DV Firewire to Mpeg2?

[flashbang]

Hi,
I have a DV camcorder that I want to put the video on DVD. I don't know if it is DV1 or DV2. I can extract the raw video in .AVI, but what program will do the best job of encoding it to mpeg2?
Once it is encoded to mpeg2 exactly how would I burn it?
I have ripped DVD's and placed the VIDEO_TS folder in Recordnow DX Data disc mode and it works fine. Is this what I need to do with the Mpeg file?
Thanks

[trillium]

Pretty much everything you need is in the How-To section and the Tools section over there
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Under Tools there is a program called gspot - works wonders for telling you what type of file you have and which codec was used

If you have a Type 1 and you need to get it to a Type 2, there is also a Type 1 to Type 2 converter listed in the Tools section

once encoded (check out the convert section in the How-tos) following up with a visit to the Author section.

there are many ways to get from pnt A to pnt B.... just go with what works best for you

[yg1968]

Use TMPGEnc to convert the DV to mpeg-2. You can then import the file in your DVD authoring software. The software usually comes with the DVD burner but if you want a suggestion, I would suggest Ulead VS 7.0 or Dazzle DVD complete. They have trial versions that you can download.

[tomclary]

For just getting started, there are a number of packages for under $100 that do the whole process. Ulead DVD MovieFactory 2 is around $50. It will capture your video over Firewire, do some limited editing, create menus, encode the video, create the VIDEO_TS data, .iso image, and/or write to the DVD burner. They offer a 30 day trial.

Once you get the basics going, you can start playing around with more advanced things like other encoders. But for ease of use, the low end packages make it fairly painless.