Posted by Gene on 02/21/07 20:35

A few weeks ago, I set out to find a solution for easily and
quickly converting a 100 minute camcorder MiniDv or Sony
Digital-8 tape to the BEST ~100 minute video DVD-R possible.
Something that I will repeat hundreds of times.

I simply wanted to shoot ~1.5hrs of maximum quality (LP) tape
on either the Sony PC100 MiniDV camcorder, Sony TRV460,
or the Sony TRV240 camcorder. Once the tape was shot, all I
wanted to do was copy (dub) it onto a fully stuffed video DVD-R,
and at the same time, make a duplicate DVD-R for backup.
Once the two DVD-Rs were burned & tested to be sure they were
good, the camcorder tape would be rewound & used over & over
again. It's a really economical way to shoot a LOT of inexpensive
footage. Total cost for the two is only ~ $0.60/USD, which is a LOT
less than archiving tapes. If a tape is very special, then it is saved
along with the two DVDs. My MAIN reason for doing the tape to DVD
is not really the savings, as much as it is the ability to quickly find
a clip of A/V & get it to a DVD-R copy to give to a family member. Finding
and extracting a clip from an archived tape is a pain for me - very time
consuming. We NEVER edit at the frame level, so GOPs are just fine.

I tried a lot of different software packages, as well as two set-top
burners.

I made two 10 minute test tapes by holding the Sony PC100 MiniDV
in one hand, and the Sony TRV460 Digital-8 camcorder in the other. I did a
lot
of pans , zooms, bright sunlight, dark rooms, etc. - just about every
condition
in which I normally shoot. I used these two tapes to create 4 video DVD-Rs
at
the best possible quality.

As the MiniDv & Digital-8 were virtually identical to all observers, I only
used the 10 minute MiniDV in the following tests set to the "best possible"
settings:
1. Captured with Sony Vegas 7, burned with Architect 4
2. Captured & burned with the new TMPGEnc DVD Author 3 (free trial version)
3. Captured and burned with the Ulead Workshop 2 (30 day free trial version)
4. Captured & burned by plugging the PC100 directly into a Panasonic ES20
set-top box and simply dubbing to a DVD-R at the best quality setting via
iLink / DV / firewire.

Testing was done the old fashion way, by watching & listening:-)

We played back 4 DVD-Rs and the PC100 tape & voted on the
quality of each. The DVD player was attached to a 1080i TV via
R/G/B cable for maximum quality.

Here's how we voted on the quality of each, on a scale of 1 to 10
(10 being the best, and the score was for QUALITY only, not features)

1. Play back the original tape by connecting the PC100 and playing
directly from the camcorder to TV. About as good as you can get,
given the tape:-) Score= ~10

2. Sony Vegas 7 & Architect 4 Score = 7
Takes a LONG time to render.
580MB on DVD-R

3. TMPGEnc DVD Author 3 Score = 8
No question that this is the best software package that I played
with during the tests. Hard to crash, even on my old 2GHz P4 PC.
452MB on DVD-R

4. Ulead Workshop 2 = 5
I was very disappointed with this one - REALLY wanted it to work out
best, as it was so fast overall. Rendering starts at capture, then is
buffered.
A faster PC should REALLY help this program. However, the final
quality was poor. Not nearly as good as TMPGEnc DVD Author 3.
Guess they do not do a 2nd pass, or whatever...
643MB on DVD-R

5. Panasonic ES20 = 9
Slightly better than TMPGEnc DVD Author 3, but not by much.
A LOT faster & easier for sure. Just plug in your camcorder via
firewire & burn. A no brainer, and the BEST resulting DVD-R.
The ES15 replaced the ES20, I think.
682MB on DVD-R


I have no idea why TMPGEnc DVD Author 3 produced such
good A/V - and had the smallest file size?


So here is what I have concluded so far:-)

1. There is no benefit to me to use a PC & software.

The rendering takes forever, and the cost for a dedicated
PC set-up is not worth it. (Processing hundreds of hours in the
background is something that I just will not do, whatsoever -
so it has to be a fast dedicated system for me.)
We will do ZERO editing. We only want automatic 5 minute
chapter skips and the maximum quality DVD-R that can be made
from one ~ 1.5hr MiniDV or Digital-8 tape. A hardware set-top
box with a hard drive to make the extra copy looks like the
BEST solution for us. Just have not found one that works
reliably with the Sony iLink camcorders. My camcorders
work GREAT with a firewire and TI chip on a Belkin PCI
card in the PC - but seem to freeze way too much with set-top
box recorders. I will just have to keep testing until I find a box
with firewire specifications that my Sonys like - may have
to give the Sony VX or GX line another try... you would think
that the Sony engineers compare notes ...

2. The one option that "may" work best is something like the
Canopus FireCoder. If anyone owns one and has experience
using it - please post a thread here. I thought about buying
one just to see, but too scared it would end up in the "let's
put it on eBay someday" box of unused hardware & software that we have
accumulated over the years:-)

Hope the above helps someone.

Gene

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