DV to other formats.

[rgbman]

First I am a complete newbie at capturing and this is my first post here. Second off let me comment on my DV capture experience. It went as smooth as it should. I was copying some of my old vhs from school using a Canon minidv and the biggest point of being out of sync was not an issue at all. I recorded 2 hours non-stop and no issues of sync. I recommend.
Ok enough with that now on to my question. I have them now in DV format and want to convert to a mpeg2 and burn to a dvd.
1.Does everyone recommend doing this with TMPGEnc.
2. I also want to edit it a bit, I know some people recommended some programs but I am a very visual person and would like a program that edits like final cut or premeire.
3.I also want to convert them to a mpeg4. Is xvid acheive Divx quality? Or does it fall short. I want to use the best since I will have such a nice master file (DV) and when I delete those I want to make sure I will never need them again.
Thanks for any help.

[bugster]

1) I would certainly reccomend TmpGenc as a good choice, but not the only one. Mainconcept, CCE, Canopus etc all have their merits too. Assuming TmpGenc and DV-avi from an analog source, TmpGenc has a setting on the Quantize matrix tab of its setting dialog labelled 'Output YUV data as Basic YCbCr bot CCIR601'. There has been some debate and discussion as to the use of this with DV material recently. I suggest you try tests with both settings and see which you think looks best.

2) A program that edits like premiere, why not premiere? Too expendsive, sorry, thats my editor of choice, you will have to get some one else to reccomend cheaper editors as I don't have the knowledge to do so.

3) Xvid/divx, pretty much the same thing. If you really want the best quality backup, why not output DV back to DV tape for storage, the tapes aren't that expensive.

[turk690]

Premiere is expensive but not if u know where to look. ADS Pyro Professional contains Premiere, Encore and Audition (full versions) bundled together with a top-flight FireWire card all for about US$500. Together with your camcorder & PC (with a DVD-writer in it) you an plunge into making DVDs right away. If after a while you discover TMPGEnc creates better-looking MPEG-2s then that's a separate $48. Premiere and Encore require a (very) steep learning curve, though.

[rgbman]

Thanks for the help. I like using Premiere good and final cut better. Just wanted to see what was out there if any like those. I will try that setting and see what it does and maybe link some examples for you guys to check. I could keep the master on dv but I dont have the camera anymore and I really dont need to keep it once I get a good copy onto dvd. If I still need those dvds after 2 years I will be suprised.
Thanks again for your help.