Transfer (copy) from DCR TRV38 to HD to DVD ?

[yrnehbad]

Hello. My first post here. I've been reading a little, C&P a little and will continue searching but a little push in the right direction would be much appreciated ( I'm very slow & turning 71 this month).
I want to store (copy) what is on my tape in my Sony DCR TRV38 to DVD. Have AMD3200, ATIAIW pciExpress, 1GIG mem, and 200 gig HD. Also seperate DVD player and burner. I want to be able to work (edit) in future from the DVD. Have Pinnacle9 and Nero S/W. Can this be done and if so is it practical ? I apologize if i dont reply right away, I'm not on the net at home. TIA for any links or suggestions . Yrnehbad

[bugster]

I want to be able to work (edit) in future from the DVD.

Thats not generally a good idea. DVD is mpeg-2 format. Thios format was never intended to be edited and tools that do it well are few and far between. Also, each time you edit you will have to re-encode, thus reducing quality. Much better to edit the DV-avi that comes straight from the camera and only encode to DVD format when you are happy with the result.

[yrnehbad]

Thank you for the reply. I was more concerned with archiving my tapes in case something happens to them. Am I correct in assuming that when i edit them as DV and author to DVD they become VOB files ? Can VOB files be converted back to DV for editing ? TIA for your patience with me. Yrnehbad

[Snakebyte1]

Hi..

If you just want to archive the material on the tapes, while maintaining the option to edit them in the future, transfer the video from your camcorder to AVI via iLink (Firewire), then burn the AVI files to a DVD as data files (ie make a data DVD).

However, you will not be able to play this on a stand alone DVD player. To play on a DVD player, you would edit the AVI files as you wish, encode and author them to a video DVD. This process converst the AVI files into MPEG2 and creates the VOB structure on the DVD.

It is possible to edit MPEG2 files at a later date but you will be hit with a loss of quality. It is many times easier to edit the AVI files.

So I guess what I am saying is that you should think of your project as 2 parts:

Part 1: Transfer video from tape to AVI, then burn AVIs files to data DVD for archiving purposes.

Part 2: Edit AVI and encode to MPEG2 format and auther a video DVD in order to play your videos on a DVD player.

In the future if you want to re-edit or add special effects etc, you would copy back the AVIs into your computer, edit as you like, re-encode and auther a new video DVD.


D.

[yrnehbad]

Thank you for your info. I have also just finished reading, and C&P parts of related and most helpful threads in another section of this forum. Just printed a pdf on capture guides: AVI vs mpeg.WOW! The amount of info is overwhelming but very useful and i'm very grateful to everyone here. What a wonderful site ! Yrnehbad