Ulead DVD Workshop Problem

[Debbie]

I have been using DVD Workshop for quite some time now. Every so often whenever I author a movie with chapters, trying to begin the movie from any chapter will start the movie from the very begining. This does not happen with all movies. All movies are previously transcoded to mpeg 2 using TMPGEnc XPress.

This problem is seen when playing back the movie from the VIDEO_TS folder.

With reference to the above. I have tenscoded the same movie using Nero Vision and had no problems. So infact it appears that the problem is with TMPGEnc XPress not with DVD Workshop.

[Hulk]

Just to lend some more credence to your theory I have never experienced this issue with DVDW2 and I also do not encode with TMPGENc. Seems like it might be an issue with the way TMPGEnc writes the headers or something.

I know that I'm always talking about Vegas in here and I apologize I'm really not trying to sell anyone one it. I just feel I have a unique perspective since I was a HUGE MSP and DVDWS fan for many years and when development stopped on those apps I moved over to Vegas and DVDA. I even beta tested DVDWS2 and worked the Ulead booth at NAB 2004.

Anyway, while DVDWS2 is still a solid program I have come to really like the faster workflow of DVDA. Not having the tabs is nice as it allows me to get around faster. Of course there are a few more features as DVDWS hasn't been upgraded in a long time. Two of the things I think that make DVDA worth a look is the fact that chapter points created in Vegas while rendering the timeline automatically appear in DVDA. A HUGE time saver. Also DVDA can create Blu-Rays using the same interface as when creating DVD's. So you need not learn the program again, you just flip a switch from "DVD" to "Blu-Ray."

[Brian Ellis]

I still use DVDWS2 without your problem. I have usually inputted DV but, on occasion, MPEG-2 encoded by MainConcept from either MSP or Magix VPX. Guess it must be your encoder.

Mark: I abandoned Vegas Pro 8 as it was too unstable on my rig. Managed to sell the licence on Ebay!!! Am using VPX increasingly but usually mix it with MSP8, using the advantages of each!

[Debbie]

Thank you both for you advice. As I said, I have been using UDVDW since V.1 and I'm quite pleased with the results. I like its easy to use interphase for root and chapter menus.
I did try Vegas, some time ago but we didn't get along all that well.

It hasn't been the first time I used TMPGEnc and UDVDW 2 never complained. So it must have been the way TMPGEnc had to handle any could be abnormalities in the way the movie has been encoded.

[Hulk]

Brian,

I know you had lots of troubles with Vegas. As I said before that's a shame as it really is an efficient tool.

I had been using Vegas for audio only since version 2.0. I was upgrading JUST FOR the audio features! I ONLY used MSPro for video. Coming from MSPro the Vegas interface just seemed cryptic to me. Then around Version 4 or 5 with the impending death of MSPro on the horizon I really "got down" with Vegas and cracked the interface. Once I understood the top down way it works it was cake and I realized that I was making a lot of clicks and keystrokes with MSPro that I needn't be doing with Vegas. It took a year or two and then I finally made the full move to Vegas. I honestly couldn't deal anymore without being able to open multiple instances of my NLE like Vegas does. Drop in effects while the timeline is running. Customize the GUI quickly and easily. And accept just about any format to name a few things.

DVDA took a lot longer for me because having beta tested DVDWS2, written a "How To" book on it AND done a DVD tutorial, I was REALLY good with it and knew it inside and out. Plus it was amazingly ahead of it's time upon release. Just in the last 6 months or so have I finally abandoned Workshop for DVDA. It took quite along time but DVDA finally caught up and surpassed WS2. I still like it but I can get it done so much faster in DVDA. I can't ignore my time savings no matter how much love I have for my time with DVDWS. Little things like how when you save a project it always stops at 80% for a few seconds then continues are annoying. Or how you have to flip flop around from tab to tab to get a project finished.

[dchip]

Once I understood the top down way it works it was cake and I realized that I was making a lot of clicks and keystrokes with MSPro that I needn't be doing with Vegas. It took a year or two and then I finally made the full move to Vegas. I honestly couldn't deal anymore without being able to open multiple instances of my NLE like Vegas does. Drop in effects while the timeline is running. Customize the GUI quickly and easily. And accept just about any format to name a few things.

Same here. I recall trying a past version of AP and after I finally managed to get a simple transition added between 2 clips (I guess it was between them, hard to tell from the timeline). Anyway, I wanted to see what the transition looked like but that wasnt possible without doing something else. I had Vegas 3 at the time and remember killing the project, uninstalling AP and rushing back to the simple Vegas process with a great sense of relief.

The only simple function in Vegas that still bugs me is keyframing, which requires a bit of thinking about what the keyframes do and when they are supposed to do it. I think syncing the curser helps, but getting the movement smoth can still be hit or miss for me. Once I get going with it it's easy, but then if I don't work with it for a while, I feel quite clumsy when I come back to it.

[Hulk]

When I use keyframes it's generally for moving and zooming on still images. I used to use a program called "Moving Picture" and it was absolutely fantastic for that. Easy to use and great results quickly. I used it as a plug for MSPro.

[dchip]

When I use keyframes it's generally for moving and zooming on still images. I used to use a program called "Moving Picture" and it was absolutely fantastic for that. Easy to use and great results quickly. I used it as a plug for MSPro.

I'll look into that one. It sounds great.

I had a project a few years back that included a photo I did a high quality scan of that was actually a collage of smaller photos pasted onto a piece of letter sized cardboard. The lady asked that I not try to seperate the photos so I just scanned the whole thing.

My plan was to slide a cookie cutter effect across the image, pausing on each individal face and small groups of faces, but I never could get the motion right. It was just too complicated. I ended up just showing the whole image and then zooming on parts of it. Real true "know-how" in a program like Vegas is truly priceless. Even then, you have to use that know how often enough to maintain it.

[dchip]

Looks like Moving Pictures is still out there. No Vegas plugin, though. Probably the thing I have heard about for years about SF/Sony being a bit stingy about access to its source code. I guess the Producer version of Moving can render an AVI that could be dropped into Vegas but probably some quality would be lost rendering again in Vegas.

After I saw the stagetools name I remembered hearing about this product before:

http://www.stagetools.com/aboutplg.htm

[Hulk]

Vegas is actually pretty good at the "rotoscoping" over stills you just have to get the keyframes right and remember to right-click on the keys to select the correct type of motion.