MadBuffaloDisease Posted February 9, 2005 Share Posted February 9, 2005 Anyone captured their digital video tapes to MPEG-2 and burned them onto DVD's? I'm trying to do that and need to know good affordable software for capturing and making a decent recording. I have the camcorder, digital tapes, firewire card and cable, DVD burner and media. Thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IDBillzFan Posted February 9, 2005 Share Posted February 9, 2005 The easiest software I could find, given that I knew nothing about doing any of this at the time, was Pinnacle Studio (version 9). It's pretty intuitive to use...but I spent about $150 for the software. I found that I needed an external harddrive (Western Digital) to store my captured video because it drained my PCs' harddrive immediately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nervous Guy Posted February 9, 2005 Share Posted February 9, 2005 The easiest software I could find, given that I knew nothing about doing any of this at the time, was Pinnacle Studio (version 9). It's pretty intuitive to use...but I spent about $150 for the software. I found that I needed an external harddrive (Western Digital) to store my captured video because it drained my PCs' harddrive immediately. 233615[/snapback] I concur....my son uses Pinnacle Studio (version 9) for his skateboarding video's...solid stuff, he know's more about this than I do and he's 12. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis in NC Posted February 9, 2005 Share Posted February 9, 2005 Did you check to see if any software came bundled with your camera? I have a Sony TRV-# and it came with video software from MGI. Maybe not the perfect software, but serviceable at least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadBuffaloDisease Posted February 9, 2005 Author Share Posted February 9, 2005 The easiest software I could find, given that I knew nothing about doing any of this at the time, was Pinnacle Studio (version 9). It's pretty intuitive to use...but I spent about $150 for the software. I found that I needed an external harddrive (Western Digital) to store my captured video because it drained my PCs' harddrive immediately. I have a bunch of 60 minute tapes. I plan on capturing one tape at a time, burning it, erasing the capture, and then starting over with another tape. But I'll check into Pinnacle. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadBuffaloDisease Posted February 9, 2005 Author Share Posted February 9, 2005 Did you check to see if any software came bundled with your camera? I have a Sony TRV-# and it came with video software from MGI. Maybe not the perfect software, but serviceable at least. I got the camcorder 5 years ago and got some crappy Sony software for it. I'll probably be buying a new camcorder soon, but this time one that records onto DVD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fezmid Posted February 9, 2005 Share Posted February 9, 2005 I have a bunch of 60 minute tapes. I plan on capturing one tape at a time, burning it, erasing the capture, and then starting over with another tape. But I'll check into Pinnacle. Thanks. 233624[/snapback] I'm assuming these are MiniDV or D8 tapes? I'm basing my post on this fact. First, you need to be aware that taking the info off of the tape and onto DVD will compress the video -- a lot! MiniDV is roughly 4 gigabytes for 15 minutes, and a blank DVD-R disk only holds ~4 gigs of data. Also, DVD-R (and CD-R) media does not last forever. The dyes in the media can deteriorate over time and you won't be able to read the data. Why are you trying to capture this data off of tape? Are you trying to edit? Or is this just as a backup? If it's just as a backup, consider backing up to harddrive so you keep the original quality intact. That said, for capturing I *highly* recommend Scenalyzer Live! -- http://www.scenalyzer.com/ - it's cheap and works extremely well, splitting the files up into "scenes" either based on the timecode or base on optical changes in the video. Very nice. As for editing, I really like Ulead MediaStudio Pro, but it's not cheap. You might want to look at Ulead VideoStudio, since it's probably just a stripped down version. Pinnacle is ok, but I've heard it has some bugs and crashes quite a bit. If you have any questions, let me know. CW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fezmid Posted February 9, 2005 Share Posted February 9, 2005 I got the camcorder 5 years ago and got some crappy Sony software for it. I'll probably be buying a new camcorder soon, but this time one that records onto DVD. 233630[/snapback] Keep in mind that the ones that record onto DVD record poorer quality than those that record to tape. See my previous message This thread covers it as well: http://groups-beta.google.com/group/rec.vi...4b010526f9ae245 CW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nervous Guy Posted February 9, 2005 Share Posted February 9, 2005 I'm assuming these are MiniDV or D8 tapes? I'm basing my post on this fact. First, you need to be aware that taking the info off of the tape and onto DVD will compress the video -- a lot! MiniDV is roughly 4 gigabytes for 15 minutes, and a blank DVD-R disk only holds ~4 gigs of data. Also, DVD-R (and CD-R) media does not last forever. The dyes in the media can deteriorate over time and you won't be able to read the data. Why are you trying to capture this data off of tape? Are you trying to edit? Or is this just as a backup? If it's just as a backup, consider backing up to harddrive so you keep the original quality intact. That said, for capturing I *highly* recommend Scenalyzer Live! -- http://www.scenalyzer.com/ - it's cheap and works extremely well, splitting the files up into "scenes" either based on the timecode or base on optical changes in the video. Very nice. As for editing, I really like Ulead MediaStudio Pro, but it's not cheap. You might want to look at Ulead VideoStudio, since it's probably just a stripped down version. Pinnacle is ok, but I've heard it has some bugs and crashes quite a bit. If you have any questions, let me know. CW 233664[/snapback] you're the one who recommended Pinnacle to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spiderweb Posted February 9, 2005 Share Posted February 9, 2005 I'm assuming these are MiniDV or D8 tapes? I'm basing my post on this fact. First, you need to be aware that taking the info off of the tape and onto DVD will compress the video -- a lot! MiniDV is roughly 4 gigabytes for 15 minutes, and a blank DVD-R disk only holds ~4 gigs of data. Also, DVD-R (and CD-R) media does not last forever. The dyes in the media can deteriorate over time and you won't be able to read the data. Why are you trying to capture this data off of tape? Are you trying to edit? Or is this just as a backup? If it's just as a backup, consider backing up to harddrive so you keep the original quality intact. That said, for capturing I *highly* recommend Scenalyzer Live! -- http://www.scenalyzer.com/ - it's cheap and works extremely well, splitting the files up into "scenes" either based on the timecode or base on optical changes in the video. Very nice. As for editing, I really like Ulead MediaStudio Pro, but it's not cheap. You might want to look at Ulead VideoStudio, since it's probably just a stripped down version. Pinnacle is ok, but I've heard it has some bugs and crashes quite a bit. If you have any questions, let me know. CW 233664[/snapback] PC World had a few nice things to say about Adobe Premier Elements a month or two back (retail about $100.00 but can be had a few bucks less). