Transferring Home Videos

[clkirk]

I would like to copy my home videos from Hi8 to DVD. I have a Instant DVD capture card, but am not happy with the quality (audio sync issues) I am thinking of purchasing a Ilo dvd recorder. I am trying to figure out all the steps and hardware software that I will need in order to copy, edit, add menus and burn my videos to dvd. I am looking at using the ILo dvd recorder instead of buying another capture card. Is this a good way to go or is it better to use a capture card?

Once I have transferred my videos to DVD with the recorder I would like to edit the clips. Do I need to convert the dvd files to mpeg? What is the best way to do this? I have dvd shrink and dvd decrypter will either of these work or do I need to purchase additional software? If so, what do you recomend?

For my final product I want to combine video and still photos with background music. I have proshow gold and was hoping to use this to accomplish that, although I have had problems with this software freezing when creating the files.

TIA for your help
Chris

[learjet]

hiya...heres what has worked for me, but im no expert and im just gettin started capturing hi8s to dvds myself.

my system:
amd xp2400 w 512 ddr
xp home
compro videomate gold+ capture card
160 gig 7200 rpm hdd

software i use:
nero6
dvd shrink
mpeg vcr by womble

the software and hardware ive given up on
tmpgenc
multiple ATI AIW cards
roxio
ulead
all kinds of codecs, shareware stuff
windows moviemaker

i poured over this bbs forever, reading everything, and decided to try capturing in AVI format w the ATI cards. nothin really worked, the cards were hard to install, the bt878 chipsets were often limited to low resolutions, so the few times i was able to capture anything, they looked bad. real bad. i tried aftermarket drivers for the AIWs and that only made the problems worse.

started doin my research, and purchased the compro card. installation was flawless. decided to try a full dvd capture at 720/480 straight to mpeg2, and amazingly it went fine. never used more than 90% of my processor according to the task manager. audio and video in sync, alls well

then the fun started, the editing. suffice to say that the ONLY software i could find that can cut mpegs without causing audio and video sync probs is mpeg vcr. tmpgenc didnt work. neros editor didnt work, nor did ulead. all of them caused the audio and video to get outta wack.

so..

now i capture my hi8s w the compro card in full dvd res as mpeg2s, cut them into clips w mpeg vcr, build the clips into movies w nero, and save the dvd image on my hdd. lastly i run them through dvdshrink, and burn.

whats ur system specs?
i dont know anything about dvd recorders, and i luv my compro card!

learjet

[clkirk]

I am running a 2.4ghtz p4 with 512 ram. I would like to be able to get what I need for under $200 (software and hardware).

[winifreid]

I am not familiar with your capture card, but I suspect you could do better. Look in the capture card section for some ratings and read reviews. Your idea of getting a DVDr and the then transferring back to your computer is not a good one. If yo plan to do any editing beyond just clipping, you would be better off capturing to avi (huffyuv or picvideo). There may be a solution to your problem with the stuff you have now, but I am sure you could do better with another $50 capture card.

[learjet]

id think ur puter should be fine. i dont know anything about the dvd recorders, but id be a bit afraid of the dvds workin in all standalone players. id research that before goin that route anyways. i have no idea if u can build menus, cut clips, etc w the standalone units.

i stayed away from usb capture devices when i was lookin into this because my puter at the time didnt have usb2.0, and if i remember right, the usb capture devices that were in my price range were limited to low resolutions, ie 352/240 or something. my ATI AIW was limited to the same, and everything i managed to capture was awful lookin; to grainy

i do recomend my compro card, looks like their about %55 at newegg atm. i dont think u can capture in AVI w it though, seems i read that somewhere. i dont care about that, but i can only edit w mpegvcr appx$70 i thnk. not sure what nero costs these days.

if ur gonna capture through the usb port id make sure ur puter is usb2.0.
if ur gonna try AVI capture u better have a BIG HDD, real big.

dont really have anything else for ya.

goood luck!

lear

[BroganMc]

I would like to copy my home videos from Hi8 to DVD. Chris

Dumb question, but have you considered upgrading your Hi8 camcorder to a miniDV with analog-to-digital pass-thru?

I picked up a Canon miniDV for around $300 (at BuyDig) over a year and half ago. It came with all the cables I need for hooking up AV devices (VCR, DVD, TV, old Hi8 Sony camcorder). The miniDV works the same as a capture card, but you can capture in AVI (or whatever format your capture program likes). It goes through your firewire port.

I had nothing but problems with USB capture devices (audio sync nightmares). This method works very well for me. And all my new home video is at much higher quality.

I have a DVD recorder too and have been dubbing some VHS stuff no longer on tape. (Mainly to save it from aging VHS tapes.) But editing MPEG-2 is not as easy as AVI. Not all video editors can read it, and those that can may be exceptionally slow at it. Plus there's the quality loss others mention (though it's not that huge unless you're a videophile). My jury is still out on whether to just dub my old home movie VHS to DVD or capture to computer and archive as AVI on DVD. It's hard to know what memories you want to risk losing and which is the higher risk: bad capture, bad encode, bad burn, bad media, etc.

Good luck.

[tmh]

Not an expert, but, I would say that you're best off finding a way to transfer the Hi-8 to your HD as AVI then use editing software to edit the AVI, add photos, add music, etc. THEN encode with TMPGenc or one of many others folks discuss here, author then burn the DVD.

I don't see anyone discussing much success with MPEGs as source then doing all the editing you want then having a good quality creation.

Maybe you can pick up a cheap miniDV camcorder that has analog to digital pass-through on ebay or something.

[winifreid]

Look at newegg video capture section. There are kworld and leadtech cards that come with all the software you need for under $60. Assuming you have a pci slot vacant.

[clkirk]

Thanks every one for your input. It looks like I need to do a lot more research. I was basically going to use the dvd recorder as my capture card and then decryt and edit on my pc. I have only worked wit mpeg in the past and neve avi. I don't know if my current software can even handle avi. It sounds like a capture card is the perferred way to go. I will check out the ones that have been recommended, are their any others I should look at?

Chris

[Frobozz]

In my opinion the only capture cards to consider are those made by Canopus and Miglia. But I strongly encourage you to get a standalone DVD recorder with hard drive and Firewire input (for when you get your DV camcorder). It saves so much time to do the capturing, encoding and editing on the DVR's hard drive. The only thing you lose is the ability to make cool-looking menus. And for that you could use a PC application that works with MPEG files in creating wonderful menus. But you won't bother doing it because it's the movie, not the menus, that you want to watch.