New guy confused about editing hi8 analog footage

[mrgain]

This is my very first try capturing and editing so bare with me.I am capturing some analog hi8 video with a hauppauge mpeg2 hardware encoder.Its an older ntsc camcorder and has one video out and one audio out.Unfortunately I have to go composite.I have used an rca splitter going into the hauppauge card to get left and right audio,although its still mono,only in 2 chanells.I edited with nanopeg editor and noticed after I did that it demuxed (seperated) the files and the file is now an image file.I also could see from ulead that there are 4 files 2 of the files are ntsc and 2 are pal in the image file.My goal is to have this footage playable on dvd and on a usa ntsc television.Should I use a different editor that doesnt demux the while editing to simplify this process?Should the pal.mpg files be converted to ntsc,im not even sure which ones are pal,the video or audio.Also should the mpeg audio be converted to ac3?I have read about some people prefering this because some older dvd players wont play mpeg audio,I also prefer to keep the 2 channel mono intact.Thank you for any advice in advance.

[edDV]

This is my very first try capturing and editing so bare with me.I am capturing some analog hi8 video with a hauppauge mpeg2 hardware encoder.Its an older ntsc camcorder and has one video out and one audio out.Unfortunately I have to go composite.I have used an rca splitter going into the hauppauge card to get left and right audio,although its still mono,only in 2 chanells.

That isn't a Hi8 camcorder and is incapable of playing the tape properly. All Hi8 camcorders or players have S-Video and stereo out. Hi8 is not back compatible with standard 8 players.

I edited with nanopeg editor and noticed after I did that it demuxed (seperated) the files and the file is now an image file.I also could see from ulead that there are 4 files 2 of the files are ntsc and 2 are pal in the image file.

Can't help here.

My goal is to have this footage playable on dvd and on a usa ntsc television.Should I use a different editor that doesnt demux the while editing to simplify this process?Should the pal.mpg files be converted to ntsc,im not even sure which ones are pal,the video or audio.Also should the mpeg audio be converted to ac3?I have read about some people prefering this because some older dvd players wont play mpeg audio,I also prefer to keep the 2 channel mono intact.Thank you for any advice in advance.

First get a Hi8 camcorder to play these Hi8 tapes. If some are PAL you will need a separate PAL Hi8 camcorder.

If you are going to be capturing to MPeg2 with the PVR, consider Womble products that edit MPeg2 directly
http://www.womble.com/products/index.html

AC3 conversion happens in the DVD authoring/encoder stage. Most DVD players will play MPeg audio.

[seinman]

That isn't a Hi8 camcorder and is incapable of playing the tape properly. All Hi8 camcorders or players have S-Video and stereo out. Hi8 is not back compatible with standard 8 players.

That isn't always true. I've worked with a Hi8 camera that had only composite video and mono audio out. It was a very, very cheap ($150, maybe) Sony handycam.

[mrgain]

It is a hi8 compatible player,its a SHARP VL-AH130U.I have a manual that says if you put a hi8 tape in and record on it,it will record via hi8 and the same goes for 8mm.Is it possible that the reason i have 4 files is because there was a blank spot of about 20 seconds in the middle of the tape and i used nanopeg to edit that out?Im thinking that there is supposed to be 2 mono tracks because of the way i ran it into the card.

[edDV]

No info on the Sharp site. If it is Hi8 capable then you are limited to composite video and mono audio then. The Hauppauge PVR will encode that to MPeg2. Most editors can cut Mpeg down but most will also recode the entire length. It appears that the nanopeg editor cuts on GOPs without recode and version 2.5 added support for AC-3 audio out. Next you need a DVD authoring program like TMPGEnc DVD Author to author the DVD.

PAL still requires a separate player and separate authoring.

[mrgain]

thanks for the advice about trying a different editor.I am trying the one you suggested and it is working out much better for me,it has so many more options and like you said does automatic re-encoding.....sweet.

[jagabo]

I haven't seen nanopeg since version 2.2. It was total crap then.

You could try Womble's products like MPEG Video Wizard.