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fezmid Posted February 9, 2005 Share Posted February 9, 2005 you're the one who recommended Pinnacle to me. 233671[/snapback] That was before I talked to the VP of IT here who said it crashed. However, even with the crashing, he says he really likes it a lot... And has been using it for over a year. CW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nervous Guy Posted February 9, 2005 Share Posted February 9, 2005 That was before I talked to the VP of IT here who said it crashed. However, even with the crashing, he says he really likes it a lot... And has been using it for over a year. CW 233677[/snapback] We've never really had any problems with it...yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IDBillzFan Posted February 9, 2005 Share Posted February 9, 2005 We've never really had any problems with it...yet. 233683[/snapback] Mine has a function or two which, when activated, crashes the system. I've just stayed away from the function. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadBuffaloDisease Posted February 9, 2005 Author Share Posted February 9, 2005 I'm assuming these are MiniDV or D8 tapes? I'm basing my post on this fact. First, you need to be aware that taking the info off of the tape and onto DVD will compress the video -- a lot! MiniDV is roughly 4 gigabytes for 15 minutes, and a blank DVD-R disk only holds ~4 gigs of data. Also, DVD-R (and CD-R) media does not last forever. The dyes in the media can deteriorate over time and you won't be able to read the data. Why are you trying to capture this data off of tape? Are you trying to edit? Or is this just as a backup? If it's just as a backup, consider backing up to harddrive so you keep the original quality intact. That said, for capturing I *highly* recommend Scenalyzer Live! -- http://www.scenalyzer.com/ - it's cheap and works extremely well, splitting the files up into "scenes" either based on the timecode or base on optical changes in the video. Very nice. As for editing, I really like Ulead MediaStudio Pro, but it's not cheap. You might want to look at Ulead VideoStudio, since it's probably just a stripped down version. Pinnacle is ok, but I've heard it has some bugs and crashes quite a bit. If you have any questions, let me know. Thanks. I've been recording on D8 tapes (I have a Sony DCR-TRV320 camcorder). They're home movies that I want to put on DVD so my wife can play them anytime for the kids when I'm not home, without having to hook-up the camcorder to the VCR/TV or wait for me to get home to do it (she gets freaked out by that stuff! Also it's easier to play DVD's than having to plod through tapes). I don't plan on editing the tapes, just tranferring as is. All I want is a program that will give me the best quality in the transfer from tape to DVD and nothing more. As for the DVD's not lasting forever, I've heard about that. I have Verbatim DVD's and I've heard that those are among the best. I plan on storing them in a cool dry place and I'm not going to erase the D8 tapes anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moose Posted February 9, 2005 Share Posted February 9, 2005 Adobe makes great software, so you might find this worthwhile... although it is certainly not inexpensive. For functionality and price, nothing beats iLife... but (at least for now) it only runs on Macs. But, the best thing is to listen to Fezmid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cale Posted February 9, 2005 Share Posted February 9, 2005 What's your platform? Mac or PC? I'm on OS X and it's a dream...iMovie is great but Final Cut Express is the bomb! Bit of a learning curve but just so cool...Then you burn with iDVD. Doesn't get better... Charles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marv Levy Posted February 9, 2005 Share Posted February 9, 2005 What's your platform? Mac or PC? I'm on OS X and it's a dream...iMovie is great but Final Cut Express is the bomb! Bit of a learning curve but just so cool...Then you burn with iDVD. Doesn't get better... Charles 233752[/snapback] I'm a MAC guy and Graphic Designer. Macintosh blows away a Windows machine anyday. Do yourself a favor and get a MAC if your gonna concentrate on Video or graphics for that matter. iMovie and iDVD come standard with OSX Panther and like Charles said, upgrade to Final Cut Pro or Express and you are in business. Don't forget to have a large hardrive with plenty of space (or buy a external drive) cause video is a Megabyte HOG!! I have a Canon Elura60 camcorder and MiniDV tapes. Connect with Firewire and run iMovie for importing, arrange your clips anyway you want with transitions and music overlays. Its sweet! Then send to iDVD and burn away! GO BILLS!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cale Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 I'm a MAC guy and Graphic Designer. Macintosh blows away a Windows machine anyday. Do yourself a favor and get a MAC if your gonna concentrate on Video or graphics for that matter. iMovie and iDVD come standard with OSX Panther and like Charles said, upgrade to Final Cut Pro or Express and you are in business. Don't forget to have a large hardrive with plenty of space (or buy a external drive) cause video is a Megabyte HOG!! I have a Canon Elura60 camcorder and MiniDV tapes. Connect with Firewire and run iMovie for importing, arrange your clips anyway you want with transitions and music overlays. Its sweet! Then send to iDVD and burn away! GO BILLS!! 233801[/snapback] I've always liked you, Marv. ;-) Maybe, if we used more Apple products in the Bills SB trips, we'd be telling a different story... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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