I need help with my Mother's Day DV movie project

hmartine67 wrote on 2/25/2002, 11:32 PM
I need information on DVD-Rs. I would like recommendations on the types of DVD-Rs that some of the users of VF and this forum use for authoring their movies. I would like to put a 20 minute movie of my first son who is one year old and give it my wife as a gift for this comming mother's day, so I really need your feedback. Any comments will be really appreciated. I would like the final project to be played in most DVD players. So far, I've hear of the Pionner DVD-R A03. How good is this item? Also, any hints on how to get the best quality video output. The following includes my arsenal:
Sony Digital8 camera, Firewire PCI adapter card, enough HD space, 256 MB ram, P4 (1.2 GHz), and this weekend I'm buying VF2 (I was gonna get VideoWave, but....). Am I missing anything in order for my project to come up perfect ( almost perfect).
I will greatly appreciate it if you help in this special project.

Thank you,

Heber

Comments

Stiffler wrote on 2/26/2002, 12:28 AM
I'm really glad you didn't buy VideoWave. I blew $100 on it, then found VF2 and am so happy with it. Anyway, have you thought of doing just a VCD or SVCD? The quality is not as good of DVD(about the same as VHS). I'm really new to this, but try: vcdhelp.com.
Good luck
Lody wrote on 2/26/2002, 6:17 AM
I use the Pioneer DVR-A03 and am very happy with it. I use VF2 to capture and edit my original footage and create master tapes. One thing it does not do though is author DVDs. VW 5 would do that job in principal, but is very buggy and has limited functionality.

The Pioneer comes bundled with good authoring and burning software (MyDVD 2.3), perfect combination with VF2. In the box were 2 DVD-R disks, 5 CD-Rs and seperate data burning software. No problems with the drive at all until now.
MHampton wrote on 2/26/2002, 8:42 AM
I also have been using VF2 and the Pioneer A03. I output from VF to AVI and then use TMPEGENC to encode the MPEG2, load in to MY-DVD 2.3 with comes with the drive, and burn to DVD-R for playing on a set top box. This week I send in my order to upgrade to Vegas Video 3 to have more video tracks to play with. I'm happy with the combiniation, but am looking forward to see how the Main Concepts pro version of the mpeg encoder stacks up against TMPEGENC to maybe cut out a step.

One comment about My-DVD though. I recommend saving the project often. It usually locks up on me at least a couple of times, usually when setting chapter points in the video.
hmartine67 wrote on 2/26/2002, 11:42 AM
Thanks a lot for your help. I'm in debt with you. Your input has really made up my mind on what to include for this project. I kinda knew, but I guess I just needed reasurance. Lody, I think I have seen you in the VideoWave forum as well... true!?
One last question, do I have to buy the mpg-2 plug-in separate from VF, or does it come with it. I checked the templates, and I noticed that only has mpg-1.

Thanks again,

One Happy Dude
Lody wrote on 2/26/2002, 12:02 PM
True, you have seen me there :)

As MHampton I am using TMPGEnc as encoder, you should give it a try. It might be a bit tricky to use because of the many options, but gives great results. With the wizzard and information on the web you should have no problem creating great DVD compliant MPEG2-files.

If you want to have VF to produce MPEG2 you have to buy the plugin. In that case it is realy a good deal to buy Vegas 3.0, there it is included.

It is currently a cheap upgrade ($149) from VF 2, so I just did the same thing as MHampton and ordered Vegas. Next to a MPEG2 encoder it will give you nice features like unlimited video and audio channels on the timeline, reverse video, chroma key, etc.
MHampton wrote on 2/26/2002, 2:31 PM
That's exactly why I took the upgrade. Roughly $100 to upgrade the mpeg component vs $150 for an entire program upgrade that includes the mpeg upgrade. I'm anxious to see how the quality of the MC component compares to the output of TMPEGENC, which I just registered last week. :( Add on top of that all of the audio editing features, this will work out great for me.

BTW hmartine67: I made a valentines DVD for my wife and after watching it, she came to me with tears in her eyes and said that the money I had spent on the video hardware and software was all worth it and if I wanted to buy the upgrade to go ahead! So, never underestimate the power of this stuff.
hmartine67 wrote on 2/26/2002, 3:04 PM
Alright guys, I think I got the information I needed, so I am off to do some shopping. Lody, MHampton and joncinmn thanks a lot again.

Happy editing to all.

Hmartine67