Can I burn MiniDV tapes to DVD for free/cheap?

judosteffer

Hi,

I bought a MiniDV Panasonic Camcorder a while back. It didnt come with any software.

I found Windows Movie maker on my PC- but this only seems to burn video into a "HIMAT" format? I dont think my DVD player could read this could it?

Do I need different/better software?

basically whats the best and cheapest (or even free) for transferring video from my MiniDV camcorder onto the PC, then editing it, and burning it onto DVD (At high quality) which will play in all DVD players?

hobo28

Movie Maker is a bit basic but very easy to use.

One thing you could do is to use MovieMaker to edit your movie then save it to disk. Then use a different program such as tmpgenc to convert it to a DVD format then burn the files so you can watch it on TV.

It can get really complicated. If your really interested, https://www.videohelp.com has LOADS of guides but can get very techie.

I'm a techie but don't have the inclination to spend hours editing. I use a program called Muvee (https://www.muvee.com) which is SO simple even my mother can use it! It will take the camera source, create a movie and burn it to DVD for you. The effects are fantastic. You can download a trial but I do recommend it.