A few days ago I posted a question about the best video editing software on another site and received a lot of helpful information. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to do anything with the camera I was using as I needed to order an iLink cable so I could put the video on my computer without loss of quality.

Well I just now received the cable in the mail and went to work uploading a video to my computer. The software I was using is from the Sony website and was originally designed for systems up to Windows XP.

Recently I got Vista and had to upgrade the software. I am a complete amateur when it comes to video editing and it's about the only thing on the computer I have never had experience with.

Anyways, the software is called Sony Picture Utility. The Camera is a Sony Handycam, model #DCR-HC21.

I am trying to upload about 36 minutes of video off of my handy cam (Mini DV tapes) and still make them fit onto a dvd.

The problem is that after 8 minutes of streaming I stopped the video to check the quality and size and am greatly surprised to find that after only 8 minutes, the size is already 1.7gb. It's in avi format.

The problem with this is that the quality is excellent but 1.7gb is massive. There are also no video quality settings in this software.

I need to get this video onto my computer and then onto a dvd to ship to my mother in Texas(Im in California) because the video is part of her Christmas present which as you can probably tell, is already extremely late.

I figured I would use ConvertXtoDvd to put it on the dvd but need it to be a smaller avi without much loss of quality, if it's at all possible.

So any information about shrinking etc is really going to help me. I was thinking about streaming it to the computer and then trying to shrink it afterwards but am not sure if this is the right thing to do. I just don't understand how a two hour avi/dvd rip can be 700 mbs and my 8 min video is almost two gbs. PLEASE HELP ME!

Thanks!

- Jusdafide

p.s. Sorry if this question has been answered before. I haven't been here in a while and mean no disrespect to the moderators and Veteran users if it has been. If possible, please direct me to where I need to be. This video is of my children and is very important to my mother. Thanks again!

According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MiniDV 1.7 GB for 8 minutes sounds about right. DV is not small, but being not small makes it easy and clean to edit. You are doing a bit for bit copy of what's on your tape, so there is no 'better quality'. After you edit, you author or re-encode it to your final format. Most editing software allows you to output to much smaller formats, some will even burn it to DVD.

I bought a cheap firewire cable for like $6.50 w/ shipping and handling and it's getting the job done. (I read on a few sites not to buy a cheap cable)

The quality looks fine as I stated and I understand what you are saying about it being bit for bit, which is making it into a huge file.

Since I figure that when the video is done it's going to be around 6 to 8 gigs in avi format, what do you think is the smallest I could shrink it to fit on a single dvd in dvd format. Is that even possible? I wish Blue Ray was cheaper already cuz I'd just put it on there and send it to her but it's still extremely expensive/new technology.

I'd really like to know what other people have used in the past to shrink their videos because I don't plan on editing any of the 36 minutes of the video. It's basically Christmas morning, with my 1 and 2 year old opening presents and there's nothing to cut out.

If you can offer any pointers I'd appreciate it. Thanks for the explanation as well.

- Jusdafide

Hi
the expected data for a 1hour DV tape is around the 13 GB mark and looks about right for the tape you are working on.

although I dont know the Sony product I would be suprised if it didnt have some sort of 'Export to DVD' facilities.
Its here that you can (after you have editied the programme) deside the encoding settings. I try to limit my DVD's to around a 2.5Meg stream as this will ensure it plays on most players.

I find it usefull to burn my DVD's onto a re-writable and test as there can be quite a big difference in burn rates and quality.

usually the editng programme will create a 'temp' avi file somewhere so you will need to ;
a. make sure you have the disc space
b. makesure the file is removed once the burning to DVD is complete.
but our DVD burning software should have a flag to set to achieve this.

Hope this helps.

good luck

JeffFree

And just so you know, you can easily get 2 - 2 1/2 hours of footage from your video camera onto one 4.7gb dvd, and maintain very good quality. Don't be too concerned with how large your DV-AVI file is. You can't get enough footage on a single mini-dv tape, to make a poor quality dvd (unless you use some really crappy software and settings).

