Ok, captured my video as AVI format

[geek2330]

Used both Windows Movie Maker and WinDV (just for the heck..)

Now, I understand thaat I need an encoder software (grrr...haven't found freeware that works for me, trial version has nags....).
If I want to edit the video do I do this prior to encoding to MPEG or after?

Also, what about if I have a few AVI files (a few tapes....!!!), each tape is about an hour, which I think will deliver about a 12GB file or so, what should I do with those few separate AVI files? Not sure what an AVI 12GB file will be as MPEG, I assume it'll be smaller. Need advice to combine, if possible, this into a couple DVDs.

[thecoalman]

If I want to edit the video do I do this prior to encoding to MPEG or after?

That's a depends question, many editors/authoring tools have onboard encoding. You can import the DV-AVI's make your edits and export as MPEG or direct to DVD if it has DVD authoring ability.

Not sure what an AVI 12GB file will be as MPEG,

That depends on the bitrate, on the highest quality you get about 1 hour on single layer DVD. You can get many hours on DVD but as the time increases the quality drops. You can get 1.5 to 2 hours at a very good quality.

[guns1inger]

Do your editing prior to encoding. This has two benefits. First, you aren't encoding more than you need to. Second, DV avi is designed for editing, and most editing tools work well with it. Mpeg-2 was not designed for editing, and many editors don't like it at all. There are specialist mpeg2 editors, but if you edit first, you won't need to use one.

DV is around 13 per hour of footage. If you have used a tripod and kept the camera steady, you should be able to get around 90 minutes to a disc. If you have gone hand held then you should probably aim at around 60 - 65 minutes per disc.

For authoring, look at GUIForDVDAuthor, which is free and powerful. You do have to encode your footage first. There are several free encoders, from ffmpeg and bbmpeg through to quenc and HCenc. None of them are as simple to use as the commercial encoders, but something like HCEnc is capable of producing results that are just as good. Most require a basic avisynth script to load the video, which can be a bit daunting for newbies. I don't know of a simple gui interface for them to help ease the pain.

[geek2330]

Thanks, I looked at the HCenc and yes, seems like avisynth script is needed, which I don't know how to create....but willing to ...LOL
It doesn't allow for AVI file import.

[guns1inger]

Simplest way to create a basic avisynth script is FitCD. Just load in your avi file, tell it you want DVD output, and save the script it produces.