Rob Strobbe
Forum Replies Created
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DVD Architect has the option to set the flag(s) necessary for copy protection, but that flag is simply an indicator for a replication / duplication facility to add copy protection to the “real” (meaning pressed, not burned) DVDs they create.
Burned DVDs themselves cannot be copy protected using the usual means (CSS, Macrovision). There is a company out there that makes a DVD copy tower that supposedly can add some kind of copy protection, but 1) it costs about a grand, and 2) I doubt it uses any of the standard methods. Probably adds a rootkit or something.
At any rate, these methods are a minor obstacle at best. Just about any program able to copy a DVD also has the ability to bypass protection.
The best method of copy protection (esp if you’re only making burned DVDs) is to make it worth people’s while to get the DVD directly from you. Quality packaging, friendly service, future discounts (if you’re selling), and all that junk. 😉
Rob
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Well, do you want to author DVDs?
If you don’t, and you have no plans to do so anytime soon, then you don’t need DVD Architect. You can edit videos in Vegas just fine without it. Used to be that you needed to have DVD Architect installed in order for Vegas to encode AC3 audio. I’m not sure if that’s still the case (haven’t had Vegas without DVD Architect in years), and even if it is, AC3 audio is used almost exclusively for DVDs anyhow.
If you do eventually intend to start authoring DVDs, you could buy DVD Architect Studio (a stripped down version of DVD Architect Pro) by itself or some altogether unrelated DVD authoring package.
Note, however, that you probably will not be able to “add” DVD Architect Pro at a later date since it is sold only bundled with Vegas Pro. I have heard of Sony cutting someone a deal if they bought a Vegas-only package from a retailer, but I’ve also heard of them declining to do. Officially, they’re probably not supposed to, but maybe some people just happen to call a sympathetic sales rep.
Rob
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“I didn’t realize that the effects for the track would remain even after deleting the track and adding a new one.”
They don’t. If you added effects to a track and then deleted the track, those effects are gone. If you added them to a track and then deleted the event(s) you had on that track (but kept the track), then the effects remain and will affect any events you add to that track.
My guess (if the above does not apply) is that either a) you added the effects at the project level or b) what you’re seeing are the default effects that are applied to every audio track (Track Noise Gate, Track FX, and Track Compressor). But the effect of these are minor, and I’ve never heard of them making audio sound like it’s coming from a cave. 😉
Rob
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Yes, it is recommended to store your media files on a drive separate from the program (and, in particularly, one separate from all programs including the operating system). This will improve performance.
Rob
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Check the manual or online help for “Introduction Media.”
You could use a dummy menu, but it’s frankly simpler to just create an image or video ahead of time and add it as an introduction media. Using a dummy menu means having to add a button for the main menu to the dummy menu, setting the dummy menu to activate that button when the dummy menu’s time runs out, changing the button’s settings so it has no frame or thumbnail, making the button’s highlight transparent, blah, blah blah.
I’d recommend going for the standard method (introduction media). 😉
Rob
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Those buttons are for skipping between chapters within a single title. You don’t have chapters withing a title, you have several titles. Though some DVD players do happen to skip between titles, there’s really no standard behavior that DVD manufacturers are supposed to stick to. So there’s no guarantee any particular player will do what you want in this situation.
To get those multiple files to behave like chapters, insert a Music / Video compilation and add the files to that. DVDA will create a single title with all of them, and each one will behave as a chapter. (Note that you will not be able to insert additional chapter markers into the compilation.)
This method does not require re-encoding (aka, “rerendering”) — assuming, of course, that each of your movies is already DVD compliant.
Rob
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Run a Google search for a program called VOBMerge. It does what you need, and it’s free.
Rob
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I use Vegas Pro, but I believe I can answer your questions.
1. The manual is in PDF format, and the program has the standard F1 online help.
2. Vegas Movie Studio 9 Platinum Edition will accept AVCHD. To produce a DVD, though, you will have to let it convert your movie to standard MPEG2. It will be a lower resolution (standard DVD video is 720×480, whereas your HD video is larger). In addition, the act of decoding, resizing, and re-encoding the video might introduce some artifacting.
3. Vegas Movie Studio comes with DVD Architect Studio, a program for authoring DVDs.
Rob