Mini-DV to DVD

[kjbrack]

I'm looking for an easy fast program to convert my Mini-DV tapes to a DVD format to play on a stand alone. I tried the DVD Santa and it worked ok but it was jumpy and unstable when I played the files on my computer. I haven't burned the files to try it out on my stand alone player yet. Also I want to combine two tapes that way I will have 2 hours of video and put a small menu in too. Any suggestions?

[guns1inger]

Fast is a relative term. Transfer from Dv to the PC is real time is a straight transfer is done, and a little slower than real-time if it is captured as mpeg-2. How good the quality is depends on the speed of your machine and the software you use, then author, compile and burn.

If you want to manipulate the footage to any extent, then it is a real-time capture, time to edit, then mpeg-2 conversion, authoring, compiling and burning.

If you want something that is pretty much one stop, have a look at this - http://ulead.com/dmf/features.htm

My preference is to use best of breed (within $ limits) for each stage, rather than something that will do an average job all the way through.

[proxyx99]

Any kind of "shortcut" may in end effect question the whole effort. Until such tools are developed and fully supported by the big guys be aware that the result may not be what you really expect.

[State Of Mind]

Here's what I do.
1. Upload with WinDV.
2. Edit with Adobe Premiere Pro.
3. Trim with VirtualDub.
4. FrameServe to TMPGEnc Plus.
5. Transcode audio to AC3 with BeSweet.
6. Author and Burn to DVD+R with TMPGEnc DVD Author.

If you want awesome results that leave the audience stunned or laughing, use good programs. Not crap like a All-In-1-Half Done Job prog.

Cheers.
Jeremy