Agree... as I said months ago. DVD-A should have been a stand alone product. Marketing was never SoFo's strong suit. Sony is much more aggressive and of course they got the cash to advertsing and promote.

Out of curiosity - exactly what end actions and couple of other things that DVDA can't do yet can DVDComplete do?

I too have DVDComplete and used it all of 1 time. After reading your post I fired it back up to see if missed anything - and, honestly, I"m stumped to find anything.

I mean...I see where you can choose an end action when a video stops, but it just either takes you back to the main menu (which DVDA does) or you can tell it to start playing a diffent video (which DVDA doesnt' do yet).

But what else? I'd like to check it out more (considering I have it, and all).

I two other DVD Authoring apps (one that came witht he burner....I think it is a LE version of MyDVD)...but they are just really basic.

kameronj: If you haven't already done this (and you probably have), be sure to nab the free download of version 2.5 while the site is still up, as it presumably will disappear after Sept. 30. Ver. 2.5 has some major feature enhancements. I d/l'd the update and burned it to a CD.

"kameronj: If you haven't already done this (and you probably have), be sure to nab the free download of version 2.5 while the site is still up, as it presumably will disappear after Sept. 30. Ver. 2.5 has some major feature enhancements. I d/l'd the update and burned it to a CD. "


Kewlness!!!

Thanks for the 411. I'm going there right now!!

What's the web address for this free trial ??

I don't know an exact address to any free trial...but you can find out all the information on any Dazzle Product (including DVD Complete) at:

www.dazzle.com

kameronj

Thanks, went there (their site is real slow for a dial up connection)!

Looks like only updates are available, no free trial

Thank you anyway...... (just looking for something better then DVDA.....)

Hard to believe, but I'm also using DVD Complete instead of DVDA at the moment. Just to many important things that it does that DVDA doesn't. Obviously End Actions. But also the ability to change the "order" of your buttons (e.g., chapter selections). You can use those little circle doodads to control how the remote buttons will behave with every button. With DVDA, you are stuck with what it spits out for you. DVD Complete is an ugly program, and I can't wait for DVDA to become a little more grown up so I can throw it out. But right now, it's doing the job for me. (And the update is nice and solid.) I think Pinnacle buying DVD Complete to kill it off is sad if not typical.

-Jeremy

Jeremy,

What exactly are you talking about? Changing "order" of your buttons?

Like I asked before - I'm interested in what DVD Complete users see as to exactly what the differences are....cause I really can't find any - with the one exception of having one end action.

That end action being to start playing one other video.

That...so far...is the only thing I see that DVD Complete does that VV doesn't do.

Can you clarify the "order of the button" function? And...any other function that you can do in DVD Complete that VV doesn't do. I'm very interested when I read comments like "Just too many important things that it does that DVDA doesn't". I'd like to know they are.

Thanks

First of all, the end action is a biggy. More important to me than AC3, animated buttons and backgrounds etc. And the end actions don't have to go to another video, but can go to any other menu as well.

It's hard to explain about the button order without having a project open, which I currently do not. Hopefully I can explain anyway. Let's say you have a movie with 15 chapters. If I recall correctly, I specify in DVDA across how many menus I'd like them to appear (which is nice), or how many buttons to have per page. Let's say I want them all on one page. DVDA arranges them however it wants. Let's say I want to move buttons around. That's easy to do. Only problem is that when you use the remote, they cycle through the original order, not the new order. In DVD Complete, you have complete control over tabbing from button to button with the remote will work. Not only that, but it supports not only up and down arrows, but left and right arrows. I recently had to abandon a DVDA project because of its lack of flexibility in determining the order of buttons as far as the remote goes.

So end actions and button order are my two big complaints. Solve those, and I throw away DVD Complete.

-Jeremy

> First of all, the end action is a biggy

You said it! You know, some people trivialize how important this one feature is and they tell you if you make one big file you can work around it. Sometimes you can’t work around it. Even Ulead DVD MovieFactory 2 ($45) has end actions. Button order is another rather simple feature that’s missing. Funny how those two little things which lesser programs have, would fix DVDA for a lot of us, yet we’re going to have to pay to get them fixed by buying the next version. (yea, I know, they are not bugs to be fixed, they are features to be added)

I hope SoFo doesn’t add a lot of new features to the next version of DVDA that I don’t need (like subtitles or multiple audio tracks) and then raises the price so I can’t afford it. That would be a real kick in the teeth. I still think they should fix simple things like the end actions and button order in a patch. They added 24p to Vegas in a patch; why not end actions and button order in DVDA?

