Starting Over Again..............Need Update on New Software and DVD Media

[jet757f]

I had planned on doing this a couple years ago and was up to speed on the best DVD media and software to use for
archiving VHS/DV/8mm videos to DVD. I also would like to transfer thousands of pictures to DVD also. I would like to pass these family pictures and videos to my children. Anyway I lost touch with everything that has happened for the past couple of years due to divorce and teenagers occupying all my time. Now I want to try it again.

I already did a search on this but am mainly finding old posts. 1st I would like to find out what the best DVD media is to use these days including type and brand. I have been reading about this Kodak Gold Preservation DVD-R but it seems like most people on this forum dont think they are worth it. So which it the best?

ALso I would like to find out what is the best software to use for do this. Not only for transferring and editing DVD videos but also pictures. Is the Picasa 2 still good for pictures?

I will be using my computer for most of this. I have 1TB hard drives that will fit all of this.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

[jet757f]

I did find this post from LordSmurf.

Are the brands and types of DVD media still accurate that he mentions?

I still have some of the YUDEN000T01 DVD+R..........are these as good as the YUDEN000T02?

[quote="lordsmurf"]All that longevity stuff is marketing hype. Period.
- Fuji's Oxonol dyes are new. Claims are baseless. They let several manufacturers use it for outsourcing.
- Memorex does not make anything, they buy media from others, usually garbage.
- Kodak does not make media. They also re-brand like Memorex, usually crap.
- Mitsui does not exist. MAM-A and MAM-E media is mediocre stuff. Gold is not anything special: it costs more money, longevity advantages are questionable, and the reflectivity sucks.

The best DVD-R to use would be to pick 3 diverse types of disc, and use those. I suggest a YUDEN000T02 DVD+R and a MCC03RG20 DVD-R, and maybe a MXLRG03 DVD-R (or a SONY16D DVD-R or SONYD21 DVD+R).[/quote

[redwudz]

The DVD brands I use are Taiyo Yuden 8X and 16X minus. The 8X is preferred, at least by me. The Verbatim discs are also popular.

For your archiving, many old choices are still good. I use TMPGEnc Encoder fairly often. A lot will depend on what method you use to 'capture'. I have a ADVC-100 that captures to DV-AVI. It's easy to edit, but those type hardware converters are pricey. There are also some other units that capture directly to MPEG format. One of the Hauppauge video cards is one method to look into.

For pictures to DVD, just about any burning program can do that. Nero, or the freeware ImgBurn can do DVD data discs. If you want slideshow DVDs, we have some in our 'Tools' section to the left.

For editing MPEGs, VideoReDo or MPEG-VCR are very economical and popular. There are other MPEG editors, depending on what you want to do and how much you want to pay.

That may get you started. Just keep asking and others may give you some better info.

And welcome back to our forums.