Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

What do you lovely techy people recommend? It'll be used for editing home videos taken using a Mini DV so we won't need anything too flash just a simple to operate programme that a computer literate pensioner can use (hi dad ) to edit out all the rubbish and add tunes & maybe the odd bit of commentary. He'll then be puting them onto DVD and already has the hardware/software to do that for digital stills.

He'll be using a USB cable and is running a Pentium 4 with XP.

Oh and please don't tell him as it's a Christmas present

Here's hoping he never reads the computer forum...

Cheers

Sal

snowcrash

movie maker 2 (it comes with windows xp) is proberbly the best to use, especially as it's free

Daz34

Windows Movie Maker 2 is pretty impressive for free software
You can edit movies, add titles & credits, music, effects etc.

Darren

Daz34

beat me too it
I've got a link though

ScoobyDoo555

If they're too basic, go for Final Cut Pro, or Adobe Premiere... what industry uses....

Vertical learning curve, but hey, good results

Dan

Another vote for Movie Maker

Nimbus

From MS

Do you have some DVD Authoring software?

Iain Young

Avoid Pinnacle Studio 8 at all costs. I've got it at home, and although it can produce stunning results and is really easy to use, it is the most bug ridden piece of software I've ever used. It crashes all over the place, sometimes causing you to lose your work, and the tech support is awful. They release patches, but they often just seem to make it worse!!!!

I just wish I could find a decent program for editing analogue video and burning to dvd...

Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

Cheers guys

I didn't know about Movie Maker, thanks, so that's just saved me some money

I'll have to think of something else to buy him now...

snowcrash

dvdlab is very good for newbie dvd authoring...

http://www.mediachance.com/dvdlab/

snowcrash

if you want something to convert stills to video (with commentary + music) documentary styleee then "Plus! Photo Story 2" is also very good..

it comes with Microsoft Plus! Digital Media Edition ...

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/plus/dme/dmehome.asp

Nimbus

snowcrash,

I would not recomed DVD-LAb for a newbie. While it does not offer the kind of funcions you find in DVD Meastro or Scenerist, it's definitly not for the first timer who's new to DVD making. It does allow you lots of freedom which is excellent when you're tired of having you hands tied and want more freedom.

However, if you're willing to give it a go then by all means do. Remeber though that this is just an authoring tool and not an editor or encoder. I assume MS Movie maker can edit and encode your vid?

snowcrash

true nimbus, maybe newbie wasn't the right term for dvdlab...

although its a lot easier to use that scenarist or maestro

no Movie Maker won't encode to DVD or MPEG2, you need to use another application like Tmpeg or CCE or similar to convert your editied footage to MPEG2 for DVD use...

and then you need to use some sorta authoring software like DVDlab or similar...

snowcrash

P.S. if the camera and PC have Firewire, I would recommend getting a Firewire lead and using that rather than USB, as USB is crap for video..

Nimbus

Scoobychick,

You can try Ulead DVD Workshop on 30 day trail. It has a limited editing function, but since you will be using MM2 that should not be a problem. I does allow you to add your pre-eddited clips and then create menus for them. You can then create a DVD from there. It will encode the video as well. It's not bad as "all-in-one" programs go and will give you a fairly easy to use way of doing what you want.

http://www.ulead.com/dws/trial.htm

[Edited by Nimbus - 12/9/2003 6:02:05 PM]

Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

Thanks chaps but I'm a bit confused now, he already has the software for making DVDs which he uses for his digital photos and his pc has a separate DVDRW drive, are you saying that he will need additional software for burning his edited videos onto dvd?

[Edited by scoobychick - 12/10/2003 8:22:42 AM]

[Edited by scoobychick - 12/10/2003 8:26:08 AM]

Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

snowcrash, not firewire unfortunately.

Iain Young

The format of dvd video discs is different to dvd data discs even though they use the same disc (like the difference between an audio cd and a data cd). You will need a program which will take your video and plonk it onto the dvd in the correct format / structure.

You don't say what dvd burning software you have. I've got roxio easy cd/dvd creator 6, and that comes with programs for creating dvd video discs (including menus etc) from existing edited video. It will even convert the video to the required mpeg format. (Your software may have something similar)



[Edited by Iain Young - 12/10/2003 10:09:39 AM]

Nimbus

Scoobychick,

Typically to make a DVD moive disk you need to do the following...

