How involved is it to take footage from mindv and put it on DVDs?

Is the process pretty involved? Do I need to purchase additional software to edit footage and convert it to a playable dvd format (on a home dvd player)??? Or does the camera come with software that will do this???

Sucks that you can not demo this aspect at the store. And I don't really trust the sales clerks to give me accurate info.

I create DVD's from MiniDV or Digital8 camcorders using this basic method:

1. Transfer my video data from my camcorder to my computer as DV-AVI files via Firewire which is also called i.Link or IEEE 1394. Because various software can "encode" your video to various undesired formats it is best to transfer the video in its highest quality which is DV-AVI. I use WinDV to do the transfer it can be downloaded at: http://windv.mourek.cz/ or another utility that works well is DVIO: http://www.carr-engineering.com/dvio.htm . Both programs are small and free.

2. Edit the .AVI file in editor as desired. I have used a variety of editors from Windows Movie Maker to Sony Vegas 5.

3. Save edited file as a DV AVI file when finished editing.

4. Import the edited .AVI file to a DVD Authoring program (which encodes .AVI to MPEG-2, makes menus, creates file structures then writes DVD).

There can be some slight variations on the above.

DV AVI files are approximately 220 MB per minute or 13 GB per hour.

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Software - There is a variety of software available for editing video and/or creating DVD menus and authoring DVD's. If you want a good editing package which will do everything above I would seriously consider, Adobe Premiere Elements 2.0, Sony Vegas Movie Studio + DVD, Sony Vegas Movie Studio+DVD Platinum Edition or Ulead VideoStudio 10. They are reasonably priced, have good support forums and there have been many people here who have used them with good results. Here is a List of Video Editing Software which I periodically update.

Dennis Vogel has also written a good DVD tutorial which goes into more depth of DVD creation.

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Another method to create DVD's from a MiniDV camcorder is to output or play the video to an appropiate standalone DVD recorder. (Have never done this, but others have). There are some other explanations in these two seperate posts by DaveC:

Thread: MiniDV or DVD camcorder? View Single Post

Thread: Digitizing Direct To DVD - LiteOn 5005 View Single Post

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Rich

Ok for a seamles way to do this you need to cover all the bases.

1) Computer: you need something that's powerful enough to handle all the 'RENDERING'. that means edited FRAMES of footage will need to be DRAWN ('rendered') to either AVI or Mpeg2 (the default DVD compressed movie format). Normally this means having at least a 1.6 or 1.8Ghz computer with at least 512meg RAM. You'd also need a reliable DVD-R/W writer that can do DVD-R and DVD+R and DVD-R/W formats like the Sony DRU-710A. It should also come with a rudimentary BURNER software. This software is used for burning the DVD. The best one out there is NERO 6.0. It should be also be able to handle hopefully the 8.5Gig Dual layer DVD-/+R disks. You need a big HD like 120 gig and ideal is 200gig and up with the first HD around 60 or 80 gig. Preferably TWO HD's, one for all your programs (applications) and OS, and another for all the video footage use ONLY. Look for at least ATA/166 or SATA type of drives with at least 7200 rpm if you can afford SCSI drives use them. You also would need Firewire 1394 and USB2.0 support for some camcorders. Then there is the issue of video card. Most NLE (non-linear editing) software now support 'hardware accelerated' OpenGL transition effects so you need at least a GeForceFX 5200 or an ATI Radeon. A good souncard is a must too like Audigy 2 or Turtle beach Catalina or Santa Cruz.

2) DVD player: The DVD player you need SHOULD be able to specifically say it can play DVD-R and DVD+R disks made from a computer. If your DVD player is older, the DVD you made on your computer may SKIP,REFUSE to PLAY or PLAY only in PARTS.

3) NLE software: This is the actual software you use for editing for imported footage. Most NLE's can import via Firewire directly while others need a dedicated video capture card/device. Pinnacle Studio 9, Ulead VideoStudio,Premiere and Vegas 5.0 are some examples.

4) DVD Authoring software; This is the software you use for making your DVD. This means you sue this software for making DVD MENUs like SCENE SELECTIONS and for making still photo libaries stored on the disk. This is different from a DVD BURNER software although SOME DVD auhtoring software do BURN DVD's for your directly. MOst people prefer to BURN DVD-R/+R using a burner software than let a DVD Authoring do it because its safer. MOst famous of this is Sony's DVD Architect 2.0.

