Camcorder to vcd,dvd,etc..

d_b · Post by **d_b** » Sat Mar 13, 2004 10:02 pm

Is it better to use a capture card for transferring video from mini DV or a firewire card? As of now I am using a firewire card. I want to put some home movies on a DVD but the quality of the capture sucks using firewire card. I use winders media maker, only because it simple and I like simple...but not at the sacrafice of quality. The quality of the movies is very good when connected to a TV, not so when I capture them in Movie maker. I use the highest quality setting but they still suck. maybe it's not the device but rather the user.

Cliff note version - What do i need to get great quality captures from my mini DV to burn on a DVD. Give me a shopping list.

thanks

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Sun Mar 14, 2004 9:26 am

The quality will be FAR better via digital firewire than through analog video capture. The problem is not your firewire connection, it's Windows Movie Maker. WMV is not a high quality format (it can look pretty good if you install the Media Player 2.0 update with the WMV9 codec and crank it up to the highest quality, but an MPEG 2 is still going to look better (DVD quality).

When you render the video in Movie Maker you can set the data rate. Set it to the highest for the best quality.

It's the video codec that ultimately makes the difference, and the data rate.

If you want to make DVDs then you're wasting your time with Movie maker. You need a good MPEG2 encoder. Nothing you get for free with the burner or for $50 is going to look all that good.

Ulead Video Studio does a very good job for around $100. It'll capture the DV video, allow you to edit it if you want (not a professional editor, but it does a reasonable job), you can do titling and some basic audio mixing (lay a music track down for instance) and then burn it to DVD.

If you want to do serious video editing - and you have some money to burn - then you need something more professional like Pinnacle Studio, Adobe Premiere or Vegas Video. I use Vega Video - easy learning curve and very powerful video editor. The MPEG2 compressor that comes with it is very high quality.

BillyGoat · Post by **BillyGoat** » Sun Mar 14, 2004 2:12 pm

My canon dv cam came with pinnacle studio 8, but I prefer to use vegas- I used vegas audio for years for multitrackin my music, and vegas video is almost identical to it. I use DVDit for my authoring

d_b · Post by **d_b** » Sun Mar 14, 2004 2:57 pm

Thanks FP and BillyGoat. I have Instant Cd/DVD 8, which I had forgotten I had. Played around with it and it is better than movie maker but not what I want. Think I'll check out Vegas Video.

Thanks again.

Dan

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Sun Mar 14, 2004 6:56 pm

Forgot to mention my DVD authoring software. I make the MPEG2 file in Vegas, then burn my DVD in Sonic Foundry's DVD Architect.

Sonic's MyDVD does a decent job too as long as you don't use it's MPEG2 compressor (quality sucks).