I have been quite disappointed in EMC 8, specifically around DVD and Video features (hence, my post in this forum). Capture from DVD used to work, but now it stops at 1 minute exactly (I believe this may be related to a service pack, but am unsure) -- I can record directly on my Sony VRD-VC20, but wish to record to DVD-RW and then edit and 'clean up'. I can't do this with EMC8. DVD burning doesn't work reliably. I often get about 30 minutes burned of a 2 hour movie. I've made more coasters than not. When I use the full DVD burning option (Create or Edit DVD Project), and try to include 'chapters', the audio gets out of sync. If I use "Quick DVD", and do not include chapters, the audio sync is okay, but I only get 30 minutes... All in all, the product doesn't seem stable or reliable. I would expect a service pack or some other software update to fix these issues. Instead, Roxio comes out with a new version.

Now, I'm torn. I'm considering an upgrade, which is $57.99 at Buy.com after rebate. However, I'm a little ticked off that I need to pay for anything at all, since the EMC 8 product has been such a disappointment. I'm thinking if I have to pay again to get software to perform the basic functions I thought I bought over a year ago and have never realized, I might as well pay a different company (Nero, ULead, others?).

I'm not looking to start a flame war, I have just been very much disappointed in EMC 8. What is the general feeling about EMC 9 out there? Is it more stable than 8? Does it actually work? Is it better than Nero or ULead?

Since it's likely to be asked...
My system is a couple years old, but should clearly be better than the minimum required to do basic video burning and capturing:
Genuine Intel Pentium 4 (Mobo is Intel D865PERL), 2.6GHz (HT), w/ 1GB DDR RAM.
Video Card is NVidia GeForce 5500 (AGP8X), w/ 256MB RAM, BIOS 4.34.20.69.04, ForceWare version 81.98.
O/S is WinXP Pro, SP2.
DirectX is 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904).
Hard Drives are:
C: Maxtor 120GB, 7200rpm, EIDE Drive, 12MB Cache.
D: Seagate 160GB, 7200rpm, SATA Drive, 12MB Cache.
DVD Burner is a Sony external (VRD-DC20) USB 2.0 Drive.
Internal Matshita DVD-RAM Drive (LF-D310), but it's old and slow. Sony is better.
DVD read / CD-RW write drive (52X), good for disk copying.
Maxtor OneTouch USB 2.0 external hard drive for backups.
SoundBlaster Audigy 2 (External)

I do not run with local Admin rights, and run CA Antivirus, as well as the Windows XP SP2 Firewall.

Thanks in advance for any information on the stability and functionality of EMC 9, Nero, or ULead, particularly in terms of capturing from DVD and burning to DVD.

no local Admin rights? doubt any burning software would work properly without local admin right...

My suggestion would be to spend some time with the manual of V8. There are very few changes to it and if you are not happy with V8, you will also be disappointed with V9.

A couple of suggestions/questions
1) Did you have the anti-virus running when you did the install? I believe that CA Anti virus does not allow proper installation since it believes that some functions are viruses.
2) The video drivers for your card is several versions behind. It is up to around 91.45 now. Try installing the new drivers and follow the instructions. You have to remove the old ones using add/remove programs before you install the new ones.
3) I don't have V8 on this computer but you should be able to edit that RW using Cineplayer.
4) Much of the reliability problems can be related to that video driver. Also have you checked for a firmware update for your DVD burner?
5) One hour of video on a DVD at best quality, up to about 1:50 at reduced quality. That's the way it is.
6) Have you looked at just copying the VOB files from the disc and then renaming them to ,mpg. (Make ensure windows is set to show all file type extensions or you will end up naming them (name).mpg.vob.) If they are mpg, you can just use them in VideoWave added together.

Your video driver is several versions old. Alot of problems can be solved by simply updating drivers. Get the latest nVidia 91.47 here.

Also make sure you have the latest DirectX (aug2006). Get that here.

Also keep the OS updated with the Windows Update service.

I agree with johnalexander. A lot of the functions that I used in EMC 7 failed to work properly if at all in EMC 8. I have patiently waited for them to fix these issues, yet there has never been an update to EMC 8. You can't tell me there were not problems with this software, just look at the forums. All drivers on my computer, as well as others I've tested, are updated. The only solution I found was to reinstall EMC 7 seperately in order to get those functions back. With request for the new version coming in at work, I am denying these due to my personal inability to get it to work properly at home. With 18000 users I won't be letting them purchase this for use, instead we have looked and found other alternatives and are migrating our users to these packages. It's a shame, Roxio use to put out solid software, and when there was issues, patches were readily made available. It seems now the only concern is getting out a new version in order to keep the bottom line going up. At some point, people will start to realize they've wasted their money, then whom will Roxio sell too.

With 18 million users at your company, I would think you would have gone the volume corporate route with Sonic/Roxio rather than the standard consumer route. You probably would have different or additional options for support that way.

