Aside from a quick look at MS Movie Maker, this is the first video-editing program I have used.

What Does the Box Hold?
The box has both an application CD and a content CD, a Quick Start Manual (also on the application CD in PDF format), a tri-fold Keyboard Commands brochure, and two cards about free download plug-ins and media content.

Do not loose your Quick Start Manual since it has the Serial Number for product activation and registration on the first page.

The Manual’s 69 pages tell you how to install the program, contain checklists of hardware & software needed to create videos, and provide step-by-step instructions on completing specific tasks. This information is also in the Help file and the ShowMe tutorials.

What’s Included on the Application and Content CDs?
The Application CD contains VideoFactory, other programs required to run it, and several Sonic Foundry Demo Programs including ACID, Loops for ACID, Qloops, Noise Reduction, SIREN Jukebox, Sound Forge, Vegas Audio, Vegas Video (professional multitrack video editing system), and Viscosity.

The Content CD contains audio files from Sonic Foundry, Inc. and video files from Artbeats Software, Inc. You may use these in your own video productions (including those made for profit) with a few restrictions. The audio files include sound effects (whips, horror, police, applause, etc.) and music beds (Latin, Dance, Urban, Blues-Rock, etc.) in MP3 format. The video clips are in *.avi and *.mov (Quicktime) format. Subjects include animals, flags, clouds, space, sports, nature and several more. Sixty JPG background texture and material images, such as parchment on wood, blue & white satin and palm, are also included.

Learning the Program
The best way to learn this program is to play each of the 29 ShowMe Tutorials in turn. These tutorials are well done. They highlight the area you should be in with colored borders. The tutorial box moves around the screen automatically trying to stay out of the way while you accomplish the set tasks. A couple of times the box wasn’t able to get far enough out of the way. It took me a while to find what I was supposed to see. I re-read and re-looked at the screen until I understood what I was supposed to be looking for and doing.

The tutorials teach you specific techniques such as How to Create a Video Crossfade or How to Customize a Transition. They don’t teach you everything you need to know. For instance, while they tell you how to record a soundtrack and import a music file they don’t tell you how to make sure your sound track will be heard in the final movie.

Then copy the "VideoFactory Sample Project" folder from the Application CD to your hard drive. Next, print out videofactory_sample project.doc. Then open the sample project and read through the document seeing if you can understand and recreate what they did. This document starts out simple, but quickly changes into technical terms. It sounds like it was written for the experienced video maker. However, this is the only place where I found any tips on making a good video. I wasn’t able to find any other discussion of the principles of video making.

Running the Program
Despite Sonic Foundry’s claims I doubt that you can create a video in only a few minutes unless you have previous experience with a video editing program. I have extensive experience with many graphics programs and a screen saver creation program (which resembles VideoFactory in some ways) and I couldn’t do it. It took me over an hour to go through enough of the tutorials to even start to make a video. I’m still working on my first true effort composed of files and pictures I downloaded from the Web. I need a picture of Tux the Linux Wizard, my fully dressed stuffed penguin, to finish it.

I downloaded a MPEG video, which I wanted to include in my project. I wasn’t able to import it into VideoFactory. However, I could import it into MS Movie Maker and save it as a WMV file. Unfortunately, VideoFactory can’t import that file format. It can save a project as a WMV file however.

While assembling my project, I only tried out a few of the many transitions and special effects you can apply to your images. You can apply dozens of pre-set effects. Then you can customize it to your heart’s content. When you are testing an effect you can preview it in the dialog box or you can preview it in the main preview windows. If you don’t like how it turned out you have many levels of undo to work with.

You have two tracks (layers) of video to work with which is a lot of fun. You also have three audio tracks to work with which are labeled voice, music, and sound effects. In reality, you can put any kind of sound on any track you like. While you can import most types of audio files, you can’t import MIDI files. You can record voice, sounds, and music directly through a microphone. When I previewed my video within VideoFactory the music track played fine. However when I made a movie in MPEG format, using the MakeMovie Wizard, on a CD-R and played it using MS Media Player for Windows XP ver 8, I heard no sound.

I then saved my project as a Quicktime Movie on my hard drive. This time I could hear the music. However, the CD-R I created with the Wizard doesn’t work. The Wizard told me the CD was successfully created, however, I get a file not found error when I try to run it. The file is on the CD with the correct size. When I made a data CD with Easy CD Creator 5 Basic, I was able to play all the movies properly. I then tested the CD on my Windows 95 computer. I could play the files although some of them ran very choppy from the CD player. (It’s a 200 MHz computer with a 12X player so I’m not surprised.)

I don’t have a video capture card installed in this computer so I couldn’ test direct import of video from camcorders. My scanner is hooked up to my Windows 95 computer. My network is working fine so all I have to do is copy scanned images over to my Windows XP computer.

Installation
I just bought an AMD Athalon 1600 system with WindowsXP Home Edition version 2002 installed. It has Internet Explorer 6.0 installed. I was unable to determine which version of DirectX it's running. The installation of VideoFactory 2 went smoothly. I did have to install Adobe Acrobat Reader 4 separately in order to view the User Manual. The videofactory_readme.doc tells you exactly how to do it in section 6.

The videocapture_readme.doc gives instructions for a separate installation of the Sonic Foundry Video Capture program. These are out of date; the program is installed when VideoFactory 2 is installed.

I had to download an update to the program and a filter in order to import MPEG files.

Bottom Line
I’ve barely begun to learn how to use VideoFactory. While it seems to have a few glitches, I’ve been able to overcome most of them. With the tutorials, it’s easier to learn than MS Movie Maker is and it’s definitely more capable.

I don’t recommend this program for someone just learning to use a computer. It will take some time to master. The number of choices you can make in every area can be overwhelming, especially when you’re not sure exactly what they mean.

It’s more than an entry level program and appears to be suitable for a small business making wedding and small feature videos. Just remember, unless you have a lot of experience with all aspects of video making you won’t be able to produce the perfect video within a couple hours of installation.

If you’re going to run this program, I highly suggest you have more than the minimum requirements unless you have lots of time and patience.

Minimum System Requirements
Microsoft Windows 98SE, Windows Me, or Windows 2000; CD-ROM Drive; 40 MB hard-disk space for program installation (Sample Project required an additional 124 MB, User Manual PDF file required 1.73 MB more). Windows-compatible sound card; Microsoft DirectX 8.0 is required. If you haven’t already installed this module, the installer will prompt you to install prior to installing VideoFactory. (on the CD-ROM). Internet Explorerer 5.0 or later (on the CD-ROM). Adobe Acrobat Reader 4.0 is needed to read the User Manual PDF file (on the CD-ROM); 400 MHz processor; 128 MB RAM; 16-bit color display; 7200 RPM hard drive or faster (to run Sonic Foundry Video Capture).

I didn’t find this program on the shelf when I looked in the local stores. You can buy it directly from the web site. The full retail price was listed as $99.95. When I visited the site on 11 November 2002 it was listed as Packaged: $79.96 and Download: $69.97.

Contact: Sonic Foundry, Inc., 1617 Sherman Ave., Madison, Wisconsin 53704.

Detailed list of Customer Service and Technical Support options: www.sonicfoundry.com.

Customer Service/Sales: Telephone support (normal office hours): 1-800-577-6642 (toll-free) in US, Canada, and Virgin Islands. E-mail: customerservice@sonicfoundry.com. Fax: 1-608-250-1745.

Technical Support:
To listen to support options, call 608-256-5555. Fax: 608-250-1745.