i know there's a bunch of easy to use programs to make dvds using home video and digital shots; personally, i've been using adobe's encore and the results are pretty good BUT i've got a naive question: when you buy a dvd from, say, amazon, the picture quality is amazing compared to the stuff i create. okay, so i'm using a consumer level digicam but is THAT the single most important factor? also, my digital camera may only produce pictures around 4 megs each but isn't that enough to expect pictures that are very clear? i've been too lazy to really dig into this matter but if anyone who's knowledgeable about creating dvds reads this, i'd appreciate hearing your suggestions for making sharper/clearer dvds. software program? i doubt adobe's encore is to blame. compression? maybe. consumer dvds are about 4.7 gigs; i guess i could try buying a dual layer burner... digital camera: sure but i'm not going to spend thousands on a digicam just to make family dvds.... digital videocamera: this would be my guess and i'm sorry if this is a no-brainer but i may be naively expecting a much better picture on my tv when i play my dvds. mind you, i'm not expecting a blue-ray quality but i was hoping that there's something simple that i'm missing that explains why most home-made dvds have only pretty good picture quality. thanks for any suggestions you may have to produce better quality dvds!
Good studio DVD's start with a high definition, high quality source. It's then resized and encoded to dvd. If you start with a HD video camera, (720p), you're more likely to get impressive DVD, than if your source is SD (Hi8, VHS, or similar)
okay, fair enough. so in your opinion, the source is the single most important factor, right? questions: 1) regarding digital cameras, what resolution do you think is a minumum for achieving excellent picture quality if i were to create a a slideshow to be viewed on a tv? 10 megapixels? 2) can you suggest a decent consumer-level hd video camera? or would you generally agree with this list? http://www.afterdawn.com/hardware/category.cfm/camcorders if not, your personal recommendation please. thank you for your help and if the price tag isn't too high, i'd consider stepping my equipment up to get better results....
For a digital camera - still image > DVD, Don't give too much weight to the MP alone - I would read some reviews and choose one that receives good reviews overall. I've seen excellent results from older, relatively low MP cameras. re: camcorders, I'm unable to recommend a particular model. I would start with some basic reviews, perhaps something like this: http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-camcorders/4321-6500_7-6617259.html and then follow up with some user reviews on Newegg.com or similar.
davexnet, thanks for your input; will follow through. by the way, after a little bit of searching, i'm leaning towards the canon hv30; i understand that it's not anywhere near what the pros use but it is a highdef camcorder and so that alone should help me get better results. also, as a newbie, the price tag ($600) is very appealing...
