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DVExpo Report - Media Studio 6, RT2000 v. DV500, Canon GL-1 and more...
(Please take a look at my current film project: http://spincycle.n3.net - Comments are welcome.)
DV Expo Report, Long Beach 10/20/99
I confess that I'm a Premiere user, despite all the bugs and incompatibility with my Marvel (it works, sort of). Because of all the good things everyone here says about Ulead, I've tried to start using it a number of times, but Premiere just feels better to me. I had used Premiere 4.2 on Mac and do a lot of work on Avid Film/Media Composers at school and work, so I use Premiere 5.1.
That said, Media Studio Pro 6 looks great. The Ulead people were very friendly and knowledgeable. We'll see what happens in the release, but I made some suggestions for their titling module, and it seemed like they may actually try to implement them. Wow.
The Adobe rep. I spoke to briefly, said yes to non-square pixels and was very wishy-washy about Mpeg2 support (without a bundled board). He said, "there are a lot of issues with IPB frame editing." But hopefully, they will throw something together...
Ulead Media Studio Pro 6.0 beta1 (Q1 2000)
Interface:
no-Premiere style interface (no monitor/source in one window)
default layout: smaller timeline, with a big source window, media file window, and library window
command buttons along the top of the timeline window, to speed up work in the timeline - very cool
Features:
Auto ripple edit all tracks (set in and outs in a library clip, then drag into the timeline and all a/v tracks ripple back to keep sync)
Auto-crossfade audio with one click
locking tracks (like Premiere)
hiding tracks (like Premiere)
supports directX audio plug-ins
Edit frame accurate IPB mpeg2 files, (and I frame?)
good software mpeg2 rendering speed (LSX export module) - looks very fast (like the normal LSX encoder)
Bummers:
NO non-square pixel support (yet)
NO Real Time support(yet) -
rep said wait for Real Time support mid-late next year when next gen of cheap mpeg2 boards arrive with C-Cubed chips at $300-400, with "quality that will blow you away". But he couldn't tell me the manufacturers - they're top secret... (The way he was talking, it seems like he is obviously working with early prototypes of these boards. I guess I should wait a little longer to upgrade my Marvel.)
yes. it did crash once, but it's only Beta1.
Minimum System/Recommended System:
Windows95, 98, 2000, NT4
Pentium Processor/P166+
16MB of RAM/32MB+
40MB HD/200MB+
Video capture/playback card not required, but recommended
If you have more specific questions, let me know, I have a few pages of spec sheets with more details.
Ulead Video Studio 4 (ships in 2 weeks)
DV and mpeg2 (IPB) editing
uses the same LSX mpeg2 import-export module as MSP6 (I may pick it up just for the ability to edit mpeg2. To tide me over until MSP6 comes out.)
Premiere 6 (by Q2 2000)
Non-square pixel support
Possible mpeg2 editing support
Pinnacle DV500 (November 99)
NO mpeg-2 import or editing
Mpeg2 export through C-Cube hardware encoder at 5:1 (5 times slower than real time)
2-d transitions in Real Time - yes it works
Conclusion: Not really a competitor for RT2000, since it can't natively edit mpeg2
RT2000
I-frame mpeg2 editing
asked about switching the g400 board out with a future "g600" to use with the RT2000, rep. said possibly...it doesn't sound like they have decided at this point, but they are aware that this is an issue for potential RT2000 customers, but the issue won't be resolved until the next generation G-series board comes out
Sonic DVD-IT LE(bundled with RT2000)
(I saw a demo at the Sonic booth, not Matrox)
Very limited, but you will get a dvd with basic menu that you can play on a set-top player
LE:
one audio track (yes it encodes dolby digital - as I understand it)
NO subtitles
NO angles
NO chapters
basic menu system
pre-burn, build emulator - with a little remote (nice)
Normal version ($500):
8 audio tracks
32 possible subtitle streams
chapters
with both versions, you can save the build to any format CD-R, floppy disk, DLT, Jaz, whatever, but you can only playback DVD-R on a set-top player(of course) (maybe playback Cd-R on a PC in the future???)
Basically this looks decent for a very cheap way to get your high quality DVD video on a DVD-R for playback. It is not intended for Multimedia developers or even for a complicated Special Edition Wedding DVD (with lots of sub-menus and bonus materials).
Canon GL-1 camcorder
looks and feels great
it's smaller than it looks in pictures (it's barely bigger than SONY's TRVline)
fold-out screen is nice
NO manual audio level controls (maybe solve this with an external mic/mixer?)
buy this, unless SONY comes out with something better in the next few months
I've been looking forward to the new Vidtools 1.51 for a long time. Wish me luck for a smooth installation!
------
Please take a look at my current film project: http://spincycle.n3.net - Comments are welcome. system spex: Marvel G200TV, Windows98, Celeron300a(@450/2v), 128mb ram, 8.4 IBM Deskstar UDMA system drive, Adaptec 2940UW SCSI, 2x 9gb Seagate Barracuda UW video drives, Diamond MX300 soundcard, Hitachi GD2500 DVD-ROM, Plextor Ultraplex 24x SCSI CD-rom, Plextor Plexwriter 4x12 Cd-writer.
