Tong Family

Well, I’ve finally mastered the Video Explosion/VideoFactory tool and have a nice video, now there is the issue of how to get it out to the real world. It isn’t easy:
* Sonic MyDVD. This has got to rate as one of the most ugly programs I’ve ever used. Main issue is that you have just one movie, it puts a tiny button on the first DVD menu that gives you no hint you are supposed to click on it. Seems designed for adding several movies into one DVD. At least 6 to make the layout look semi-decent. Didn’t try to actually blow the DVD though.
* DVD Complete. This has a much nicer layout. But it is still confusing to have one movie just sitting there. Also, Cnet.com users reports lots of bugs blowing the CD. Nicest layout tools though. Also has a strange requirement that the DVD Video be under 8MBps and VideoFactory defaults to 8.3MBps. Argh.
* ULead MovieFactory. Has an OK layout. The main issue is that the layout again is ugly. Doesn’t have a single movie option really. Most of the programs seemed tuned for lots of random video clips and a slideshow.
* ULead VideoStudio 7. This was actually the first tool that I used. It was harder than VideoFactory/Video Explosion, but it sure made a beautiful DVD menu. It is tuned for a single movie on a DVD, so it boots right into the chapter menu rather than into a multiple title menu.
To convert this into a DiVX format movie. That is using MPEG4, it seems that this is a little easier:
* DivX Digest – AVI to DivX Guide. Good instructions on how to take an uncompressed AVI and turn it into a DiVX file.
* “Moo’s Video Editing Tips”:http://www.student.oulu.fi/~miohtama/dv-editing-tips.html#Ulead%20Media%20Studio%20Pro%20specific%20issues. The only issue is that VirtualDub mentioned above can’t read DV Camcorder AVI files unless it has an older Video for Windows Codec. That you can get from Canopus.