Video Studio the prog to capture mini dv and create dvd?

url · Post by **url** » Wed Aug 02, 2006 4:34 pm

I have posted in Movie Factory 4 earlier and read the Links suggested; however am still confused.
I have also been into other dvd forums and doing some reading and posting and Video Studio 6 SE was mentioned, however not in detail.

I just purchased a panasonic pv-gs300 camcorder mini dv and though i have used sony hi 8's and super and the sony editor in the days of the growing family, i know that the technology is not the same and so i am now trying to orient myself into the 21st century.

I have Movie Factory 4 which came with my external Hauppauge win tv pvr usb 2 that I use after I have captured my vhs tapes with "Win TV" and then do a project with MF 4 and create a DVD; the quality of which I am extremely happy.
I have a classic library of vhs tapes that I am transferring to dvd and I do this with my external BenQ 162I burner, and use the "Book Management exe." so that I always burn in DVD ROM, so my backups are playble on all of the 8 family standalone players. I also use the R+ media tested and recommended by BenQ's tech phone support and that is maxell, tdk, sony or imation.
I have not had one coaster yet, so this is good news too. (over 100 backups done since last november)

Now I want to get a program that will capture and create a dvd from my mini dv tape on my camcorder.
At the moment there is no pressing need to do any editing. I have found family members that I have been searching for and they simply want to see us and so i want to do a straight copy off my mini dv to a dvd for the time being.
Later I will get into editng, however I don't know what program is suitable to do what my needs are now and what is the most user friendly as I know that I also have to get out and buy a book on camcorders and dvd creation which I have found in a computer book store that I frequent, but there were many; so I need to take the time to browse and choose the right one. (There is a pressing reason for me to acquire a program and get this task done as soon as I can.)

So now I am hoping that a member or mod can provide some input as to the program I should consider.
I have looked at the tutorials and unless I missed something I did not see one on mini dv to dvd with a program.

i should say that I also have the Nero Express program 6.3.1.23B which came with my BenQ burner, but I don't know if that program captures or not as I use it to burn data and some dvd backups and that is about it. That is the only version of Nero that BenQ supports, the newer version in speaking to their phone support yesterday said that it is not supported by BenQ.

I would sincerely appreciate comments, as I am in the dark at the moment as to what is the most user friendly way to go.

Best Regards.

(I am continuing on in the video forums reading and as well the dvd forums in order to become more familiar with the jargon of capturing, encoding, authoring etc. which quite frankly the terms I find confusing in trying to figure out how to get to the end result of a creation of a dvd from a mini dv)

etech6355 · Post by **etech6355** » Wed Aug 02, 2006 4:56 pm

You can use MF4 (that you already own) to do a quick dvd.
MF4 has limited editing features so for editing VideoStudiio 10+ would be better for editing.

Usually you choose or used the Hauppauge win tv pvr usb 2 in MF4 maybe to capture?
In MF4 with the camcorder ON and connected via the firewire port into the computer change the "Source" box for capturing to your DV camcorder.

You have 2 formats to capture in. Type DV.avi or Mpeg.
Best results is capture DV.avi file and convert to Mpeg2 to create a dvd.
1 Hour of DV.avi Type-1 is 13gigs.

Of course you can also output the analog signal out from the new camcorder and record that into the Hauppauge win tv pvr usb 2 device. That would give you faster results and an instant mpeg2 file for burning to dvd.

For editing:
It's best to download VideoStudio 10 Plus Trial version and try it. The only limitation is the lack of templates and other content.
.

url · Post by **url** » Wed Aug 02, 2006 5:30 pm

When I use my external Hauppauge unit which is the win tv pvr usb 2, it is connected to my notebook via the usb 2 port and the choices of sources that I capture with my "tv capture" program "Win TV" which came with the unit is either TV or Video.

Then after I capture my "vhs tape" via the "Win TV" program which is the full running of the tape usually about 90 min, it is in "My Videos" file and then I create a "project" dvd via Movie Factory 4. And then the end result is a burned dvd via my BenQ 162I external burner in DVD ROM since I use the Book Management exe.

I don't know if this provides more information that will help. I don't see how I can change the source with my external Hauppauge win tv pvr usb 2 since it is for tv or video capturing and is not like a physical card in a PC??

