MiniDV to DVD - Horrible playback on DVD Player

[tessander]

I just got a new computer with Vista on it. I'm trying to convert my miniDV tapes from my Canon ZR85 to DVDs like I did on my old computer. I used to use Windvd that came with the computer and the operating system was Windows XP. Now I have Vista. I've tried using Windows Movie Maker and DVD Maker and I've downloaded a bunch of trial packages trying to get quality playback on the dvd player. With Movie Maker, I get horrible tracking or trailing or something like that on action scenes. I've tried Nero and I still get a funny ghosting affect. With everything I use, the audio is out of sync with the video. If I play the files (wmv or avi) on the computer, I don't see any of this. If I play an old dvd (before this computer) on my dvd player, it plays fine. When I play the dvd I created on my computer, I don't get the ghosts or trails, but the audio is not in sync with the video.

I know my camera isn't the problem because it created fine video with my old computer. I know my dvd player and tv can play my old dvds (from December 2008).

I hoped to have a package that would create quality dvds because I don't really want to have to go through a lengthy process to create dvds. Every package I've tried produces the same results as I get with Windv and Windows DVD Maker.

What am I missing here???

Thanks for any help you can offer!

[minidv2dvd]

miniDV to dvd isn't hard. 4 steps at most.

1) transfer tape to computer over firewire with winDV
2) edit and encode to dvd spec mpeg-2
3) author to DVD files/folders (vobs, ifos, etc.)
4) burn with imgburn to dvdr

the first and fourth step should only be done with the free utilities listed. the second and third need a decent encoder/editor and an authoring application. the best encoders aren't free but there are a couple some people think come close. henc & quenc. there are also gui frontends to make their use easier. the third step also is in the same boat, good authoring apps cost but there are free ones also. check the tools pages.

the trailing ghosting effect you see is probably mis-handled interlacing. DVavi is interlaced and dvds are also, one of the programs you used may have de-interlaced our source material badly.

if your want an all-in-one does it all for you package, convertxtodvd is about the best of them, but the last time i checked didn't handle DVavi to dvd very well. again there are others, check the tools listing.

and, welcome to the forum!

[tessander]

Thanks for the input! I've fooled around with this more and have found that for the most part, my camera functions pretty horribly in low-light situations. I knew this but I was looking more closely at my new dvds that were being created. I connected my camera to the TV with an AV input cable (I have no idea what the right name for it is!) and the quality was comparable to the WinDV/DVD Maker DVDs that I created on Vista. The real problem that remains is that the audio and video are slightly out of sync. I downloaded the ConvertxtoDVD trial version and it filled half the screen with green and really messed up the color in general. Any ideas on how to get the audio and video to sync up? I've already had to learn way more about this than I wanted to! I feel pretty in the dark about this stuff. I have a programming background but this is Greek to me! I looked at the tools section and really don't know where to begin. None of the trial versions that I used have the audio and video in sync. With WinDV, I only can create Type 1 avi files as the Type 2 have no audio when done. Is that the source of my problems?

Thanks!

[minidv2dvd]

type I and II contain the same info packaged differently. it only matters if the editor/encoder you want to use supports the type you save to. type II is preferred by most apps now. it should play with audio, try media player classic or vlc to open them with. they are both free. a decent encoder is probably your next step to acquire. look up henc and the gui interfaces that can use it. something like the film machine might work for you, if you take the time to figure it out.

[MJA]

capture it all on 1 single file

windv config


discontinuity threshold[sec] 0

Max AVI size[Frames] 1000000

Every N-th Frame 1

Type-2 AVI

[FulciLives]

HCenc is a great MPEG-2 DVD spec encoder that is free. Very nearly as good as CCE although HCenc can't do true CBR and if you intend to put only 1 hour or 60 minutes per DVD Video then you might want to spring for the Basic version of CCE as it does true CBR encoding. Last time I checked it was something like $58 US Dollars.

HCenc ---> http://www.bitburners.com/hc-encoder/
CCE Basic ---> http://www.cinemacraft.com/eng/basic.html

Remember you will most likely want to use AviSynth with these encoders. Also remember that DV AVI is BFF or Bottom Field First whereas most guides refer to TFF or Top Field First as that is what most video is ... except DV AVI is BFF.

To get max DVD Video quality consider a CBR of 9,000 for the video if using MP2 or AC-3 audio or a CBR of 8,000 for the video if using PCM WAV audio.

If using MP2 or AC-3 ... one strongely consider ditching MP2 in favor of AC-3 ... two if using MP2 use the highest bitrate you can (384kbps) but if using AC-3 then 256kbps should be good enough!

Using these settings will only get you about 1 hour or 60 minutes per DVD Video but the quality will be as good as it can be.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[tessander]

After many more experiments and searches on the web, I decided to focus on why I couldn't get windv to create type 2 files because I thought I might be able to fix my audio and video sync problems if I could do that. I found a simple solution to that on the web (unbelievably, after all the work I've put into this). I needed to start playing my video on the camcorder and then start capturing in windv. Amazingly, I got audio and burned it to a dvd using Windows DVD Maker and the audio and video are in sync!

So DVD Maker must be doing the authoring and burning; is it doing encoding also? Might I expect better results if I add something to the process? I haven't had good results with any 1-click solution I've tried. Tmpgenc's trial version distorts the audio for me, although I didn't try it with the new type2 file. I downloaded Quenc but haven't tried it.

[FulciLives]

HCenc is much better than Quenc in my experience.

However HCenc only does video but that's not a big deal ... you can encode the audio to AC-3 using something like ffmpeggui or AftenGUI etc.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman