Mini Dv transfer question... at DVinfo.net

Brent Kamm · April 15th, 2014, 10:09 AM

Hello... I just bought a bunch of old equipment on ebay so I can transfer my old home footage which were on both MiniDV and 8mm cassettes. I would love some expert advice on which set up would give me the best quality with what I have. Sorry if this is long winded, but I want to give as much detail as I can.
My equipment:
*Panasonic DV-2000 MiniDV/DV Deck
*Sony EV-C8 Video 8 Deck
*Sony VRD-MC6 DVD External Recorder
* iON Video 2 PC MKII
* 4 month old ASUS computer with plenty of RAM, but NO Firewire port.

Ok... so I was using the Panasonic MiniDV deck to play my MiniDV tapes into my stand alone Sony VRD recorder using the audio/video RCA Cables. The tapes were about 1hr or so long, I put it on best quality and the result were some decent looking DVDs. I would then put the DVD in my computer and drag the folder onto my desktop, so I can save the folder for future burning copies in case my dvd failed at some point. I had read somewhere that using a Firewire from my Panasonic to my PC would give the best video... however, I have no Firewire port. I do however, have a "DV In" slot on my Sony VDR which I could run the firewire from the Panasonic to the Sony.. however, the one time I just tried it... it seemed like the audio was so bad, that my RCA transfer was better.

When I bought the Video 8 player.. it came with the iON Video 2 PC adapter. Would I be able to use this adapter to maybe run from the Panasonic to my comp?? Or am I better off using the RCA to my Sony VDR the way I had been doing it?

** Also... similar question for the 8mm transfers. Am I better off using the iON adapter and record in my PC, or using RCA into my Sony VDR??

Thanks for any help... I hope I was clear.

Brent

Daniel Epstein · April 15th, 2014, 11:15 AM

Hi Brent,
DV data quality is better (and bigger) than DVD Data quality. DV is about 16 gigs an hour. Single sided DVD is 4.8 gigs and can hold about 2 hours (depending on compression quality) This could be important If you are planning to edit but may not be much different to you if all you are doing is viewing after the tape is transferred. Some times the audio on DV is not compatible between manufactures so using the RCA out may be the best way to deal with the audio while the firewire is better for video. Staying digital if it works is better quality but analog sometimes is more compatible between machines. You will see the difference between analog and digital more easily than you will hear the difference between analog and digital. You have to decide if it matters how you are going to use the material going forward. With Hard drives price being so low it may make sense to keep the DV files at full quality so you can re make them in the future in better quality in a different way than the DVD files you are making now. You have to decide on that. Good luck

Brent Kamm · April 15th, 2014, 12:13 PM

Thanks for your response. I have a few more questions ...
If I record to my DVD recorded and then insert that DVD into my PC and drag the DVD folder on my desktop... does that lose any quality if I go to burn it again??
Also... is going directly to my DVD recorder with RCA better/worse than using the iON Video 2 PC converter which makes it digital on computer, and then burning a DVD from that?
Hard drive space is no issue as I have a 2TB hard drive. My goal is to have a DVD copy and a digital copy in archive incase I want to burn it ever again or watch on comp.
I don't plan to edit much, but if I did, my Premier pro reads everything, and can burn to DVD after editing or save as .avi (which I think is best type of file to save as?)

Daniel Epstein · April 15th, 2014, 04:25 PM

DVD copy from computer should be same quality as original although your burner may age and errors could creep into the process.

Not familiar with the ION Video 2 PC converter but it may be better than the DVD recorders digitizer may not. You would want to try comparing the same footage recorded to both to see if there is an advantage.

