videobear
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Jul 9, 2004, 11:16 AM
Post #2 of 2
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Re: [gma800] Hardware and software needed in MiniDv to DVD conv.
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I need to know what equipment and software should I have before I can transfer and edit my MINI-DV to DVD (brands?)
There are LOTS of choices.
First, Mac or PC? On the Mac side, the iMac DV and all G4 and G5 machines come with built-in Firewire connectivity, editing software (iMovie) and DVD burning capability. You can also add Final Cut Pro, a very powerful professional video editing program.
On the PC side, you have to have a Firewire (also known as IEEE 1394 or iLink) port. If your computer doesn't have one, you can buy a 1394 add-on card for $50 or less. Get one that has the Texas Instruments chipset and is OHCI-compliant. I like the ADS Pyro cards.
You'll also need lots of disk storage. In addition to your system drive, you should have at least one additional large, 7200 rpm UDMA or SATA drive. You'll get about 1 hour of video storage for each 13GB of disk space.
You will need a DVD burner. Both Sony and Pioneer make good units.
Software-wise, you'll need a video editing program, an MPEG-2 encoder, a DVD authoring program, and a DVD burning program. Many software packages combine two or more of these functions. For example, Sony's Vegas can edit your DV video and encode it to MPEG2, while their DVD Architect software can encode, author (add menus and navigation buttons) and burn to disk. Pinnacle Edition can do it all, from capturing video into the computer to burning the final DVD. However, some people prefer the flexibility of separate programs. A good MPEG encoder is TMPGEnc; a good DVD authoring program is DVDLab by MediaChance; and Nero 6 is a great disk burning program.
Typical project flow is like this: 1. Shoot video. 2. Capture video from DV tape to computer hard drive via Firewire. 3. Edit video. 4. Encode edited video from DV to MPEG2. 5. Import MPEG2 file into authoring software. Create menus, buttons, etc. 6. Burn project to disk.
If you don't need to do complex video editing, but mainly want to transfer videotape to DVD, there are stand-alone DVD recorders that look and function a lot like a VCR. Panasonic makes several popular models.
Regards,
Doug Graham
Panda Productions
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