Ready to capture from minidv to DV-AVI...which software?

[rayban]

Hello! I have hooked up my firewire card and drivers on WinXP and am about to receive my minidv camcorder. While waiting, I have the following software to use in capturing from the minidv camera. Which one would you suggest?

1. Windows Movie Maker
2. Pinnacle Studio 8
3. Ulead Video 6 SE - came with firewire card
4. VirtualDub using huffyuv or similar codec
5 Any other free tools on this site that you suggest?

To author the DVD which one would be better:
1. DVD Complete
2. Sonic MyDVD
3. Studio 8
4. Try all?

I am wondering which one would give me the best capture method from the minidv over to my pc. I will be using Studio 8 to edit before burning to DVD-R.

Any suggestions as to what route would give me the least amount of problems? Thanks in advance for any input you can provide a NEWBIE with regards to capturing. Can't wait to start editing and then authoring on DVD......provided I can capture correctly first, right?

[bugster]

You don't 'capture' from a miniDV cam in the normal sense. It is actually a bit accurate copy of the digital video on the tape to your PC, then neatly warpped inside an avi file for PC compatibility and playback. Codecs only get involved when playing back, or rendering in an editing app.

The only real question you need an answer to is should you use software that puts your video in a type 1 AVI (which MS moviemaker uses, and some others) or a type 2 AVI. Type 2 can be opened by vdub whereas type 1 can not. I believe type 2 is slightly more friendly as far as editing is concerned but most decent editing apps will handle either.

Do a forum search for more info.

[yg1968]

Since you already have Studio 8, you can use it to capture the DV, edit it, author and burn.

I use DVD complete which I like but you should try using what you have first. Most programs have demo. Try them before buying anything.

[donpedro]

Yes... try it before you buy anything... good sugestion

Capturing: In case od DV AVI it is more like copying...

DVD Authoring: PS8 is very flexible in creating DVD Menu. MyDVD is not good at all. PCM sound only and you can't specify chapters if capturing was not done by MyDVD. DVD Complete... I don't know this program...

[Rich927]

You seem to have the software to transfer/capture DV with, Try each one and see which one you like. One feature that Videostudio has that is good is that you can use scene detection which will divide your video into seperate video files for each scene. Videostudio will also work with either type 1 or type 2 .avi files. Pinnacle Studio will transfer/capture DV into one file and will divide the scenes when you go to edit using a index (.stu) file. It's whatever you feel comfortable working with.

[vhelp]

.
.
here's my setup when I do my capturing (aka, dv transfer) thus far:
* dvio - but no video. However, you can use your dv cam's A/V and plug
your male end into dv cam, and your yellow end to TV set and vualla.

This is for simple video transfering w/out the headacke of many confusing
features being in the way.. beside, I also use it because my OS is FAT32
and I suffer the 4gig limit - though it doesn't bother me for my needs.

Tip of the day..
* Be sure you set up your video transfer for Type 2 mode, so that
the majority of apps ie, vdub will open w/out issues.

What's the make/model of your new toy ??

Good luck.
-vhelp