new miniDV camcorder.. plz help :)

[Chivalry]

hiya i just bought a new miniDV camcordr and wanted a nice simple program for capturing to my HDD and also 1 for making dvd`s with.... though i awaiting delivery of my DVDR atm so just the best capturing program would be great thanx connected through firewire,,.. cheers

[vandakeg]

If you're running WinXP, probably the simplest, and cheapest, is going to be Windows Movie Maker. It's on the XP Install CD, or I think you can even download it from Microsoft's website.

[Chivalry]

yeah but i hear its very limited in the format it uses? sumthin about u need to convert it AGAIN afetr WMM2 has captuerd it to then put onto a dvd.... i just need a good quality capture program that gives good results and isnt limited like wmm2 thnc for the reply

[Gees]

u need to convert it AGAIN afetr WMM2 has captuerd it to then put onto a dvd

Anything you use, you will need to convert to use on DVD. The only way anyone can skip that step is a card or box-type device that captures in mpg.

Start at the Capture section on the left. Lots of guides and how-to.

From that section:

If you are planning to capture DV from your Digital Camcorder I recommend to get a DV/Firewire card and use it to "capture"(copy) the video to the computer. It requries that you have a lots of hard drive space and it will take some time to convert to VCD,SVCD or DVD MPEG.
-> DV/Firewire cards

Next move on to Convert section, then Author.

You will probably find you need a number of programs to accomplish all that. The inexpensive all-in-ones may be lacking, the expensive may be out of your price range (not knowing what that is as you haven't said.)

Good luck. :c)

[Chivalry]

Thnx alot... i alrdy have a firewire cable and mobo with built on ports.. so thats ok,,, i tried to look for capturing from miniDV to HDD but i wasnt sure exsactly what it is im looking for :/
do certain programs work better for extracting the footage from the camcorder? as ive heard that theres a big differnce in the quality of programs that convert... like i heard nero was useless... so i wanted to know if there was a differnce inquality in capturing programs or if windows movie maker did as good a job a anything else for extracting...its all new to me and although WMM2 does do everyhing to a degree id rather have a better quality if at all possible ,,, thnx again

[ZippyP.]

i tried to look for capturing from miniDV to HDD...

,,do certain programs work better for extracting the footage from the camcorder?

It's not a "capture" when transferring from a digital camera to your HD. It's a straight transfer of the footage, no conversion takes place and the quality should be identical no matter what program is used to move the data.

[reynolpe]

I am having this same problem and TMPGEnc does not like the avi file from WMM2. It is apparently a type-1 avi and I need a type-2 avi. I can't believe it is so hard to create a VCD or DVD from a transfer from your DV CAM. Please help.

[overloaded_ide]

Yes it can be VERY hard!

I have only one problem, NO sound! I get sound once, when testing, then nothing ever again, till I give up and come back and try agian the next day! Then I get sound ONCE!
Video is perfect though! You most likely want to use DV type 2 from what I have been told. But that's not working for me.

If you get DV with sound (as you should!) then yes you still have to encode DV into mpeg2 at some point before you can author a DVD and burn it.

If you capture Analog, no point using a DV camera really.

Some ALL in one type programs might convert to mpeg2 at the time of DV transfer, but I have heard they all have bad quality, although I never tried any myself yet.

[buttsy00]

Try DVIO "https://www.videohelp.com/tools?tool=45#comments"

Good easy and free program... Make sure it is on Type 2 not Type 1 before you transfer.

[overloaded_ide]

I'll take another look at that myself, but it's the first one I used! And all the programs (3or4) have the same problem, no sound via firewire most the time!