dv capture opinion solicited: nero, pinnacle or other?

[sigpop]

I bought copies of these software packages because cross rebates made them very cheap at the time:
Pinnacle Studio Plus v9
Nero 7

I haven't had a chance to use either yet. Now I have couple DV tables I want to capture and put together on DVD. Any opinion on which to start with? I've also played around with a trial copy of Ulead. Sonic's stuff with the Tivo decoder crashed on my computer last year so I wrote that one off.

I played around with WMM2, too, but it seemed too simplified (good for making a plain movie on the computer in wmv format, but I want a DVD with chapters and a menu).

I read up on some other tools that seem to be site favorites, like VirtualDub and TMpgEnc.

When I capture the video, I should tell it to make avi files. I'd like it to break the files into clips as opposed to one big huge continuos file. I assume that makes it easier to work with and leaves open the possiblity to use a different auth package if I want.

[sigpop]

apologies, I have Pinnacle Sutdio Plus v10

[mats.hogberg]

Capture: WinDV
Edit: Pinaccle.
Encode: CCE or TMPGEnc or QuENC or...
Author: TMPGEnc DVD Author or DVD-Lab Pro or...

/Mats

[sigpop]

Capture: WinDV
Edit: Pinaccle.
Encode: CCE or TMPGEnc or QuENC or...
Author: TMPGEnc DVD Author or DVD-Lab Pro or...

/Mats

thx for the reply. i'm not sure what you mean when you differ between "edit" and "author".

i'll give windv a try. if i capture some type 2 avis, i assume pinnacle can work with them.

i'm not interested in buying more software at this point since i'm just looking for something basic. if i get stuck or want to get fancier, i'll give tmpgenc pro a shot.

i'm reading through some of the FAQs now...

[fjmr]

You have all You need.
That is Pinnacle9 and Nero.
I have both also.
I have made several svcd and dvd with those soft, all very nice things like slideshow and movies from camcorder.
All You need to do is to capture and edit with Pinnacle and if You want to burn with Nero the mpeg file made with Pinnacle.
But note You can burn with Pinnacle and picture is very nice.
Is simple this way.

[mats.hogberg]

i'm not sure what you mean when you differ between "edit" and "author".

Editing is where you piece your movie together, make transitions, add audio, sound FX etc. During this stage, you keep the video as DV AVI.
Authoring involves the creation of menu(s), setting chapter points and generally takes your movie from plain video to Video DVD.
If at all possible - don't use Nero for anything besides burning data to disk.

/Mats

[CNT]

i'll give windv a try. if i capture some type 2 avis, i assume pinnacle can work with them.

It won't combine regular screen and widescreen together in one project. I found out when working with VHS and Hi8 together with Pinnacle Studio Deluxe 7.

Chuck

[sigpop]

So far the WinDv is really convenient. i've been able to queue up a movie and let it transfer over night.

i have a panasonic pv-gs120 so unfort it doesn't do widescreen. how long to the hi-def, widescreen vid cam with good low light for under a grand?

i haven't booted pinnacle yet because i misplaced my serial key and they are sending me another.

when i do go to edit, i'll prob clip some of the movies using pinnacle. i hope no change is made to the .avi at that time. seems more logical to just wait and when i generate the dvd the program would apply changes then. we'll see.

[pstedman]

You should not have to worry about your editing app making any changes to the original file. When you edit you do so in a sort of virtual workspace. When your editing is complete you'll output it to a new file.

That way if you need that original raw footage for another project you've got it.

[edDV]

Understand the process then apply the software.

The process is

1. IEEE-1394 transfer from camcorder at full DV quality
2. Edit in DV format
3. Encode the DV format result to DVD MPeg2 at 720x480 8000Kb/s or better bitrate.
4. Author the DVD (menus and file conversion)
5. Burn the DVD

With what you have,

1. WinDV or Pinnacle or Nero (just get it done with WinDV then import the file)
2. Pinnacle (Nero sucks at this step)
3. Pinnacle or Nero (neither are very good at this step)
4. Pinnacle or Nero (your choice)
5. Pinnacle or Nero (Pinnacle will use the Nero burning program)

Neither Pinnacle nor Nero would be recommended if you were starting over but both can be made to work.