But I am not experienced and maybe not understanding this correctly.

Again, best regards, and I look forward to further comments; thankyou.

url · Post by **url** » Wed Aug 02, 2006 7:50 pm

I thought that I should post this as i have been exploring the Movie Factory 4 program that was mentioned earlier by a member since I did not know how to go about capturing from my corder and found that indeed there is that option.
So I clicked on the icon for the video camera and got the message

"no capture driver is available in the system".

I am not sure what that means. I mentioned earlier that this Movie Factory 4 came with my Hauppauge win tv pvr usb 2.

I guess there would be seperate drivers for mini dv from my camcorder compared to the drivers that are used in the capturing from my external Hauppauge win tv pvr usb 2 which is connected to my notebook via the usb 2 port.

Is there a place I would d/l these from, or will the MF 4 simply not work with my camcorder for capturing.
Although it does appear that it should.

I would appreciate comments, thankyou.
And Cheers.

Terry Stetler · Post by **Terry Stetler** » Wed Aug 02, 2006 7:59 pm

Have you tried changing the capture plugin in the MF options?

DV uses Ulead DirectShow plugin while some board drivers use the old Video-for-Windows (VfW). With the DS plugin loaded MF won't 'see' the cards drivers.

sjj1805 · Post by **sjj1805** » Wed Aug 02, 2006 8:52 pm

url
Despite the extensive range of Ulead programs the main 4 in my opinion are

DVD Movie Factory
VideoStudio
MediaStudio
DVD Workshop

Many people start off in the same way that you have where they get MovieFactory (normally a SE version) 'free' with something like a camcorder or TV Card. In fact that is how I began.

MovieFactory in my opinion enables you to grab some video from a camcorder, TV Card or some other source then without much fuss get it onto a DVD complete with a fancy looking Menu to impress your friends and family.

From this starting point, many people then find the urge to delve a bit deeper and enter the world of video editing. They now wish to cut out some of the bad shots (ever left the camcorder on by accident and found some pictures of your feet!) then spruce it up with some titles, end credits plus a few transitions between scenes.

These users then 'upgrade' to VideoStudio.
If we think of creating a DVD as a 3 phase job
Phase 1 - get it into the computer.
Phase 2 - do some editing.
Phase 3 - Create the DVD Disc.

Then you will find that MovieFactory and VideoStudio are almost identical in respect of Phase 1 and Phase 3. If you look at the tutorials section of this forum many of the tutorials for MovieFactory apply to VideoStudio and vice versa.

VideoStudio has that extra bit phase 2.

When the editing bug really begins to bite, many users then upgrade to the professional level editing program MediaStudio. This is more powerful than VideoStudio but is also more complex to learn. MediaStudio unlike VideoStudio does not have a DVD Authoring module but comes along with a SE version of MovieFactory.

Users who wish to upgrade from the DVD Authoring abilities of MovieFactory / VideoStudio will then get DVD Workshop. Having said that I must point out that the current version DVDWS2 is now getting dated and is in need of either a service pack or a version 3.

Back to your original question concerning your camcorder.
Providing you can connect the camcorder to your computer by way of an IEEE1394 firewire / iLink cable then you do not need any drivers.

Please view this tutorial related to the capture process with a firewire cable and a Mini DV camcorder:
From camcorder to DVD with VideoStudio

etech6355 · Post by **etech6355** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 2:20 am

url,

>>>Providing you can connect the camcorder to your computer by way of an
>>>IEEE1394 firewire / iLink cable then you do not need any drivers.

Sorry url, I took it for granted you were connecting the new dv camcorder up to the computer using the firewire cable, since you said you were reading so much on all the forums. Thought you had picked that up.

My post was referencing connecting your new dv camcorder up to the computer via a firewire (1394) cable and capturing the video in MF4 using a firewire connection.
The firewire cable/connection is the most common universal method used to connect DV Camcorders to computers for transferring the video information from the camcorder to the computer.

etech

url · Post by **url** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 6:37 pm

Hi, thx for the reply, yes I will be using a firewire cable, I just went out and purchased a Belkin yesterday.
Firewire, indeed is something new to me so that is why I had to post as the sales reps are less than helpful and the manual for the camera is next to useless and that is putting it in a nice way.

