How do I capture and copy DV to CD or DVD via PC

[crazyJ]

I have several DV tapes which I want to transfer to CD or DVD in order to play it in a DVD player on my TV. I was able to capture the tape with Windows Movie Maker but after copying the file to CD, the DVD player does not read the file. When I tried to burn it with nero, the disc doesn't get recognized at all. Does anyone have a solution? After capturing, the file is in a wmv format. I don't know if my problem is with capturing or copying. This all very new to me.

[rkr1958]

First off, welcome aboard, to really do this right and on the cheap you'll need to doing some homework. Below is an outline of the steps you need to follow to get your DV tapes onto DVD.

1) Capture from your camera to your PC ... done via firewire ... capture to AVI format ... check out VirtualDub (free)

2) Edit the AVI (if you wish) ... Again you can use VirtualDub

3) Encode to MPEG2 (e.g., TMPGEnc Plus or CCE-Basic ... both have free 30-day trials)

4) Author the encoded files (e.g., TMPGEnc DVDAuthor w/ac3 plugin ... free 30-day trial w/o ac3 plugin)

5) Burn to DVD (e.g., Nero)

6) Enjoy

[jtoolman2000]

Ofcourse it won;t play. DVD is totally incompatible with DVD players. As was already suggested:

The DV format files are edited if needed and encoded to DVD standard MPG2
format.

The MPG2 is loaded into a DVD authoring program where menus, chapter menus back ground music, motion backgrounds, subtilles can be added and outputed to DVD compliant files ( AUDIO_TS and VIDEO_TS containing .ifo .bup and .vob files ) which are finally burned to create the DVD disc that should play, assuming all went well, on your standalone player.

You need to do a bit of research, all of which thankfully has been provided by the members of this great forum. Look at the guides section for tons of basic step by step info.

Cheers