5) DVD media: Now this is where things gets interesting. The DVD media you use (meaning BRAND) CAN affect the compatibility of your BURNED DVD but not always. This is where you need to test things out and stick with either the recommended MEDIA by your DVD BURNER manufacturer.

No most camcorders will not include a NLE or a DVD auhtoring software BUT most DVD BURNERS are bundled with some BASIC CD/DVD burner software. The software included in most camcorders are either really basic NLEs or for DIGITAL STILL PHOTO capture and use only.

Your basic worflow for this is as follows:

1) Capture footage via firewire into computer, it will be saved as uncompressed DV in AVI format.

2) Edit footage in NLE using transition effects.

3) RENDER the edited footage to either AVI or MPEG2.

4) Import the edited AVI or MPEG2 footage in your DVD authoring software and either CREATE PROJECT files or directly BURN it on a DVD-/+R

5) Some people prefer to just CREATE PROJECT and actually BURN the DVD-/+R using a BURNER software like NERO.

6) Play the DVD on your DVD player.

I hope that clarifies the issue.

PS: Sorry Rich I didn't know you replied too

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-Arnold

That is OK. There is nothing wrong with getting two or more opinions. And both opinions seem to be about the same, more detail in some areas, but that is good.

Rich

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shouldn't this be made STICKY somewhere? This question is bound to come up again

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-Arnold

Good idea VisContCreatr. I am sometimes against Sticky's when they end up running way off topic or there are just too many of them but it looks like there is room for them in the "Consumer Computer Digital Video" which is appropriate by its definition; "Computer video editing, computer video, digital video on the desktop issues. Talk, get your questions answered and get the latest info."


Rich

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I would like to really thank poncho and VisContCreatr.
Especially poncho!!! (He as answered a couple of the other treads I have posted)

In some ways things used to seem easier with camcorders (or maybe we are trying to do allot more wth them now).
I am sticking to my purchase of the Sony DRC-PC109 and the minidv format...
The hardware and burning software I am very well versed in... It's taking the file (already copied to the harddrive) editing it, creating menus and what not and converting it to a DVD format (I take it that the format is the vob one)...
Reason I am leary is because I have played with Photoshop, and as most can tell you, for someone just playing around with the software, it's very user intimidating... I just hope the process is not like trying to use Photoshop.

Anyone have any walkthroughs using trailware???
Thanks again.

Using camcorders now in many ways is easier than it ever has been. The "easy mode" on many cameras allow us to just aim and shoot. Image stabilization evolved into many inexpensive camcorders. There was a time when shooting "home movies" there was no automatic exposure and focus. How many camcorder users today even know what an exposure meter is? Going back even further there was no zoom lens and even further back there were no batteries, some cameras were driven by spring motors you wound up. In the 60's "home movies" were typically 8mm or Super 8 film which gave you about three minutes of silent movies which you then sent off for development and played back in a dark room with a movie projector. Three minutes of movies ran about $15 for film and development (consider the cost of living 35 to 40 years ago) Camcorders have gotten smaller and lighter. The use of Lithium-Ion batteries carry more energy with less weight and size than Ni-Cad's (The batteries for my 1991 Canon A-1 video recorder weight more and take up more space than my whole Sony DCR-HC40). So what you get today is easier, cheaper, smaller and lighter than X number of years ago.

I know what you mean about Photoshop even though I don't think I have ever used it. I have been using Paint Shop Pro since it came out, I think I have Version 6 and have saved several hundred dollars by not upgrading it all these years.

Computers are cheaper and faster than they have ever been. I put a 250 Gb hard drive in my system a few months ago which cost about $120. The same capacity (if it had existed) in the late 80's, early 90's would have cost a bit over a million dollars.

The ability to shoot video, look at it instantly, load it onto a computer, edit it and play it back quickly, make DVD's, watch it on a TV in your living room without dragging out the movie projector, projection screen and making the room dark enough so you can see the movie is fantastic. So for me just about any video I shoot is enjoyable for me and the family. One custom that has changed has been the gathering around a dark room to watch three minute "home movies" and eating popcorn. Watch three minutes, rewind the film, load the next reel. There were those who complained about the process and there were those who learned how to do "Linear Editing" by splicing 50 foot reels of film onto 400 foot reels which then gave you the possibility of about 24 minutes of non-stop silent action.


