
Both programs can do that too. But, AVI is is not a single format. It is a "container" or "wrapper" file that can contain any type of compression. Highly compressed formats like AVI/DivX frequently cause trouble when people try to edit them or convert them to DVD. AVI/DV (13GB per hour) from a MiniDV camera rarely causes any trouble. ...Download the trial!
Now I know I can already use NERO for the burning process, but I need something to convert the .avi files to DVD format.
Both programs have an option to
Create DVD Folders. That creates the AUDIO_TS and VIDEO_TS folders on your hard drive. You may need to use this option, because Nero
InCD sometimes takes-over your burner and prevents the Ulead burner from working.
As you can tell, this digital editing stuff isn't easy. Everybody is using different video formats with different hardware and with different project-goals... You should probably plan on spending a full-weekend playing around with the trial software.
I've looked at the Ulead homepage and am still confused with the choices
It is very confusing, and Ulead's marketing makes it very hard to figure-out the differences... They have a video editor that can do DVD authoring and a DVD authoring program that can do editing. I remember being confused in the beginning, because I didn't understand all of the various steps involved.
You could use different software for each step (like the professionals do) or you can use an all-in-one program like Movie Factory or Video Studio:
1.
Capture- Get the video into a digital-video file on your computer. (Technically speaking, "capture" actually refers to capturing a real-time broadcast or transmission.)
2.
Editing- This all of the stuff the movie director does to assemble the movie after the film is shot. It includes special effects, adding background music, adding titles, etc.
3.
Encoding- Converting the Video to DVD-compliant MPEG-2, and converting the audio to Dolby AC3 or another DVD-compliant format.
5.
DVD Authoring- Converting the finished movie to DVD format. Adding DVD menus & chapters, subtitles and alternate-language soundtracks, etc. Authoring also includes converting the files to the proper format/structure with VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS folders, etc.
6.
Burning- (Or "pressing" if you are a making commercial DVDs).
I don't use different software for
all of those steps, but I do use several different programs in addition to my MPEG editor. Depending on the project, I might use the capture software that came with my analog-capture card, an audio editor, and a handful of still-image related programs to create the DVD label & packaging artwork, etc.
