Adobe Encore

[rallynavvie]

Has anyone preordered this so as to be one of the first to get it? I've been watching the Adobe website for information and it's looking to be a fantastic program. It seems it will do as much as Maestro or Scenarist without the steep learning curve for advanced options. My favorite feature is its compatability with other Adobe apps so importing movies from Premiere or doing menus in Photoshop or Illustrator as well as AfterEffects will just drop right in. But then again I'm a complete Adobe whore

My order is in, though it won't ship until maybe July I think. Once I play around I'll post some information on it. Just wondering if anyone else will be getting it so we can compare notes. Oh and watch for Encore to start showing up at your local DC hub

My list of Adobe apps:
Acrobat 5.0, Illustrator 10, Premiere 6.0, Streamline 4.0, PageMaker 6.5, Photoshop 7... still need AfterEffects

[Specialist]

I think it's going to have tough competition from ULEAD.

There are rumors the next version of ULEAD DVD WORKSHOP is going to take the wind out of the sails of Adobe... again.

The integration between the Ulead products is also quite good.

I have:

1. Ulead MEDIASTUDIO PRO 7.0:

http://www.ulead.com/msp/runme.htm

2. Ulead VIDEOSTUDIO 7.0:

http://www.ulead.com/vs/runme.htm

3. Ulead Cool 3D Studio:

http://www.ulead.com/c3ds/runme.htm

4. Ulead PhotoImpact:

http://www.ulead.com/pi/runme.htm

5. Ulead PhotoExplorer:

http://www.ulead.com/pex/runme.htm

6. Ulead Gif Animator:

http://www.ulead.com/ga/runme.htm

7. Ulead SmartSaver Pro:

http://www.ulead.com/ssp/runme.htm

8. Ulead DVD Workshop with AC-3:

http://www.ulead.com/dws/ac3.htm

...and they all integrate.

The point is... Adobe no longer is the only company with a line of products that play together well.

This is now true of many multimedia companies.

Jerry Jones
http://www.jonesgroup.net

[Machine514]

I just looked at the Ulead MediaStudio Pro comparison page. It compares it to Premiere. Although it is a Ulead website and is definetly biased to its own products, it still looks very very good.

Does a lot of people use this program?

I would like to see a list comparing Ulead to Adobe. For instance, MediaStudio to Premiere, After Effects to ?, Photoshop to ?, Encore to ?, etc etc.

Can anyone help!

-Machine

[Specialist]

That comparison page you mentioned is located here:

http://www.ulead.com/msp/compare.htm

Ulead and Adobe have been battling it out for market on the PC platform.

On the Macintosh platform, Apple Final Cut Pro has captured the majority of market share.

Which program you like best generally boils down to which one you use.

But the point I was trying to make is that Adobe is no longer the only multimedia software firm with a wide range of products.

Ulead now offers an equally wide range of products that integrate with each other.

I've only heard rumors about the new Ulead DVD WORKSHOP 2 product.

But I'm willing to bet the price will come in a little lower than the price charged by Adobe.

DVD WORKSHOP 2 will integrate with other ULEAD products such as COOL 3D Studio and MEDIASTUDIO PRO.

I've not seen a feature set, but I'd be surprised if it didn't match the feature set of the new Adobe offering.

We'll know more within a couple of months... for sure.

Jerry Jones
http://www.jonesgroup.net

[txpharoah]

Ulead is an inferior product, but it sells more to consumers because it makes its software for consumers. And cheaper. But you get what you pay for.

Adobe sells to organizations, schools, businesses and professionals. They don't care about the typical consumer, so they make their products higher quality for pro uses, and the side effect is that it will be more expensive.

I have friends that use Ulead, and I cannot stand them. Not enough options, and annoying interfaces especially bother me (feel like I'm playing a kid's video game). My friends get confused with my Adobe toys, but they often tell me they can see the quality difference and are jealous that their programs do not have the options and output quality of mine.

[Specialist]

Ulead software must be attracting a lot of interest among professionals...

...otherwise I can't imagine this many 3rd party software companies would develop so many pro-level plug-ins for the Ulead MEDIASTUDIO PRO product:

1. BorisFX

http://www.borisfx.com/products/FX/

2. Boris RED

http://www.borisfx.com/products/RED/

3. Boris Factory

http://www.ulead.com/partner/app/boris/factory.htm

4. Boris Graffiti

http://www.borisfx.com/products/GRAFFITI/

5. StageTools Moving Picture and Moving Chart

http://www.stagetools.com

6. Profound Effects UseFul Things LE Starter Pak

http://www.ulead.com/partner/app/profound/profound_SP.htm

7. Profound Effects Useful Things LE Expansion Pak

http://www.ulead.com/partner/app/profound/profound_EP1.htm

8. SpiceMaster 2

http://www.pixelan.com/products/all.htm

9. Vixen Video Enhancer

http://www.xentrik.demon.co.uk/ViXen/vixen.html

10. VideoTools Server

http://www.videotools.net/

11. VFXFlash-Factory

http://www.ulead.com/partner/app/vfxflash/vfxflash.htm

12. VFXMask

http://www.ulead.com/partner/app/vfx/vfx.htm

Yes, Ulead offers consumer-level software.

But Ulead also offers MEDIASTUDIO PRO 7.0.

I can assure you it's a pro-level product.

