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Old December 29th, 2002, 12:28 PM   #1
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Dazzle DVD Complete

I just tried this and it seems to be very full featured for $99.

I had initially rejected it because it failed importing MPEGs created by Ulead. (This was under Win98).

With my new WinXP setup, Ulead gave me some grief (probably an install problem, it was trying to convert everything to PAL!!), so I gave Dazzle another shot.

The MPEG generator is blazing fast! I converted a 33 minute AVI to MPEG2 in less than 20 minutes!! (Athalon XP 2000+)
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Old December 29th, 2002, 05:58 PM   #2
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Encoder-
How is the quality?
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Old December 30th, 2002, 12:47 AM   #3
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Rick,

A very good question for which I don't have an answer.

I have three encoders available to me now - Dazzle (Ligos), Ulead (Ligos also?), and Vegas Video (Main Concept). I guess I will have to encode a minute of dance footage with each and burn them to a DVD and see if I can tell any difference, or a difference with the original footage off the cam.

I would like to also experiment with lower maximum bitrates. I suspect that that may make for better media-player compatibility.

Up to now I have not been able to see any differences between original footage and the Ulead DVD versions. That may say something about the quality of the original footage.......

But don't hold your breath waiting for me.
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Old December 30th, 2002, 04:03 PM   #4
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I personally don't like the Ligos engine too much. That might be
a personal thing though...
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Old December 30th, 2002, 04:33 PM   #5
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Thanks I'd be interested in that comparison.
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Old January 10th, 2003, 06:52 PM   #6
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No Quality Difference I Can See

OK, I burned the same project twice, once using Dazzle DVD Complete, and once using the Vegas Video Main Concept MPEG generator and then into Dazzle to structure the DVD.

(I originally took the Main Concept MPEG into Ulead DVD Movie Factory, but it told me it wasn't a legal DVD file - go figure).

I used the default settings on Main Concept and it produced a 2.417G MPEG2 file. 80 minutes of letterboxed AVI took 100 minutes to encode 1.25 to 1 ratio. (Athalon XP 2000+). (This is also comparable speed to Ulead DVD Movie Factory - also a Main Concept encoder?)

I used the default settings in Dazzle and it produced a 3.081G DVD image file (don't know how much overhead is included in that). It took 50 minutes to encode the same 80 minute AVI file, a .59 to 1 ratio - twice as fast. This is a Ligos encoder.

I've looked closely at the footage both on the TV and using Media Player on the computer, and I can't tell the difference between the two. Not to say that there aren't differences, just my footage and equipment (and eyes) aren't good enough to tell.

Dazzle is fast, easy to use, and has a whole lot of options for structuring your menus. And it costs less than $100.

Two caveats:
- One of my clients says she gets no audio from a Dazzle encoded DVD-R. A player problem or a Dazzle problem?
- The Dazzle burner has a nasty little trick. When your monitor goes into screen saver mode, if you hit the space bar to bring it back while Dazzle is burning it says it has been interrupted and toasts the disk.

Ulead has released DVD Movie Factory 2.0 which addresses some of the limitations in version 1. So I will download the demo, and decide whether Movie Factory or DVD Complete is my cheap DVD authoring solution for the future
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Old January 10th, 2003, 11:36 PM   #7
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screen saver

>>>>>When your monitor goes into screen saver mode, if you hit the space bar to bring it back while Dazzle is burning it says it has been interrupted and toasts the disk.<<<<<<

That's the exact reason why I disable all those types of options on any of my editing boxes. e.g screensaver, monitor sleep are the 1st that come to mind.
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Old January 15th, 2003, 12:56 PM   #8
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fwiy on Dazzle DVD Complete

FWIW:
Dazzle DVD Complete

APM and other "green" features (power management/screen savers) have been known to cause problems from time to time.
Whilst according to the devleopment staff the encoding is deterministic, you'd be amazed at how much impact these supposed "features" impose on the machine.

Also, the DVD Complete package is the child of OEM DVDCre8, Inc.
http://www.dvdcre8.com

It does have two flavors, the primary difference being in the encoder epmloyed. The retail version now employs the Main Concept encoder while the ESD version uses the Ligos encoder.

With the addition of the DCL Scripting Manual and a user contributed "Theme Editor" the system is quite capable of being manipulated.

The User forums for DVD Complete and other Dazzle products can be found at http://dazzleforum.infopop.cc/6/ubb.x
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