later burns from archived files

[Peeay]

I have 8mm videos. I capture them, edit them and save as .mpg files on my hard disk. I burn a DVD from the .mpg file. Cycle complete.

But, I don't want huge .mpg files hanging around my hard drive. Nor do I want to make a dozen DVDs while I'm making one. I don't know if I can copy my DVD for further copies. If I can't, can I use a file backup procedure (Nova?) to save the .mpg file to a DVD and bring that back onto the hard drive if and when I want to burn another DVD from this "master"?

I would assume I will free up my hard drive from files that have gone to DVD archive. I suppose my question is: Can I copy DVDs to make "prints" when and if I need them?

I'm trying to plan and organize my archiving/burning routine before I go too far too fast.

Advice?

[jchunter_2]

Peeay,
I always create a separate DVD of all the video files, image files, music files, and the project file. Then I can recreate or edit from the original project anytime. Another tip: Break up a large project into smaller projects of 10-15 minutes each. A small project is much easier to edit and it is much faster to create a small video file. Moreover, the DVD menu can have a top level icon for each project.

BTW, the only problem with importing a finished DVD to edit is that the transitions, titles, music, etc are all "baked in" and do not appear as editable objects.

[rwindeyer]

You can certainly copy your DVD to make further copies. I only ever make one DVD of a project - then I copy it if I need more.
There are a few ways that you can do this.
(1) Load the DVD content into the VS8 timeline. The movie will be there; to make another DVD you ned to go through the burning module again and recreate chapters etc, and re-render. This is free but tedious.
(2) I have a program called DVDFab (check it out here). This is shareware; you can play with it for 30 days and see if you like it. It will cheerfully dispense with CSS encrypton, region codes and the like.
(3) I mostly use MyDVD for burning; version 6 - check here. This has a copy module; and any non-protected DVD can be effortlessly copied.