VideoStudio 6 - just installed....

[Dr Mordrid]

I LIKE THE NEW INTERFACE!!! The Preview window is MUCH larger and the layout very clean, not so "cute". The color scheme is now black on gray instead of everything on black. Not so depressing. The Jetson look is also out.

The trial is limited to 40 transitions and 30 days. No "X"'s rendered to the video.

The new Storyboard is NICE!! It can go almost full screen with 7 rows of clip icons, and if you add more you get more rows. Lots of room to play.

eTV users: the trial will inherit your VideoStudio5 SE eTV capture & project presets.

Here are the CPU requirements for MPEG capture;

Pentium III 700MHz Full D1720x480 4000 Kbps - MPEG-2
Pentium II 450MHz Full D1720x480 3500 Kbps I framesonly MPEG-2
Pentium II 400MHz Half D1352x480 3000 Kbps - MPEG-2
Pentium II 350MHz Half D1352x480 2500 Kbps I framesonly MPEG-2
Pentium II 300MHz VCD 352x240 2000 Kbps - MPEG-1
Pentium II 266MHz 352x240 1500 Kbps I framesonly MPEG-1

No chance to try 'em yet.

Generated a couple of short MPEG's with it.

A 6 second 6mbit/s VBR DVD file took ~29 seconds to render from a DV source. Quality: not bad, but I didn't push it. I'll push it later tonight with something GoMotion couldn't handle and TMPGEnc could.

When you're outputting files you have several options:

Generate a DVD, SVCD or VCD

Generate a file

If you opt to create a DVD, SVCD or VCD it'll render the MPEG then automatically open DVD Movie Maker, if it's installed, with the file already on its timeline...all ready to author the menus. Nice integration.

Problem: the icons on the title bar disappear when you change modes. Wiping the pointer over them refreshes them. Dunno if this is a DirectX, Matrox display driver or Ulead issue yet though.

Dr. Mordrid

[Jerry Jones]

Thanks for the report.

Extremely interesting! Can't wait to hear more.

Jerry

[Dr Mordrid]

Ok, here's what I've run into so far;

1. VS6 projects won't load into MSPro 6.5 like VS5 projects did. Probably needs to be addressed in a patch.

2. Cool3D 3.5 projects will load into VS6, but I get that stupid "Switch to" dialog and have to play with it. grrrr...

3. I don't think the MPEG.now rendering engine is in VS6 yet. I say that because of the references to Ligos in some of the setup files.

THAT SAID...the MPEG output looks better in VS6 than in MSPro 6.5!!

The colors are more saturated, there appears to have been a change in gamma and there is less aliasing on *.tga overlays.

Below is a 148x101 section cut out of a *.tga title in a a DVD 6000 kbps VBR frame, zoomed 2x. Source: NTSC DV

MediaStudio Pro 6.5 on the left -------- Video Studio 6 on the right



One thing that sure helps is that they've upped the DC Precision in MPEG-2 from 8 in MediaStudio to 9 in VideoStudio 6. MPEG-1 remains at a DCT of 8 because that's the standard.

4. Still working on DV -> MPEG captures to optimise quality....but as expected they aren't as good as doing a DV project and encoding to MPEG offline.

5. The animated text effects, right out of Cool3D, work nicely and look good.

6. The rest of the program works smoother than VS4/5 did.

7. I also like the way the overlay track works. The alpha channel is automatically applied and you can set fades and motion in a very simple dialog.

Dr. Mordrid

[Jerry Jones]

Thanks for the info...

Wow, that's quite a quality enhancement!

I'll be glad when MediaStudio 7 is ready.

JJ

[BrianP]

The only thing more surprising about how great the VS image looks, is how how <b>bad</b> the MSP version is.

I mean I reduced it to 50% (1x) and it still looks horrible. Is that typical of the encoding in MSP 6.5?

Perhaps it's moot, because the VS image, again, is <b>gorgeous</b>!

[greyfalco]

Anyone know how Videostudio 5 holds up? I can buy it off my friend for cheap, but 6 looks really good. Is 5 comprable?

[Dr Mordrid]

VS5 is nowhere near comparable to VS6 from what I'm seeing in the trial version. Not even close.

This is as big a change to VideoStudio as MSPro 6.x was from MSPro 5.2.

What's better is that VS6 will only cost ~$45 (downloaded) if you have a VE version of VideoStudio. Since that often comes free with firewire cards....

I'm still waiting for info on if the MPEG encoder is by Ligos or Ulead. From what I'm seeing in the file versions and setup files Ligos is used for *something*.

IF a major change *was* made to the encoders filtering it sure could explain some of the improved look of those images.

One thing that was for sure done was to the DC precision. They are now being done at 9 bits vs. the 8 bits used in MSPro 6.5 right now. Who knows what other changes have been made.

I also think some improvements have been made in the compositing engine, which I'm sure will end up in later products.

Add it all together....

Dr. Mordrid

[greyfalco]

There is no way a CD can ever play in a DVD, correct? I know you can burn "DVD's" onto a CD in DVDit! (et al), but they won't play on set-top boxes, correct?

[Dr Mordrid]

You mean a miniDVD (DVD content on a CD) playing in a set top box?

It's been rare up to now, with most of them being the Afreey decks and a couple of the portable DVD players by AIWA. The Afreey's used a standard PC DVD drive instead of the "normal" drives used in set tops up to now. It was a bit of a mutant.

However, according to the surveys done at http://www.vcdhelper.com more and more DVD decks are coming out that CAN play miniDVD, menu's and all.

Most notable are some of the new APEX decks, which are dirt cheap and seem to play anything round with a hole in it.

Now prepare for a shocker:

there will be DVD decks coming into the channel in the next few months that will not only play MPEG-1 (VCD), MPEG-2 (DVD & SVCD) and MP3 disks (MP3's on a CD, up to 200+ of 'em) but also WM audio & video disks.

WTF is a WM disk?

Windows Media on a CD....that's what. Microsoft licensed the technology to about every major DVD deck maker some time ago and that license covers both audio and video, though audio will appear first by all accounts. Chipsets start productioin in Q2-3.

Dr. Mordrid

[Jerry Jones]

Doc's right...

Here's the article:

http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20011211S0054

[Ted222]

Doc,
Can you make this same MPEG-2 quality comparison with VS5 vs VS6? I would be very interested. I have already noticed a big difference between VS5 and MSP6(VS5 being much better.

thanks,
Ted

[paulw]

Also Doc.. How does Mpeg1 VCD compare with MSPRO6.x ??

[Dr Mordrid]

I haven't had much time in the last 3-4 days to do much more testing due to a nasty snow/ice storm here in Michigan. We've been alternating between power outages, falling trees & the loss of other utilities for over 3 days now.

As such I've been spending more time with my chain saw & snowblower than with anything (or anyone) else, including computers.

On top of that my nice, new 19" Sony monitor blew up on me today. Taking it back tomorrow for a replacement.

Maybe next week....

Dr. Mordrid

[Technoid]

Originally posted by Dr Mordrid
Now prepare for a shocker:

there will be DVD decks coming into the channel in the next few months that will not only play MPEG-1 (VCD), MPEG-2 (DVD & SVCD) and MP3 disks (MP3's on a CD, up to 200+ of 'em) but also WM audio & video disks.

WTF is a WM disk?

Windows Media on a CD....that's what. Microsoft licensed the technology to about every major DVD deck maker some time ago and that license covers both audio and video, though audio will appear first by all accounts. Chipsets start productioin in Q2-3.

Dr. Mordrid

That was a realy fun news!