Contrary to your belief, there are plenty of satisfied EMC8 and now 9 customers. THE ONLY EMC7 feature that I missed was capturing video from the hard drive and even at that I didn't use it much. I've recommended EMC 8 to many friends and relatives and not a single person has complained to me that it did not or does not work as expected.

Thank you all for your replies. I will update the drivers as suggested before I buy anything (thanks to both folks who suggested that one). As for the admin rights issue, in my opinion, this is not optional. As for the comments about happy customers and unhappy ones -- I am sure that there are happy customers out there. I'm just not one of them. When I want to burn a DVD, I want to burn a DVD. I don't want to have to check firmware versions, driver versions, reboot with nothing running, and then burn. Oh, and if there's an issue with firmware, drivers, or what-have-you, how about an error code once in a while? Roxio just aborts the job for no reason (jumping from 20% to complete, and you only have 20% of the video on the DVD). Why? How about letting me know what went wrong?

Thanks too for the antivirus comment during install. This could be a "that'll do it". I'll uninstall, disable a/v, and reinstall. (rebooting rebooting rebooting in-between). Once again, though -- how's about an error message? If your installer can't write a file or register a .dll or whatever - could you please tell me? A message to the effect of "Unable to write widgetcomp.dll - please disable antivirus software before continuing. [retry] [ignore] [abort]". If you're going to sell this product on the end-aisle at Best Buy next to the cordless telephones, you need to make it stable. If you were selling this to hobbyists as a beta or shareware product, I'd excuse some of the quirks.

Don't mean to turn this into a venting session, but also, when I spend $$$ on Roxio upgrades every 1-2 years, I expect a little bit of support. "Ask Roxann" is a complete waste. This forum is the only place I've gotten decent information on Roxio. Thank you Roxio for providing a forum for your users to help each other. Shame on you for requiring it instead of providing top notch technical support. And thank-you to the community members who selflessly choose to help others. Roxio should pay you guys for your time.

Thank you sknis' for your comment that if I'm unhappy with 8, I'll be unhappy with 9. That's exactly what I was looking for (and afraid of). I fear Roxio has not done nothing to improve the stability of the product, just added layers of features on top of a fundamentally unstable platform. I'll continue to try to make 8 work through updates and reinstalling. If I can't get it working, I'll look to switch. I'm also in the process of upgrading my entire computer, so this will be a good time to do a complete, fresh installation. New PC will have 2GB RAM, dual-core, yada yada yada, so maybe everything will just work out fine... Here's hoping.

Oh, and what's a "manual"?

Thanks again,

A book of instructions.
This has been pinned to the top of the V8 general boards for a long time. Just don't ask me if it is well written and thorough. Remember technical (and non technical) writers have not necessarily used the product.

Thanks!!! Downloading the PDF now -- maybe I can learn something...

Okay -- so having fun shopping for a new computer now (long story, but a hard drive crash yesterday just spiked the wife acceptance factor for a new computer, and I need to spend this political capital while I can)... Looking at a dual-core 3.4 GHz, 2GB RAM (dual channel DDR2), dealio. The Intel mobo I'm considering has a built-in graphics card (the Intel D945GNTLKR, has built-in Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3000. That's crap, right? I was planning on getting something like the Gigabyte GV-NX62TC256DS, 256MB, PCI-E, GeForce 6200. I'll have better performance with the GeForce 6200 than the Intel on-board GMA, right?

On a similar note, I was planning on continuing to use my SoundBlaster Audigy II Platinum EX (I think I got that right). But, this mobo has built-in audio. Once again, crap, right? The Audigy is going to be better?

Sorry, it's been 2 years since I've gone component shopping. My my my, how things change...

(Is it cool to threadjack your own thread?)

Yes, we'll let you this time. Read this while she is not looking over your shoulder. It might be cheaper (and more fun) to just buy a new computer I don't build my own but there are a lot of people that do; I'm sure you'll get a lot of recommendations. Tell the boss that your old "components" are not really compatible with SATA. Try to keep a straight face. Yes, almost any add on devices will be better than the video and sound chips that are on-board. What are you using for a video capture card/device.

I have a DV Camcorder that I connect via Firewire.
I also have the DVD Burner (Sony VRD-VC20) that records direct to DVD (then I thought I could use media import to get at it -- but was having troubles with it).

I used to have an ATI All-in-Wonder card. For gaming (I don't do much, but the game I like didn't like ATI), I bought a GeForce 5500. I have been pleased with nVidia.

The GeForce options I see online are from $42 to $70 for a pretty decent card. Is there an nVidia with 256MB on board, decent 3D acceleration, and vid cap that you'd recomment? Or, if I plan on doing vid cap, should I get the GeForce for gaming, then a separate device (like the "dual tv mce" doo-dad) for capture?

My video card is sufficient. I did have an ATI-AIW card on my old compueter and did like it but could not put it into this computer (ePCI slot only). I like the separate device if you have the space and $. You might also want to consider an external USB A/D converter if you don't have the space. The quality of the video seems to be a little "softer" with the DVC 90 that came with V8 deluxe. I do get sharper video with my internal A/D card. I'd like to hear if anyone gets a real sharp video with a USB device.