Converting DV tape to watch on computer or Ipod

[ericmark]

My camera is old and so is the PC and although in theory I should be able to plug camera into USB and upload the film it's very hit and miss mainly I think as it has to be in real time with a digital tape.

However using fire wire it will connect to my stand alone DVD/Hard-drive that I use with TV and I can transfer the film easy to a DVD.

But I want to up-load film onto internet and that's where I have the problem. The DVD can be read with VideoPad and converted into MP4 format but it's like watching paint dry. 35 minutes will take 2 days to convert from DV tape to MP4 format plus I have to use a DVD to transfer the film from TV DVD/Hard-drive recorder to PC.

It may be just slow PC or slow software or I am doing something wrong? Set to write to MP4 at 8am today and at 11pm still not finished. Set same as TV width 1280 and hight 1024 did one for Iphone which was much quicker but really poor quality, OK on little Iphone screen but not on PC monitor.

I was for stills using Pictures2exe and to make an exe file very quick but that also took a long time to make a MP4 file. But PhotoStage will not make an exe file but much quicker making a MP4 file.

So I am wondering if it's just the software I am using?

The camera software will only make a VCD and these seem to be no longer popular and my Blu-ray player will not play them. Also it means I have to use old PC as software will not see the DVD recorder only the old CD recorder.

Any suggestions other than buy new PC and video camera?

 

[ChrisFrost]

Have a look at the software people are using to rip files from DVDs and Blu-rays. Also investigate the software they're using for file conversions. There's a lot of new stuff out now that is quicker.

If PC speed is a real problem then the other thing to suggest is keeping the output resolution down to a minimum. If the source resolution is just 720x576 then asking the software to upsample to a HD res will put additional strain on the PC's processing.

Here a link to an FAQ about file ripping and conversion. LINK with some additional links to free utilities.