ATI & TMPGEnc Should Get Married

[Tom Saurus]

I purchased the All In Wonder 9800 Pro and was given a disc with Pinnacle SE on it. I find Pinnacle to be too complex for me and after reading about TMPGEnc I downloaded the trial versions of the Mpeg Editor and the DVD Author. They are quite simple, and I really enjoy how they work.

Being one of those without a credit card, I inquired if I could purchase it by money order and got a response back from a gentleman giving me an address in California to send the money to.

Now since I registered it I am waiting on the "regular mail" to finally deliver the money order. It entered the United States on December 3rd, 2004 and it may take 11 business days to get there.

Having enjoyed these programs immensly, I am axious for the TMPGEnc programs to work again. My computer seems dead without these programs. The only thing I like about Pinnacle is the transitions. If TMPEnc would somehow in the future add in some transitional effects it would be perfect. I have been doing quite well without transitional effects though. Transitional Effects do seem to add some Pizzaz to videos. It is a shame that Microsoft has limited there Movie Maker so much. I find the animated introduction title page to be a nice feature.

I wonder why there isn't a marriage of sorts between the TMPGEnc Editor and DVD Author and ATI. With the VCR like device in the All In Wonder Media Center and these two programs, they just seem to fit together so nicely.

Truly the day I tried the trial versions of these programs it was when I saw the true potential of my computer for my family's entertainment as far as creating DVD's. I am kind of wishing I would of sent the money to purchase the TMPG Editor and DVD Author by Priority Post Courier. The only thing is that way doesn't require a signature from the one you send things to. So being overly cautious or paranoid I went the Register way, requiring a signature.

I kind of wish TMPGEnc was available at Radio Shack or other Vendors. Please forgive my rambling. I have 80 GBs of stuff to put on DVD, and no way to do it until TMPGEnc gets the money.


Tom Saurus

A Canadian waiting on The United States Mail to deliver my letter in an efficient and speedy fashion.

[lordsmurf]

I hope not. TMPGENC's MPEG encoder is rather... blah... though still extremely useful. ATI's Ligos-based encoding is much better that the homegrown Pegasys stuff.

TDA is not very good for authoring. Sure, fast. Sure, easy and idiot-proof. Sure, great for VCD conversions. Sure, generous on imperfect source. But the visual quality and structure of menus is horrid.

I shudder at the thought of more all-in-one solutions.

ATI should dump Pinnacle, on that we agree.

I've seen Pegasys stuff at Fry's, but that's about it.


ATI should form an alliance with Womble or Adobe for editing, and then Ulead for authoring.

[jimmalenko]

TDA is not very good for authoring. Sure, fast. Sure, easy and idiot-proof. Sure, great for VCD conversions. Sure, generous on imperfect source. But the visual quality and structure of menus is horrid.

That's quite a few tick points before you shoot it down, LS

I must agree though - the menus (or lack thereof in terms of customisation) do hold it back significantly IMO. I use it relgiously because I'm not a big menus fan, but naturally there are a lot of people who have far greater needs than I.

[Tom Saurus]

I just know that with this program I can make a DVD. Pinnacle left me in dispair, I could understand how to do some things with it. But I found it slowed down my system. I don't reconvert anything. I just let the ATI VCR record stuff and then I would bring it to the DVD Author and edit and makes some menus and then use the program to make a DVD. Everyone of the DVD's turned out successfully.

I do think a few more features would be nice like transitions.

I wonder what I will use if they turn out to be crooks, and keep my money and don't give me the code to make the programs work.

From what I read Pinnacle and Ulead are alot alike, so I am shy about buying it. Adobe is way to much money, so I can't afford it.

What is Lord Smurf specifically about Ulead you like? You said DVD Authoring, what specifically in that catagory appeals to you?

I tried another mpeg2 Editor called Video ReDo and had some problems with it. I lost my internet access, once I tried to register it. So I went back and restored my computer to an earlier point and now it works again. That was a big turn off. From what I have read Womble has problems with audio and video synching. The TMPGEnc Mpeg Editor seemed to do a great job. The only thing I would change is the video window, it should be like it is in the DVD Author. In the Editor I couldn't see the entire scene.

Right now my computer seems dead without these two products waiting. I wonder how slow is the American Mail System. I also wonder why Pinnacle is as successful as it is, there must be some people that like it. I don't know why. The guy who put in my All In Wonder Card suggested "Roxio Suite", does anyone find that to be much good?

[lordsmurf]

When it comes to Womble, don't believe all that you read. Most of those sync issues are from Hauppauge users. Something about those streams causes it. For ATI, you're fine, never heard an ATI user complain about it.

With Ulead DVD Workshop 2, there is almost nothing I cannot do, and it has top visual quality. Even some of the more limited Ulead programs tend to work somewhat decent.

Roxio software is all crap. It makes Pinnacle software look great.

Transitions? Maybe try a demo of Womble MPEG Video Wizard 2003.

[Tom Saurus]

Thank you Lord Smurf. I am going to download the Trial Version of Wobble Mpeg Editor and the Wobble Mpeg2 Vcr. Thanks for the advice about Roxio. From what I have read Nero has alot of problems too. This is disheartening, such Powerhouses as Roxio and Nero not being on the ball.


Tom Saurus

[lordsmurf]

Nero is excellent BURNING software. Just burning. Nothing else, no authoring, no editing, JUST BURNING.

They were never meant to be anything else.

Roxio and Nero stuffed in video stuff as an afterthought. These have always been burning companies, not video companies.

Same can be said about most software that does more than one thing. Extras are an afterthought.

[Tom Saurus]

I have downloaded the trial version of Wobble Mpeg Editor. It seems quite complex. But I am going to put some effort into learning how to use it. Perhaps if I can master Wobble Mpeg Editor I can use Pinnacle in a pinch until I get TMPGEnc reactivated.

I have an Basic OEM version of Nero's that came with my computer, maybe that will be enough for burning. I am going to avoid Nero and Roxio both or won't get the packages with everything in them.

Thanks for the advice.

[lordsmurf]

Burning and authoring are NOT the same thing, BTW.

[Tom Saurus]

I have tried out the Wobble VCR, and on my second try I had some success. So if the video isn't recoded, just trimmed I am loosing none of the original quality. The Wobble Program has transitions and title effects. If I use it for working with the Mpeg2 files and if somehow it works out and I get the TMPGEnc Author Code, if they are honest and if the money order ever arrives, then I can make DVD's again.

Now I got to figure out if I can afford Wobble.