[smarty]

I'm new to video editing and want to put take the best bits of our honeymoon from 4 Mini DV tapes and put them together into a DVD.
I'd like to add some still pictures with background music at the start as well.
I've had a look around and Ulead products seem to get good ratings.
However, I'm confused between whether I need DVD Moviefactory 4, DVD Moviefactory 4 Disc Creator or Video Studio 9. I can't really tell what the differences are. I'm unlikely to want to do a huge amount of editing, just taking the best bits off tape and putting them all together with transitions etc.
So - which one should I go for?

Also, my camera is a JVC GRD72 that I bought in the US. I guess this means that it captures video in NTSC format. Am I best off keeping in NTSC format all the way through to the final DVD or converting to PAL at some point?

Thanks

[LV426]

You can download trial versions (fully functioning, time limited to 30 days) from ULead, so you can see if they do what you want. I guess Video Studio 9 will certainly do what you want - but try it.

If the native video source is NTSC, then make the DVD that way. Most people have NTSC playback nowadays for DVDs, and conversion to PAL will degrade the image and introduce motion jerkiness.

Having said that, if you do have anyone who is PAL only - or need to make a VHS copy for someone, then why not do both? The last step in the editing/recording process (i.e. making the DVD source files) can fairly easily be done twice. Re-rendering to PAL will take time, though. You may choose to leave the machine to get on with it while you are doing something else.

[MarkE19]

Video Studio is a full featured capture & editing package with basic DVD authoring features.
DVD MovieFactory is a full featured DVD authoring package with basic capture & editing features.
DVD Movie Factory Disc Creator is the same as DVD MF but with additional features for things like creating backup, DVD player software etc

All the above software will do what you want, you just need to decide which offers the the best option for you. If you don't want to do a lot of editing with loads of transitions/effects, adding slow motion etc etc then IMO the basic MF would be your best option. But as already recommended you should try downloading the software and playing with them all. You can also see a list of the different features between the packages.

Mark.

[melliott1963]

Whilst you're having a look around, you might also like to try Sony Vegas Movie Studio, or if you really want to splash out, Sony Vegas

You can download trials of both programs here:-

http://www.sonymediasoftware.com/dow...p1.asp?catid=1

Martin.

[senu]

All 3 software will do what you want but have slightly different emphasis. I have the videostudio 9, mf4 basic and pictureshow4 but use Pinnacles studio 9 plus ( and Liquid edition: a different genre of video editing software) more often ( familiarity ) for editing.
I am confident though that you will enjoy playing with Uleads products ( No ....honest I do not work for them
I feel that the dvd movie factory4 will allow you capture you video clips ( and do some little editing, create slide show from stills with music background and then " author" a dvd with each of these elements as different chapters. Taking the best bits off the tape and joining them with transitions sounds suspiciously like full blown editing to me ! (LOL)
Changing to Pal may produce some unexpected results. keep to ntsc. most dvd players ( and tv sets here) will playback ntsc material on pal systems without breaking into a sweat.
Ulead also make software called movie workshop express 2 . While primarily a dvd authoring program it is simple enough to learn to do some what you want and more but costs a bit more. Confusingly, Ulead also make a product called cd and dvd pictureshow 4 ,also very capable although the emphasis is on bringing your pictures to life and capturinr trimming videos and turnig out video cd or dvds. The most simple answer is to download the full 30 day demos and try each product . They are generally all affordable and have varying levels of complexity, cd and dvd picture show and mf4 being easier video studio 9 a mixed bag and movie workshop express a bit more complex for more intricate projects . I have actually used all of them and find the end results very pleasing
good luck

[KoThreads]

I use cd and dvd pictureshow 4 and it's good, but i've had problems, even after a patch, using their software with some burners. It's worked fine with NEC and Liteon but hated my LG and Optorite.

ULead were good at answering my emails, but couldn't solve the problems, even after i sent them all the error codes/messages that the program threw out.

[senu]

I had similar issues in the past with an Asus Burner but found with most of these programs that you can create a dvd image file to your hard drive and then burn the resulting image ( eg iso etc) to disc using nero which works well with most burners. You can also create a dvd folder on your hard drive and then use nero to "build" the dvd simply by importing the created video TS folder, These methods have the advantage of not needing to rely on uleads driver but in addition, allow you to make multiple copies of the project without going through the hassle of building it each time you need a copy