|
|
Posted by Mike on 02/25/07 20:38
In article <m22Dh.30$Cx3.371886@news.sisna.com>,
"Gene" <genes@wildblue.net> wrote:
> 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
First off, I'm not a PC guy. Windows, the viruses, freezes and illogical
structure of Windows is just too much in the way of my getting things
done.
The part you won't like is that the Mac does burning direct to a DVD
pretty seamlessly with iDVD. Here's the instructions.
urning a OneStep DVD directly from a DV camcorder
You can skip the creative process completely and burn video footage or a
movie directly from your DV camcorder to a DVD disc. When you insert the
burned disc into a DVD player or a computer, the contents play
automatically.
Autoplay DVDs are sometimes said to play in "kiosk mode" and are a good
way to create demos or other presentations that play automatically and
require no user interaction.
To burn a OneStep DVD:
1. Insert the DV tape with your movie or footage into your camcorder.
2. Connect the camcorder to your computer using a FireWire cable.
3. If your camcorder uses a dock, put the camcorder in the dock and
connect the dock to your computer. See your camcorder's instructions if
you're not sure how to do this.
4. Switch your camcorder to VTR, VCR, or Play mode. If necessary,
turn your camcorder on.
5. Open iDVD and click OneStep DVD. Or choose File > OneStep DVD.
6. Insert a blank DVD disc into the optical drive when you are
prompted to do so.
The tape in the camcorder rewinds automatically to the beginning. If you
already set up the tape to start where you want, press the Play button
on your camcorder as soon as it starts to rewind. This stops the rewind
process and the next stage, video capture, begins.
A progress dialog keeps you informed about everything that's being done.
You can stop the process at any point before the burning stage to leave
the DVD disc untouched.
Creating a OneStep DVD will take longer than simply burning an iDVD
project to a disc because the video needs to be captured first. Plan on
your computer being tied up for a period of time. You may want to do
this when you don't have work to do on your computer for several hours,
perhaps before bed or before you leave for work, depending on the amount
of video on your tape.
You can see more at,
http://www.apple.com/ilife/idvd/
iDVD is part of the iLife suite and comes on new iMacs. It's an AIO
solution which many in the media and industry say is the easiest way to
put things on a DVD. However, if you choose, you can edit your stuff in
iMovie, then put it in iDVD and create a master file(with some
processing time of course) that later you can burn a DVD from at any
time if you need more. You'll have to archive the DVD "Master"
so-to-speak.
The bad news is you sound like a Windows person and perhaps the route is
a bit more difficult on that platform.
--
mike
[Back to original message]
|