Hi, I have a Sony HC65 minidv tape camera and would like to transfer the minidv tape to a DVD disc. I have firewire on my computer and a DVD writer. What is the best way to do this in order to get full screen video that looks as close to the same resolution as the original source (minidv tape)
I'd like to know if I should transfer it direct from tape to DVD or to HD first then to DVD?
Transfering to the computer first is much wiser, it allows for higher DVD quality creation.
I can't tell you what the best software is, but I use either WinDV or DVIO to transfer DV to my computer.
If you want the closest / almost exact as original do the following:
1. Crop "bad" edges off of video (using avisynth)
2. Add borders to compensate for cropping (using avisynth)
3. Encode avisyth file to DVD compliant MPEG (I recommend TMPGEnc, it's easy to use, inexpensive, and VERY good)
4. Author DVD with a DVD authoring program
I recommend using avisyth because it frameserves your file as you request it, there is no colorspace change, and it is the fastest frameserver I know of.
Thnaks for the tips. I'll check those programs out.
FYI: I purchased a Pinnacle Plus software suite with a capature card with firewire ports and a breakout video box. (About $200 USD) I've been playing around with that and have had fairly good results but there's a lot to learn on it and if I use DV quality transfer to the HD first then to DVD the resolution is close to the same as the original. However, using that program to capture say MiniDV or hi-8 video tape straight to DVD doesn't turn out that good. It might be a setting I'm missing since I'm new to the program so I joined a pinnacle users group that should help a bit.
