Is Screenblast compatible with mini-DVD?

Mokan710 wrote on 3/19/2004, 10:32 PM

Hello all-

I just bought the Sony DCR200 mini-DVD camera a couple months ago and am now wanting to do some editing with the footage I've taken. Screenblast looks very promising, but is there a way I can use it to edit footage shot on mini-DVDs?

If so, would I still have to convert the data into an MPEG file? And how does one go about capturing the footage from these mini-discs?

Could I load them directly in my DVD drive and capture the data from there? Or would I have to use the USB connector that came with the camera?

Any information you might have would be much appreciated...

Curious in Alabama

Comments

IanG wrote on 3/20/2004, 12:25 AM

There's a lot in here and the Vegas forum about this. The audio is recorded in AC-3, which MS, in common with most (all?) entry level NLEs, can't handle. You can demux and convert the audio, but you'll need separate s/w to do this. Assuming this is OK, the video is already recorded in MPEG2, so there's a loss of quality and editing can be very slow. Sorry!

Ian G.

JohnnyRoy wrote on 3/20/2004, 8:25 AM

Unfortunately, these cameras are meant for people who just want to “shoot and view” and not for those who want to edit. Unless your camera came with software to capture and edit the mini-DVD (I assume it didn’t and that’s why you’re asking here), I would check out dvdrhelp.com. Look for DVD Ripping tools that will convert the VOB files on your DVD disk and translate them into AVI and WAV files. There may even be people in those forums that have DVD camcorders and can help you out. Be prepared to become a guru at this stuff. You’re going to have to do a lot of reading and testing to get things to work right. That’s because this is not how these cameras are supposed to be used. (I know this is not what you want to hear)

I would seriously consider getting a different camera if you think you want to edit a lot of your movies. You’re just not going to be happy with the results due to quality loss given the camera you have. You really want to be recording in miniDV or Digital8 format to get high quality edits.

~jr

royor wrote on 3/20/2004, 8:26 AM

I don't use a mini-DVD with SB, rather a Digital-8. But according to the review Kurt von Behrmann did on SB, it says :

"For Sony Camcorder owners whose format is the proprietary MicroMV format, Movie Studio fully supports this format. In the arena of lower priced video editing software, it is important to locate this feature. It is not a format commonly supported by many applications."

Read the full review at : http://www.unleash.com/kurt/screenblastmovieediting/index.asp

Hope this helps
R

JohnnyRoy wrote on 3/20/2004, 8:29 AM

MicroMV is something totally different which Sony has abandoned due to customer complaints about its extreme low quality.

~jr