VideoStudio 9 vs MediaStudio Pro: Upgrade Worth It?

[meengla]

Hi:
I have just bought VS9. After buying I realized that there is another Ulead product for video editing out there called 'Media Studio Pro'. Ulead's site recommends upgrading from VStudios to MSP but there is not enough justification given for it in the website.
Any thoughts on this? I am more interested in NLE flexibility than more templates for DVD creations. Also, can one create SmartSound/AutoSound files using either VS9 or MSP7? By this I mean one does not HAVE to have SonicFire software and can instead convert own MP3 to smartsound/autosound file? I thought VS9 has this capability?

Thanks a bunch.
Meengla

[bryave]

If you found yourselft a master in VS9, then consider upgrading to MSP. MSP is more on professional editting that includes broadcast and real-time editing. I'm sure this is a powerful NLE application. Regarding auto-music feature for smartsound in VS9, I guess they don't have that feature you're talking about. But you can download more smartsound quicktracks and update them to your VS9 smartsound database or library. ^_^

[meengla]

Thank you, I bought MediaStudio Pro Upgrade yesterday...have yet to play with it though. So MSP will have the option to have my own sound as in AutoMusic?
Thanks.

[GeorgeW]

Thank you, I bought MediaStudio Pro Upgrade yesterday...have yet to play with it though. So MSP will have the option to have my own sound as in AutoMusic?
Thanks.

MSP 7.3 does not have an AutoMusic feature -- like in VS9 (Smartsound). But if you have an audio track you want to use, you can just add it to your MSP 7.x project...

[meengla]

Thanks. But I noticed in VS8, other than AutoMusic, any other .MP3 I place on timeline could not be 'stretched' to play till the end of the videoclips on timeline. And I thought VS9 had a way around it. Anyway, any solution to this problem other than buying SmartSound? Will the AudioEditor in MSP help? Also, is there ANY use left for my new purchase of VS9 considering I bought MSPro too?

[GeorgeW]

The Smartsound feature in VS9 doesn't allow you to add your own mp3 tracks, and be able to create a piece of music that's a specifc length -- it uses its own tracks that are designed for looping and breaking up for specific lengths.

VS9 does have some very useful and cool features that MSP 7.x does not -- like the Smartsound plugin, the MovieWizard that will automatically add a nice intro/outro and effect to your video. It also produces better slideshows (with templates).

[meengla]

Oh, good that there is some use I can still have for VS9.

But what about any solution to the sound problem in MSP: How can I have music (custom or proprietary) that can be synched with visible content on the timeline, the way SmartSound does in VS)? Is the audio-editor good enough to trim/stretch sounds to fit the visible content or anyother workaround?

[Terry Stetler]

First a definition;

Temporal compression:

instead of compressing each audio "frame" individually there are packets real data separated by a few milliseconds. This "gap" contains synthesized data created mathematically from the "real" data packets. The human ear cannot pick up the difference and so a high compression ratio can be achieved. A similar process is used to compress MPEG video, but it also has additional data to allow reverse indexing and playback.

MP3 is temporally compressed, which means it's often difficult get frame accuracy because the audio "frames" very likely willl not align with the video frames because they are calculated differently. As a result synching MP3's with video is often problematic.

Bottom line: MP3, like conventional MPEG video, is a distribution format, not an editing format.

In video there are MPEG editing formats (aka: profiles), one example is HDV, but there is no specific MP3 profile compatable with video editing.

Still, because MPEG video encoders have a proper multiplexer (MUX'er) capable of synching MP3's somewhat better results can be had by using them in MPEG projects, but this still isn't recommended because of the visual losses that can be incurred by editing conventional MPEG's.

A far better result can be had by converting MP3's into WAV's before using them in AVI (DV, MJPeg....whatever) video projects.

[meengla]

Terry:
Thank you very much for the info. I guess I still don't understand it fully as to how .WAV format will enable me to 'strech' audio in the audio channel of the timeline (the option available to SmartSound format, for example).

I still think there has to be a way to use custom/own music in VideoStudio or MediaStudio Pro so that it (either .WAV or MP3) will synch with the video.

I am not even talking about quality issues here as far as .MP3 or .WAV are concerned. It is exploring the possibility that one can use one's own music the way SmartSound tracks/AutoMusic is used.

Anyone?

[Ken Berry]

SmartSound uses quite a different approach than simply stretching a piece of music to fit. I don't pretend to understand it, but I believe it involves something akin to Sony's Acid Pro loops, effects and repetitions to build a piece of music which sounds internally varied but which is timed exactly to the video which it is destined to provide the background for. But SmartSound, like Acid and Sound Forge are fairly expensive programs, and I am pretty sure there is no simple (let alone free) workaround in VS9 or MSP (or any other video editing program for that matter) to produce a similar effect. MSP, if I recall correctly (I'm away from home and my main computer for a few weeks), has a separate music/audio editing module, but I don't think it is sophisticated to the extent that it can emulate SmartSound. And simply stretching a standard WAV or MP3 file will only -- as I am sure you have found -- produce often lugubrious results!

[sjj1805]

Media Studio 8 contains Smartsound Quicktracks, same as that in VS9.

[GeorgeW]

Media Studio 8 contains Smartsound Quicktracks, same as that in VS9.

True -- but we couldn't mention it back in August because it was still under the NDA...