PLEASE HELP ME WITH BUYING SOFTWARE

[MADRE22]

I have spent hours reading articles on this website. But I can’t make up my mind. I bought Easy cd & dvd creator 4 months ago it did not work. I read the article in PC mag on Sonic mydvd, which they claimed was great. After reading articles here it does not seem to be the one for me.

I am a featherweight in the field of dvd anything. All I want to do is to take my video clips (from my dv camcorder) eventually put them on a dvd disk with some editing and menus to watch on my dvd player with friends and family. I Just something simple an idiot can use with a few fancy props but quality must be great. As I have read the end quality of sonic is not good (what was PC mag. looking at then). It seems all I need is Windvd, Tmpgenc, dvdlab, and Dvd decrypter. Please help what software do I need. My budget is around $150.00. Thank all of you in advance.

[andkiich]

The list of software at the end of you post looks good to me. I'd go with those tools and you should have no problems at all.
In my opinion you kinda answered your own question in a round about way.

[MADRE22]

Thanks for your response. I guess i like to lok at a few options can anyone give me other options other than what I have mentioned.
1: I guess i capture device is not the cretical part of the package?
2: It seems as if the encoding and authoring tool is?
3: Why can't the all in one packages do it, is that its too much for one software at that price.

Like i said before i just want the quality of the dv camcorder video to look great when i burn it onto a cd and then play in my dvd player. Thanks again

[BobK]

Before buying I'd suggest you use the 30 day trials for DVDLab, TMPGEnc, TMPGEnc DVD Author (and any other program you want to try- most of some type of trial) and see what you like before you lay out the money.

I haven't used a DV device to input so I don't know if you need a capture device.

[Poppa_Meth]

check what connection your camera uses. if its USB you should be set on hardware, if you need firewire you can install a firewire card for about $25 if you don't have one.

as for software, capture with Virtual Dub (free), Encode with tmpgenc, author and burn with tmpgenc DVD author or DVD Lab if you prefer.

tmpgenc plus and tmpgence DVD author will probably run you about $180, but I think there is a package deal where you might be able to get it a bit less.

[hootie29]

MADRE22,

I use Sonic MyDVD to author all my DVD's and I think they look as good and the original I captured from. I capture with Vegas video and encode with TMPGENC, then author with MYDVD. The only thing I don't like about MYDVD is you can not move the menu buttons around, but it is a good progam in my opion.

hootie29

[BobK]

tmpgenc plus and tmpgence DVD author will probably run you about $180, but I think there is a package deal where you might be able to get it a bit less.

TMPGEncPlus is $48 to download. DVD Author is $68 (download). The package deal is both of them for $99.00.

[MADRE22]

Hootie: why don’t you use Mydvd to do everything? I have heard that using tmpgenc is quite involved unlike Mydvd, which is quite simple?
Am I right in thinking capturing is not the issue, it’s more encoding and authoring. I thought Windv was free?
I guess what I am asking is . What is the most critical part of the process?
And I think I am unclear as far as what the following is does and the software associated with it:
Capturing
Encoding
Authoring
Did I forget anything else.

[TOMMO]

I would not disregard MYDVD. Although people do have problems with it, I have actually used it and the results are pretty good. Good enough to start with anyway. It will create a working DVD for you no problem.

It can be very confusing to start with, all the programs that people use. There are tools for lots of different purposes.

The MOST critical part of the process is getting your home movies into the PC. The most reliable is FIREWIRE. If your camera is not DV format then you will need to look at other options. If you need to purchase a FIREWIRE card, they are all basically the same but the software bundles usually include a video editing package.

You need a video editing package to cut out all the shots of your foot, the inside of the camera bag, your nose and all of the unavoidable nasties. Also you can add transitions and tiles etc. Depending on the software you can either export as DV AVI to rencode or MPEG2. For example, if you were using XP you could use movie maker to edit and save as DV AVI. However as you are using 98SE (you will/may find yourself limited to 2GB files sizes, which in video terms is nothing) then you could look at Video Wave or Pinnacle Studio.

