The Quickest Route from Camcorder to
DVD
The magazine article will be about the scenic route
from tape to DVD, where you can get involved to whatever extent
you want in selecting scenes, fixing files, editing the
movie, and selecting DVD options.
For the rest of this newsletter, I'll show you the quickest
route, where you don't stop at any of the apps like Photo Gallery, Movie
Maker, or DVD Maker. You make the minimal number of choices to get a
video DVD to your player as quickly as possible.
I'm glad it worked on Monday because I really wanted to see what
it put on the disc. Would it include a DVD menu style? If so, which one? If
not, what then?
Step 1 - Connect a
digital
Camcorder by firewire... and turn it to the VCR
mode
Select the only option, Import Video
using Windows Import Video.
We know it's an official wizard as the Task Manager shows the
open window as being part of CaptureWizard.exe, a
new file in the Movie Maker folder. The folder in XP has only
the MM2 executable (unless you also have a copy of MM1 in it
like I do).
Being in the same folder as Movie Maker, you'd expect it to be
somehow related.
Step 2 - Select a Format
Option...
... the wizard offers 3 choices
-
AVI single file (DV-AVI)... a single big one, perhaps your
usual capture option in XP
-
WMV single file... another choice comparable to a high
quality WMV choice in MM2, but of higher bitrate/quality
-
WMV - one file per scene... a new choice for a pack of WMV
files rather than a single one
Absent is a choice for a pack of DV-AVI files like you can get
with the WinDV utility.
Also absent is a choice of WMV file quality... it gives you
the single big one or the pack of individual ones at about 2 GB per hour size.
The properties of the files show them as 720x480 with a
bitrate of 4000 kbps... double the bitrate of the highest choice of
Movie Maker in XP. That's DVD quality without having to capture it at
DV-AVI.
I selected the single WMV file.
Note that the single DV-AVI choice might be the quickest and
best of the choices for this process. Going with a WMV file choice is a
two-step import process, first to a temporary DV-AVI file, and then to WMV
files rendered from it. It takes more time and may be a quality hit due to the
extra rendering.
Step 3 - All or Part...
Moving on to the wizard's next window...
Choose to import all of the tape or selected parts.
Notice the 2nd option... taking the whole tape to
a video DVD.
This is the shortest route to get a disc, the one we'll
take.
Step 4 - Insert Blank Disc...
If you haven't yet... insert the disc.
Note this message says it's coming from Windows DVD Maker. Its
burn wizard is the software
running in the background as you make selections
in the windows.
Parts of DVD Maker come into play as the process
moves toward the disc.
Step 5 - Watch the Importing...
Moving on to the next window starts the importing.
Even though you gave it the OK to do the whole tape, if you only
want the recorded footage up to the point it's at, press the stop
button and opt to have it continue with what's already come from the
camcorder.
I stopped it after 5-1/2 minutes and watched it
complete the importing, rendering the wmv file from the
temporary DV-AVI. It's here when I thought I should have picked the DV-AVI
option.
Tip: With this route, there isn't
an option to start the importing from somewhere else in the tape other than at
the beginning. If you plan to use the route, be sure to have the
desired material at the beginning. There's nothing worse than doing a
hurry-up to disc, give it someone, and have them call laughing about
the first scenes that you forgot were on the tape.
Step 6... DVD Burning
When the Import Wizard finishes, it closes and the
BurnWizard of DVDMaker opens.
It encodes the MPEG-2 files needed for the disc, and
then burns it.
One Possible Step 7... Cannot Create the
DVD
I went into the newsletter on Monday fully expecting to
write about how I get this far, but no further. I'd always run into the
dead end.
I had my screen shot ready from the many previous
attempts.
But as things happen with computers, things turn. As I
stepped through this step one last time, to finished successfully and
gave me the first good disc.
A Good Step 7... Your Disc is Ready, Do You
Want Another Copy?
The disc drive drawer opens and the wizard asks if you
wan another copy.
I take the disc and check it on a DVD Player before answering.
It's the perfect time to make more if you need them, but not if there's
something wrong with the first disc, or something about it you want to change,
like a spelling error in the title.
The wizard will wait as long as you like for your choice. When you go
with 'Close' it'll clean up and delete the MPEG-2 files made for the disc. It
won't leave a set of them for you to use later if you change your mind.
Step 8... Play the DVD
I checked the disc on my laptop in WinDVD,
where I took these snapshots. The style is DVD Maker's Full
Screen.
The scenes are dark. It was indoors in a
darker than usual setting, a Whirling Dervishes of
Istanbul performance.
The only entry I had made during the process was the name
of the disc, which it used. The wizard chose the font and position. If it had
turned out really great, I'd wish I had entered something like 'The Whirling
Dervishes instead of Newsletter 133. For this disc, my name is
appropriate.
The footage was shot as widescreen and it
plays appropriately, but the scene thumbnails look standard 4:3.
The Play choice starts the video, which plays full
widescreen.
The Scenes choice takes you to the menu of 6 scenes
per page. 11 scenes for a 5-1/2 minute test video. Are the scenes set to
start at regular 30 second intervals, or at timecode breaks... an item
to explore later.
Connect a digital camcorder to the
computer by firewire and flip the switch to the VCR
position.
