Recording digital tape to DVD

Ozone

I have a Sony digital camcorder, (mini DV) that records to a tape. I simply want to record my taped digital home videos, (no longer than 60 minutes) to a DVD via the DVD rewriter in my PC so that they can be watched on an ordinary DVD player. When I copy the digital tape, (60 minutes duration), to my PC as an AVI file, (Ive been told to do this to maintain the quality), it makes a 12 gigabyte file! Other file types which take up less space appear foggy and blurry. What software do I need to be able to compress 12 gigabytes of video onto a 4.7 gigabyte DVD? If this is not the answer how can I record my dvd's double sided, (I believe that is the terminology?). Does this require new software or a new burner too? Can anyone recommend a person or company that may be able to offer unbiased advice?
Any help would be very much appreciated.
Thanks,
Ozone.

Mr_Skint_2

I dont know if this is any good http://www.transfervideo.co.uk/

Ozone

thank you very much. I'll give it a go.

Cheers,
Ozone

Kommunist

When I copy the digital tape, (60 minutes duration), to my PC as an AVI file, (Ive been told to do this to maintain the quality), it makes a 12 gigabyte file!

Yep, that's right. It is because you are copying (the word "capture" is normally used albeit it is wrong ) file DV-compressed.
Most of DVD players need video compressed to MPEG2 and recorded in very special way (called "authoring").
There are two ways of making DVDs:
1. Easy. Get All-in-one software like Ulead Video Studio, Pinnacle Studio or something similar. These are usually cheap and easy-to-use although limited on features.
2. Difficult - get separate encoder (TMPGEnc, for example), and authoring package (there are plenty) and control every single feature of the process.

1 hour of MPEG2 should perfectly fit to standard DVD5 (4.3GBytes one, usually referred as 4.7GB) so you do not need fancy discs.

sammyy

The simplest authoring software I have used is nero.It shrinks the file to fit on to standard dvd.You can download a trial HERE

Ozone

Cheers sammyy. Your advice was very helpful.
Thanks,
Ozone.

Ozone

Thanks friend. That helps clarify things. Im not an expert and therefore dont need to edit or control everything. Mainly, I just want to cut out the rubbish, (quite a lot at the moment!!!) and add some simple transitions between each scene or chapter as I think they are called. Therefore I think I will go with one of the simple packages for the time being.
Thanks once again.
Ozone.

Mr_Skint_2

Can you do it through windows movie maker that is preinstalled on an XP machine?

Ozone

Movie maker wont record to a dvd.

Kommunist

Ozone

You can get Pinnacle Studio9 for roughly 24 quid from eBuyer.
That'll make your life easier. There are also various free video packages if you are interested. VCDHelp is probably the best site for it.

Mr Skint

AFAIK, MovieMaker2 can not export to MPEG2.

Ozone

Thanks mate. Your a diamond geezer!! :beer: