Burning my home movies from mini DV tapes

Hello guest,: To benefit from all extra features you need to log in or sign up.

Video Edit Software Discuss, Burning my home movies from mini DV tapes at Software forum; I'm trying to figure out how to get my mini DV tapes downloaded into my computer so I can burn them onto a DVD with my DVD burner already on my computer.Any info would be great.I'm not too literate with computers in general,so go easy on me please.

clueless101 (New on Forum): Posts: 2; Posted: 02-12-2006

I'm trying to figure out how to get my mini DV tapes downloaded into my computer so I can burn them onto a DVD with my DVD burner already on my computer.Any info would be great.I'm not too literate with computers in general,so go easy on me please.

Quote and reply

Today (MyCE Staff): Posts: 15,596

Llun (CD Freaks Senior Member): Posts: 302; Posted: 03-12-2006

Welcome to the forum clueless101.

Its hard but i do it with Pinnacle Studio 10. I got a FireWire card for my PC (your camera probably has firewire and usb) so i use firewire but with usb its easy too... Just run the program, start playing the tape and the process begins... After that its time to convert the AVI file to dvd (2 to 3 hours) and then burn...

Of course you can edit the frames, put menus on it, etc...

Maybe the Nero package does the same but i am not sure...

To simplify things i have a Mini-DVD camera... Just record and watch...

Quote and reply

clueless101 (New on Forum): Posts: 2; Posted: 03-12-2006

So when you say convert the AVI file to DVD (2 to 3 hours) is that for 1 mini DV tape? I probably have at least 30 tapes.Is there an alternative(quicker way) I cant imagine always having to use your camcorder to watch your movies.A big hassle not to mention the wear on the camcorder. Thanks for your previous post by the way.

Quote and reply

Llun (CD Freaks Senior Member): Posts: 302; Posted: 03-12-2006

Hello again. I dont know if there is a better alternative but when i do it for the mini DV tapes of my friends it takes a lot of time. There are companies that do it for a fair price so you might try them... but search the forums and see the alternatives and, if you find something, please tell me also...

Quote and reply

etp (CDFreaks Resident): Posts: 3,744; Posted: 03-12-2006

Movie maker is free from Microsoft. Use your USB or fireware to do the deed and edit then save. Pick up the file in another program like SONIC/SONY/ ETC and burn to a DVD as a MPEG. Sonic and other programs can do it all if you get the deluxe versions only. So be sure before you buy and good luck. Easy to do.

__________________
Sony HDR-CX7E, HLDS GBC-H20N BD, LG GBW-H20L ,Lite-On DH-401S, Sony PS3&350, Pioneer 51FD, Toshiba A2 & 7000, Sony 52" XBR-4 & 32 XBR-6, Samsung 4071, 32-550, 52-850, HANNS 28.5/ HK7200 receiver/DELL 530s BD&9200

Quote and reply

minaelromany (CDFreaks Resident): Posts: 2,315; Posted: 03-12-2006

I've always thought that mini-DV can be copied directly (as normal data) to a computer without the need to actually playback the tape with the camcorder and capture it to the PC with some software

I ask this because a friend of mine wants a camcorder badly and he wanted it to has the easiest way to connect to PC and transfer recorded content .
HDD and Mini-DVD camcorders are quite high in price (for him) and mini-DV is the cheapest , so now I have to tell him the bad news about transferring data from mini-DV to PC ? or there is really a simple way ?

__________________
C2Q Q6600 L804@3.66 (458x8) 1.525 Bios (1.480 CPU-Z) Vcore with OCZ Vendetta 2
Asus X48 Rampage Formula
2x1GB Crucial Ballistix DDR2 800 4-4-4-12@DDR2 1100 5-5-5-15 2.05v
VisionTek Radeon HD4870@815/1150(4600 GDDR5!)
Asus MK221H 22" Widescreen LCD
WD 1.0TB Black + 2xWD 640GB Blue
Audigy2 ZS-Cambridge SoundWorks DTT 3500 Digital
HEC Zypher 750 Watt
Gigabyte Aurora 3D 570 Case

DVD Burners :
Samsung 203B SB03
NEC Optiarc AD-7200S
ASUS 1608P3S@Pioneer 111L 8.29
Sony 810A@Benq 1640 BSLB
Retail Benq 1640 BSLB
LiteOn iHAS120
Best Media : Panasonic TYG03 / Samsung Pleomax OPTODISC R16 / Verbatim MCC004 / CMC MAG E01
Boycott every faked/low quality media

Quote and reply

Llun (CD Freaks Senior Member): Posts: 302; Posted: 03-12-2006

Tell him to wait and buy a HDD or DVD camera. It is a bit expensive but it saves time... but surely you can find some company that do that for a fair price?

