Burn out recordings to DVD/VCD

[nia]

Hi.

Every once in awhile I need to empty recordings out from my GBPVR PC. Either a movie I want to save or a group of childrens TV to bring on the road or just basically unloading for space.

I'm currently using ULead DVD Movie Factory simply because it was bundled with some HW, but it takes forever to convert & burn.

How do you guys do that? What's your favourite software and workflow for handling this?

/Niels

[rocksteady]

Nia,

Check out this post: http://forums.nextpvr.com/showthread.php?t=5284

I listed what I do for this.

[nia]

rocksteady,

Interesting software - I think I'll try it out.

To me speed and convenience is key.

I do have a Video Editing workstation that I could use (Adobe Premiere Pro, Matrox RT.X 100, 1GB RAM, Promise RAID, multi-display and all bells'n'whistles ), but as You, I feel it is simply too big a canon for a very simple task.

Looking forward to other input as well ...

/Niels

[rocksteady]

I also have recently discovered another tool, like Womble. It's called Video ReDo (http://www.drdsystems.com/VideoReDo). I'm going to try it out this weekend (as they have a trial version).

I'll let you (all) know my opinions...

[Hugh]

Although there are program with more options, Video ReDo has become my favorite for simple editing. Fast, clean, accurate. And cheap.

[Networker]

I agree.. After trying it out, I've turned two other people (non forum members) to VideoReDo. It's great! I've removed Ulead off my box to get back the 100+MB of space.. I use DVDlab to burn, it's great, it did cost me $99, but to me it was worth it, much better than Ulead.

John

[rocksteady]

Well, after trying out VideoRedo, and comparing it to Womble, I've decided to stick with Womble-MPEG2VCR.

In addition, the A/V sync issue that I talked about in my earlier posts seem to be fixed, with the latest version of Womble MPEG2VCR. I cut-up about 50 episodes this weekend, and did not have a single A/V sync issue.

Womble Pros:
1. Womble is faster to write out the newly "cut" MPEG file, than VideoReDo.
2. This may just be me, but it seems that I can cut out the commercials and such in Womble, MUCH faster that VideoReDo. This test was done using nothing but shortcut keys.
3. As Womble is writing out a new MPEG file, you can be editing another episode.

Womble Cons:
1. Cost $20 more than VideoReDo
2. VideoReDo's GUI is a more appealing.
3. VideoReDo has a forum, Womble does not at this time. It seems that a forum was setup, but nothing is working yet.

I guess it really comes down to personal preference, as both tools seem to do the job just fine.

[Networker]

I usually have two VideoReDo windows up, as I export out the newly cut show, in it's elementary elements, I start on the next one in another window. I never played with Womble.

John

[Peter K]

I started out with Womble and, thanks to a suggestion from someone here, switched to VideoRedo because it was better at handling audio synch issues. (when there were dropped frames -- usually from digitizing poor quality VHS recordings)

However, now that Womble is better at the audio synch issues, I may give the latest version a shot once again.

Both programs have their advangates. I think it really comes down to personal preferences. However, here's is what I like about each program from my own personal experience:

Womble:
-fast "scrubbing" with the keyboard -- you can zip through a file really quickly.
-fades and transitions. Really handy when you just want a short clip, say from the middle of a news program.
-because of the way it works, you can actually "preview" your edits before comitting them.

VideoRedo:
-the ability to "batch" your work. Can be quite handy
-can switch modes so you are either selecting what to cut or what to keep.
-I have never experienced audio synch issues no matter how bad the source material was. This is probably the number one reason I switched in the first place.

As for DVD burning, I use TMPGENC DVD author. It's quick and works well for throwing together a basic DVD with or without a menu structure. However, there are two things I wish it could do:

1. allow you to put chapter marks at scene transitions (or find black frames) automatically
(I usually just have it stick chapter marks at 3 minute intervals unless I have the time to go through the video and pop in chapter marks at appropriate spots)
2. allow you to put chapter marks on an "I" frame and have it re-encode the video as necessary.

Hope this helps,
--Peter

[Networker]

I'd like the fades and transistions.. didn't know about Womble before and now I'm a paid for user of VideoReDo.. ah well..

John