I looked at my older Sony Hi 8 and Super 8 manuals and they were so informative. However unfortunately that era of editing is gone and the tapes are elusive, just like the battery for the corders.

I must say after using the Panasonic, I still prefer to use the eye piece as opposed to the lcd monitor when I record. I find it awkward and not as steady, maybe it is something I have to get used too
Besides, one uses a lot more of the corder battery up as well with that monitor.

I take it that there is no real corder tutorial in movie factory that it is basically a "plug n play " that one captures a video to "My Videos" file as I do with my Hauppauge external win tv pvr usb 2 and then create a DVD via the Movie Factory 4. While in this case the capturing and creating of the DVD is all done via the fire wire connection. My cable is a 4 pin to 4 pin which I confirmed was needed with my model of Panasonic and my new toshiba notebook.

I really do appreciate all of the experienced members comments here. Today I am going out to the computer book store that I have my reference library set up from and get a book on capturing etc. so that I feel more comfortable with the jargon and am better able to express my situation in these extremely helpful forums.
I am leaving the editing until a later date.

Again best regards and cheers.

maddrummer3301 · Post by **maddrummer3301** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 9:30 pm

etech6355 · Post by **etech6355** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 9:36 pm

Read all the tutorials on this website & on the ulead website.
There is more information here then in the bookstores.
Experience is the best teacher, all the tutorials are written by very experienced users.

We don't need to re-invent the wheel again thanks to all those great tutorials.
.

url · Post by **url** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 9:59 pm

I appreciate the comments, its all the jargon of mpeg, avi, capturing, encoding etc.

That is why I thought that I should look for a book that will start me in the right direction.
I know that I was advised not to look at a mini dvd camcorder b/c it is tricky to edit and I did some browsing on the topic of mini dvd and mpeg 2 and found that advice was excellent. So I bought the mini dv corder with tape and researched the panasonic and sony and came up with the one i bought, actually i would have like the sony 505 however I did not like the lcd touch screen. I am still in the era of using the view finder and prefer that option.

I should say in some of the forums I do reading in and I find some areas where the discussion is about "avi's" and I really don't know what that is all about and scratch my head.
That was the reason for the idea of having a book to read as I occasionally do when I get fuzzy on any of my other programs etc. I have a few good reference books to refresh my mind on terminologies.

But you are probably correct, I don't need the book. It is the jargon that is confusing and I really wanted to have an understanding of the process that I am going to be using and the actual name of what type of file is being captured etc. and the rest of what follows in completion of an unedited project.
>>>>this is me

when it comes to all of these words!!!

Ciao for now and cheers!!! ( I am dim like a poor light bulb!!!) LOL

sjj1805 · Post by **sjj1805** » Mon Aug 07, 2006 10:35 pm

Please view:
From Camcorder to DVd with VideoStudio Plus the other stuff in the two links provided by
maddrummer3301

For an explanation of avi-v-mpeg please view
Audio/Video Synchronisation issues

url · Post by **url** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 7:48 pm

Thx again steve for your very experienced comments, i am so happy to be part of this forum and be able to show how little i know about everything to do with a simple creation of a dvd from film. but i guess everyone has to start somewhere.

I will review the areas indicated and hopefully eventually have a better understanding.

I am pleased i can do a simple direct copy of my mini dv via MF 4 as I feel comfortable with this program, since I use it with my external win tv pbr usb 2 and have had great results. i still don't understand if i am making an mpeg into "My Video" files via the fire wire cable before I capture or what that format is called before I do that eventual creation of a dvd.

You all have been so helpful and don't belittle a person for their lack of experience and knowledge.

I indeed compliment the mods/admin and members of this forum. It is a pleasure not to be criticized and made to look like an idiot with a lot of 4 letter words cast at one another which I have experienced in forums that I no longer belong to.

Cheers and have a great day.

jchunter · Post by **jchunter** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 11:03 pm

Url,
Many of your questions center on the camcorder itself. There is an excellent user oriented forum here: http://www.pana3ccduser.com/ You will discover a wealth of information on many topics.

jchunter · Post by **jchunter** » Tue Aug 08, 2006 11:03 pm

Duplicate deleted