Complete greenhorn - MiniDV to DVD help

[johndow]

I have purchased a Canon MD205 from the recomendations on this forum as one of the better options for a sub £200 camcorder. I have purchased sony tapes and a fireware cable. My PC has a DVD Writer and windows movie maker (nothing much else).

Now, from here, what is the best way to get the best quality DVD from my camcorder?

I don't need any fnacy editing, maybe the odd title and be able to trim some clips, so is my software enough, and if not what do i need?

And, is there a simple flowchart of how it is done?

The first 5 mins of indoor (at night) footage i took seemed very grainy and poor quality even in AVI format shown on the PC. Does this get better?

Cheers
JD

[jaymac]

Hi first thing to be aware of is your files will be huge 13G/byte per hours footage. Then Max footage to go on dvd at best quality 1 hour though most are ok with 2 hours .If you have Vista wmm I believe can burn to dvd if XP then you can do your basic editing or leave as is then export and burn with something else and it takes considerable time .. To get started I would capture some footage with wmm say about 15 mins play with that then if you have XP export as DV-Avi then use something like dvd flick which is free to author and burn to dvd .Once you are happy you can go for the full show so to speak.WMM is quite limited but if you dont want too much its fine. It is all much easier with Purchased editors
DVD Flick

[senu]

The process from capture off tape to creating DVD sequence is straightforward if little or no editing is needed
Editing is fairly easy but dependent on software
I would have a ply with WMM but be ready to give it a miss as you get better
There are books , but most software can be learnt
I agree that free editors can be a PITA to use what you dont pay i money,, you pay in perhaps lack if fluidness an a death of features
A "lazy way" is to get a DVD recorder but you get limited editing and titles ect.
A bit less satisfying but easy and quick with no quality issues ( especially if transfer is by firwwire)
Ulead MF6+ has some editng of sort evenif it is primarily a DVD arthiring program

[Mr Lazy]

Originally Posted by johndow

The first 5 mins of indoor (at night) footage i took seemed very grainy and poor quality even in AVI format shown on the PC. Does this get better?

You will probably find the footage looks "cleaner" (ie. slightly less grainy) when played back on a TV from the DVD, compared to when played back on the PC. However you are always going to get grain during low light on a comsumer camcorder - there's not much you can do about that (apart from add more light of course...).

[MarkE19]

Originally Posted by johndow

I don't need any fnacy editing, maybe the odd title and be able to trim some clips, so is my software enough, and if not what do i need?

And, is there a simple flowchart of how it is done?

Have a look at papajohn.org for a run through what you can and can't do in WMM. As stated already only the version in Vista can burn a DVD, but the XP version is plenty good enough to get you started with capture & editing. If you have Nero then you should be able to create a DVD with that, but like senu I recommend Ulead DVD MovieFactory as a good and easy to use DVD authoring program.

Mark.