Movie Maker and Sony DVD Camcorder - Cannot import video

[Guest]

I used the Sony software to copy videos stored on the mini DVD's onto my hard
drive. It stored the shots as .mpg files. For the life of me, I cannot get
them imported into movie maker 2.1. I have been clicking and unclicking on
the filters installed and some cases work and some do not. I have 1 DVD with
5 clips stored and only 1 clip imported successfully but the other 4 did not
and I get an error for each of the other 4 stating "...05100101.mpg cannot be
imported because the codec required to play the file is not installed on your
computer. If you have already tried to download and install the codec, close
and restart Windows Movie Maker, and then try to import the file again."

Why would 1 work but not the other 4 if they are all in the same format
copied from the same DVD using the same softeare in the same sitting?

Can anyone shed some light on this codec issue? If I check all of the
filter options the status bars move to 100% and hangs, end task is the only
way out. Why is this so buggy?

 

[Cari \(MS-MVP\)]

MovieMaker doesn't like MPEG files most of the time. User another video
editing package.... Sonic MyDVD, Intervideo's WinDVD Creator, Cyberlink's
PowerDirector ... there are hundreds of them to choose from. I'd suggest
downloading trial versions first and see which one you like.

 

[Guest]

With MPEG files being as popular as they are, I suprised Microsoft can't
handle them in MM2.1. What is weird is that it can handle one file but not
the others and they are all alike... Very strange......

I already have the basic version of Sonic DVD creator but it is somewhat
limited in functionality and it leaves a large footprint on the DVD. I have
2.2GB of video (in 5 clips) I want to put on a standard 4.7GB DVD and it
takes up double the amount of space on the DVD. I thought by using MM2.1 and
making the 5 clips into 1 contiguous file first might reduce the footprint?
Are there any other easy ways to string 5 MPEG's into 1 single file?

In the meantime I'll try some other apps, thanks for the advice.

Tom

 

[Cari \(MS-MVP\)]

File size doesn't matter... combined length of footage does. A DVD will
hold approximately 2 hours. A one hour video in DV-AVI format is roughly
12gb, however when reeencoded in DVD Video format, takes only 4.3gb.

 

[Guest]

Just thought I would ask. I have my tape on my PC via Movie maker because the
Sony software that came with my camcorder is plain JUNK. How would I go about
to Reeencode into DVD format so that I could burn it to a DVD?

Thanks

 

[Cari \(MS-MVP\)]

What format it is in currently?

 

[Guest]

sorry I do not have that information right now. I will post tonight when I
get home.

Thank you for your reply.

 

[Graham Hughes]

My advice these days is to invest in an app which will edit mpeg files.
Look at Ulead video studio9, free trial available, and my insight into using
one of these cams here
http://www.myvideoproblems.com/ProductReviews/SonyDCRDVD92E.htm
http://www.myvideoproblems.com/Tutorials/EditingVideoFromDvdCamcorder.htm
Results were reasonable, but you have to remember these cams were not really
designed with editing in mind, more as a record and play device, so you will
never get the quality you would from a minidv cam.

--
Graham Hughes
MVP Digital Media
www.myvideoproblems.co.uk
www.dvds2treasure.com
www.simplydv.com