If you then decide to go for MYDVD, it will encode to the neccessary MPEG format for you. Its kind of limited, but the results can be pleasing. I have personally encoded far worse using other methods ( but there again some have been a lot better). In mydvd, you just make simple selections. However it does work. My DVD writer was bundled with MYDVD 4. A freinds was bundled with 4.5, big improvement,I cannot say what version 5 is like.

The above will let you create a DVD successfully.

When you get bored with the above and a little bit more adventourous, then, VEGAS VIDEO 4, DVD Architect, or Premiere Pro and Encore really do move things up a gear. But can be intimidating for the beginner not to mention expensive.

So - keep it very simple, look carefully at software bundles. Tey Trial versions first. Dont spend too much until you are happy, and remember, whatever you buy to start with, you will tire of if you realy get into it, so keep the cost down to start with.

Hope this helps you out. Good luck.

[Brehmstein]

One more bit of advice...

I also take home movies from DV to DVD. For me the most time consuming step is takeing the DV footage off of my camera and putting it on my hard drive in short easy to manage clips (I ussually like to have clips of only a few minutes and then edit them together).

If your like me and don't want to just grab huge files from your camera to PC you might want to try scenanalyzer (sclive):
http://scenalyzer.com/main.html

This helps automate the process and was a big time saver for me...

There is a trial version - adds a logo every 8sec.. and the full version cost $39

There are more comments about it in the tools section:
https://www.videohelp.com/tools?tool=50#comments

[Poppa_Meth]

I didn't realize the price on the TMPGenc products was so low now. maybe I misread the prices last time I was at the site, either that or the price has come down since I checked.

[fargoman]

I use my GeForce 3 TI-200 and Win Producer to capture and Roxio's easy cd creator's DVD Builder and it works seamless for me with no loss from my vhs-c camcorder. I think alot of the quality loss comes from capture as well as encoding.

[hootie29]

MADRE22,

I have always used TMPGENC and I think it does a better job encoding than MyDVD. I don't think TMPGENC is that complicated to use. I will usually capture a couple of VCR tapes of home movies then do a batch encode overnight, most of the time it is finished by the time I get up and I can start authoring the movie in MyDVD. As far as capturing with MyDVD I was using Vegas before I got MyDVD( MyDVD came bundled with my DVD burner). My process has been working good for me so I haven't looked at anything else.

Like TOMMO stated I think the transferring of video to your computer is the most important process . I started out using the Belkin USB II capture device it was a nightmare dropped frames and sometimes no audio at all. I bought a Canopus ADVC-100 and haven't had any frame drops or audio being out of sync.

hootie29

[MADRE22]

Thanks everyone. I think i will either go with mydvd and start there (start small was a good idea). Or go with Windv and use a trial verision of the other programs. Hopefully one day i will get it right, and i will be sur eto let you know what happens.
i have an idea of what they mean but can someone tell me exactly what:
authoring, encoding, and rendering means.

[redwudz]

Authoring is putting your mpg and audio files into a DVD format ready for burning to DVD disk. Encoding, in the case of DV is converting the AVI DV to MPG and the audio files to a compatible form for DVD. Rendering, as least as far as I am concerned is the same as encoding, but the term could be used when you convert an audio file from say, LPCM to AC3 or MP2 format. The simplist form of DV conversion to DVD is: Download to your HD with a program, DVIO for example. Then edit, trim, with an editing program. Then encode to MPG with TMPGEnc or similar. Next author, to set up chapters, menus, etc. into DVD format. Finally burn to DVD. There are a lot of ways to get there, DVDlab being one of them.
Edit: Virtualdub will not capture or transfer DV files from a camcorder. It will edit, process, etc., them after transfer to your HD with a DV codec installed.

[MOVIEGEEK]

IMO Ulead VideoStudio is the best all-in-one program for novices:capture,edit,add transitions & narration,encode,menus,burn.
A simpler program is Ulead DVD MovieFactory.