First Look: Ulead DVD MovieFactory 2.0

Wayne N. Kawamoto
Managing Editor, www.smallbusinesscomputing.com

Ulead Systems, a developer of video editing, image editing and DVD creation software, introduced Ulead DVD MovieFactory 2.0, the latest version of the company’s DVD creation software. According to the company, DVD MovieFactory 2.0 gives home and office users an affordable and easy-to-use tool for sharing videos and digital image slideshows on DVDs and CDs. And the software’s DVD technology may let anyone transform videos and photos into DVDs while providing flexible editing and archiving options.

DVD MovieFactory 2.0 offers Disc-Direct capture technology that should help users save time by authoring a DVD straight from a camcorder or other video source to a DVD disc without writing to the computer hard drive. In addition, DVD MovieFactory 2.0 leverages the DVD+RW video recording standard endorsed by Sony, Hewlett Packard, Phillips, and others, to equip users with flexible “on-disc” editing tools for archiving and reusing video and photos on DVD+RW and DVD-RW discs time and time again, right on the disc.

The company says that its DVD technology goes beyond those offered by other consumer-level DVD creation products to give users higher-quality video, faster capture to disc, and optimal flexibility when re-editing discs. DVD MovieFactory’s Disc-Direct technology is designed to let users capture video on the fly from a TV, DVD player, VCR, DV camcorder, and other devices directly to a DVD or CD disc. After choosing a menu template and scene detection type, the video is directly burned onto the disc, altogether bypassing the user’s hard drive. Competing DVD creation products may lose time storing the video to a user’s hard drive before burning the DVD. Furthermore, they do not offer multiple options for scene detection and menu navigation, nor the ability to add multiple videos to a project.

Unlike other DVD creation products that support the restrictive proprietary format of Open DVD, DVD MovieFactory uses the DVD+RW video recording format. The company claims that this format facilitates archiving and editing of video on DVD discs, giving users options when editing and re-editing projects. Besides adding and deleting videos, such flexibility lets DVD MovieFactory 2.0 users trim and cut video as well as add and hide chapters.

DVD MovieFactory 2.0 includes Photo Express My Custom Addition PLUS to edit and clean up photos for slideshows. This software also prints customized disc labels and case covers for DVDs and CDs.

Pricing and Availability
Ulead DVD MovieFactory 2.0 will be available for download from Ulead’s Web site at www.ulead.com starting in early December 2002 for $44.95. Registered DVD MovieFactory users will be able to download the upgrade version for $34.95. The retail product will be available in North America retail stores and catalogs starting in January 2003 for $49.95 for the box edition and $39.95 for the box edition upgrade. For more information, please visit Ulead’s Web site at www.ulead.com.

Small Business Computing Staff
Small Business Computing Staff
Small Business Computing addresses the technology needs of small businesses, which are defined as businesses with fewer than 500 employees and/or less than $7 million in annual sales.

Must Read

Get the Free Newsletter!

Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends, and analysis.