dv-avi to dvd, what is the best/easyiest "freeware" to use to con

[dr.bling]

i have a lot of old dv tapes i would like to convert to dvd, some are shot in 4/3 and some shot in 16/9, i dont want to convert the shot mode and each dv to dvd will only be in the original file format ie 4/3 or the 16/9.

i am not looking at doing alot of menues or alot of editing ect, just looking at something that will be quick and with a easy learning curve, i am also not totaly against purchasing a product if it is worth it.

programs i own are.
1. nero express 6
2. sonic record now 7.3
3. windows movie maker 5.1
4. unlead video studio 4.0se basic

any help would be greatly appreciated.

[bendixG15]

And what hardware do you have for the tapes ??

[redwudz]

I use ConvertXToDVD for that. There is also a freeware early version, XvidToDVD and both work well with DV. For editing or filtering, if needed, I use VirtualDub Mod, along with the Panasonic DV codec. The last two are freeware also.

A little better method I use for higher quality/control is to use VDM as above and after editing, save out the audio as a WAV and convert to AC3 with ffmpeggui. Then frameserve just the video to TMPGEnc encoder and encode to MPEG-2. That saves the time and drive space of having the edited version on my hard drive. Put both the encoded video and the AC3 audio into TMPGEnc DVD Author, author and burn.

I'll assume you have a FireWire output on your camera and a FireWire card on the computer. I use WinDV for the transfers to the computer.

[dr.bling]

And what hardware do you have for the tapes ??

i have a cannon zr700 and a firewire card. is that what you are asking ?

[I use ConvertXToDVD for that. There is also a freeware early version, XvidToDVD and both work well with DV. For editing or filtering, if needed, I use VirtualDub Mod, along with the Panasonic DV codec. The last two are freeware also.

A little better method I use for higher quality/control is to use VDM as above and after editing, save out the audio as a WAV and convert to AC3 with ffmpeggui. Then frameserve just the video to TMPGEnc encoder and encode to MPEG-2. That saves the time and drive space of having the edited version on my hard drive. Put both the encoded video and the AC3 audio into TMPGEnc DVD Author, author and burn.

I'll assume you have a FireWire output on your camera and a FireWire card on the computer. I use WinDV for the transfers to the computer.]


wow thats alot of info, so i use windv to transfer and then use convertxtodvd to make the avi mpeg2 compliant ? then use virtualdub mod to edit and then burn with nero ? this sounds complicated, how much better is the quality this way verse buying one of thoes dvd player recorders for the tv and just making a 1 to 1 copy ?

i guess i need to start fiddling around with those programs and seeing what i can do.

thanks for the help

[dr.bling]

ok i used vso divextodvd 52.99 freeware, it encoded everything great but i get no sound in playback, using windows media player and divx player ? also it took a 2gig file and converted it to a 336 meg file, is there any way to use divxtodvd and make the file larger for a better quality "less conversion" also i cannot open the file in dvd shrink ?