From tape to DVD

This article will give a global overview of the steps involved in getting video on tape to DVD and will learn you some common expressions used in digital video editing.

The workflow from tape to DVD is shown in the figure on the right. The steps are: transfer or capture edit (if required) encoding authoring' burning Each of the steps are explained below. For more information, read the other articles in the basic section of this site in which each of the steps is discussed in more detail.

1. Capturing/transfer

The first thing to do is getting the taped video on the hard drive of your PC.

If you have a digital camcorder (miniDV or Digital8), the best solution is to use a Firewire connection. Connect your digital camcorder with a Firewire cable to your PC, turn on the camcorder in play (VCR) mode, start a capturing program and transfer the sections of the tape that you want to your hard drive. The digital video data on the tape is transferred directly to the hard drive; no compression is carried out. This is also the reason why this process is often referred to as transfer in stead of capturing. To avoid misunderstanding: this does not mean that the video in the file is uncompressed. The video on digital tape is already compressed (using a DV codec) and it will remain compressed in the file. The end result is an AVI file with video compressed with a DV codec.

Analog sources (Hi-8, VHS, Betacam etc.) do not have a Firewire connection. So, what you will need is an analog capture card in your PC or some other device that changes the analog video to digital. What happens is that the card captures the incoming video frame by frame, compresses each frame and puts the stream of frames in a file. Many capture cards allow you to select which compression (i.e. codec) to use during capture. You may also be able to capture directly in MPEG, but the preferred method is to capture in AVI using a decent codec (like DV).

Required Tools: Apart from a Firewire connection plus cable (or an analog capture card) you will need a capturing program. There are several freeware capturing programs available, but most video editing program also contain a capturing module.

More detailed information about capturing can be found in our article Transfer to Disk.

2. Editing

Editing is the process of cutting out pieces, changing order of scenes, adding transitions, adding other audio, creating special effects etc. etc. Although this is not absolutely required, it is the major reason why to use a PC to turn your tapes to DVD and certainly the fun part. A good thing to know is that you don’t edit your original files during video editing. You start a project in a video editing program and put segments of the existing video on a timeline. One you're ready, you export the timeline to a new video file.

Tools: What you need is a video editing program, also known as Non-Linear Editing (NLE) programs. There are many of them on the market with various levels of sophistication and price levels.

Read more in our article Video.Editing which also includes a list of some popular video editing programs.

3. Encoding

Video editing is usually done with using AVI-files. Reason for that is that is is much easier to edit AVI files than MPEG-files. This is also the reason why it is preferable to capture in AVI files. However, DVD is based on MPEG-2 compression. So after editing, you will need to convert the AVI file to MPEG which is called encoding. It is the most important step because it determines the final quality of your video. Sophisticated encoders have all kinds of settings with which you can influence the quality.

Tools: Some video editing programs have a built-in encoder. If this is the case can directly export the timeline to a MPEG file and you don’t need a separate encoder. Another option is to use an authoring program (see next step) that also contain an encoder. In that case you can feed the AVI directly into the authoring application. Last but not least you can use a stand-alone encoder. There are several encoders on the market and usually they offer the best quality.

An article about encoding to various other formats including MPEG-2 can be found in the article in our basic section called Encoding.

4. Authoring

Creating a DVD is not just a matter of burning the MPEG-file to a recordable DVD. Apart from the video and audio data, a DVD also contains control and navigational data that the DVD player needs to recognize that it is a Video-DVD. Most DVD have all kind of menus to select audio, scene selections etc. The process of designing a DVD is called authoring and the final result of this process is a set of VOB and IFO files, either stored on your hard drive or burned directly to a DVD.

Tools: There are many authoring packages available on the market. They range from simple, wizard-type solutions to programs that can create very sophisticated menu structures. Many CD/DVD burning programs these days also contain a Video-DVD authoring module which mostly including an MPEG encoder.

More about authoring several types of discs including DVD can be found in (S)VCD/DVD Creation. It also contains a list of popular authoring programs.

5. Burning

This is the very last step. Once the DVD has been authored, it needs to be burned to a DVD. This can be done using standard CD/DVD burning programs but usually it can also be done from within the authoring program.

Tools: What you need here is a DVD burning program. All modern DVD burning programs have the ability to burn Video-DVD and, as stated above, many of them even have an authoring module.

6. All-in-one tools

You may ask yourself why you need so many different tools to create a DVD from a video on tape. The reason for that is historic. Different companies have different strengths and are specialized in one of the steps listed above. However, since modern standard PC's are powerful enough for video editing and has become quite popular, programs also appear on the market that can perform all the steps listed above. Although such programs are getting better every day, you still may choose different programs for different steps, because one program may offer more editing possibilities, another one may give better encoding quality and another one enable you to make more fancy DVD menu's.