Help newbie MiniDV owner make DVDs -- or backup MiniDV tapes

Hi, y'all. I've been reading this group's archives with Google and
though I'm probably above average as far as technical/computer
abilities go, a lot of your discussions have me realizing how in-
depth this topic can be. So, sorry this is a very newbie question,
but if you do have the patience to help out, please fire me an answer.

In short, I've got a one year-old kid and one year's worth of MiniDV
tapes that I need to back up. They were taken with a Sony DCR-TRV33
Handycam, and I LOVE the quality when I playback on my TV, etc. But
a few threads I've read here lead me to believe that I can't easily
duplicate the MiniDV quality. Questions are:

Is there simply such a think as a MiniDV "deck" (like a VCR) or
MiniDV drive for a PC that would allow me to easily make backups?

If not, then what about making DVD backups? FYI, I am in the market
for a new PC, so I am willing to buy one that will fit the bill,
including DVD burner (and what other hardware would I need?). What
is the best easy-to-use software for somebody who just wants to
backup DV tapes? Again, I am no slouch when it comes to learning
new software, but with a 1-yr-old running around I simply do NOT
have time for a new hobby. I don't need or want to do lots of
editing, I just want to transfer these videos as-is to DVDs as
easily as possible, but with as little quality loss as possible
as well, so I have backups in the safe-deposit box.

Also, do I understand correctly that the USB output is not nearly
as good as the i.link output on the handycam for transferring
video? I've only ever used USB, but assume I can buy some sort
of card for the PC that will let me plug in via an i.link cable.

Please, throw any info at me that you can, and in layman's terms,
if you have the patience. Again, main objective here for software
would be ease of use without losing quality. Maybe someday I'll
have time to edit them, add music, etc. etc. when the kid is in
college. Right now it's all I can do to find time to take a pee!


Cheers,
Al

 

Your mini-DV tapes contain your source material and they ARE the
backup of your finished product whether it is a home video or a
professional edited movie. If you are using digital video they can
hold 13 Gb - approx one hour of uncompressed footage on a sixty minute
tape. If you want to be extra-safe by having another copy of the
footage just copy from a mini-DV tape in your camcorder to another
mini-DV tape in another camcorder or deck thru a firewire connection.
By contrast DVD-R's only hold about 4.3 Gb, or soon about 8 Gb so they
don't make a great backup medium.

 

Thre is this. Exactly like a VCR (not for a PC). Sony makes these...they
run about $500-800.

 

What is the best easy-to-use software for somebody who just wants to

No, the miniDV tape is his *raw footage*. He can make backup copies of
that footage in a variety of ways. DVDs will involve more compression,
but at better quality settings can work nicely. But yes, miniDV tape
is probably the _best_ format you could afford to make copies on at
this point.

 

As in the responses so far, I agree that transferring to another
miniDV tape is the best quality backup, and quite affordable. I just
bought 25 tapes from B&H for under $4 each.

BTW, beware of mixing different brand tapes in your camera. While the
incompatibilities between brands that were causing cameras to jam may
be behind us, they also may not. I, for one, don't want to be the
guinea pig to find out.

But, aside from the question of quality is utility. I have transferred
both my older Hi-8 and my newer minDV tapes to DVD-R's and the kids
watch them all the time. Try that with a miniDV, unless your kids are
old enough and responsible enough that you're willing to let them use
your camcorder to play back the tapes. And, they're not bad as 2nd
generation backups. Not as good as the original digital out of the
camcorder, but still damn good by recent standards. Especially if you
record at one hour per DVD. Don't be fooled, as I was at first, by the
fact that high quality movies often go 2 hours or more on a DVD. They
use very expensive, time consuming video compression techniques and
multilayered discs that store more than 4.7 GB.

As to USB connections, beware. You can connect a miniDV camcorder to
some editing programs via a USB port, but certainly with USB 1, you'll
get cruddy quality. I don't know about USB 2 since I use a Mac for all
my video editing and that's all via FW.

Martin

 

Hey, thanks for all of the replies so far. Great advice.

Affordable for the media, yes, but not as far as the extra equipment
needed, it seems.

Ok, fair enough. And it would be nice to do a bit of very simple
editing before burning to a DVD-R, so that I can make "highlights"
to send to the Grandparents. I'm just really paranoid about losing my
stock footage because I work overseas and move every couple years. Last
move (from Africa) we lost all of our houshold possessions. Of course
we travel with all of our family photos, etc. as carry-ons, but the last
thing I need is even MORE carry-ons to lug around, worry about getting
stolen, etc.

I guess I will burn lots of cheap DVDs for self and g'parents, then
FedEx the original tapes back to civilization to go in a safe deposit
box.

So hardware-wise, I need a DVD burner and i.Link card in my new PC.

Any favorite (easy to use, but good quality compression) software?

Cheers,
Al

 

Your mini-DV tapes contain your source material and they ARE the

Yes, good point.

Question is if I really can afford it. Short of buying another
Handicam or a ~$500+ MiniDV deck as somebody advised (couldn't find
that on Sony's website BTW), it's looking like I will have to "settle"
for DVD.

Al

 

(Al) wrote in

One thing I haven't seen on this thread is this idea: capture your
tape to DV-AVI on your computer, then write it back to a new tape,
from the computer to the camcorder. Then you can erase the AVI file.

Advantages: It's a bit-for-bit copy of the original, and it doesn't
require a second camcorder, if you already have the computer and
FireWire connection.

Disadvantages: It takes twice as long as real time, and consequently
doubles the wear on the camera. It also requires you to not mix up
your tapes You should set the write protection on all the
originals.

HTH,
Gino

 

THANK you. I've been reading through this thread wondering when someone
would point out the obvious. But why didn't you tell him that he can buy
a perfectl good firewire card for $5, and that installation is a breeze!
Ok, there will be a little shipping, but mine came with the cable to
connect to the cam, too.

 

Brilliant. Thank you both.

Cheers,
Al