Digital 8 to DVD

[adestin]

I have a dozen or so Digital 8 tapes I would like to convert to DVD (assume MPEG2) that would play as video files on my DVD Player. I previously had an HP Movie Writer that worked brilliantly as a one stop solution (capture, encoder, burn). That device no longer works. Is there a one stop solution out there? I have attempted Roxio Creator 10 (Plug and Burn), but I couldn't even get the software to work. I attempted DVD Flick (albeit a 2-step process using an AVI file), but the DVD wouldn't play on the DVD Player. If there is no good one stop solution, I would be interested in what is recommended to 1) capture, 2) encode and 3) burn to DVD.

[guns1inger]

but the DVD wouldn't play on the DVD Player

Why not ? DVD Flick is a pretty good program, although I prefer FAVC myself. The output of both is a DVD compliant structure, so if it didn't play I would be looking at your burning process and/or your media.

I wouldn't be trusting memories to the likes of Roxio et al.

What format are the videos currently in ?

[adestin]

but the DVD wouldn't play on the DVD Player

Why not ? DVD Flick is a pretty good program, although I prefer FAVC myself. The output of both is a DVD compliant structure, so if it didn't play I would be looking at your burning process and/or your media.

I wouldn't be trusting memories to the likes of Roxio et al.

What format are the videos currently in ?

With DVD Flick, I did not check the "Force MPEG-2 recompression" prior to the burn phase. Should I have done that to ensure play on my DVD Player? The DVD did burn and plays on my computer (and the video is of excellent quality), but won't play on the DVD Player. I have captured one of the tapes as an AVI file. The others are still just tapes. Is it best to capture the tapes as an AVI file? Ideally it would be nice to capture directly as an MPEG2 and avoid the encoding, which would save a lot of time. Suggestions?

[guns1inger]

It depends on how you are capturing. if you are using a Digital 8 camera and outputting through firewire, you will get better quality transferring the avi to your computer, then encoding. Encoding on the fly reduces your options and can adversely affect quality.

If you have mpeg files already, demux them with DGIndex, then author with GUIForDVDAuthor, and burn with Imgburn. All free, all good. No need to re-encode or recompress.

[adestin]

Thanks. I will try FAVC. I'm seeing mixed comments that capturing as an AVI file vs. MPEG2 file buys me anything in quality. I'm not going to be doing any editing. My new hard drive Camcorder does a nice job of burning straight to DVD. I guess if there's nothing out there that can duplicate that one step process (capture/burn) for my Dig8 to DVD conversion, I'll go with the multi-step--capture as AVI, encode and burn. Pretty time consuming unfortunately.

[guns1inger]

If your camcorder as an analogue pass-through then you can probably use it to go direct to disc. Otherwise use a DVD recorder.

If you need to do any editing first however, DV avi is a much simpler path.

[algus]

I would suggest using a video transfer service for analog tapes like hi-8 and vhs-c. The costs for video transfers have come down a lot and some like StashSpace ($6.95 per tape) even let you edit online or get back the digitized files on a portable hard drive.

[freebird73717]

Looking for a little free advertising algus?

[lgh529]

I would suggest using a video transfer service for analog tapes like hi-8 and vhs-c.

He said that it was Digital 8. Digital 8 isn't analog. (hence the name "digital")

[edDV]

Digital8 from IEEE-1394 is identical to MiniDV. It is DV format.

Real time encoding while capturing is always inferior to the two step process but if you are happy with the quality, go ahead and author.