Dv Video To Disc For Play In U.k.

[The Gentleman Scamp]

Thai DVD players play some DVD's and all VCD's, some play any DVD's, CD's and VCD's.

I want some video footage (Sony DV cassette) transfered to a disc that I will be able to play on a U.K. DVD player.

Do U.K. DVD players play VCD's and if not, is there a particular format of DVD that I need to request the video's be burned on to, or would it simply be a case of having them burned onto DVD's and using a 'decoded' DVD player in the U.K. that is able to play DVD's from all reigons?

Also, in my experience, home DVD's, as with many copies, lose their quality extreemly quickly... What is the best brand of blank to buy and will photoshops use decent ones or the cheapest?

Thanks again folks,

Scampy.

[daveb1]

Most newer dvd players in the uk will play dvd-r or dvd-rw discs which is what your dv footage would be transfered onto it should be region free but in any case you can change most players to multi region with a simple easy hack with the remote control. In terms of brands of discs most are fine choose TDK or SONY or any well known brand the all much the same. hope that helps.

[Firefoxx]

DVDs that you author yourself don't have a region... only commercial movie DVDs have regions. I believe that the UK uses the PAL system, just like Thailand, so there shouldn't be any format problems. As for whether the DVD player will play VCDs, it depends on the make and model, but most will.

I really don't know how a DVD could lose it's quality. It's a digital format, it doesn't degrade with time. The media could fail, but that means corruption of the disc itself. If you want media that's rated for very long shelf time, then get media that's "made in japan".

Since your footage is in DV format, you should use to transfer to DVD, since that format will degrade the image the least. A VCD picture isn't very nice. However, if you have amatuers do the transfer, even a DVD transfer might turn out bad.

[cdnvic]

I think the problem is a format one. Most decent DVD players should play back in either NTSC or PAL format.

To be safe though, I'd put it on vcd then you can also play it back and to some editing on any computer thats got enough juice, and has a cd rom drive, as not many have dvd drives yet.

cv

[chanchao]

If you at all have the time for it, and a reasonably fast computer with a Firewire port, then you gain a lot by editing the movie first and then saving it as a DVD or VCD quality video file.

There's a bit of a learning curve, but if you regularly shoot video then it's definitely worth the effort.

Windows even has a basic but adequate video editing program built in, if you have Windows XP and Service Pack 2. (Windows Movie Maker). Once you get the hang of it it's not that hard, and there's a huge benefit of being able to create discs that are already edited, meaning they you select the nice/nedded scenese and cut out all non essential things that would just bore people if they had to sit through it all.

But your original question: Just do both. If you're going through all the trouble then an extra 20-100 baht for a VCD won't kill you.

Cheers,

Chanchao

[ZOVOX]

Thai DVD players play some DVD's and all VCD's, some play any DVD's, CD's and VCD's.

I want some video footage (Sony DV cassette) transfered to a disc that I will be able to play on a U.K. DVD player.

Do U.K. DVD players play VCD's and if not, is there a particular format of DVD that I need to request the video's be burned on to, or would it simply be a case of having them burned onto DVD's and using a 'decoded' DVD player in the U.K. that is able to play DVD's from all reigons?

Also, in my experience, home DVD's, as with many copies, lose their quality extreemly quickly...  What is the best brand of blank to buy and will photoshops use decent ones or the cheapest?

Thanks again folks,

Scampy.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I would convert to DVD, otherwise you'll lose a lot of the picture quality. If you do convert to VCD, u.k dvd players will play them no problem, even though it may not mention it in the manual, because the VCD format never took off in the U.K. When converting to DVD, make sure they use branded discs, or you'll probably get compatibility problems. Forget region coding, they won't put region codes on home vids.

[The Gentleman Scamp]

I'll do both, though I've heard it's expensive. I just want to save all my stock footage, i'll do the editing later when I get a laptop, though I've done most of it as I've gone along.

Most half decent photo shops can do this or should I seek a specialist at Pantip perhaps?

Zovox: Branded discs? ...If they're not savvy to that in the Kodak shop, do you mean decent quality blanks?

[ZOVOX]

I'll do both, though I've heard it's expensive. I just want to save all my stock footage, i'll do the editing later when I get a laptop, though I've done most of it as I've gone along.

Most half decent photo shops can do this or should I seek a specialist at Pantip perhaps?

Zovox: Branded discs?  ...If they're not savvy to that in the Kodak shop, do you mean decent quality blanks?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Branded discs means they have the makers name on the top. Unbranded discs are of varying quality, and when it comes to DVD burning it best to go for a good branded disc like TDK, and i heard the grade 'a' ritek discs are good also. With VCD it is less important, because there are less compatibilty issues with VCD or CDs in general.

[Firefoxx]

If you want easy to find high-quality media, the TDK DVD-R 4x media sold at powerbuy and other places is from the Taiyo Yuden factory in Japan. It's about the highest quality you can get in Thailand. It's a bit expensive, at around 100 baht/disc.

Photo shops doing a DVD transfer? I doubt it. Remember that the final quality will depend a lot on the ability of the person doing the transfer... I've seen plenty of botched transfers. It's actually not that hard... all you need is a firewire port, some software, and a DVD burner.