I hope this is in the right forum, I saw no forums mention anything about dvd-ram. My new camcorder records onto dvd-ram discs, and I'm having trouble figuring out how to get the video onto the computer and into a format that can be edited (add music, cut up sections, etc). I'm not very computer literate, and my Dell was given to me by someone just to use for school. I was given a disc with video editing software on it, but got a message about not finding ATI card so I couldn't install the software. I bought an external dvd-ram drive to be able to get the footage onto our computer, but I tried downloading FlaskMPEG and it won't open the footage off of the dvd-ram disc (it's supposed to be capable of converting dvd format into a format that can be edited). Obviously I'm lost at this point. j If anyone has any suggestions to get me in the right direction I'd appreciate it. The camcorder was in perfect shape, and was a return so it was marked down to $150 (all I had to do was buy the battery and charger). I thought that dvd format would be easier than mini-dv format but obviously I was wrong. I'm glad I can easily write over what I've recorded quickly and easily while filming with the camcorder (with the dvd-ram discs) but getting the footage on the computer, and being able to edit, add music, etc. has me totally lost.
Had a quick web surf and found this link which has some interesting info on DVD-ram and converting files etc. See how you go. http://www.btinternet.com/~james_lancaster/ramtor.HTML Cheers.
Thanks a lot, I appreciate your help. On another forum (I think it was camcorderinfo.com forums) I found that many people with my camera like a program called Womble to edit their footage. I'm currently playing with the 30-day free trial, but this site you found answers a lot of questions for me. I owe you one.
dk4130, I too have a camcorder that records to DVD-Ram and DVD-r disc, worse mistake of me life!!!! Because the camcorder records in mpeg it is hard to edit the footage. I tried the womble program a while back and I can't fully remember but it had either spywear or a virus (sorry can't remember) also it was crappy. The camera should come with software, you will need it to get the movie off the camera, it can only be moved off via USB. My Hitachi records in a VR format on the DVD-Ram, something like that. The software allows you to see the camera sort of like a drive (the camera get allocated a drive letter). So find the softare that came with the camera. Once you get the mpeg off the camera, I most of the time use Ulead Video Studio (it's up to version 10), it is not a bad program. It will take you a little while to get to know but it is quite good. Forget the capture tab in the program it won't work for the DVD-Ram. What I did last christmas, was to record to a DVD-R 8cm disc and finalise the disc and just put it straight into my DVD player, unfortunately you can't have transitions and the like. When I canafford it I will drop the camera and tell my wife we need a new one. I will definately go back to tape (records in avi, easy to edit and is lossless). Hope this helps. Oh bye the way forget the hard drive camcorders as well, most record/encode to mpeg as well. M
http://tmpgenc.pegasys-inc.com/en/product/tme20_feature.html I use this software to edit mpegs. There is a time trial available, so give it a try before you give up.
hey dk4130! incase you are still struggling with getting your DVD-Ram footage off your camcoder, here is the easiest way: 1) Make a directory on your hard drive to contain your movie file. 2) Copy VR_MOVIE.VRO from your RAM DVD disk into this directory. 3) In your new directory, rename VR_MOVIE.VRO to VR_MOVIE.MPG and you will have mpg file now, if you are having probs with sound, you will need to get: AC-3 Codec. good luck
I actually bought the camcorder from Best Buy for $150 (it was a return). It had no manual, battery, software, or anything with it (except the round case that the dvd-ram disc fits into before being put into the camcorder drive). However, the external Sony dvd-ram drive I bought came with software, and with that I'm able to watch what's on the discs. From playing with the Womble editor, it seems like it will do everything I need. To edit what was on the ram disc, I didn't have to save the file as a .mpg on the computer. I just opened the video footage from the ram disc in my external drive and began editing it. I haven't played with it much, but so far it seems like it will work fine.
@dk4130, Thats great that you can get the mpeg off the disc. Correct me if i'm wrong but Womble will only trim or cut the clip it doesn't add transitions or titles. That where a NLE (non linear editor) comes in, as I said try Ulead Video Studio and there is another that will handle mpeg, it might be Vegas not sure. @onya, Don't tell me youv'e never pulled the wool over your partners eyes??? LOL @vadimo, Thanks for the tip!! M
As far as I've played around with Womble, I believe it does have some effects (if that's what you mean by transitions, I'm new to this so I'm not positive if that's what you mean). There are pre-set effects that can be used, but I haven't tried them because I have yet to really shoot much footage. I have so far only played with cutting up clips, and adding music (which was my main purpose for getting a camcorder to begin with). I'm pretty sure Womble adds titles also, but again, I got a 30-day version of the MVW, not the MVW-DVD so they may be different.
@dk4130, I take your word for it, I used it a while back and i'm sure the version I had only cut and trimmed mpeg. Maybe they have progressed with the program. I maght have a quick look at it again. M
