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.MPEG4 to compliant DVD
OK, I've got 15 1 hour DV tapes that I want to backup to a more permanent storage medium (i.e. DVD), with the express goal of maximizing my ability to LATER convert them to compliant mpeg2 format (.m2v and .ac3 format) for authoring onto playable DVDs.
I've also got about 50 2 hour Hi-8 tapes that I can stream through my DV camcorder and capture as another 100 hours of DV.
I don't really want to make playable DVDs out of each video at this point, just get them stored. But I don't want to convert them to a format that will be problematic for eventually turning into compliant DVD files and authoring discs down the road.
Is .MPEG4 a good format to use for this purpose? Would .WMV9 be better? Given that:
1) Later I want to be able to get the files off the storage DVDs and convert to other formats (i.e. .MPEG2 or .m2v + .ac3) for playback on standard DVD players.
2) I want to minimize loss of quality due to my double conversion process.
3) I want to be able to find plenty of free or pay SW to turn my stored files into playable DVD when I decide to do that some time in the future.
Having said all that...would MPEG4 be my best choice for storing off my DV source material?
Don't say to just leave them on the tapes because, for instance, I've seen Hi-8 casettes degrade in 10 years of sitting around, and some of my video is getting to be about that old.
If possible I'd like to get at least 2 hours on each DVD (remember I want as high a quality as possible) so that I don't have to split up my Hi-8 sources onto multiple discs.
Some additional notes:
If I store off giant MPEG4 files on DVD now, will it be a problem to later make DVD compliant video and audio files out of them since presumably the reduced compression would make the converted data too large for playable DVD?
Will .MPEG4 format become supported on set-top DVD players so that perhaps I can avoid further compression later when I want to make DVD's (let's say by 5 years from now)?
Is MPEG4 the same as DivX?
Will I always have to author DVD's by converting to the separate, strange, video and audio files required for authoring a playable disc? Will set-top players ever just be able to have a DVD with a single giant MPEG4 file inserted and just start playing it properly?
With around 150 hours of DV video to store (and later encode and author / burn), am I going to wear out my poor little laptop? Its a Dell 3.2G P4 with Win XP and plenty of RAM and HD space.
Thanks for any info that anyone might provide!!
I've also got about 50 2 hour Hi-8 tapes that I can stream through my DV camcorder and capture as another 100 hours of DV.
I don't really want to make playable DVDs out of each video at this point, just get them stored. But I don't want to convert them to a format that will be problematic for eventually turning into compliant DVD files and authoring discs down the road.
Is .MPEG4 a good format to use for this purpose? Would .WMV9 be better? Given that:
1) Later I want to be able to get the files off the storage DVDs and convert to other formats (i.e. .MPEG2 or .m2v + .ac3) for playback on standard DVD players.
2) I want to minimize loss of quality due to my double conversion process.
3) I want to be able to find plenty of free or pay SW to turn my stored files into playable DVD when I decide to do that some time in the future.
Having said all that...would MPEG4 be my best choice for storing off my DV source material?
Don't say to just leave them on the tapes because, for instance, I've seen Hi-8 casettes degrade in 10 years of sitting around, and some of my video is getting to be about that old.
If possible I'd like to get at least 2 hours on each DVD (remember I want as high a quality as possible) so that I don't have to split up my Hi-8 sources onto multiple discs.
Some additional notes:
If I store off giant MPEG4 files on DVD now, will it be a problem to later make DVD compliant video and audio files out of them since presumably the reduced compression would make the converted data too large for playable DVD?
Will .MPEG4 format become supported on set-top DVD players so that perhaps I can avoid further compression later when I want to make DVD's (let's say by 5 years from now)?
Is MPEG4 the same as DivX?
Will I always have to author DVD's by converting to the separate, strange, video and audio files required for authoring a playable disc? Will set-top players ever just be able to have a DVD with a single giant MPEG4 file inserted and just start playing it properly?
With around 150 hours of DV video to store (and later encode and author / burn), am I going to wear out my poor little laptop? Its a Dell 3.2G P4 with Win XP and plenty of RAM and HD space.
Thanks for any info that anyone might provide!!
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