Best way to transfer DV to DVD, for later editing

[aqualung2003]

Hi,
I need to transfer some mini DV tapes to DVD, to edit the files later when I have time.
I don't want to transfer the whole DV tapes to the hard drive as it will take a lot of space.
So, I was wondering, is there a way to transfer it directly to a DVD?
I would also like to , if possible, to keep it in a format so that later on I can transfer pieces of the video to the hard drive for editing.

I would appreciate your suggestions.
Thanks so much

[redwudz]

You can transfer the DV to the hard drive and then to a DATA DVD, but in that format you would only get 20 minutes or so (13GB/hour). That's with a 4.37GB DVD-5 disc.

I'm assuming you would want a more compressed format. Though it won't be as good for editing, you might just encode it to MPEG-2 at around 9500Kbps bitrate and save that on a DVD.

Really, the best format for archiving is the DV tapes themselves. Or buy some 500GB hard drives and store the DV that way.

[aqualung2003]

I don't mind using some compressions as I will be editing for online videos. They will have to be compressed anyway. What's a good software to do that?
THanks

[JohnnyMalaria]

The most straightforward, painless and quickest way is to use a standalone DVD recorder that has FireWire input.

Simply connect the miniDV camcorder via FireWire to the DVD recorder. Some brands (e.g., Sony) make the process very simple - just press one button. They can even automatically add chapter markers at the start of each new clip on the tape.

The files created on the DVD will be .VOB format which are nothing more than MPEG-2 files (you can even rename them as such). A single 4.7GB DVD will hold about 1hr at "high quality - HQ" (this is the highest mine has).

The very nature of MPEG-2 means you really want to maximize the recording quality, so one DVD per DV tape would be about right.

You might want to experiment with the entire process - including the editing stage - to ensure that the end results are satisfactory. Some editing software doesn't handle MPEG-2 very well, producing "blocky" results.

(Personally, I'd get an external hard drive and store all the DV footage on there in DV format - about 13GB per one hour tape.)

[edDV]

DV tape is cheap. If you want a quality compression, nothing beats the source DV format.
http://www.tapestockonline.com/sonyminidv.html

19 cents per GB is better than you are likely to find for a hard drive.

$2.65 / 14GB tape = 19 cents/GB
prices have dropped.

By comparison a $110 discount 500 GB hard drive (465GB really) is 22 cents /GB (24 cents really).

[redwudz]

If you wanted to go the software encoding route, there are a fair number of MPEG encoders available. CCE, Mainconcept, ProCoder, TMPGEnc for a few. Or try one of the freeware encoders like HC. It has a bit steeper learning curve than some of the pay encoders, but produces very good quality. Most of the payware encoders have trial versions you can test out. I still use TMPGEnc Plus most often. It's slow, but easy to set up.

Or as JohnnyMalaria mentions, a DVD recorder is probably the easiest way to MPG video.

[aqualung2003]

I would just like to find quick way to transfer to another media so I can use it later. I wouldn't mind putting 60 minutes of video in 1 DVD. I will compress if I have to.

[edDV]

I would just like to find quick way to transfer to another media so I can use it later. I wouldn't mind putting 60 minutes of video in 1 DVD. I will compress if I have to.

Realize that you are lowering quality but then best to use CBR @ 8000 Kb/s and PCM for best audio or ~ 9000 Kb/s and 384 for MPeg audio. CBR decodes easier.

I don't advise this for family/travel tapes but if you are just capping Seinfeld then go for it.


Don't even think of MPeg2 at the target for your edit master. In a few years you will probably be encoding to 720i or 1080i using VC-1 or something similar and stretching every pixel of quality out of your DV file.

In other words, better to go from 480i @25Mb/s frames to 1080i @ 25Mb/s than go through a 480i 8Mb/s MPeg2 filter.