Rich

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If you can transfer video from your camcorder to computer via Firewire then the actual editing of the file can be the next hurdle for some people. Learning the editing process does take time. I have seen one user who did the entire process in one day. I have seen many messages where people slave on one big project for days or weeks only to find a problem (or many problems) that prevents them from completing a DVD. Start with a short 5 or 10 minute project and write to RW DVD's so you don't waste a lot of time and DVD's. You don't have to spend hours trying every title and effect possible to see if you can even create a DVD (equipment and software problems can exist)

If you have Windows XP you already have Windows Movie Maker (WMM) on your system. Load some of your video (in DV-AVI format) into WMM and play around with it. You can edit, add titles and effects. You can save it as DV-AVI or save it in compressed mode. Do some test editing and render/encode some test files. If you have any doubts of the capabilities of WMM you might want to spend some time reading through www.papajohn.org who is pretty much the Movie Maker expert and look at some of the possibilities. One big obstacle with WMM is that it does not write create DVD menus or write DVD's it is only a NLE (Non Linear Editor). You would have to buy a DVD authoring program and there are several but you could spend a lot of time and money trying everything out. Yes, there are probably absolutely free software which would allow you to do the whole process but is not as simple as the two suites below.

The only trial-ware that I have used which will take you through the whole process is Cyberlink PowerDirector Which has a free 30 trial and is about $80. Like most trial programs there are limits and features blocked. The one limit I recall is that it will only write a 20 minute video but you can go through the whole process and create a DVD. Use a RW DVD and practice

I was about to buy PowerDirector when Sony Vegas Movie Studio + DVD was announced. It also has a free 30 trial but will not write a DVD, you can edit and save as DV-AVI files. It can be bought under $100. I think it is a great deal.

I do not recall off-hand any good walk through.

Rich

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Trailware? That's a new one to me.

Anyway, check my DVD Tutorial for what's involved in making a DVD: http://patmedia.net/dennisvogel.

Good luck.

Dennis

the original question was "how involved is it to make a DVD?"

I would just like to say that a good answer is "as involved as you want it to be." You can get software that will capture the video from your camera, edit it, slap a menu on it, and burn a DVD all in one solution. but you can also get chroma keying (green screen), multiple video tracks, multiple audio/music tracks, dolby digital 5.1 surround, special effects, etc from higher end solutions and using multiple packages.

I am not disagreeing at all with any of the above posts, they are right on, but for the PC-no-so-friendly crowd I would like to point out that it can be rather simple with the right software- you may compromise on the final product a bit quality wise, but it can be done.

basics- any reasonably new PC will work, my two year old basic bare bones dell (after installing a firewire card and DVD burner) worked well enough to make simple DVDs. sure, my newer machine with multiple hard drives and more memory, faster chip, etc. works better, but you don't need the latest and greatest.

most dvd writers come with some basic software, I know roxio has a DVD builder that came with my plextor dvd drive that is very user friendly, and is a great all-in-one that will do editing, menus, chapters, and output decent quality DVDs. you can't customize it too much, but for the simple user it works great.

pinnacle studio is another all-in-one solution as well as the others mentioned here. it's what I use, and the newer patches are finally starting to make this a more stable product (I use 9.3.5).

I'm trying to set up my local elementary school with a camera and computer to do some basic editing. Already have the computer (iBook G4 with iPhoto, iMovie and iDVD, since all middle school kids in Maine have iBooks, I figured I'd stick with what they will need to know in the future). Now I need the camera. I'm leaning to the Elura 85 or 90, and need to know a couple of things.

1. How easy is it to transfer onto a mac? It has firewire, a good sized drive and all the other stuff.

2. When using the video for claymation (a project the school is interested in undertaking) which is a good one? I think they can do that with a plain camera too, but am not sure.

Any help with final details would be great. Thanks.

I've never done it. From what I have read seems to be no problem. Apple invented/developed Firewire.

There was no direct way to shoot a video frame-by-frame with most camcorders. You can run a continuos video and select frames in an editor or run the video straight to a computer with software to grab every "Nth" frame or other "frame-grabbing" software. I'm not trying to chase you away but there is an excellent forum at stopmotionanimation.com . Look at this thread Subject: "Newbie Guide Chapter 6: Choosing a Camera for Stop-motion":

http://www.stopmotionanimation.com/...mesg_id=4&page=

Rich

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is there any way to put a project back onto a MiniDV tape after video editing?

If you save your video as DV AVI you can write it back to tape. Most editors allow you to what is commonly called Save or Print to Tape.



Rich

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