What's the best way from miniDV -> DVD?

[jaeshin]

It's me again...

I've been browsing this forum but still confused about the best way to convert miniDV movies to DVD.

I am using Pinnacle Studio 8 to edit my home movies and when it comes to DV authoring, I am very satisfied with it. But since I've heard bad things about Studio 8's DVD capability, I am trying to use Ulead DVD workshop to author DVDs.

Here's what I did.

1) Capture DV movies using Studio 8
2) Edit with effects and other stuffs
3) Export it to DV format to hard drive
4) Import the file in DVD workshop
5) Make menus
6) Burn it to DVD

But this way, it took me all day to convert 1:30 movie into DVD format and at the end, I realized that my DVD was too big to fit in one disk. So I gave up...

Or from #2

3) Export it to DV camcorder
4) Capture it with DVD workshop in MPEG format
5) Make menus
6) Burn it to DVD

But the DVD movie wasn't as clear as DV when I did this.

Any other suggestions? Basically I have two programs... Studio 8 and DVD workshop. I guess I can get those free programs if I need to.

Thanks.

[Neishaverse]

Vegas Video will capture, do all your editing, add titles, effects, etc. Encode to MPEG-2. Then you can import your MPEG file into DVD Workshop.

Enjoy

[bugster]

The main issue here seems to be the conversion from DV AVI to DVD compliant mpeg. My suggestion would be to use a standalone encoder for this. Easiest to use (and probaly cheapest) is TmpGenc. Just select your avi, load the DVD template, adjust the bitrate to suit the length of your movie (use a bitrate calculator, plenty on the tools section), click start and go to bed. It is quite slow. Mainconcept and Cinemea craft are fatser but more expensive alternative.

Once you have a DVD compliant mpeg that is less than 4.2 Gig, then author with DVD WS. There is an option to not re-encode compliant video, remember to set it.

Hope this helps

[tomclary]

1) Capture DV movies using Studio 8
2) Edit with effects and other stuffs
3) Export it to DV format to hard drive
4) Import the file in DVD workshop
5) Make menus
6) Burn it to DVD

This is the general approach to get the best quality with perhaps some steps substituted in between. Which is more important, quality or speed? With a reasonable bit rate, DVD Workshop can produce acceptable quality output. Which can be used to get the process working and then you can refine it later.

The real time consuming step is encoding the video and that is a factor of the software and just how fast your computer is. I usually encode the video between steps 3 and 4 using CCE (expensive) or Tmpgenc which is cheaper. But it takes time. I usually leave the computer encoding over night or during the day while I am at work. The average bit rate can be used to estimate how much space the the encoded video will take so you don't have the rude surprise of waiting many hours to find it doesn't fit.

The time it takes to encode can be used as an excuse to get a new computer.

[donpedro]

Stick with Studio8. DOn't judge by :

But since I've heard bad things about Studio 8's DVD capability

Try it and decide by your self. I am using it for home video and I am very satisfied.