DVD compression is good for viewing but not as good as the original file so you might want to compress a file to Mp4 from premiere for other playback options rather than use the DVD compression. Also someone might come up with a new standard which might be better so having the original material could be an advantage.

avi is pc (microsoft) and can be good or bad depending on how compressed it is. Some machines don't like to play avi files so you should realize there is no one best file type for everyone. If it works for you then it is fine.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brent Kamm

Thanks for your response. I have a few more questions ...
If I record to my DVD recorded and then insert that DVD into my PC and drag the DVD folder on my desktop... does that lose any quality if I go to burn it again??
Also... is going directly to my DVD recorder with RCA better/worse than using the iON Video 2 PC converter which makes it digital on computer, and then burning a DVD from that?
Hard drive space is no issue as I have a 2TB hard drive. My goal is to have a DVD copy and a digital copy in archive incase I want to burn it ever again or watch on comp.
I don't plan to edit much, but if I did, my Premier pro reads everything, and can burn to DVD after editing or save as .avi (which I think is best type of file to save as?)

Brent Kamm · April 15th, 2014, 05:33 PM

Ok... So MPEG-4 is the original file that the DVD is? I think this iON program lets you save as an MPEG-2.
The iON program lets you burn to DVD or save as either MPEG-2, avi or H264, etc...
I guess i will play around with burning different DVDs using different methods and see what keeps me closest to the original quality.
Thanks!

Brent Kamm · April 15th, 2014, 08:17 PM

Ok.. so after spending all day experimenting, I started with 8mm tapes and did 3 different experiments. Each tape is 2 hours long (SP mode) when recorded with camcorder.

1. Video 8 player to the PC using iON converter at Highest Quality
2. Video 8 player to PC using iON converter using SP quality
3. Video 8 player directly to my Sony VDR using RCA cables.

Option 1 gave me the best quality (My rating: 10/10) on the computer (Mpeg file) which was 8GB. Quality was identical to the video tape, however it was too big to fit on my 4gb DVD's, so I chose "Smart Fit" option on the PowerDirect software that came with the video 8 player. The DVD came out ok (My rating: 7/10)... but nowhere near as good as the original file.

Option 2 gave me an MPEG file which was 4GB. Quality was not as good obviously as above, and when I burned it to DVD, it was a bit less quality (My rating: 5/10) than Option 1 using the "Smart Fit".

Option 3 used no PC, as I went straight to DVD using Sony VDR and actually got a DVD that was better quality (My rating: 8/10) than BOTH of the above options.

So basically, the best DVD burn came from avoiding the PC and directly going to my Sony VDR... HOWEVER, the best quality video was the ion converter using highest Quality. I guess I have to burn a DVD straight to my Sony VDR to keep as a DVD, and then use the iON converter at HQ to archive my footage at best quality, and then use Premier Pro/Encore to make future DVDS. Im not sure what else to do. I wish the 8GB file fit on the DVD because it looked perfect. Basically I am stuck transferring each tape twice.

April 15th, 2014, 10:09 AM	#1
Brent Kamm New Boot Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Ossining, NY Posts: 7	Mini Dv transfer question... Hello... I just bought a bunch of old equipment on ebay so I can transfer my old home footage which were on both MiniDV and 8mm cassettes. I would love some expert advice on which set up would give me the best quality with what I have. Sorry if this is long winded, but I want to give as much detail as I can. My equipment: Panasonic DV-2000 MiniDV/DV Deck Sony EV-C8 Video 8 Deck Sony VRD-MC6 DVD External Recorder iON Video 2 PC MKII * 4 month old ASUS computer with plenty of RAM, but NO Firewire port. Ok... so I was using the Panasonic MiniDV deck to play my MiniDV tapes into my stand alone Sony VRD recorder using the audio/video RCA Cables. The tapes were about 1hr or so long, I put it on best quality and the result were some decent looking DVDs. I would then put the DVD in my computer and drag the folder onto my desktop, so I can save the folder for future burning copies in case my dvd failed at some point. I had read somewhere that using a Firewire from my Panasonic to my PC would give the best video... however, I have no Firewire port. I do however, have a "DV In" slot on my Sony VDR which I could run the firewire from the Panasonic to the Sony.. however, the one time I just tried it... it seemed like the audio was so bad, that my RCA transfer was better. When I bought the Video 8 player.. it came with the iON Video 2 PC adapter. Would I be able to use this adapter to maybe run from the Panasonic to my comp?? Or am I better off using the RCA to my Sony VDR the way I had been doing it? ** Also... similar question for the 8mm transfers. Am I better off using the iON adapter and record in my PC, or using RCA into my Sony VDR?? Thanks for any help... I hope I was clear. Brent

