Mini-DV camera, to .wmv file, now how to get to DVD?????

[gsellis]

Originally posted by: redgtxdi
OK, so I tried DVDSanta and while it did *do* the job, it didn't handle the video/audio very well. The sound was full of flickers and the video frame rate got worse as the video went on.

Soooooooo.......

I tried to conver the .wmv file and it seemed to do that well. But since the .wmv file was only about 400mb long, I decided to let Windows Movie Maker create a DV-AVI file and then let DVDSanta convert the file. As a DV-AVI file it was a little over 5GB (YEOOOWWW!!!).

DVDSanta's doing the conversoin right now. It's 16 minutes into it with 12 minutes left to go.

I dunno if a more powerful system could do it better on the fly. The machine I'm doing it on.....(only 'cuz it's the only one with a firewire port)........

Celery 2.4
512mb
200gb 7,200rpm HD
ATI 7500 AIW card

I have an extra P4 2.8Ghz layin' around I could throw in, but I dunno if that would allow this system to do it on the fly or if it's just a prob w/ the software. (shrug)

DV-AVI is about 13GB/hr of video. That is why I have 1TB+ on my editor. And yes, encoding takes awhile. It would take about 6 hours for my similar machine to yours to encode a 1.5 hr DVD. I did a encode and burn, single pass, on my workstation last night inside Avid Liquid for 1.5 hrs of material. It took 2 hrs. With lots of horsepower and a good encoder, good quality can run faster than real-time (30 frames in less than a second). But at Best quality, dual pass, variable bit rate, even my workstation takes about 5 hrs for 1.5 hrs of material (that is VBR avg 8200kbps (peak 8500) with AC3 Dolby Digital).

Now you have discovered the one thing that really still taxes even modern computers above and beyond new games

 

[redgtxdi]

Yes! DEFINITELY taxing!!!! So I won't blame the poor Celery 2.4 for not keepin' up! (Though I may still try & throw that P4/2.8Ghz in there for sh*ts & giggles). Just that it's a "cube" system so it's really had to reach in there & a PITA to change the CPU especially.


Anyway, here's what I ended up having success with.......

#1.) Capture as DV-AVI in WMM. (Pathetic maybe but at least WMM is pretty simple)

#2.) Use DVDSAnta to author DVD format. (DVDSanta will capture, but it gave me pretty gnarly video fps problems, audio problems and even A/V alignment probs so I'm just using it for the authoring which it seems to do well)

#3.) Burn using Nero 6.........(Started using 5.5, but burned one +RW disc, then made coasters out of 2 more +R discs so shined it & installed a Nero 6 disc I had layin' around & all burned well after that. And again here.......DVDSanta can burn, but made INSTANT coasters, so no more DVDSanta for burning either.)

It's a bit of a long process, but seems to work anyway. I actually enjoy using Nero to burn and since it's a separate step, I'd rather have Nero handle it anyway..........(And, yes, I've heard the horror stories of Nero 7 so 6 is gonna be my keeper until they come out with a better one.)

If I could combine steps 1 & 2 that'd be great, but at least I've got something that's working right now, so that's cool.

Of course, I've also considered the REEEEAAALLLY sure option...............Buy a DVD recorder and do as follows..........

#1.) Plus in DV camera
#2.) Press record
#3.) Done?

 

[AnitaPeterson]

I would use Canopus Procoder, but please give VSO Divx to DVD a try...

 

[Paladin]

I use WinDV for all video capturing. It's a very light weight, free capturing utility, and easy to use. I would recommend it over WMM when capturing to AVI.

Then, use TMPGEnc 4.0. It's a very high quality encoder, very easy to use. Someone mentioned above that it's difficult, but it's not. The older 2.5 version was a little. 4.0 also has native AC3 (Dolby Digital 2.0) encoding for the audio. I use 2 pass VBR encoding in 16x9 wide screen format (my Sony HC40 shoots in 16x9), and the results are fantastic. download the demo and try it out.

Then, I use TMPG DVD Author 1.6 to author the DVD. Make chapters, all things pretty. It then also does the burning, and has dual layer support. There's a newer 2.0 out now. Download the demo and try it out.

 

[gsellis]

Originally posted by: KevinC
Then, use TMPGEnc 4.0. It's a very high quality encoder, very easy to use. Someone mentioned above that it's diffecult, but it's not. The older 2.5 version was a little. 4.0 also has native AC3 (Dolby Digital 2.0) encoding for the audio. I use 2 pass VBR encoding in 16x9 wide screen format (my Sony HC40 shoots in 16x9), and the results are fantastic. download the demo and try it out.

Then, I use TMPG DVD Author 1.6 to author the DVD. Make chapters, all things pretty. It then also does the burning, and has dual layer support. There's a newer 2.0 out now. Download the demo and try it out.

I usually use Tsunami 3.x and MediaChance DVD-Lab. Both have 30 day fully functional trials. DVD-Lab is overkill for what you may want to do. I was thinking Nero Recode can do menus too, so with a DV-AVI, you might be able to author fully in Nero (no AC3?)