VHS to DVD - Pinacle Studio 8 advice

[jpfrost]

I am converting some home VHS to DVD. I have a Camcorder with pass through but just wanted some advice on the settings.

Is it best to capture at DV quality (or is that overkill) or MPEG at a lower quality rate?

Once this is done when I try to create DVD all I can get is about 130 minutes per disc - surely I should be able to get more VHS quality onto a disc?

Thanks.

[Baldrick]

You can store several hours /dvd. Capture to dv avi and convert with a good standalone converter like tmpgenc or tmpgenc xpress or mainconcept mpeg encoder or canopus procoder and you can control the output size exactly.

[Roz]

If you are planning to do any editing of your video with Studio I would strongly recommend you save them as full quality avi & split it into maximum 15 minute long clips.

From my experience using Studio for mpeg and/or large file editing can be very frustrating!

[jpfrost]

What software would you recommend for editing?

[jpfrost]

I also have NeroVision Express - is this better for capturing and/or encoding?

[Roz]

For editing I think you will find that most peeps on here all have their own preference of software based on what has worked best for them.

Although once described as "the best peice of software never to work" (and rightly so lol) I personally still persist with Studio (now version 9.4) because I like the transitions, simple music input and general layout.

I edit all my avi captures (no dropped frames on my P4 3.4), create titles and menus and then export them to mpeg before authoring with DVDlab.

I found that working like this with small chunks at a time works for great for me with good quality results but I know many on here do not like Studio at all.

Simple answer try everything on a 30 day trial until you find what works best for you then buy it and enjoy.

Hope this helps!

Steve