Last edited by Llun; 03-12-2006 at 23:58.

Quote and reply

etp (CDFreaks Resident): Posts: 3,744; Posted: 04-12-2006

You need to play back the tape.

Quote and reply

marcel_denis (New on Forum): Posts: 1; Posted: 09-12-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by minaelromany

I've always thought that mini-DV can be copied directly (as normal data) to a computer without the need to actually playback the tape with the camcorder and capture it to the PC with some software

I use a simple freeware called WinDV for direct binary transfer using FireWire (IEEE 1394). http://windv.mourek.cz/
The result needs a file extention and AVI is the one.
Adobe Premier is also a good choice with much more to offer.

One hour of miniDV gives you about 15Gig.
The video camera natively will read the tape contents at the speed of regular play. This is why it is done in "realtime".

Consider the 2 to 3 hours of encoding the way to get smooth image transitions instead of choppy and glitchy low quality. Multi-pass encoding is best. During this phase, you should be doing other things - not waiting around.

Hang in there!
About HDD and DVD camcorders, I think the technology needs to mature some.

Marcel

Quote and reply

filmgoers (Banned): Posts: 16; Posted: 15-12-2006

Here !
Recommend you this very useful software
It

very eazy for your DV tapes!

Quote and reply

Icy Mt. (MyCE Resident): Posts: 589; Posted: 20-12-2006

I use Sonic MyDVD. Sony DV camera to PC via Fireware (IEEE 1394). I can push a button, 1 hour of tape plays, about an hour of encoding, then burns to DVD. About 2 hours per 1 hour tape to get it onto DVD. Very high quality audio (Dolby Stereo) and video quality that will rival playing your tapes on the camera directly to TV.

__________________
"Sorry everyone, I push buttons too fast. I am often confused." -Icey tm.
Liteon DH-20A4H(QP53), BenQ DW1655 (BCIB, no mods), Liteon SOHD-167T (9S1B) The rest of the equipment.
Because you have to sleep, put your computer to use overnight: Team CD Freaks @ The World Community Grid
If your PS3 isn't on the CDFreaks Folding@Home Team 13505, shame on you.

Quote and reply

DR. PAUL (CD Freaks Senior Member): Posts: 319; Posted: 21-12-2006

Here is the dastest way to do it without a computer. Look for a dvd recorder that has a DV-LINK (IEEE-1394) jack and you can plug your digital video camcorder into it and copy to a dvd. I have it on my LITE-ON LVW-5005x and it works great. This is the easiest way that i know of.

Quote and reply

DR. PAUL (CD Freaks Senior Member): Posts: 319; Posted: 21-12-2006

Here is the fastest way to do it without a computer. Look for a dvd recorder that has a DV-LINK (IEEE-1394) jack and you can plug your digital video camcorder into it and copy to a dvd. I have it on my LITE-ON LVW-5005x and it works great. This is the easiest way that i know of.

Quote and reply

eaglebrad (New on Forum): Posts: 11; Posted: 03-01-2009

Howdy,

The whole process of copying footage from your camera to computer is time consuming however if you persist the effort is worth it.

From first hand experience there is nothing much to gain from leaving the raw footage on tape for years on end. Firstly the tapes can be damaged by magnetic fields or your camera stuffing up and you can loose all those treasured memories in the blink of an eye.

Your camera should have come with instructions so you an connect with the computer. I have an old panasonic (10 years old) but I connect to the computer via a firewire cord.

Once you have the footage on computer you can find heaps of programs both free and not to edit the footage. This is where the fun begins, putting snapshots of footage mixed with stills to music etc and at the end producing a DVD that you can watch on your telly.

All the info is on the net you just have keep researching and spend some time working it out.

Good luck in your efforts.

Quote and reply

Listen up, we've got more. Product information on 102,541 products. Our experts have written 521 articles. We've gathered 16,068 news items for you to always keep updated.