home video footage-did you create dvds by year or subjects

[garry]

I have collected all my old home vids & converted to mpeg2, 160gb so far(thank goodness for the edit/cut button).

Keen to hear of any pitfalls anyone had when deciding to create dvd of home video. Animals, kids, camping, all sorts of categories.

Footage to bore everyone, but in 10 years time will it be better for me just to view the kids growth dvd over x years on one dvd, or 12 of "the year that was"DVDs.

I know...personal choice... but any "wish I'd done it that way"s out there ?

BTW absolutely brilliant forum guys

[madvideos]

Hello,
that is tricky I have four years worth of footage my wife is knockin me on the head to get on dvd, I have done a few.. as of this moment I only have 360 GB of drive space on my main system. The problem now is I have over 150 dv tapes and have not come up with a simple and managable way to do this. The best thing is to take your time and go it slow. I have done 1 DVD a week like this, from simple and major editing, DVD Cover design and DVD design takes me about 1 FULL day. I do mine by event not really focusing in on the date or subject, I hope it will all come together. I do volume mine. vol.1 2 and 3 etc.. and putting small index pictures on the back of the cover is a very good idea also. Everyone will have a unique method however, I don't think one will be better than the other as long as you do yourself a quality job. YOU are the one who has to watch it. I have made a custom iintros to take away the boredom and add a tad excitement for myself.
Good luck with your projects.

[thecoalman]

I think you answered your own question. Do the "year that was" ones. I think that would be the best way since your footage would be easier to find and manage.

Make a special one with highlights through the years....

[qlizard]

I too, have struggled with this. I decided to make the DVD's by year, but kept the mpegs to cut out scenes for use when needed in highlight DVD's.

[Bodyslide]

I do the by the Year Method. I also keep all the Mpegs on DVD's as data for future reuse.

[Nelson37]

By year seems most logical and that's the way you shoot them, anyway.

As far as editing and adding effects - anybody outside the family will find them boring, anyway. Sure, make a highlight disk and fancy it up, show your skills. BUT -

Remember the lifetime of this stuff. Keep ALL the footage. I'm a history buff, and so much context is lost. All the little details which are not noticed at the time are what get's talked about years later. Recently watched some 60 year old vids and some of my recent stuff with older relatives and my kids. While there were some yucks and "oh, wows" at the main events, it was mostly throwaway and unintended shots which were most discussed. Dad and Grandad both knocking over the tripod 50 years apart, "Grandpa, why is yours wooden?", a crowd shot which provided the only known image of my great-grandfather and namesake, so many things. Much of this would have been "edited" out.

Side note - annotate or voice-over details, explanations, names, dates, and places. This was a project with the old stuff that I kept getting around to. Now the only two sources for this info are gone, I am now narrating from memory of their comments. So much is lost that could have been saved.

I think these projects should showcase "the times of their lives", not the cinematic skills of their creators. You can certainly do both, but throw away nothing.

[tekkieman]

Agreed. Yearly highlights with some editing for effect. Keep the mpegs by year, or by tape as well as the tapes for backups and your own personal viewing.

[byteguy]

I'm doing the same thing right now (and have learned my lesson to keep current).

I make a spreadsheet listing the scenes on the tape. Each row gives the starting time, date, and description.

Then I make a DVD scene selection menu from that data with chapter points so I can jump to what I want.

This is working out well. Eventually, I'll make "special" disks that include just Christmas, Birthdays, or things like that.

The only editing I'm doing right now is removing pure garbage like gaps or long shots of the floor with no audio. There is one odd scene I kept where we're walking on the beach and talking with our daughters. But I can't watch the video because the camera is swinging and the waves are crashing. It's enough to induce sea-sickness.

Eric