Newbie Question: Editing vs. Authoring

[sjmaye]

I am new to all this and confused. I have read about many programs, especially between Adobe and ULead. Many have features that are the same. The "video editing" software seems to capture, edit, author, and burn DVDs. The authoring software seems to do the same minus editing.

What's the difference? I have Ulead DVD Workshop. What's the difference with Ulead MediaStudio Pro? What can I do with one and not the other?

I want to capture video, edit it, possibly add effects or text overlays on scenes, add sound, and then burn a DVD. What product should I be looking for?

[Gees]

I too have seen a lot of people use both those terms to mean different things or use them interchangeably.

Since I use both programs that you mention (plus others when needed like Tempgenc and virtualdub), I can tell you MediaStudio is mostly for editing - working with video/audio streams - cropping, adding effects, deleting portions, adding transitions, converting, etc.

I then use DVDWorkshop to author and burn a finalised DVD including menus with video and audio created in MediaStudio Pro.

So, for me, using both is best.

You'll find a lot of programs that let you edit video - some more basic than others- and that also include DVD authoring abilities, but - for the most part- the affordable combo programs will have bare-bones authoring portions - limited menu creation by use of templates.

[sjmaye]

You'll find a lot of programs that let you edit video - some more basic than others- and that also include DVD authoring abilities, but - for the most part- the affordable combo programs will have bare-bones authoring portions - limited menu creation by use of templates.

So, does MediaStudio offer authoring capability? Just what is authoring then? After a quick look at the DVD Workshop it appears to just be arranging menu's and chapters and allowing to burn. I am sure there is more to it, but it seems that way. What am I missing? What does DVD Workshop offer that MediaStudio does not?

BTW, Thanks for the reply!

[Gees]

You're welcome. :c)

MediaStudio does not offer authoring - as far as building menus etc., for a finished DVD. You can make stills and motion backgrounds though - to use in authoring.

But, something like Video Studio, also made by Ulead, does give you simple chapter creation, and menu templates to build and then burn DVDs. But the video editing side of it has far less features than MediaStudioPro, which is designed for higher end video editing.

I use VideoStudio on mpgs that need little editing or effects and use those vids in DVDWorkshop so I can design menus the way I like.

Except for very expensive programs, there are none I've found that can "do it all" the way I need. You'll probably find you need a combination of progs too.

Each has it's strengths and weaknesses. DVD Workshop is great for building the DVD, but I would not use it for editing even though it has some basic editing features.

Forgot to answer your other Q. :c) I, personally, call "authoring" the stage of pulling all vids, audio, menus together and burning the finalised DVD. But a lot of people say they "author" video. I'd assume they mean original video productions, home movies, animations, etc.

[andkiich]

Editing - the process of cropping video/adding effects/transitions, manipulating audio and encoding the MPEG2 files to DVD compliancy.

Authoring - the process of creating menus and making the MPEG2 video and audio into VOB/BUP/IFO files so they can be burned to a DVD.

A lot of the programs you are referring to are All-In-Ones. They do a little bit of everything, but nothing the best. Kind of a "jack of all trades, master of none" thing.

[Gees]

Exactly! Someone always comes along who can say things much more clearly than I can.... and with fewer words. :c)

[sjmaye]

Since I use both programs that you mention (plus others when needed like Tempgenc and virtualdub), I can tell you MediaStudio is mostly for editing - working with video/audio streams - cropping, adding effects, deleting portions, adding transitions, converting, etc.

I have seen Tempgenc mentioned alot on this forum. Just what does this do that the other programs can not and where do you get it?

[Gees]

You can read up on and download both of those programs right on this site. The TOOLs section on the lefthand bar has those as well as other useful programs you may need from time to time.

There are also well-written Guides for each to have a look at. Most Guides also include links to the program site, so plenty of info to be found there as well.

[housepig]

I have seen Tempgenc mentioned alot on this forum. Just what does this do that the other programs can not and where do you get it?

it encodes media files to either mpeg-1 format (for vcds) or mpeg-2 format (for svcd & dvd).

it's very popular because it's relatively inexpensive (until recently, it's been the cheapest mpeg-2 encoder), produces great quality, and IMO has an easier learning curve than many other encoders.