Can you use dvd shrink to shrink the dv-avi files from the mini dv of my camcorder so that it can be reauthored to DVDR? Also can someone explain if Nero can do this? thanks in advance.
No, you cannot. DVDshrink can only recompress MPEG-2. To convert AVI to MPEG you need an encoder. Read this: http://www.digitalvideoclub.com/basics/encoding.php Nero VisionExpress contains such an encoder, so yes, you can use that.
Tpfkas, thank you, now one more question. I have captured the video with Nero, because it seems to give better quality than my trial of Ulead Movie Factory4, but it is huge files, like 77 mb for every 20 seconds. I read the encoding section of your website, but dont feel like waiting several hours using Tmpeng xpress (sp?). Is ther any quicker way to encode them so they fit on one dvd-r, can i use moviefactory4 to do this? thanks in advance
Sorry let me be more clear. I captured using nero to the DV-avi format, not automatically to mpeg-2 (dvd) format. Is there a way to convert to mpeg 2 from dv-avi without losing the excellent quality it was captured with, thanks in advance.
There is no difference in quality of transferred video between programs: to DV-AVI is digital transfer, no capturing. The video/aduio will take around 13GB per hour. You can use any program you like to convert to MPEG-2, but because of the nature of the process it will take time. In general, a faster encoding is reached by sacrifying quality. Anyway, when compressing your DV-AVI to MPEG-2 you will loose quality, but if it is done with a good encode you will not not see much difference during normal playback. It is your choice: be patient or settle for low quality...