Conversion of Mini DV tapes to dvd

[Dolph]

I have a number of Mini DV tapes which I'd like to convert to dvd format. Any recommendations for businesses providing this service in Singapore?

[bigfilsing]

Most DV camera's come with the free software to do this.

The amount you'll hand over to a software company you'd be better off buying a new camera

Good luck

[luxiana]

plug your camera to the computer, switch on the camera, switch on the computer

now run windows movie maker

get it to find your digital camera (should be done automatically when you run the software though). follow the instructions...

you're done!

ps: windows movie maker came bundled with windows since windows 2000 I think.

[Splatted]

Had the very same problem. I ended up buying a firewire card for my PC so that I could hook up the videocam to it. I picked this up from SimLim for $22.

You would need to check what ports are available on the video cam itself to see if it supports firewire (best quality transfer), or whether it uses composite type ports (lower quality), similar to what a vcr uses.

Once hooked up, I used windows movie maker to capture the recording as a wmv file.

If I so desired, I could save it as a dvd using software like Nero.

I'm not sure how much it costs to hire someone professional for this service. I think last time I was near little india I saw some billboards from a business offering this service. It didn't sound expensive from memory.

[luxiana]

it shouldnt be expensive as once you have plugged the camera to the computer and launched Windows Movie Maker you are being helped by the soft from start to finish. you just have to wait for the movie to be transferred to the computer, then burn it to a dvd.

software like Adobe Premiere for instance offer the same service but their is very little guidance when you start the soft and it can be disorientating.



btw: does a dvd player the one you plug to your tv, not your computer dvd player) read WMV?? I thought these player could read Mpeg2 only (except for high end ones which can read a several formats including Divx)

[Splatted]

btw: does a dvd player the one you plug to your tv, not your computer dvd player) read WMV?? I thought these player could read Mpeg2 only (except for high end ones which can read a several formats including Divx)

no, dvd players typically don't play wmv, but it would get converted to mpeg2 if you use software like Nero, I believe, when burning to disk.

I have tried it with avi files and haven't had any problems. I presume the principle is the same with wmv

[kergemar]

Hi,
I have been trying to the same task (converting my mini DV movies to DVD) for a while, and in the end found a way to do this just by using free software. I have documented the procedure here:

http://mywebsite.bigpond.com/makandmona/

I hope it is of any use to you
Regards,
Mark