~jr

That makes sense.

But....I think you may be missing something that DVDA offers.

You can reorder the button order when you rearrage the menu items in DVDA.

And, you can have animated buttons and backgrounds in DVDA too.

Not sure what the AC3 reference is....and you are correct about end actions.

But, like I said - the only option I saw in DVDComplete for end action (that DVDA doesn't have) is the option to start one other video.

Yes, I'm looking forward to addittional end actions (and some other options currently not available inDVDA), but I'm mainly looking to see what DVD Complete offers that DVDA doesn't.

When I get in from work - I"ll put together a quick how to on reordering button order and post it to my website (then post the link). Solved.

The end action - well, that one is just gonna have ta wait for SoFo.

Cheers

You can reorder the button order when you rearrage the menu items in DVDA.

How? You can specify the FIRST button but the rest are program determined.

>That...so far...is the only thing I see that DVD Complete does that VV doesn't do.

When you alt-tab to another program then alt-tab back to DVD Complete, does it reopen all the files and take 5 minutes to do so (granted, on an old PII 250Mhz machine), before allowing you to get back to work :-? DVDA does. I haven't seen anyone else talking about this, so perhaps this is something unique to such a slow machine, or perhaps it was because I was using the demo version.

When you alt-tab to another program then alt-tab back to DVD Complete, does it reopen all the files and take 5 minutes to do so (granted, on an old PII 250Mhz machine), before allowing you to get back to work :-? DVDA does. I haven't seen anyone else talking about this, so perhaps this is something unique to such a slow machine, or perhaps it was because I was using the demo version.

That's because you can turn off this option if needed for your system. Go to Options - Preferences and UNCHECK "Media goes offline on loss of focus". Then all should be well.

>That's because you can turn off this option if needed for your system. Go to Options - Preferences and UNCHECK "Media goes offline on loss of focus". Then all should be well.


Duh :-) Thank you.

Aside: I'd rather email a direct thank you to an individual, rather than cluttering up this forum. I couldn't find jetdv's email, and I can't tell if this is because the forum doesn't support it or because jetdv doesn't include his email. I suspect it is the former. If so, it would be nice if we could make our emails visible to others. (I have good spam filters:-)

> Funny how those two little things which lesser programs have, would fix DVDA for a lot of us, yet we’re going to have to pay to get them fixed by buying the next version. (yea, I know, they are not bugs to be fixed, they are features to be added)

As programmer, I have to agree that they are not bugs, but lacking, albeit (imho) important, features (which in all fairness we were able to evaluate before purchasing). Remember, it's a version 1 program, and it has a lot of great features. I just think the two we're currently discussing are very unfortunate omissions. AC3 encoding ain't cheap. I don't know how much it cost SoFo to license it per user, but take that away, and the program is quite inexpensive. So my attitude is though I'm bummed that I can't use DVDA for some projects, I am not pissed at SoFo for ripping me off, which I don't feel they have.

> I hope SoFo doesn’t add a lot of new features to the next version of DVDA that I don’t need (like subtitles or multiple audio tracks) and then raises the price so I can’t afford it. That would be a real kick in the teeth. I still think they should fix simple things like the end actions and button order in a patch.

I'd love to see features like subtitles and multiple audio tracks, and a new release will certainly have new features. I would, however be extremely disappointed if the two under discussion now (end actions and button navigation control) are not included. As above, I wouldn't throw a patch to include the two features under discussion out of bed for eating crackers. But I wouldn't expect, and severely doubt we'll see that. My experience with software development cycles leads me to believe that development of the next version is well under way, and most resources being devoted to that effort.

> They added 24p to Vegas in a patch; why not end actions and button order in DVDA?

My guess is that they had a planned release date, and this was one of the features on the plate for release, but it wasn't ready in time. So they released it later as a patch. My experience with SoFo is that they generally release bug fixes, not additional features. The only exception I can think of was the SIREN update from 1.0 to 1.5.

-Jeremy

> You can reorder the button order when you rearrage the menu items in DVDA.

I'll buy you a beer if you can succesfully demonstrate this.

> And, you can have animated buttons and backgrounds in DVDA too.

You can have animated backgrounds in DVD Complete as well. I think animated buttons as well, though I've never done it. I find I don't usually have the space on my DVDs for stuff extra animations like that.

