Thread: video editing

i hoping someone here will be able to help me out and point me in the right direction for what i need to do because the way i'm currently doing it sucks! I need to take video from a minidv to .mpg or .avi then to dvd. Also i need to be able to keep the date and time stamp that is on the tape. It seems to not transfer threw on the few programs i've tried. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

thanks

What programs have you tried??

My expoerience of date and time stamp on camcorders is that it is burnt into the image itself and recorded to tape. once you capture the footage you will have the date and timestamp on it.

Usually we get asked how to remove it not keep it there.

As for how to capture and convert to DVD. Again, what s/w have you tried/got?

Ah, I think young Alan is going back to his Analogue days. In the case of mini-dv the date and time stamps are imported as standard regardless of whether the camera function to show time and date was on or not.

However, most NLE software doesn't have the functionality to display time and date details. Although I believe Sony Vegas has a 'Sony - Timecode' FX that will handle the time aspect.

Having said that there are some third party pieces of software that will display both date and time, for example DV/Photo Time Stamp Home

** EDIT **
Oops forgot to mention. Obviously thes utilities will only work on native DV footage (Not MPEG).



Enjoy

I think you're right Robin. At least my lats experience of 'wanting' date and timestamp was back in analogue days when all I did was film the trip to the zoo and record it straight to VHS so I wasn't really wrong I suppose

Nowadays I use Adobe Premiere to edit. This has a timcode function that you could use. Never seen a function to add the date but as it doesn;t change very often within the same tape it could be managed as a 'title' I suppose.

Ah Analogue ... Those were the days, 3 Cameras, 4 VHS players and Assembly editing via a plethora of cables that could spawn a Health and Saftey industry of its own accord ...

Ach, I'm just getting all nostaligic and hijacking the thread,

I'll get my coat ...

sorry it took so long to reply.

i have tried the Windows program as well as premiere and Vegas, but not extensively so i don't know if i'm missing something.

I'm trying to do this for Video taped depositions that require the Data/Timestamp on the video.

I have just been taking it straight from the minidv to a dvd recorder to create a dvd and then using another program to mpeg it, but i get a crappy video file. I need a good quality(but not huge in size) mpeg/avi so i can syncronize the video with the transcript for trial purposes.

You would need to transfer to a PC first,

1. Transfer to PC in native DV format


2. Use utility software to display Date and Time code


3. Encode resultant file to DV MPEG


4. Burn to DVD


5. Enjoy

You won't be able to transfer the Date and Time by burning direct to a DVD recorder.

Thanks

now what software will do all this.

For the Capture, editing and burning you could do worse than Adobe Premiere Elements or ULEAD Vidoestudio or Sony Vegas Studio (Check out these companies' web sites for the trial versions to see what suits you). For the date and time stamp try DV/Photo Time Stamp Home

Enjoy