How to convert DV tapes to DVD?

[ashvar]

Firstly, I want to apologize because I know this has been asked many times before. But the sheer volume of information available has overwhelmed me and I am confused with all the technical terms and different kinds of software!

All I want is to convert my home movies from miniDV to DVD. I have a P3 notebook with a firewire input so I guess I do not need a capture card. What do I need to do to accomplish my goal? I would really appreciate if someone could explain in real simple terms.

Thanks
-AV[/b]

[edDV]

A P3 notebook will be marginal for this. I'll assume you are a typical consumer rather than a shareware geek.

You need a IEEE-1394 PC card if you don't already have a port. You also need a DVD burner if you don't have one. I suggest an external IEEE-1394 model since your laptop won't support USB2 without another PC card.

Then add a video software suite that can do the job. The three I would recommend are.

Sony Vegas Movie Studio
ULead Video Studio v9
Adobe Premiere Elements.

All three have free demos and list around $99 but can be had around $50-60 if you shop.

[gadgetguy]

Notebooks typically don't have enough hard drive space to work effectively with video. DV-AVI uses about 13.5 gig per hour of video. Also when capsferring, it's best to go to a dedicated hard drive, another thing that is seldom found on notebooks. Capsferring to the same drive as the OS often results in dropped frames, especially on low power machines.

I'm not saying your notebook won't work, just informing you of some of the issues you may run into.

[Jim44]

What do I need to do to accomplish my goal? I would really appreciate if someone could explain in real simple terms.

Thanks
-AV[/b]

Basic steps (and programs I use):
- Transfer (WinDV) - puts DV onto hard disc as an AVI file; as gadgetguy mentioned, huge file size, make sure you have disc space;
- Edit (optional step) (VirtualDubMod)
- Encode (TMPGEnc Plus 2.5) - convert AVI to MPG
- Author (DVDauthorgui) - create DVD file structure; DVDauthorgui also creates ISO file for burning - I've also used ImgTools Classic for ISO file generation
- Burn (ImgBurn; also DVD Decrypter)

Jim

[ashvar]

Thank you. I have atleast 30GB free on the harddrive and I have a 12GB additional harddrive too. So I think space is not a problem.

Jim - Thanks for your basic steps. I downloaded WinDV to capture video. But I do not not see my camcorder as an option. Do you have any suggestions to help my system recognize the camcorder?

Thanks.
-AV

[gadgetguy]

Some things to try...
Have the camcorder connected and powered on before powering on the notebook.
Make sure your cable is firmly connected on both ends.
If you have one, try another cable.
Also make sure the port is enabled in the BIOS.

If it still doesn't work, take the camcorder and cable to a friends PC that has a known good firewire port. If it doesn't work, borrow the cable from the device that proved his firewire port is good. If that doesn't work, you may have a bad port on the Camcorder.

[edDV]

It wouldn't be a bad idea to do the capture on a different more modern computer and then copy the file to your external drive. Capture (DV transfer) will be the trickiest part for a slow PIII.

Also, you will need much of that 30GB space for buffers while editing, encoding and burning the DVD.

You haven't stated your OS so we have been assuming it is XP.