DV Expo Report, Long Beach 10/20/99
I confess that I'm a Premiere user, despite all the bugs and incompatibility with my Marvel (it works, sort of). Because of all the good things everyone here says about Ulead, I've tried to start using it a number of times, but Premiere just feels better to me. I had used Premiere 4.2 on Mac and do a lot of work on Avid Film/Media Composers at school and work, so I use Premiere 5.1.
That said, Media Studio Pro 6 looks great. The Ulead people were very friendly and knowledgeable. We'll see what happens in the release, but I made some suggestions for their titling module, and it seemed like they may actually try to implement them. Wow.
The Adobe rep. I spoke to briefly, said yes to non-square pixels and was very wishy-washy about Mpeg2 support (without a bundled board). He said, "there are a lot of issues with IPB frame editing." But hopefully, they will throw something together...
Ulead Media Studio Pro 6.0 beta1 (Q1 2000)
Interface:
no-Premiere style interface (no monitor/source in one window)
default layout: smaller timeline, with a big source window, media file window, and library window
command buttons along the top of the timeline window, to speed up work in the timeline - very cool
Features:
Auto ripple edit all tracks (set in and outs in a library clip, then drag into the timeline and all a/v tracks ripple back to keep sync)
Auto-crossfade audio with one click
locking tracks (like Premiere)
hiding tracks (like Premiere)
supports directX audio plug-ins
Edit frame accurate IPB mpeg2 files, (and I frame?)
good software mpeg2 rendering speed (LSX export module) - looks very fast (like the normal LSX encoder)
Bummers:
NO non-square pixel support (yet)
NO Real Time support(yet) -
rep said wait for Real Time support mid-late next year when next gen of cheap mpeg2 boards arrive with C-Cubed chips at $300-400, with "quality that will blow you away". But he couldn't tell me the manufacturers - they're top secret... (The way he was talking, it seems like he is obviously working with early prototypes of these boards. I guess I should wait a little longer to upgrade my Marvel.)
yes. it did crash once, but it's only Beta1.
Minimum System/Recommended System:
Windows95, 98, 2000, NT4
Pentium Processor/P166+
16MB of RAM/32MB+
40MB HD/200MB+
Video capture/playback card not required, but recommended
If you have more specific questions, let me know, I have a few pages of spec sheets with more details.
Ulead Video Studio 4 (ships in 2 weeks)
DV and mpeg2 (IPB) editing
uses the same LSX mpeg2 import-export module as MSP6 (I may pick it up just for the ability to edit mpeg2. To tide me over until MSP6 comes out.)
Premiere 6 (by Q2 2000)
Non-square pixel support
Possible mpeg2 editing support
Pinnacle DV500 (November 99)
NO mpeg-2 import or editing
Mpeg2 export through C-Cube hardware encoder at 5:1 (5 times slower than real time)
2-d transitions in Real Time - yes it works
Conclusion: Not really a competitor for RT2000, since it can't natively edit mpeg2
RT2000
I-frame mpeg2 editing
asked about switching the g400 board out with a future "g600" to use with the RT2000, rep. said possibly...it doesn't sound like they have decided at this point, but they are aware that this is an issue for potential RT2000 customers, but the issue won't be resolved until the next generation G-series board comes out
Sonic DVD-IT LE(bundled with RT2000)
(I saw a demo at the Sonic booth, not Matrox)
Very limited, but you will get a dvd with basic menu that you can play on a set-top player
LE:
one audio track (yes it encodes dolby digital - as I understand it)
NO subtitles
NO angles
NO chapters
basic menu system
pre-burn, build emulator - with a little remote (nice)
Normal version ($500):
8 audio tracks
32 possible subtitle streams
chapters
with both versions, you can save the build to any format CD-R, floppy disk, DLT, Jaz, whatever, but you can only playback DVD-R on a set-top player(of course) (maybe playback Cd-R on a PC in the future???)
Basically this looks decent for a very cheap way to get your high quality DVD video on a DVD-R for playback. It is not intended for Multimedia developers or even for a complicated Special Edition Wedding DVD (with lots of sub-menus and bonus materials).
Canon GL-1 camcorder
looks and feels great
it's smaller than it looks in pictures (it's barely bigger than SONY's TRVline)
fold-out screen is nice
NO manual audio level controls (maybe solve this with an external mic/mixer?)
buy this, unless SONY comes out with something better in the next few months
I've been looking forward to the new Vidtools 1.51 for a long time. Wish me luck for a smooth installation!
------
Please take a look at my current film project: http://spincycle.n3.net - Comments are welcome. system spex: Marvel G200TV, Windows98, Celeron300a(@450/2v), 128mb ram, 8.4 IBM Deskstar UDMA system drive, Adaptec 2940UW SCSI, 2x 9gb Seagate Barracuda UW video drives, Diamond MX300 soundcard, Hitachi GD2500 DVD-ROM, Plextor Ultraplex 24x SCSI CD-rom, Plextor Plexwriter 4x12 Cd-writer.
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