A Little Help with Sony DCR-DVD403 and VS7

maximus01can · Post by **maximus01can** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 6:39 pm

Howdy All,

First post here in this forum and by the looks of things I should have been lookinig here for a long time now instead of other forums hoping that someone would know something about VS.x I have a couple questions that I'm hoping someone can prompt me on and make life a little easier. I'm still running the dinosauar compared to most of you by the looks of things, but it's been great for me and I've got it down as far as capturing from my Sony DV camera using the mini DV tapes, but a friend of mine handed me a Sony DCR-DVD403 with the 8cm Discs and want's me to combine enough video to fill a 4.7G DVD. I'm a little stumped as to how to proceed with a project. I transferred all the video and pics from the discs to the HD. I could proabably have captured from the device as well, but didn't have any reference on the necessary settings and didn't want to waste a bunch of time messing around with that. I'm pretty sure that the video files are already MPEG II or DVD compliant. After finalizing the discs I could take them directly to my DVD player and watch the video. So I'm thinking that I should only have to insert the video clips do some editing and make the DVD. I'm hoping someone can give me a heads up on where to start with this. Like I said before I have no problem doing all the stuff from capture to finished product using the DV footage captured, but I need some help with the "initial project settings, preferences and setup". The rest should come along just fine after I've made the DVD compliant MPEG file out of all the clips and then move onto the "Make DVD" step. Another question I have is, since I'm really behind the times still using VS7 is there alot of advantages upgrading to VS9 that makes these types of problems easier to handle? I can't see any downside to this, but have just been haning on the fence looking across to the greener pastures and thinking I should upgrade. Pretty small price to pay knowing there will be more transitions, effects etc. and options that would make it even easier to use. Well enough blah, blah.

Would sure be nice to directly upload screenshots, but
Here's the clip properties

Video:
Format:24 Bits, [720x480]
NTSC DVD, Field B, Variable Bit Rate 9000 (Didn't get all this info on the Capture but I know it was 9000kbs?)
Comp Ratio: 33%
Frame Rate: 29.970 Frames/Sec
Audio:
Format: AC-3 Audio
Attributes: 48000 Hz

Thanks in advance for the help,

Cheers,
Max

Post by **lancecarr** » Thu Dec 01, 2005 12:26 am

Here is a little data to get you started.
You are correct in assuming the best way to get the files into VS is by placing the finalised disc in the DVD tray and importing from there.
You are not actually "capturing" from the DVD cams, all you are doing is transferring the files by using a program (like VS) that can read through the vob file structure on the disc and can "see" the MPEG's within.
I am not familiar with VS7 but in VS9 on the "Capture" tab there is a function for importing DVD/VR files that you can use. In VS8 you can just right click in the "Edit" tab and select "Import DVD VR" from there.
The 403 usually records sound in Dolby 5:1 Suround which no version of VS can handle.
You showed properties of AC-3 in your post so only VS9 can handle that. VS8 could handle it but, at an extra cost, you needed a special plugin.
When the files are imported they will be MPEG2's which VS can handle well as long as you follow the recommended procedure in the sticky at the top of this forum.
All things considered I would recommend the upgrade to VS9 at this point as it will make all of this much easier. Make sure you get the boxed version, that way you get the "repair" function if your installation get s corrupted in any way.

maximus01can · Post by **maximus01can** » Thu Dec 01, 2005 12:45 am

Thanks for the info lancecarr I've already copied the files to the HD and inserted a small clip into VS7 and rendered with AVI settings and the resulting video was ok, but no sound. I think the AC-3 audio format can't be handled in VS7 and I'd need to upgrade to VS9 for it to work. Once I've installed VS9 can I just use the video clips transferred from the camera to my HD instead of capturing? or is Capturing the best route to go?

Cheers,
Max

Post by **Ken Berry** » Thu Dec 01, 2005 12:48 am

I am a little puzzled by the Field Order B (Upper Field First) which is generally associated with non-digital captures. I assume these were the properties of the mini DVD files as copied to your computer and imported with VS7, rather than project properties you yourself have imposed?

And I concur fully with Lance: you won't be able to do anything at all with the mini DVD files since VS7 cannot handle AC-3 at all. The AC-3 plug-in for VS8 cost US$29.95, though I am not sure it is available any longer. And the full upgrade to VS9, which includes ability to handle AC-3. costs $49.95. Well worth the effort and money, IMHO

Post by **lancecarr** » Thu Dec 01, 2005 12:57 am

Max, you have to understand what you are dealing with here. The DVD cam is recording MPEG2 files on the fly and burning on to the disc. There is NO "capture" step here. Capture specifically refers to the action of transferring from DV tape to the computer in the form of (usually)dv avi files. This DOES NOT apply to the DVD cams.
If you read the recommended procedure you will see that there is no point in rendering the MPEGs you have to avi, and it will most likely result in a loss of quality.
If you upgrade to VS9 you can import from the disc then do all your editing in the MPEG2 format then render to a new MPEG2 that will be DVD compliant and you should suffer little or no loss of quality.
So to summarize, yes, once you have the files on the HD you can use VS9 to edit and you will retain the sound.
Remember when you output the final product don't change it to avi. You want to put it all on to a DVD right? Well if you output to avi then you will need to re-render the avi back to MPEG2 to burn to a DVD. That creates an additional unnecessary step that will lose you quality.

Post by **lancecarr** » Thu Dec 01, 2005 1:01 am

Ken,
just a note for you on the Sony DVD cams. They all record MPEG2's as you know and they all have the Upper Field First property. I have no idea why. Just a Sony thing I guess. I don't know about any other brand of DVD cam though.

maximus01can · Post by **maximus01can** » Thu Dec 01, 2005 2:43 pm

Thanks for the input lancecarr and Ken. I do now understand the way the files are only transferred and not captured. I'll be upgrading to VS9 and purchase the box set instead of the download. It's always a little tricky figuring out new formats for me as I'm a little versed on the whole DV thing and using VS7, but not yet on DVD mini stuff. Hopefully the learning curve on VS9 won't be too bad considering I'm comfortable with all the features that VS7 has. I know it will take a little practice, but hopefully I'll get that mastered to a acceptable level. I have done some real nice DVD's with VS7 and hopefully VS9 will provide the capability of an even nicer product with some motion menu's etc. I only have one more "off topic" question regarding VS7. I've been capturing stills off the video and inserting them at the end of the project to finish it off, but many of these images when played back on the DVD player seem to be jumping around. For example if someone has their hand in the air it looks like they're waving at me........lol. Do you guy's have any fixes for that type of situation?

Cheers Again,
Max