DVD-RB and home videos

[raddad]

Is there a way to use DVD-RB to encode my home videos from my digital 8 camcorder?
I've tried to use TMPGenc but found there were too many settings to mess with.Never did get a good picture.
I'd like to use the HC encoder on the best setting and see how it comes out.

[UncasMS]

rebuilder wont be the correct user interface to go with here as it expects dvd data as input source

you could use the standalone version of hc (hcgui not the hcbatch version)

but there is only a guiversion for an older 015 release (016 will follow according to hank315) and it will still be quite a bit of work compared to other solutions

maybe avi2dvd could be a solution which doesnt require too much input and still produce good output because it uses encoders like hc, cce and others

[raddad]

Thanks i'll give it a try.But first I need to get my tapes onto the computer. I have a capture card and firewire but i'm not sure of what format to capture too to get the best quality.Do you have any experience with that?

[UncasMS]

use any lossless or rather lossless avi codec for the DV capturing

this will create a huge avifile and thus requires massive harddrive space and a ntfs system but that shouldnt be a problem these days i hope

[raddad]

I'm thinking I might just get a DVD recorder with the firewire input,and copy my videos that way.My PC is only a P3 866.Not exactly the best machine for doing heavy video work me thinks.

[jdobbs]

use any lossless or rather lossless avi codec for the DV capturing

this will create a huge avifile and thus requires massive harddrive space and a ntfs system but that shouldnt be a problem these days i hope

I usually bring DV directly onto my hard drive (keeping DV format) into segmented AVI files. My Sony Digital-8 camera will accept video from a VHS player also, and convert to DV on the fly for capture on my computer. It takes about 4 Gig for every 15 minutes (if memory serves me right) -- so a 2 hour tape needs 32GB. I then encode to MPEG-2 with CCE, which takes about twice as long as the input (per pass), audio to AC3 with Soft Encode, and use either SpruceUp or ReelDVD to make a DVD. In other words, lots of space, time, and work.

On the other hand, I can plug my VHS or Digital-8 into my DVD Recorder (it has a Firewire input) and make a copy in 2 hours. But, the quality is much, much, lower.

[Correction] I went back and looked at one... it's about 2GB for every 9.5 minutes of DV storage on disc... so a two hour tape would be about 25GB.

[raddad]

I know what you mean about taking a long time work and space,especially on a P3 866MHZ machine.I never could figure out the correct capture settings for the Digital 8 tapes(I have a sony also)and then all the correct settings to actually convert to DVD.
The DVD recorder looks so much easier.But if the quality is bad then what's the point.
Do you think your DVD recorder is to blame,maybe a different one would produce better results?

[jdobbs]

It's the way DVD Recorders have to work. They don't have the entire video stram to work with ahead of time, because they have to encode on-the-fly in a single pass. There's really not a lot that can be done about it (from the manufacturer's point of view). It doesn't look terrible -- but it doesn't compare to a two pass CCE encode. Rapid camera movements (as you see so often in from amatuer recordings) turn really blocky when recording directly.

Another note: You always have to adjust DV when encoding with CCE because it is bottom-field-first (BFF). CCE only encodes TFF, so you have to use a line offset of 1.

[raddad]

Do you mind if I PM you later about the steps I need to take to get my Digital 8 tapes onto DVD?

[jdobbs]

The most important part is the authoring package. Do you have one?

[raddad]

I have Ulead VideoStudio 7 & 8.TMPGEnc plus and TMPGEnc DVD author as well as DVD-RB.I'll get whatever authoring package you use or recommend though.

[paglamon]

I have Ulead VideoStudio 7 & 8.TMPGEnc plus and TMPGEnc DVD author as well as DVD-RB.I'll get whatever authoring package you use or recommend though.

I can tell u what I do.It works well for me. U may try .I use Cyberlink Power Director.But Ulead Video Studio is excellent also.Capture in Power Director(or Ulead) as uncompressed AVI if u hav enough space.If not,then capture as AVI with Picvideo MJPEG compressor.Now edit ur files and produce them as custom MPEG2(DVD resolution).Take these MPEG2 files into TMPGEnc DVD Author & produce ur DVD compliant file to burn.I do not produce my DVD compliant files in Power Director or Ulead because TMPGEnc does a much better job of it.
There will b many with different methods of capture & production.U try them and decide for urself which works best for u.Good luck.

[jdobbs]

I have Ulead VideoStudio 7 & 8.TMPGEnc plus and TMPGEnc DVD author as well as DVD-RB.I'll get whatever authoring package you use or recommend though.

My concern is whether an 866Mhz P3 is fast enough to capture...

[raddad]

Thanks to all who helped.
It looks like i'll be spending some time trying to get it all figured out

[UncasMS]

maybe the latest GUI version of hc016 might be of interest to you:

http://forum.digital-digest.com/showthread.php?p=330535#post330535