Convert MINI DV Cassettes (Sony) to DVD

[jalpeshmehta]

Hi friends !
I have a SONY CAM CORDER with Mini DV Cassettes I want to convert the same cassettes to DVDs - tries doing on my Dell / HP Laptops but the speed it works is damn slow.
Is there a way out on converting these MINI DVs ( I have 20 odd ) to DVDs ?
Please suggest some way out which is fast.
Jalpesh Mehta
Mumbai
jalpeshmehta@gmail.com

 

[CaptainChunk]

Welcome!

Well, first off this is a Mac forum, so we may or may not be able to help you in Windows-specific environments. Second, you aren't very specific as to what software you're using to accomplish this. But in general:

1. Your NLE (non-linear editor) application (Premiere, Vegas, Avid, et al) first has to capture (digitize) the video from your MiniDV tapes. This will never go any faster than real-time, no matter what. So if you have a 60-minute tape, it will take 60 minutes to capture. There's no way around that.

2. I don't know whether or not you plan on editing the content from tapes once they're captured (in India, you would generally use DV PAL for capture), but it will eventually have to be encoded to video and audio compatible with the DVD standard (MPEG-2 video, AC3/Dolby or AIFF audio). Again, your NLE and/or DVD authoring software would do this for you. Depending on your hardware configuration and encoding quality, time will vary.


If you simply wanted to dub the tapes to DVDs and bypass these steps, you could in theory do so with a standalone DVD recorder deck connected straight to the camcorder (no computer required). But, you won't get to edit, design DVD menus, etc. Plus, again, it won't go any faster than real time.

I hope that helps you at least somewhat.