Using VS for archiving collection of photos...Yes / No?

[garjobo]

Hello Chaps, looking for a little advice as per the norm hopefully you'll be as kind as always and impart your little wisdom..

I have a few thousand photos which I am 'trying' to organise into folders on my PC, I want to ensure that I don't lose any should an SD card packup so to speak.

SO - using VIDEOSTUDIO X3 - would this be the best package to basically bring in a couple of thousand photos and then burn them onto a blu-ray and also a dvd disc. I dont care about the order - more a case of archiving them...so ideally best quality possible hence the blurray.

Ive head of TOAST? and Nero? ..But ASSUMING videostudio will be ok to do it as well? or not? I mean..HOW do i bring into videstudio 2000 photos..copy and paste? insert a load at a time?

Thought and advice welcome...in a nutshell...WHATS the best method to copy a load of photos onto a bluray and dvd for archiving?

AND, quick 2nd question..Am I losing any quality continually copy and pasting an image from one folder into another ( trying to organise into dates / time periods ). I mean...IS THERE A BETTER METHOD? Essentially what I am doing is...inserting an SD card...copy the contents into a folder ( about 500 photos at a time )..then individually / or small groups of photos copying them from one folder and placing into another folder marked eg, ' New Home 2011 '.

APPREICATE any replies and advice. THANKS

[canuck]

2nd question first: you do not lose any quality by copying photo images no matter how many times you copy. The only time you can lose quality if you do any editing, resizing etc. When you copy your are copying bit for bit. To the copy program there is no difference between a photo file, a video file or a program file: it is just data.

For simple archiving, almost every version of windows is able to burn files to a CD or DVD (maybe even BlueRay if you have a BlueRay burner). There is no need to use VS, Nero any video program for that kind of task. Most burners have their own software which you can use for the task. If you organize them into folders first on your hard drive then you can copy the folders to a disc.
Another option of course is to get a couple of hard drives and copy the files to them.

[garjobo]

thanks canuck for the reply. Glad to hear..well confirm i suppose in my head.. thatno loss of quality in regards to copy/paste function.

Yes, my bluray burner came with software etc..still to have a play with it...may just use that then...obviously i love VS and the thought of adding titles to the odd photo and mixing between shots....but doing that for a few thousand...nar....i dont think so!

Thanks again.

[canuck]

Adding titles to photos etc, would be creating a slideshow/video for which you of course would need a program such as VS. That is of course completely different from "archiving" your photos.
One thing to consider when using BlueRay for archiving your photos is that you can store a whole lot more photos on BluRay disc but then if that disc fails you will also lose a lot more photos in one shot.

[lata]

Hi

You should use your burner software to archive your images, use the option to burn a Data Disc. A standard DVD will hold approx 4.3 Gb of data.
Using Video Studio would create a Video DVD, this is not what you need.
(not VS X3, use DVD Movie Factory 7se)

Another Option..........
Video Studio will allow you to include a personal folder to the video disc, this folder can contain your images. I sometimes use this option to backup my images.
I create a short slide show, 20 minutes is long enough for anyone to watch, this will use approx 1.5 Gb leaving 2.5 Gb free space for a Personal Folder.

I regularly save/backup my images to an external hard drive and also save to data disc usually once a year.

[BrianCee]

Hi Trevor

garjobo tells us he has a bluray burner - surely you can get more than 4.3GB on a bluray disc.

[lata]

Hi Brian

Yes that is correct but as Canuck mentioned you will lose more if the disc fails,
besides standard DVD discs are 3 a penny.
Nobody knows the lifespan of discs, they have not been about long enough..

Certainly my CD discs that have SVCD and VCD are starting to fail. Some anyway!
They were burned back in 2000 ish, maybe earlier..

[garjobo]

terrific thanks once again for the replies. Tempted to do the Lata idea of a short slideshow first etc.

Seems, dvd/bluray longativity is unknowable..never liked the format myself from the very begining thought it was flawed..but yes, will basically back up several times to various formats and hope for the best.

Harking back to an earlier point...Thats great regards all photos being data so no loss in quality no matter how many times you copy/paste...IS that the same for video and HD footage...as intend to do the same thing there...bringing in my footage via USB...into a folder/s on the pc - then...rearranging them from one folder to another according to the footage when it was filmed etc....Can i willy-nilly copy/paste these much larger files across without any loss of quality.

The aim then...is to bring it into VS X5 from one of the folders..OR at this stage would it then be better to bring it into VS from the orginal source aka SD card in my panasonic camcorder via the USB lead.

I ask this..only because i note that my Panny 700 has a hdmi connection ( a small one..smaller slightly than the standard..hence havent a lead )...so thinking..the purpose of this? if i buy a smaller hdmi lead, connect to my panny 700 and into my pc..via hdmi cable...will the quality be better? or will it just load into the computer faster? Important question that - as obviously id splash the cash and purchase the hdmi lead if quality of my HD footage is better..

[canuck]

To the computer data is data no matter what the source - it is all the same whether text, pictures video or whatever.
If your camcorder is on a SD card, hard drive or DVD you can simply use Windows Explorer to copy the data to your hard drive. It will be identical to the original data on your camcorder.
The only time the "quality" will change is when you do any converting to another format and even then you might not notice any difference unless you select a low quality video format. If archive anything (photos, video) you should always archive the original captured/copied "data" . Conversion if required can always be done later if required.
If you somehow convert to a lower format while capturing and then delete the original source on your camcorder, you can never get back to original quality from the captured video.

I believe the HDMI connection on your camcorder is only for connecting the camcorder directly to a HD TV. I don't know if it can be used to transfer the video from the camcorder to a PC. Seems to me a USB connection is a lot easier since the PC will recognize the camcorder as just another attached device, ie. treat it as an external hard drive.

[garjobo]

THANKS Canuck for the advice. Will put this thread to bed now and start the timeconsuming business of saving all my pics/video.

No need to answer...unless you can further advise..but I take it..I can assume then that when I eg, burn a copy via my LG bluwriter ( and also to normal dvd disc etc ) that - IF i dont mess with any settings then that's the best it's gonna be..the orginal source as you put it.. I mean..any specific settings i need to burn to at...

..I have just 'tested' my bluray writer - not burnt yet..the cost of these discs etc! - the options i have using LG software which came with the burner gives me a choice of...data disc, audio cd and disc to disc...so i chose Data disc..brought in my previously captured folder..simples..brought it in, says size ( of my first clip ) is 74,850 ( gobbly-gook to me ) and file type is AVCHD Video.

So..thats all ok then. If so..i will add another dozen or so clips like this and give it a shot.

Thanks again.