I appreciate your confidence in the amount of footage you can get onto a 4.7 gb dvd. My problem is that now that I have the files onto my computer I have 8 gbs of avis and no idea how to shrink them small enough to fit (in a dvd format) onto a dvd.

How is it possible to shrink 8 gbs down that far to fit. I'd love to know your specific way of doing it.

My computer is as follows:

AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual COre Processor 5600+ 2.80GHZ
3GBs Ram
Vista 32-bit Operating System

I have a 500gb hard drive and an external 500gb as well for a total of a 1TB.

I'll look into any programs you can recommend.

I know it's possible to shrink videos very small as I've seen videos that are 40 min long and only 126mb or so.

My problem is where to get started. Without the information and confidence you guys have provided I'd tell people it was impossible to shrink 8gbs of avis to fit onto a dvd.

If it was your video, 36 mins long unedited and you wanted it on a dvd today and in the mail tomorrow, where would you start. Programs, steps, etc.

Thanks again,
Patiently waiting a response!

- Drahcir

If it were me I would start right here
http://www.cdfreaks.com/software/Vid...ertXToDVD.html It has a free trial , take advantage of it.

You don't shrink the AVI files - rather you use an encoding program that takes the source files (in your case AVI files) and converts them to DVD format (which are MPG files).

Here are some ideas to help you get started in the wonderful world of video sharing/editing:

Most video editors (such as Magix-Movie Edit Pro or Sonic/Roxio-Easy Media Creator, Nero, Pinnacle, etc) will allow you to edit, encode, and then author the DVD. Some of these video editors do all this within a suite of software. A good website for learning about video editing tools is www.videohelp.com

Look through the CD Freaks forums for help on video editing software.

Also:
Vista (Home, Premium and Ultimate versions) come with "DVD Maker" and "Windows Movie Maker" software that should allow you to do exactly what you want. You could even just import your AVI files into Movie Maker and then convert them to "WMV" format movies and post them on the web for family to watch. A good website for learning about Movie Maker is www.papajohn.org

Look through what came with your Sony camcorder and see if there is any software that will allow you to "Edit Video", "Burn to DVD" or "Author". This might get you started.

When I take my AVI files from my Sony Camcorder (digital 8 format tapes) 1 hour of footage takes well over 13GB of drive space. I personally use Movie Edit Pro (from Magix) and edit out the parts I don't want, throw in tons of still pictures with transitions between them, and add a soundtrack for the still pictures. I then convert (or "output to") an MPG file. I then take the MPG file into a DVD authoring program to create a DVD Menu - add a custom background with a short 30sec sound track for the menu and then "Burn to Disc" to creat a DVD.

The best answer for your questions require additional information.
Exactly what is the end result you are looking for? Do you want to capture the video, leave it as is, and end up with a dvd you can play in any dvd player? Do you want to capture video, edit, add transitions, motion menus, etc... Do you want to compress the video as much as possible for DVD? Do you want to be able to send your video to the internet, PSP, or other places.

If you just want your video transferred to DVD, you can capture it as MPEG2, and then burn it directly to dvd.

If you want to edit/add transitions/menus, etc., you really need to capture as dv-avi first.

Tell us more about what exactly you want to accomplish..

If thats what he or she wants to do then Ulead Video Studio Plus V11 is excellent. I am not sure about their trials though. We recently did a review on this program I think.

What the end result will be is a 36 minute unedited Christmas Dvd.

That's all. I don't want to change anything at all. Are you telling me that if I just drag the files into convertxtodvd they will all fit onto a single dvd. If I knew it was that simple I will just give it a try. I thought it was impossible for 8gb to be that compressed without much loss.

Thanks for you help.

Holy Crap. I'm an idiot!!!! I dragged it into ConvertXtoDvd and it says it will fit and it's only 804mb. You guys are great thanks!!!!

I tried to tell you that a few posts back. And soon there will be a new Version of ConvertXtoDVD, it will be Version 3. You will like it more than this one. Glad you got it sorted.

Almost puts a little lump in your throat, doesn't it alan!