digital8 to DVD thru computer

[Aubrey]

Hello, This is my first post. I read a post here about 8mm to DVD, but thought there might be some differences since my video is digital in form.

I have a sony handycam digital8 TVR-260, recording to sony Hi8 MP 8mm cassettes 60min digital8. I have a firewire from camera to computer. On the computer I have what came with it, Windows Vista, Roxio, Windows Movie Maker ... might be something else on there.

I have transfered my first video from tape to DVD. Easy enough to do, but I have done it wrong ... my quality in video dropped. I would describe it as 'digitally' jumpy. Very unhappy with results.

I used Roxio, capture video and WMV (2GB/hr). I noticed in the post I mentioned above that the AVI (13GB/hr) format and downloading WinDV, was suggested. The AVI format was a choice in both Windows Movie Maker and Roxio, do I still need to download the WinDV? I also saw references to a good encoder, will what I have due?

I want to transfer my home videos to DVD for easier access format. I want to keep original quality. I would like to be able to view on TV in plane old DVD player, and on computer if possible.

I would like to know if the type and quaility of DVD makes a difference, and which ones I need to buy. I currently have Memorex DVD+R 16x 4.7GB 120min.

Do I need bigger DVDs? I see the AVI would be at least 13GB for one tape. I would like to think I could at least do a one-to-one transfer (one tape to one DVD). I was hopeing for much better than that actually.

Eventually I want to take the old VHS to DVD too, but one thing at a time.

I see the note to break up AVI into 60 min segments, I don't see that option?

Sorry if that is too much information at once. I thank everyone in advance for any help. Aubrey

[paglamon]

Download WinDV. It is the best freeware for DV transfer through firewire from cam to pc.Now you will have DV-AVIs sized about 13 GB per hour.Make sure the hard drive you store the video in is NTFS.Otherwise the files will be splitted at around 4GB marks(FAT32).If you do not wish to perform any editing then you can straightaway convert it to DVD using another freeware DVD Flick. However,if you need to edit your video,then you will have to use an editing software like Ulead Video Studio(not free).

[Aubrey]

How do I know if the hard drive is NTFS? Where do I look? Are you saying that WinDV and the freeware DVD Flick are better than Windows Movie Maker or Roxio that I already have? Has WinDV been made for Vista yet?

[paglamon]

How do I know if the hard drive is NTFS?

In My Computer, right click on the drive letter, and select Properties.

Are you saying that WinDV and the freeware DVD Flick are better than Windows Movie Maker or Roxio that I already have?

I have never used Roxio.I advised on the basis of MY experience.

Has WinDV been made for Vista yet?

Don't know. Why not download it and try out? It does not need any installation.And it is a very light program.

[Aubrey]

I'll try this out soon. My brother has borrowed my camera, don't know when he's bringing it back yet.

[Aubrey]

No luck downloading WinDV from http://windv.mourek.cz/, I get an error : The compressed (zipped) folder ..... WinDV-1.2.3.zip is invalid

[doctorhardware]

I just d/l the file and I can open the file and run the program from the compressed folder. It works here.

[paglamon]

Strange. No such problem for me.
Download this attachment.WinDV-1.2.3.zip

[Aubrey]

That is interesting, I get same message from yourdownload, must be a setting or something.

[paglamon]

That is interesting, I get same message from yourdownload, must be a setting or something.

Can't you open it with Winzip ? Or are you saying that you cannot even download it ? Are you using any download manager ?

[johnny_cage3]

recording to computer

Hi there!

I am very new to DV technology and to this forum too.
So I'd like to ask something very easy and general.
When you buy a DV camcorder with miniDV tape, and a firewire output, how do you transfer the movie to the computer (to write to DVD)?
Do you need to download some recording software, or the manufacturer usually encloses it?
Then, is the transmission to the computer something power-consuming (like encoding), or a simple computer will do? I currently have an oldie 700 MHz CPU machine ... It will not encode in real time.
Or can I transfer to computer slower than real time?

Thanx very much in advance!

[paglamon]

See my first post. Use WinDV to transfer from cam to PC through a Firewire card and cable. While transfer through firewire, there is no encoding. You will have to encode the file once it has been transferred to PC. During transfer and encoding shut down ALL other programs( even Antivirus and Firewalls).Since the transferred file will be a DV-AVI file, you will need large hard disc space. DV-AVI is about 13 GB per hour. Also ensure that the drive you store the video in is NTFS and not FAT32.

[Aubrey]

I can download it, but not open it. I think Maybe I don't have WinZip on the new computer. Will have to find a free version and download it too. This may seem a strange question, but I bought a pack of DVD-R's 4.7Gb when I bought the computer. But I just realized that the files I am making are 14Gb ish in size, I didn't see any bigger DVD-Rs, did I just miss them?

[paglamon]

But I just realized that the files I am making are 14Gb ish in size

A standard DVD will be about 4.5 GB per 2 hours. DV-AVI and DVD are entirely different.

[johnny_cage3]

Thanks a lot, Paglamon. This is roughly what I expected ...