April 15th, 2014, 11:15 AM	#2
Daniel Epstein Trustee Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: New York, NY Posts: 1,267	Re: Mini Dv transfer question... Hi Brent, DV data quality is better (and bigger) than DVD Data quality. DV is about 16 gigs an hour. Single sided DVD is 4.8 gigs and can hold about 2 hours (depending on compression quality) This could be important If you are planning to edit but may not be much different to you if all you are doing is viewing after the tape is transferred. Some times the audio on DV is not compatible between manufactures so using the RCA out may be the best way to deal with the audio while the firewire is better for video. Staying digital if it works is better quality but analog sometimes is more compatible between machines. You will see the difference between analog and digital more easily than you will hear the difference between analog and digital. You have to decide if it matters how you are going to use the material going forward. With Hard drives price being so low it may make sense to keep the DV files at full quality so you can re make them in the future in better quality in a different way than the DVD files you are making now. You have to decide on that. Good luck

April 15th, 2014, 12:13 PM	#3
Brent Kamm New Boot Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Ossining, NY Posts: 7	Re: Mini Dv transfer question... Thanks for your response. I have a few more questions ... If I record to my DVD recorded and then insert that DVD into my PC and drag the DVD folder on my desktop... does that lose any quality if I go to burn it again?? Also... is going directly to my DVD recorder with RCA better/worse than using the iON Video 2 PC converter which makes it digital on computer, and then burning a DVD from that? Hard drive space is no issue as I have a 2TB hard drive. My goal is to have a DVD copy and a digital copy in archive incase I want to burn it ever again or watch on comp. I don't plan to edit much, but if I did, my Premier pro reads everything, and can burn to DVD after editing or save as .avi (which I think is best type of file to save as?)

April 15th, 2014, 05:33 PM	#5
Brent Kamm New Boot Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Ossining, NY Posts: 7	Re: Mini Dv transfer question... Ok... So MPEG-4 is the original file that the DVD is? I think this iON program lets you save as an MPEG-2. The iON program lets you burn to DVD or save as either MPEG-2, avi or H264, etc... I guess i will play around with burning different DVDs using different methods and see what keeps me closest to the original quality. Thanks!

April 15th, 2014, 08:17 PM	#6
Brent Kamm New Boot Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Ossining, NY Posts: 7	Re: Mini Dv transfer question... Ok.. so after spending all day experimenting, I started with 8mm tapes and did 3 different experiments. Each tape is 2 hours long (SP mode) when recorded with camcorder. 1. Video 8 player to the PC using iON converter at Highest Quality 2. Video 8 player to PC using iON converter using SP quality 3. Video 8 player directly to my Sony VDR using RCA cables. Option 1 gave me the best quality (My rating: 10/10) on the computer (Mpeg file) which was 8GB. Quality was identical to the video tape, however it was too big to fit on my 4gb DVD's, so I chose "Smart Fit" option on the PowerDirect software that came with the video 8 player. The DVD came out ok (My rating: 7/10)... but nowhere near as good as the original file. Option 2 gave me an MPEG file which was 4GB. Quality was not as good obviously as above, and when I burned it to DVD, it was a bit less quality (My rating: 5/10) than Option 1 using the "Smart Fit". Option 3 used no PC, as I went straight to DVD using Sony VDR and actually got a DVD that was better quality (My rating: 8/10) than BOTH of the above options. So basically, the best DVD burn came from avoiding the PC and directly going to my Sony VDR... HOWEVER, the best quality video was the ion converter using highest Quality. I guess I have to burn a DVD straight to my Sony VDR to keep as a DVD, and then use the iON converter at HQ to archive my footage at best quality, and then use Premier Pro/Encore to make future DVDS. Im not sure what else to do. I wish the 8GB file fit on the DVD because it looked perfect. Basically I am stuck transferring each tape twice.