New to DV, I have several questions.....

[Jensen]

Im very new to dv, I just bought a Mini Dv camcorder. I assume dv and mini dv are the same format just different size tape? Do I need a capture card if I already have Firewire ports on my pc? If you take your 90mins of Lp but dont store it on a mini-dv and convert it into a dvd format, do you lose quality as well? I am looking for a program that is a application for capturing videos from DV device (camcorder) into AVI-files for Win Vista. Also can anyone recommend a (free ware) dv editor for Win Vista? I havent been able to find one anywhere. I was looking at the ones you pay for, avs makes software that can do this, not cheap though. Any help would be great!

Thanks

Jensen

[CogoSWSDS]

I haven't worked with Vista, but you might try WinDV for transferring video from you MiniDV to the computer over firewire. You'll need a firewire cable (sony calls firewire "iLink") to connect the camera to your computer.

I'm thinking that Windows Movie Maker comes with Vista, but I'm not sure. You can use that to edit and save out to an AVI, then TMPGEnc to convert to MPEG-2, Aften or FFMpegGUI to make AC3 audio, and author with GUI For DVDAuthor or DVDAuthorGUI. Out of all of these, only TMPGEnc is a commercial package. TMPGEnc Plus 2.5 is about $40. It's a slow encoder, but does a good job.

Personally, I edit with VirtualDub and AviSynth, but Windows Movie Maker is a bit more user friendly.

Or, use Windows Movie Maker, then feed that to a program like ConvertXtoDVD (or the older DivXToDVD) which should convert it all in one step and give you a simple menu.

Note: Windows Movie Maker outputs DV video as type 1 DV. Does anyone know if ConvertXtoDVD/DivXtoDVD can handle type 1 DV, or do they require type 2 DV?

CogoSWSDS

[thecoalman]

If you take your 90mins of Lp but dont store it on a mini-dv and convert it into a dvd format, do you lose quality as well?

First don't use LP mode on a mini-DV cam. This may render the tapes unplayable on other cams and possibly even on the cam that it was recorded on.

Secondly when you transfer the footage over fire wire this is an exact copy of what is on the tape, there is no degradation in quality. If you convert it to anything you will lose quality, how much depends on what you're converting it to.

I the tapes are important family events and other things do yourself a favor and keep your tapes, don't ever copy over them. Tapes are cheap. You may want to also consider either getting a external drive(s) so you have two copies or export the files back to the cam to another tape. At some point in time those tapes are going to become unreadable and in the very disatant future there won't be any devices to play them. Having a copy on some other medium than tape is important.

[Jensen]

CogoSWSDS-
Yes vista has the movie maker, but I havent used it because of my M$ phobia... I have used several other avi-dvd proggys like dvdflick, favc, Avidemux. Ofcourse that was back on Xp. Favc and flick also work on Vista, but Favc has the menu author all-in-one. It uses avisynth asswell. Convertxtodvd is the one I havent heard of or seen. I should try the others aswell now that the my area of editing is growing from just converting and putting a dvd-menu on and burning. Thank you for your advice

thecoalman-
what tapes do you recommend and at what price range? I do have external hdd, and do plan on backing them up. Thank you for your advice


What is the difference between Dv-avi and Avi?

[redwudz]

DV AVI = DV. Just different terminology for the same format. DV is essentially the same framesize, framerate as MPEG-2 for DVD, which helps when converting to MPEG-2 DVD compatible video. And DV has a advantage over some AVI type formats in that every frame is a keyframe, so frame accurate editing is very easy. Even easier than MPEG-2. I use VirtualDub or VDM most times for editing. It's not fancy, but it works well, even on Vista. I've tried WMM a few times and Windows DVD Maker once with my Vista computers. I would still rather use the individual programs, freeware most times. But for quick and easy, ConvertXToDVD is also well worth having.

The more you understand about the whole process, editing, conversion, authoring and burning, you may find that the program used, payware or freeware, isn't that important, it's what you do with it.

[JohnnyMalaria]

Jensen - with Vista, just plug the camcorder into your FireWire port, turn it on and a little menu will pop up offering options. One is to import the video from the camcorder. That's it! For straightforward importing, you really don't need any third-party tool(s).

You can then use Vista's built-in Windows Movie Maker (as mentioned by others). It really isn't a bad program. I use it when I need to do something quickly. And Windows DVD Maker lets you create DVDs. It supports some menu capability but not to any great extent and it is rather slow at creating the DVD image.

