Here are the additional observations/questions regarding fades that I mentioned previously...
I have noticed that fade behavior using MVW during playback on my PC (from within the editor itself or using a decoder such as PowerDVD after burning the disk) appears to be different than playback using my DVD player (Phillips DVP642) and TV. This is especially true for shorter fades. With playback on my PC, the fades (fade-ins/fade-outs) are always perfect (exactly as I have designed them). However with playback on my DVD player and TV, the shorter fades (especially) appear to be more akin to "blips" than fades. I have tested the differences by stepping through the frames during playback and have found that the fades (shorter fades especially) using the DVD player/TV do not even fade down to black. They only fade down part way and then go back to full intensity. The total number of frames within the fades also appears to be less than those used within MVW when I added the fades. I generally use the "standard" method to add fades in MVW including segmenting the video, right clicking within the chosen segment (on the timeline), choosing "Fade", and inputting the video and audio time settings.
Note: The purpose for my fade-ins/fade-outs is to use longer fades for transitions from one national park/vacation site to another and shorter fades between scenes within a national park/vacation site in order to implement a smooth enjoyable viewing experience. However this "different" fade behavior tends to be more startling to the viewer than smooth. I'm wondering if I should go back and either increase the length of all of my shorter fades or just eliminate them altogether.
I have noticed from some comments in one of the MVW forums
http://www.mpegvideowizard.com/surfs...rums/viewforum.php?f=2 that supposedly MVW only encodes transitions in frame mode and does not (yet) support field mode. I have no idea if these comments are legitimate, I just noticed that they're there and am curious as to if this might be affecting my fade-in/fade-out issues. As with many forums (these included), you have to sift through the opinions and try to analyze the objective observations.
Thanks again for your help!
P.S. - I understand MVW is not really your most favorite application. I mainly use it because the multi-part/multi-feature timeline is very handy for working with fades, the sound line editor, and other features such as title transitions.