Adobe has also began to offer more and more consumer-level packages to compete.

You may not realize this, but Adobe actually paid Ulead several millions of dollars to stop marketing the old PhotoStyler product that Ulead developed several years ago.

PhotoStyler was considered a strong market challenger to Adobe's flagship Photoshop product.

I mention this because it reveals how Adobe cash actually fueled Ulead's rising international profile in the multimedia software industry.

Jerry Jones
http://www.jonesgroup.net

[alenhard]

Not so fast Adobe freaks! As far as the previous comment about the inferior quality of Ulead products... HA! What a joke! Anything you can do with Premiere, you can do it equally well with MSPro (and I'd bet you could do it a heck of a lot faster, thanks to the "annoying interface")!

[rallynavvie]

Bah, I didn't mean for this to turn into a flame war between Adobe and Ulead. I work in the printing industry and Ulead has a long way to go before it can deface the Acrobat card. PDF is pretty much a standard in the digital media industry, both with consumers and professionals. Not to say that Ulead programs are inferior, they just go about it a different way. Isn't PostScript owned by Adobe as well?

I like Ulead for the fact that they're putting out programs that rival Adobe's for less cost. I've only used PhotoImpact and MovieFactory. I liked PhotoImpact, but since every school I went to taught using Adobe apps that's all I know. So are educators biased in their choice for curriculum? I don't think so, it's just that Adobe has an established history and reputation where Ulead is just getting started.

My opinion: Ulead for prosumer, Adobe for professional. Wether Ulead apps equal Adobe is irrelevant until you start seeing schools using them for education.

I was wondering if Ulead had any equivalent to Streamline for converting images into line art? I'd like a more affordable version and Streamline seems like such a universal application.

[Rich927]

It does seem like Ulead is being flamed a lot. Ulead and Pinnacle both offer programs that are affordable and if used properly, produce decent results. After being in Communications/Audio/Video for over 35 years, it pains me to see people calling other products junk. Those who say throw money at problems, may not really understand thier craft. What some call "junk", may be all someone else can afford. I have used both Ulead and Pinnacle products, and I do not consider them "junk". Read the manuals. I would hope this board remains a Forum for help and information for both Newbees and the more advanced. Years ago, at channel 13 in Houston, I watched a tech edit a tape using a razor blade and tape and still kept the audio in synch. No computer aid. As far as my program of choice, I use Adobe Premire and Photoshop. Most schools use whatever they can get depending on budgets. I have seen some schools use Windows Moviemaker. It's all they can afford. Cheap, useful and it works. I don't usually post much but I just can't sit by and let others use their superior knowledge and money flame useful products.

Rich AFL/CWA etc...

[Karate Media]

every school I went to taught using Adobe apps that's all I know. So are educators biased in their choice for curriculum? I don't think so, it's just that Adobe has an established history and reputation where Ulead is just getting started.

Typically, a university is going to have their students using the tools that they will encounter in the professional world. So you're looking at Adobe for graphic design (Photoshop, Illustrator), Macromedia for web design (Dreamweaver, Flash), and maybe - possibly - a toss-up between Premiere and Final Cut Pro for video work, maybe even Avid instead.

I know of one college with a fairly esteem J-school that uses Final Cut Pro and Photoshop for their video work and live news broadcasts. In fact, some students have complained that they are being taught on equipment that is too good for them, because the entry level jobs they get after college don't even use some of that stuff yet!

(The other reason for the use of some programs is inertia -- even if Ulead became the tools of choice for professionals, it will still take a few years for universities to make the change)

Personally, I love Adobe Premiere, After Effects, Photoshop, and Illustrator -- I use them in a freelance professional manner and they make me money -- and I eagerly await Adobe's entry into DVD authoring. But I will definitely wait for all the reviews (and bugs) to be published...

[Karate Media]

Sorry for the double post, but I just saw Rich's comment, wanted to add something: I was just reading an article yesterday about a foreign correspondent who was shooting B-roll footage for AP (or some similar broadcast news "supplier") on a $500 miniDV cam (that he bought just before the trip) and editing it on his laptop with Windows Movie Maker 2. He was then uploading it to the news service via a 56K connection (or such). I believe each upload was 20 minutes and cost $100. This stuff was being used for serious news broadcasts...so pinpointing what is "professional" level nowadays can even be tricky sometimes.

(Sorry, can't cite specific source: it was either the trade journal in my friend's office or something I stumbled upon somewhere else)

[LanEvo7]

I've had experiences with both companies. This is just from what I've experienced, so don't flame me if you don't agree.

Adobe's photo and video products seem to be very stable and have little issues with them. I didn't go to in depth but that was my impression. Adobe's products can get really advanced and the learning curve isn't that hard. If you have some patience, you can get most of the info from the included help file. There are a couple problems with Adoble. The first is the price, many home users are not going to pay $500 for a program they they use maybe once a week. If you buy the whole editing suit, it would cost about the same price of a computer. Another thing with adobe's products is that its not simple. Sometimes I just want to do some simple items and you have to go through tons of menus to get it done. It doesn't take long, its just annoying.


Ulead software is less expensive, but I've had a lot more issues with them. Sometimes it would just crash for no reason. But if you can resolve these issues, their products are pretty good for what they do. Their products are simpler and you can work faster. There is also a less steep learning curve. The downside is they don't have as much features as Adobe's products.