> Not sure what the AC3 reference is....and you are correct about end actions.

AC3 encoding is the Dolby two- or five- channel compressed audio that is supported by all DVD players (as far as I know). It is usually only found in expensive programs, as it requires a license from Dolby Labs. This is one of the things that does make DVDA stand out from the crowd.

The other feature, to DVDA's credit, which I love is that you are not limited to the innane templates that DVD Complete (and most budget DVD authoring programs) forces you into. I will be very happy to throw away DVD Complete because of this. However, I'm able to work around or live with most of the problems these templates present, unlike the absence of end actions and button order, which for most of my projects are necessities.

One complaint I do have about DVDA is that it doesn't support MPEG audio (even though Vegas will export it). While MPEG audio is not in the DVD spec, it is supported on every DVD player I've ever tried. And when space is an issue, it's nice to have the *option* to use smaller MPEG audio files when you need that extra space and you know your target player(s) support it. I understand SoFo's philosophy, that they want to comply with standards. And that's cool. However, I don't see the harm in offering it as an *option* and clearly pointing out that it's out of spec, either in the program itself, or in the documentation. (DVD Complete clearly lays this all out in the Help file). On the other hand, DVD Complete doesn't offer AC3. So you have the choice of huge PCM which conforms to spec, and MPEG audio which doesn't.

> Yes, I'm looking forward to addittional end actions (and some other options currently not available inDVDA), but I'm mainly looking to see what DVD Complete offers that DVDA doesn't.

Well, I've told you three things so far, two of which are deal breakers for me in certain projects. Those three things are really my only complaints, but they are supported in DVD Complete and not in DVDA.

> When I get in from work - I"ll put together a quick how to on reordering button order and post it to my website (then post the link). Solved.

I'll look forward to that. But I don't think you'll be able to do it. Check out my post here and SonicSDB's response:

http://www.sonicfoundry.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?ForumID=22&MessageID=172447

> The end action - well, that one is just gonna have ta wait for SoFo.

I'd be shocked if this wasn't included in the next release, because I'm guessing it's the number one request. As for the button order issue, I don't know if they'll address it or not. I sure hope so. And as for MPEG audio -- I really doubt they'll include it as an option. As long as items 1 and 2 are included, I'll be happy.

-Jeremy

I have no problem with a public thank you in a group like this. But that's just me. As far as I'm concerned politeness and appreciation are not a waste of time or bandwidth.

What I do hate is when people post to a public forum and request an emailed response. Public forum, public question, public response, and optionally public thanks.

-Jeremy

Jeremy...

Again, good points you bring up. I have always been the type of person that I never question someone else's use of other software preferences (I know some people who still use Lotus 1-2-3).

The missing attributes in DVDA, for me, are certainly not deal breakers - and for what it's worth....the one or two things that DVD Complete can do that that DVDA currently can not are not enough to have me use the application (it's a wee bit to klunky for me).

I need to read the post you posted of the other post before I post my post about reordering (and see if I can find a previous post that explains how to do it) - or still write up the quick how to (including screen shots...cause I'm just that anal).

:-)

Don't want to rock the boat, and don't want to emphasize the competition, and don't want to spend anyone's money, and don't want to draw everyone off the topic, and don't want to discourage world peace, etc., etc....BUT:

Until DVD-A 1.5 or 2.0 show up, you might take a look at a Pyro firewire card bundle called Pyro ProDVD. It contains Ulead's DVD Workshop SE, which has 90% of the features of the full version (also MediaStudio Director's Cut and DVD Picture Show--and of course a quality firewire PCI card). It has major flexibility in setting menu graphics and links. Another tool for the arsenal for the months we wait until the Great One arrives. (Sells for 99$, the site is www.adstech.com).

Okay....I finally finished the projects I was working on long enough to give the object re-ordering a complete run through in DVDA.

Not only is it possible to do - it is extremely simple to do.

Next time we happen to be at a beer bar (or bowling in the 7th frame) I'll let you buy the round.

Anyway....I will put togetehr a short little "how to" and post it to my website - and then drop you the link here in this tread.

So...so far - the only thing I see that DVD Complete does that DVDA doesn't do is let you specify which video to launch after a video has completed (that is assuming you ahve more than one video on a disc).

I suppose that if you only have one video on the disc - setting this end action would cause a never ending loop. But, of course, there is a way to do that with DVDA too. So...that's that.

I'll have the little how to up on the site by Saturday.

Ciao.