Capturing Footage from camcorder and burning to disk

[Chana1]

I was wondering what software do i need to put my footage off the sony camcorder i have onto my computer so i can then edit if i wish to do so and then burn it to dvd disk. I'm running on a PC.

I tried Windows Movie Maker but the quality of the film turned out to be rubbish. The pixel are all blurry and it ain't as clear as it is on camcorder.

So can someone help me, by telling me which software would be best to use and keep the quality of the film perfect and burn perfectly plus if possible as quick as possible.

Thanks
Chana

[mats.hogberg]

You want it all, don't you?
"quality perfect", "burn perfectly", "quick as possible"
Take the slow route:
Assuming it's a DV camera, and you want to end up with a Video DVD:

• Transfer video from cam to computer with WinDV (no quality loss)
• Encode to DVD specs mpg with a good encoder like TMPGEnc, Procoder or (free)HCEnc. Inevitable quality loss - how much, depends om how much you want to squeeze onto a DVD.
• Author with TDA or (free) GUI for DVDAuthor. (no quality loss)
• Burn with ImgBurn (no quality loss)

But you'll never end up with video the same q as the original. Going from 13 to 4 GB takes its toll.

/Mats

[tinker]

What are you using for capture to computer, Firewire or capture card?
Personally I use firewire and Premier to capture and edit. New one can also export to Mpeg2.
Otherwise for DVD authoring there is TMPGEnc DVD Author, Mpeg Video Wizard DVD, DVD Lab Pro. All good software.

[Chana1]

Cheers mats.hogberg ill try your way....

N tinker i dont no alot about this stuff so what you mean by firewire loll n capture card???

[mats.hogberg]

With FireWire, you transfer the video digitally from cam to computer. With a capture card, the cam generates analog video (in the same way as when you play from the cam directly on the TV) that a computer capture card then reconverts to digital format again. That latter method should be avoided, if quality is of any concern to you.

/Mats

[edDV]

What cable are you using?

Is "free" with head hurt or minor £ with simplicity your goal?

[Chana1]

Well im guessings its firewire then b'cuz what we did was import the film onto the pc by playing it then capturing it in windows movie maker.

(So we had to let the whole film play all the way through)

[tinker]

Was a connecting cable with 3 plugs or one on each end? If one, it looks like you use Firewire.
I would suggest to get TMPGEnc DVD Author. All in one application.
Will let you import from camcorder and make DVD. I think they have 30 day trial for you to judge.

[mats.hogberg]

I would suggest to get TMPGEnc DVD Author.

Possibly "new" TMPGEnc DVD Author 3, as at least previous versions only allows mpg as source material.

/Mats

[tinker]

Yes, version 3 is able to import according to there web site.

[Chana1]

O right kool i have TMPGEnc DVD Author didnt know you could do that on it ill give that a go n it was 1single lead from cam to computer end of was side was usb..

O will the quailty be like it is on the cam ye?? it wot lose any quailty thats the mai thing really...

Thanks
Chana

[mats.hogberg]

Again, it's not possible to get the same video quality on Video DVD as the source DV AVI, no matter how you go about it.

/Mats

[Richard_G]

it was 1single lead from cam to computer end of was side was usb..

O will the quailty be like it is on the cam ye?? it wot lose any quailty thats the mai thing really...

If you are really using USB, the quality will be crap. There are 4 ways to transfer from camcorder to computer, 3 phono leads (yellow, red and white) which is a composite video analogue capture - hard work and poor quality. S-Video (4 pin MiniDIN and red, white phono) analogue capture - better quality but still hard work. USB, intended on camcorders for transferring stills or webcam type low quality video - Easier but very poor quality. Firewire, also known as i-Link or DV, the only proper way to do it as it is a straight copy of the digital data on your tape to your hard drive.

[tinker]

Richard has a point.

[mats.hogberg]

Richard has a point.

The understatement of the day. The only way that should be used for transfer of video from a DV cam to a computer is FireWire.

/Mats

[HenkZ]

Actually, I own a Panasonic NV-GS230 camcorder, and
it has both a firewire and a USB 2.0 connector. I have only been using
the USB 2.0 connection to copy the miniDV tape contents to my
harddisk, and I haven't noticed bad quality. This camera is relatively
new, so there may not be many (consumer) camcorders that have
this 'feature' but some do.

Unless that's not what Chana1 meant to say. It was hard to read.

[mats.hogberg]

Yes, the GS 230 seems to be (one of the few to be) able to transfer DV via USB, according to the specs.

/Mats