1. Capture recorded video on to your PC
2. Edit video
3. En-code into DVD compliant format
4. Author DVD (add menues etc) and complie into DVD files
5. Burn onto DVD

Some people use different software for each step as they can choose the best programs for each job. There are some "all-in-one" packages about that will do all these things but they usually compromise on one or more steps. Using different programs for each step means that you can get the best (to your eyes) product and result. The all in one products are good for a first timer as they let you make your DVDs quickly and with relativly little effort.

Let me know if you need any more info. You can realy get into this as deep as you want, or just dabble if you prefer...

Iain Young

By the way, does anyone know what is the maximum length of video that you can get on a dvd-r? The software I'm using at the moment will only allow me to get about an hour of material on there.

Thanks,
Iain

Nimbus

It depends on the size of the files. This will depend on the bitrate the video was en-coded at and the audio stream type (WAV (or PCM) being huge, AC-3 and mpa being the smallest).

Can you re-encode at a lower bit-rate/quality?

Iain Young

I could probably encode at a lower bitrate, but I was reluctant to do this. The video I'm editing at the moment is coming from old hi-8 video tapes, and as the quality isn't brilliant to begin with, I don't want to lower it further by lowering the bitrate.

I am also encoding the sound as pcm because I was told this was the most compatible with standalone dvd players?

It's not a problem as I can always span videos over a couple of discs. I was just curious as to roughly the maximum length of video you can get on a dvd-r assuming everything is set to max quality.

Nimbus

You can proably set the bit rate quite low and not notice much difference. It will depend on the encoder used. I use TMPGEnc which is very good, but slow. If I'm not too bothered about space, then I set it to 8000 kbps (this is about the max for DVD standards). However you can lower this to 6000 and still get little or no difference in quality. This is for single pass constant bit-rate. However some people have reported that they can use a 2-pass variable bit rate of Min 2000 ave 4000 max 6000 with great results. This will take longer to encode but will reduce the file size.

Best thing is to try some different setting for a 1 min clip and put them onto the same DVD and watch them together to see if you notice any diffence.

As for audio, you are right in that PCM/WAV has the highest compatability. I tried using mpa but found that I lost audio sync, so now I always use PCM/WAV even though it means larger file sizes.

Iain Young

Thanks. I'll give it a try

Nimbus

Out of interest, what software are you using for editing, encoding and authoring?

Iain Young

At the moment I'm using Pinnacle Studio 8. I've got the Studio DC10-plus package which includes a capture card for analogue video sources. The capture works very well, the editing is good (hundreds of transitions etc), will allow you create dvd menus etc. It's just a shame that it is the most bug ridden piece of software I've ever used, frequently crashing, ausio synch problems etc, terrible tech support, and each patch they release seems to make it worse !!

I've tried using Premiere (and one or two others via trial downloads etc), but it doesn't recognise / work with the capture card I have, and won't import the avi files that Studio 8 captures, (won't work with the video codec). So it looks like I'm stuck with it until I've finished editing my old tapes.

We've got a sony digital video camera now (with firewire), so once I've finished editing the old stuff I can throw out the Pinnacle stuff and look fo something a bit more reliable...

Nimbus

I haven't tried Pinnicle, although my brother uses it a lot. I've heard lots of comments on the same problems you've mentioned.

I have a Sony Digital 8 and the firewire card captures both the analoge and digital output from this very well. I use Premiere 6 (came with card) and never had any problems. I use a frame server to output the editied video to TMPGEnc so I don't have to create an intermediate AVI file. This converts stright into DVD fromat. I use DVD-Lab for authoring and Nero 5 to burn. No problems so far.

I used Ulead DVD workshop to begin with on a trial. It was good, but I soon wanted more freedom.

Iain Young

Sounds interesting. Where did you get this card from? I've had a look on the dabs.com and sony uk websites, but couldn't find any mention of it.

Thanks,
Iain

gareth

iMac has firewire, digital video editing built-in dunno about DVD authoring because DVDs were strictly read-only when I bought mine. Otherwise, it's a brilliant platform for this sort of application.

I capture from my Sony Digital 8, edit in iMovie, dump the master back to the Sony (with DVIn enabled), then output to analogue VCR for copies.

Iain Young

Well my pc has firewire as well, and so editing digital stuff is not the problem. It's the analogue editing that causes all the trouble...

Nimbus

I can't remember where I got it from. I think it was from someone on SN. Its a basic Pyro DV card although I don't know the specific model number. Fr a basic model it does very well.

[Edited by Nimbus - 12/10/2003 12:34:57 PM]