How to get from MM2 capture software to VCD burn software?

[Guest]

Pinnacle Studio V9 is the only VCD burning program that we have.
I have a utility (STOIK) that converts DV-AVI from type I to type II, but
the problem is that I only have 16 GB left on my hard drive and the DV-AVI
type I will be 11GB and the output DV-AVI type II needs more disk space than
I would then have left. We had originally captured the camcorder tapes with
microsoft windows movie maker 2.1, and this software only produces ".WMV"
files and DV-AVI type I.
So we tried two other options and neither worked:
1. We tried a utility that converts MM2 WMV files into MPEG, and the MPEG
file was only 2GB, but when Pinnacle Studio read in the mpeg file, all that
was on it was black. (The WMV file is not black).
2. We then tried to use Pinnacle Studio to capture the original file from
the camcorder tape, but this failed because after Pinnacle spent an hour
reading through the entire tape, it captured nothing.
Note that the reason we want Pinnacle Studio to be involved in this mess, is
that So what we are faced with is that Microsoft Windows Movie Maker 2.1 is
the only capturing program that works, and Pinnacle Studio is the only VCD
burning program that works, and we are forced to bridge the gap between these
two wonderful pieces of software. What can be done to make our life easier,
please??

 

[Rehan]

Ron Ehrlich wrote:
....

the MPEG
file was only 2GB, but when Pinnacle Studio read in the mpeg file, all that
was on it was black. (The WMV file is not black).

That seesm to be the only practical option if you cant upgrade the hard
disk... but beware the quality will suffer a bit.

Which software did you use to convert to MPEG1? Download and use TMPGenc
<http://www.tmpgenc.net> and use that to convert to MPEG1. The resulting
file should be playable in WIndows MEdia Player as well as acceptable to
Pinnacle.

Other VCD authoring softwares include:

TSCV http://sourceforge.net/projects/tscv
VCDEasy http://www.vcdeasy.org/index.php

 

[Guest]

Rehan:
Thanks for your reply. In that reply, you state: "... but beware the quality
will suffer a bit." I am interested to know in what step am I losing
quality. Is it the capture by MM2 from the camera tape to WMV file? Or is it
the conversion from WMV to AVI type I? Or where? I am a novice at all this
conversion slop. And I don't want to do anything fancy: just read in my 5
hours of camcorder tape, cut it down to whatever fits on a single VCD and
burn it; no titles, no FX, no frills. Is this too much to ask? I don't see
that it would be any easier whether I want to burn VCD or DVD, so that is not
an issue I don't think. Best regards.
Ron Ehrlich

 

[Rehan]

Ron Ehrlich wrote:

In your scheme the quality would suffer in two places;

1. Capturing to a WMV format. Best quality is achievable if you capture
in DV AVI format directly (u need a firewire port and cable to connect
with your camcorder). Then edit the dv avi in movie maker and save again
as DV AVI.

2. VCD is low quality. Making a DVD using your edited DV AVI file
(output 'after' editing in movie maker) will preserve maximum quality.

DVD writers are cheap now. It is not worth spending so much time editing
your classic masterpiece and then loosing quality because u dont have a
dvd writer.

 

[Guest]

1. How do we get MM2 to capture in DV-AVI?
2. When we convert from WMV to DV-AVI the files grow by a factor of 10; so
if we cature into DV-AVI then it looks like a one hour tape will create a
10GB avi file? Yuk.

 

[Steve]

Ron,

DV-AVI is the best quality you can get out of MM2. As
Rehan said you need a firewire card and cable for this.
And yes, the size of the file is huge (approx 13GB per
hour). But it will retain the original quality of what's
on the tape (with negligible loss).

I am assuming that you imported via USB. If you captured
as WMV then saving as DV-AVI doesn't get you anything,
just increases your file size with no gain. You can't
improve the quality of what you captured. If you captured
as WMV, then work with that file if you can't re-capture
as DV-AVI.

Steve

 

[Rehan]

Remember the dv avi files are for editing purposes. Once you have finalized
your movie and transferred it to a DVD or back to a DV tape you can free up
disk space by deleting these huge DV AVi files.