DVD Authoring

[joetg]

It is my understanding that Media Studio Pro comes with DVD Movie Factory. Is this correct? If so, can you upgrade to DVD Workshop?
Thanks, Joe TG

[GeorgeW]

According to the upgrade policy here:
http://www.ulead.com/store/dws/upgrade.htm#express

You can upgrade to DVD WS Express for $149 coming from MSP 7 Full

[MonroePoteet]

Standby for a Ulead marketting flame...

One of the most frustrating things about dealing with Ulead is their seemingly endless supply of alternate products to do the same thing. It would be VERY nice if they had ONE DVD authoring application, ONE video editor, ONE capture application, ONE titling application, etc. If they want to differentiate them into "Light", "Regular" and "Professional" offerings or some such to charge for additional features/capability, that'd be fine. It's truly irritating to have to navigate their opaque and (seemingly intentionally) confusing marketting materials.

The last frustration for me was trying to add alternate audio tracks with DVD Movie Factory, which was included in the upgrade to MSP7. Some research showed that DVD Workshop had this functionality, so I tried my old version of it (included in a PREVIOUS MSP bundle), only to find that THAT version of DVD WS *didn't* have the functionality.

Since I had originally obtained DVD Workshop as a bundled product with an old version of MSP, it seems really underhanded for Ulead to "upgrade" me to DVD Movie Factory with the MSP7 upgrade instead of including DVD WS V2 with their "premium" video bundle.

Flame off...

mTp

[Terry Stetler]

And please explain to me why Ulead should not offer a range of products for users of varying expertise?

As far as bundling WS2 with MSPro for those who already have WS1, why? Just load up WS1 and use it instead of MF2 SE and accept the limitations. You just can't expect a forever upgrade, especially given the cost of WS2 or WS2 Express.

Look at it this way:

if you were Chrysler would you give away a Hemi engine with each new car just because your trade in had something larger than the basic 3.0 V6?

or

if you go to 7-Eleven do they refill your 16 oz cup with a 32 oz?

I don't think so....

[Devil]

Terry

When I was reading Moe's post before yours, my feeling was one of irritation and I thought that Toyota, Honda, Ford or GM don't just offer one saloon car, one station wagon, one SUV, one pickup, but a whole range of each with different features, at different costs, often overlapping.

The car analogy falls down with upgrades, though; there, you have to turf in the old vehicle. With software, you keep both the old and the new.

Perhaps it would be enlightening if Moe realised that there are two types of Ulead software ranges, the very popular entry level and the pro level. I consider VS and MF in the former category and MSP and WS in the latter one. I agree, nevertheless, that there are too many different "cut-down" versions, mainly used for bundling. If pushed to it, I might even say that it may have been a mistake to include a version of MF2 with MSP7 but one has to take it into historical context. At the time of the MSP7 release, WS was still in version 1 and the advantages over MF2 were not as obvious as between WS2 and even MF4 today. Therefore, MF2 was used for authoring, mainly because it was possible to supply it to handle AC3 2/0 audio. I would imagine that if the choice were to be made today, it would possibly be different.

The important point to understand is that entry-level software must have a short learning curve, while pro stuff needs flexible features. The two cannot be reconciled.

[GeorgeW]

The important point to understand is that entry-level software must have a short learning curve, while pro stuff needs flexible features. The two cannot be reconciled.

In terms of a short learning curve with pro/flexible features, I really believe Ulead has it in DVD WS 2.0

[MonroePoteet]

Can anyone point me to a feature comparison chart which includes all the Ulead product offerings within each domain (e.g. "Video Editing" or "DVD Authoring"), including the various versions of these products, the various "incarnations" of these products (i.e. Express / SE / other), and the bundling packages (i.e. what's included with what)? That'd certainly save me the HOURS of time and growing frustration I had to spend trying to do ONE THING for my project (i.e. add multiple audio tracks to a DVD).

BTW, I disagree entirely with the assertion that a professional product cannot be resolved with a quick learning curve or ease-of-use. By having "wizard" workflow components, Novice/Intermediate/Expert menu and toolbar content, and making the "professional" components have smart defaults, the product(s) can resolve to a single code base and make maintenance, problem resolution and documentation substantially easier.
Just FYI, I've been a computer programmer for over 30 years, and a professional software engineer for over 20.

Thanks,
mTp

[thecoalman]

Therefore, MF2 was used for authoring, mainly because it was possible to supply it to handle AC3 2/0 audio.

I don't know if there is a difference between WS1 and WS1.3 but it has AC3 support. I got mine in the Quartet package and it came bundled with the AC3 power pack. Among a few other "hidden" features not listed in the comparison chart such as 16:9 support. If you already have a video that is 16:9 it will author it correctly using the "do not convert compliant files" checkbox. Same with 5.1 audio. Looking over the comparison chart there isn't any major features that 2.0 has that 1.3 doesn't when you combine it with MSP. Most of the added features seem to be more geared towards editing than authoring. That's just my .02

A very sweet deal if your looking for an entire suite.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/control ... 495&is=REG

In terms of a short learning curve with pro/flexible features, I really believe Ulead has it in DVD WS 2.0

That is one of the things I point out to people, it's ease of use. You can create some relatively complex menus in a very short amount of time. As you know mostly everthing is drag and drop.

[GeorgeW]

The original DVD WS 1.0 did not include Dolby Digital audio. It was later added as a "PowerPack" for version 1.3. And they included the AC3 PowerPack in the Quartet package.

At one time, I beliieve the AC3 Powerpack was a $150 dollar addon (one hundred fifty dollars). Oh, how times have changed...

[Terry Stetler]

What changed was that Dolby lowered their still-exhorbadent licensing fees :p

[Gra]

Hi guys

In response to mTp, I asked Ulead for a comparison table last week to help me decide on whether to move from VS8 to MSP7. From the links they sent, it seems not. All their comparisons were against competitors but not between their own products. Sorry, its back to wading through their marketing material and using test versions.

Regards.
Gra

[thecoalman]

In all fairness to Ulead comparing MSP to VS(any version) is the old apples to oranges comparison. The list of what MSP has even though much older would to say the least be quite long when comparing to VS.

[MikeGunter]

Hi all,

MSP is a "professional" solution that allows one to have muliple layers of video and audio. The package is pretty darn complete to include EDL support. With MSP, one can do "anything" one could get with any other NLE.

VS9 is a very cool and easy NLE that has 2 tracks of video (and there are ways to cheat more ), and 4 tracks of audio.

They are dissimilar in features that a comparison isn't warranted.

Mike

[Gorf]

The car analogy falls down with upgrades, though; there, you have to turf in the old vehicle. With software, you keep both the old and the new.

Ouch - that's quite a naughty assertion.

When you upgrade, you don't keep old and new, you replace old with new. The fact that you are able to run old and new simultaneously doesnn't mean that you should.

[Devil]

If I start a project with one version and upgrade the software to a new one I ALWAYS finish it in the old one, while using the new one for new projects. Case in point: if you have an MSP6.5 project with titles, and you try to finish it in MSP7, you could be in deep trouble. In this case, you SHOULD have both working in parallel. I usually uninstall old software after at least 6 months to a year after upgrading, often longer. I currently have two versions of DVDWS and DVDMF on my video machine and hope to have two of MSP in the near future.