Ideas for post processing and conversion to DVD

[David Arthur Pope]

I have finally managed to get pretty good capture and syncing. I am using a workprinter xp and velocity box HD. I am interested in how the old timers process the .avi files, how they edit and transfer to DVD or other storage media. Thanks.

[Mike Newell]

The “old timers” !!! Cant wait to see who replies to that query David. Guess they have stayed too long in the dark.

[Steve Klare]

These days I usually send my films to Dwayne's for processing.😊

They were my go-to in the last years of Kodachrome!

https://www.dwaynesphoto.com/

Editing? Traditionally with cement splices, lately more often than not, tape.

(Is that up to par, Mike?!)

[Nantawat Kittiwarakul]

You mean editing captured files?

For me I'd stick on my Sony Vagas Pro 10.0 (10years-old software, should be enough to be qualified as old-timers) then export the finished work as another .avi intermediate file. I'll then use VirtualDub for final transcoding.

BTW today I rarely,if ever, to finish the work on DVD. Mostly .avi/.mp4 then upload it to file hosting so my customer can download it later.

[Janice Glesser]

Nantawat Kittiwarakul that's pretty much how I do it too... although I use Adobe Premiere Pro with the Neat Video Plugin and VDub. I haven't made DVD's in a very long time since the quality gets so degraded. A high quality .mp4 is great for reducing the file size and easy to stream and download. I store all my captures on an external 8tb USB drive and backup to a Network drive. I have been doing this for about 12 years now...does that qualify me as an "old timer?"

[Brian Fretwell]

I'm not sure what you mean by "Make a DVD" as most DVD players now will read a data DVD with .MP4 (and other HD Codex) files on it. You don't need the video DVD structure.

[Janice Glesser]

Brian Fretwell of course you can use a DVD discs for storage... But why? The amount of storage size is so limited compared to hard drive or ssd.

[Brian Fretwell]

Back up. I heard that if a file isn't on three different media in three separate locations it's not considered to exist. I think it may be the longest lasting still of the digital storage available. I have had hard drives and solid state memory fail.

[Lee Mannering]

Been thru most of the Adobe Premiere software over the last 18 years or so and if you are new to video editing and authoring discs you will be wanting something like Premiere Elements to start with.
With this you can drop your captured files onto a timeline and later create a dvd,blu-ray or convert files to different formats.
PremPro I use for work but very complicated if new to it.

Being a um old timer cough cough ha, discs are easy to share with family and friends and I still have a uneasy feeling with drives although have a tower of them
Only words of wisdom I can offer on storing your files is keep duplicate copies on drives or pen drives for smaller projects perhaps.
Old times call this 'a belt and braces approach'
Good luck

[Janice Glesser]

@Brian Having a reliable backup setup is key no matter what media you archive to. I have a network mirrored server backup in addition to individual network backup drives. If a drive fails I just replace that drive and transfer all the data from the other drive. My mirrored system will do this automatically when I replace one of the drives. I have terabytes of data that just would not be practical to backup on DVDs. There is also the option of cloud storage backups. It takes longer to restore data...but if you don't have terabytes of data and you are not in a hurry this is a good alternative.

[Janice Glesser]

[Janice Glesser]

Brian Fretwell Some people still use DVDs to watch videos. As Lee has mentioned DVDs are easy to distribute your home movies to friends and family members that may prefer something tangible to save and watch. For this application I use a free program called DVD Styler. You can download it here https://www.dvdstyler.org/en/.

I just select one or more .mp4 files and use DVD Styler to create the DVD. You can create customized menus also. An easy and reliable app.

[Ken Finch]

As mentioned in another thread, I convert to DVD, but always make two copies. I also keep them in black cases. With home movie conversions I always advise backing up twice on memory sticks or separate hard drive, and not leave them on the computer hard drive. At 86, I guess I really must be an "old Timer" !! Ken Finch.