If you wanted why not buy a simple DVD recorder they cost about £100 record/ capture the bits you want directly onto it. it can give you at high quality 75 minutes or low quality 4 hours hours no comression no editing no mess fuss or hassle...
How do i get the best quality onto DVD from video capture?
- Thread starter Bateman
- Start date
Loiq,
Wow! Something to think about! As I am new to this whole area I'm airing towards the idea of buying a cheap (but capable) camcorder and then experimenting for a while until I have learn't a little more on the subject!
Thanks for your help.
Wow! Something to think about! As I am new to this whole area I'm airing towards the idea of buying a cheap (but capable) camcorder and then experimenting for a while until I have learn't a little more on the subject!
Thanks for your help.
Just to clarify I meant a stand alone domestic DVD recorder, which would replace your by now aging VHS under the telly. Not a DVD camcorder as I found the buttons on the one I saw where really complex and confusing.
best of luck
best of luck
swebb
Guest
Well Informed
I've registered to an excellent video editing forum.... (http://forum.videohelp.com/) although they seem to be way more advanced than anything i'm likely to need, they are very helpful to those more "amateur" peeps like myself. The forum above will give you all you need to know, and some useful user guides for s/w too.
Basically the advice i've been given to get the best quality home movies is as follows:
1) Use WinDV (freeware) to capture from your camcorder to pc (over firewire)
2) Use whichever editing s/w to Edit footage and render to mpeg 2
3) Use DVD Architect 4 to Author for DVD (create menus, add chapters etc)
4) Use Imgburn 2 (freeware) to burn to DVD
Note: For the VERY best, you should use something like Sony Vegas 7 or Adobe Premiere Pro 2, I've tried both, way too advanced for me, so i dropped back to Powerdirector.
The basic rule of thumb is: The all in one packages that we all try and use, are jack of all trades master of none! To get the best quality we can, use the above for each stage and you are using some of the "masters" for each section.
Don't be put off by WinDV and ImgBurn2 being freeware, from what i can make out, they are VERY highly regarded standalone applications. (small size too)
I've just finished creating my first DVD using the above process (I use Powerdirector 5 as my editing s/w) and the results are noticably better than any of my earlier attempts.
The process is a little more longwinded, but well worth it.
Hope this helps some of you.....
I've registered to an excellent video editing forum.... (http://forum.videohelp.com/) although they seem to be way more advanced than anything i'm likely to need, they are very helpful to those more "amateur" peeps like myself. The forum above will give you all you need to know, and some useful user guides for s/w too.
Basically the advice i've been given to get the best quality home movies is as follows:
1) Use WinDV (freeware) to capture from your camcorder to pc (over firewire)
2) Use whichever editing s/w to Edit footage and render to mpeg 2
3) Use DVD Architect 4 to Author for DVD (create menus, add chapters etc)
4) Use Imgburn 2 (freeware) to burn to DVD
Note: For the VERY best, you should use something like Sony Vegas 7 or Adobe Premiere Pro 2, I've tried both, way too advanced for me, so i dropped back to Powerdirector.
The basic rule of thumb is: The all in one packages that we all try and use, are jack of all trades master of none! To get the best quality we can, use the above for each stage and you are using some of the "masters" for each section.
Don't be put off by WinDV and ImgBurn2 being freeware, from what i can make out, they are VERY highly regarded standalone applications. (small size too)
I've just finished creating my first DVD using the above process (I use Powerdirector 5 as my editing s/w) and the results are noticably better than any of my earlier attempts.
The process is a little more longwinded, but well worth it.
Hope this helps some of you.....
swebb
Guest
Entirely up to you, but i'd be VERY wary of "straight to DVD" camcorders. I'm not 100%, but i believe they mostly compress on the fly and store in mpeg2 format on the DVD. Although you need Mpeg2 encoding to use DVD, i'd be VERY surprised if you were getting a good quality codec in the camcorder.
Plus, you have to remember that by recording straight to DVD, you're going to be showing people "un-edited" footage! Ok, yes, you can load the DVD into your pc, capture , edit etc, then save back to DVD, but it's more likely you'll not bother if already recorded in the correct format.
For the main, i've heard (rumour only, no 1st hand experience) that recording straight to DVD results in quality issues, still the recommended media for digital camcorders is mini-dv tape for the best combination of versatility and quality.
As i said at the start, your choice, but think carefully!!
Good luck.
Fanum
Toubab
I picked up a nice cheap (£67) camcorder on Ebay last week specifically to take the video from a load of Digital 8 tapes I have.
I've imported the videos via firewire (i-link, IEEE1394, it's all the same thing) using Pinnacle Studio 9 as DV (rather than as MPEG4 or 'preview quality, the other two options)
The video quality is exactly the same now it's edited when seen on a TV screen as the raw images are when I plug the camera directly into the TV with the a/v lead.
As everyone's said above, it's the compression that starts degrading the picture.
PS I use Nero to burn mine onto DVDs that can be viewed on a normal DVDplayer
I've imported the videos via firewire (i-link, IEEE1394, it's all the same thing) using Pinnacle Studio 9 as DV (rather than as MPEG4 or 'preview quality, the other two options)
The video quality is exactly the same now it's edited when seen on a TV screen as the raw images are when I plug the camera directly into the TV with the a/v lead.
As everyone's said above, it's the compression that starts degrading the picture.
PS I use Nero to burn mine onto DVDs that can be viewed on a normal DVDplayer
