Apologies if this has been asked and answered before. How do I back up a MiniDV tape to DVD-R? I have dumped the whole tape to disk as one big AVI, but ofcourse it is much to big to fit on a single DVD-R. I'd like to split the file to span across multiple DVD-Rs. Can this be done with Nero? Note, I just want to create a backup of the tape so I can go back to the source file without having to dump it from the camcorder again (at 1X speeds and adding wear to the camcorder mechanism). I'd much rather having it on a few cheap DVD-Rs for quick access. That is, I don't want to encode it as MPEG or actually split the AVI into multiple shorter AVI video files. I just want to save one big files on disc that exceeds 4.7 (or 8.5) Gig. Thanks!
Hopefully you`re software has the option to change the capture encoding settings. mini-dv tapes are normally an hour long, therefore you could capture with the settings of `variable bitrate`... top 8000 or 9000kbps, average 7000 or 8000kbps and a minimum of 6000 or 7000kbps, which would allow the file to be less than 4.3 gb and fit on a dvd. If you`re recording in `LP` of 1 hr 30 min then change the setting to something like minimum 5000, average 6000 and max 7000kbps. check out www.videohelp.com for info on capture progs etc...
Thanks for the advice, but this is not exactly what I want to be able to do. I'm not trying to capture the DV tape. I want to preserve a bit-for-bit identical copy of what's on the DV tape on DVD-Rs. That is, I just want a pure backup of what's on the tape without any degradation of the image/audio quality. Actually, this isn't really DV specific. What I really want to be able to do is span a large file (ie, greater than 4.x Gig) across multiple DVD-Rs. For example, I might have a single 20 Gig file that I want to write to 5 discs.
Well afaik you`ll still have to capture it onto your pc, then use a file splitter (like the one often linked at the top of these pages).
Hi newbs ... well, you are streets ahead of me! Can you tell me how to get the movie off the tape in the first place?? I have a Canon MVX2i with a firewire connection, and a PC running WinXP and a firewire. When I marry the two I can only see the video clips I've test recorded to the memory card; switching to the TAPE function I can see nothing at all. And the Canon manuals don't help at all. Thanx!!