Nevertheless, all the tools already exist with Vista. You can play with them, get a sense of what they can and cannot do and then use that knowledge to decide what you might want in a third-party application.

[thecoalman]

what tapes do you recommend and at what price range?

I don''t have any recommendations, never really researched tape quality and haven't seen anything mentioned by others. EdDV the resident DV guru might have some suggestions if he sees this thread. Last time I bought them I picked up about 30 JVC tapes and haven't had any issues with them.

[Jensen]

I'll start out by saying I know now that I have found the right forum for dv related questions and learning. Isn't it funny how different forums fit certain needs?

I did use WMM, and it'd worked fine. I'm trying to figure out what more I need or am missing with that program. I was able to take video of my sons birth and piece a movie together with titles and credits, music playing in the background. What am I missing out on? Im going to try convertxtodvd when I get the chance.

Thanks to all that replied!!!

Jensen

[JohnnyMalaria]

I'll start out by saying I know now that I have found the right forum for dv related questions and learning. Isn't it funny how different forums fit certain needs?

I did use WMM, and it'd worked fine. I'm trying to figure out what more I need or am missing with that program. I was able to take video of my sons birth and piece a movie together with titles and credits, music playing in the background. What am I missing out on? Im going to try convertxtodvd when I get the chance.

Thanks to all that replied!!!

Jensen

From you description it seems WMM is exactly what you need - are you happy with the results or is there anything that *you* think is missing?

Since you are on Vista, you might as well give Windows DVD Maker a try - it, too, might fit the bill.

What an exciting reason to be doing this - congratulations!

[Jensen]

Thanks !

I did use WDM Just because it wanted to, I dont know how to it any other way with this prog. I think theres only so much you can do with the birthing video. So when I start to really try to get complicated you'll see me on here alot lol


Jensen

[Jensen]

One more question for now, if for 1 hr .dv captured on a hdd is 13Gb, what is the conversion ratio to dvd? For instance how much .dv (in hrs) fits on a dvd?

[Jim44]

Depends on what bitrate you use to encode the video. Higher bitrate typically is better quality, but results in less runtime on the DVD.

Jim

[gadgetguy]

Do you mean how much DV fits on a DVD? About 20 minutes and is storage only. It will not play on a standard DVD player.

If you mean converted to DVD spec Mpg2, that depends entirely on the content of the video. The file size of the video is determined by the duration times the bitrate and the content will determine the bitrate required to maintain quality. Most home video does not compress well so higher bitrates are required, resulting in shorter durations. But even at high bitrates you should be able to fit between 1 - 1.5 hours on a single layer DVD.

[Jensen]

Right, I was interested in both I guess. I assume when you use a program like WMM would capture the dv and then you edit it with scene transitions and what not, then it encodes for dvd. (Correct???) Does it burn to an Iso first? So that I dont have to use WDM and I can use imgburn instead?

[gadgetguy]

Sorry, I don't use WMM, so I don't know it's capabilities. But imgburn no longer requires an iso. It can take the Video_TS and Audio_TS file structure and properly burn directly to DVD.

[edDV]

Right, I was interested in both I guess. I assume when you use a program like WMM would capture the dv and then you edit it with scene transitions and what not, then it encodes for dvd. (Correct???) Does it burn to an Iso first? So that I dont have to use WDM and I can use imgburn instead?

WMM will capture DV and allows you to export in DV (in the "other" export selection) but it won't do the MPeg2 encode. You will need a separate encoding/authoring program such a ULead Movie Factory.

Windows Vista Premium and Ultimate include a DVD authoring tool called DVDMaker but it is very strangely implemented and seems very slow in performance. You are better off buying a separte DVD authoring solution.

[MJA]

[quote="what tapes do you recommend and at what price range? I do have external hdd, and do plan on backing them up. Thank you for your advice[/quote]


stick with one brand. I'm a Panasonic fan when it comes to miniDV tapes.

[Jensen]

So then there are no freeware versions that encode from dv to dvd?

[MJA]

try the old free DivXtoDVD 0.5.2.but its not good like the newone.(look under other info)

[redwudz]

I haven't tried them for this, but some of the freeware all-in-one converters like FAVC or DIKO or DVDFlick or similar may work for easy conversion of your edited DV to DVD.

[Jensen]

I use dvdflick and favc but not for dv, Ill try it later then.