Help Wanted London area

[bollard]

First post here so please be patient. I hope this is the correct area to post this, please advise me if there is a better place for this.
I have an old i-Mac DV SE running OS 9.2. I have a digital video camera which I have used to video various parts of my son's first year. I now want to transfer these on to DVD. I have a very helpful IT department here at work who say they have a DVD burner but they don't have the software required ( it would be for a PC ).
Now my questions are :-
1 What software would I need for the PC and how much will it cost ???
2 Is there any shops in the London area that would do the transfer to DVD for me ???
3 For the future when funds allow I am looking to replace the i-Mac.
What would be best for burning DVD's and CD's, a lot of i-Tunes use and some office use. May be looking for portable to complement the i-Mac at home.
Thanks in advance
Mark

 

[danrufus]

You first need to transfer (capture) the video to a computer as an MPEG 1/2.
The camera should have come with some basic software.
You can capture the video to the mac, then transfer to the PC by burning onto CD for example.

Once on the PC you need to use a DVD authoring program to convert the mpegs to a VOB file. The VOB file is what a DVD plays.

I have used this program, free full version trial.
http://www.pegasys-inc.com/en/product/tda.html

Daniel

 

[asif786]

You know what - if you go to the Studio (top floor) of the apple store in London (regent street) they may be able to do it for you.

Generally, they help people with their creative projects, so I'm sure they would be willing to transfer the video for you if you take it there..

hth, asif/

 

[Maxicek]

http://www.stanleysonline.co.uk/

All sorts of duplication and conversion of movie formats. Even film.

 

[bollard]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I contacted Stanleys and was quoted £38 for every tape transferred to DVD which is quite a bit more than I am prepared to pay. Any further advice ???

Cheers
Mark

 

[Applespider]

I'd imagine if you're videoing your son, that you're likely to want to do this regularly over the next few years.

It might be worthwhile buying a new Mac for home since pretty much any current Mac with a Superdrive will allow you to import, edit and export your home movies.

If that's not an option, and depending on how many tapes you have to convert to DVD, it might be worthwhile trying to find a friend with a new-ish computer (Mac or PC with appropriate software) who'd be willing to do it if you provided the DVDs - particularly if you just want a straight transfer without editing - and threw in a couple of bottles of wine for the favour.