How to move movie clips to a dvd

[Pseudonym34]

I am a complete neophyte when it comes to areas like this. I have a SonyDSC-70 which I have taken some movie clips. I have downloaded them to my computer but now I need to know how to a) join all those clips together w/out the video running at super speed and b)transfer it to a DVD that I will be able to play on our DVD players. I have tried to read through several websites and scan some of the threads here but it's all so confusing. Can someone point me in the right direction including software? Thanks.

[Bjs]

First , grab gspot ... it should beable to tell you what the framerate is ... this is in the camera's manual ... hiding deep .

Then you need to determine if framerate / resize / conversion , need's to be performed .

Personally , if your a complete newbie , I would suggest the easiest method to do it all , would be to go into ebay , and purchase ulead videostudio 9 se cheap ... it will do all you need in the one application ... and if you get stuck at any point , just pm me for help anytime .

Believe me ... this is the easiest method for you to follow .

[Pseudonym34]

I appreciate the info! I tried to price ULead Videostudio 9, but it seemed a little pricey for me. What I ended up doing was "discovering" Windows Movie Maker which allowed me to join all the clips together. I then used DVD Flick to convert it and burn it to a DVD. Unfortunately the audio is not quite sync'd with the video and there are a lot of popping sounds within the sound....this is especially irritating as it is a singing performance I had videotaped. 8-P Any help would be appreciated. Thanks again.

[mats.hogberg]

If you use WMM, export as DV AVI.
Play the DV avi to see if it's fine and in sync. If it's not, well, WMM isn't up to the task.
If the DV plays fine, encode it with some mpeg encoder to DVD specs mpg. (See tools left. hcenc is a good free encoder)
Play the mpg to see if it's still OK.
Still fine, lastly author as DVD with TMPGEnc DVD Author (or some free alternative like GUI for DVDAuthor).

/Mats

[Bjs]

I tried to price ULead Videostudio 9, but it seemed a little pricey for me

I said SE , not the full blooded version ...

Ebay , about $25.00 au total including p/h ... dose all you need ... then later in your own time you can study and figure out the format's and the process's involved to convert between them ... and some of the headache's ... ie ... nstc to pal = easy ... pal to nstc = not so easy .

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Not all products convert wmv correctly , and cause the audio problem's you have found ... alot of "buy me" products make claim's they work when in fact their absolute crap at anything .

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And ... OUCH ... joining them is not a GOOD idea ... if one of them is slightly different within their internal structure ... you will end up with audio issue's as an end result .

Encode separately to reach required format ... ie ... mpeg2 for dvd ... then use the dvd authoring program to join or link them ... avoid's a lot of audio problems this way .

[Pseudonym34]

@mats
Thanks for the info I will try that directly!

@bjs
I apologize for misreading your reply. I have since gone back and repriced the software and I can definitely afford that! I also appreciate the time and advice you gave me, I know it isn't always easy dealing with newbies but I appreciate your patience. Thank you, too!

[redwudz]

I use the freeware VirtualDub Mod for cut and paste editing of DV video. You just need a DV codec installed. For that I install the Panasonic DV codec. From the edited DV I then encode to MPEG-2 and then author to the DVD format and burn. That makes several steps, but it also gives me more control of each step and the resulting quality. You can do all this with freeware if cost is a problem.

But if you want transitions or other effects in your edited video, etc., then WMM may work as long as you export in DV format. ULead Videostudio 9 may be a better option if you want to do it all in one program. If the final destination for your video is DVD, you can find information on the DVD format and specification by looking at 'WHAT IS' DVD to the upper left on this page.

I know it's all a little bewildering at present, but it doesn't take long to get the 'hang' of it.

And welcome to our forums.