Ok here we go. I dont know the first thing about video editing or encoding or anything. I have a Sony DCR-TRV33, it comes with image station software, i use that software to download my miniDV to my harddrive using USB connection thatcame with the camera. (it is not firewire) now an hour of tape is equal close to 3 GB's in MPEG format. I need to burn that to DVD, i have a 4X dvd writer, my Nero says i need a plug in to burn it, but my friends say i need to convert it to MPEG2? any help would be nice, or a link to a tutorial, thanks!
you are using the usb streaming feature. the camera compresses this with mpeg to let it fit the limited data throughput of usb. if this is what you want, then you don't need to recompress it. this mode is mainly for webcams, web streaming, etc.-- lower bandwidth type of usage. This will not play in a dvd player. if you really want the resolution of your miniDV, you need to use the firewire(aka ilink, ieee1394) cable (4 pin to 6 pin) to download. 1 hour will require ~12 gb of hard drive. your computer needs a firewire card. I don't know the image station software, I currently use pinnacle studio8 and it will edit and then write to dvd. In writing to dvd, it converts the avi from the tape to mpeg2 in dvd format(vob, ifo, bup). This rendering process is slow. Other programs will do it also ( i have used mgi videowave(now roxio) with success) Most dvd editing/authoring suites are less than $100 with the occasional sale. I got pinnacle studio8 for $20 at circuit city. vegas video by sony is supposed to be really nice, but it is $400.
ok thanks for the info, so basically i need to buy a firewire PCI card, connect that to my computer and download the image to my hard drive. Then once i have a MPEG2, what program do i use to burn to DVD? NERO? i also have ULEAD studios, i dunno if that will burn tho, but i know it does video editing! thanks again!
Also sorry, i have another question, u said that 1 hour of miniDV would be roughly 12 GB's... how do i get 1 hour of tape on one DVD-R when they r only 4.7GB? i was plannin on fittin at least 2 hours of miniDV per blank DVD-R.???
check out the quote from my previous post. the rendering process converts the 12 gb to fit a dvd. Ulead should burn a dvd. you can also write to the hdd and let nero do the burn if you want.
im still having problems, i got vegas 4.0 now, and i gto the firewire card, i can capture as an avi file, but when i try to render as it is grayed out so i cant choose it... how can i convert it to mpeg2? or any other format in which i can burn to DVD?, i also have ulead visual studios 6 SE DVD if any1 knows how to use it, thanks
