Am I doing this right?

[macro_]

I used VirtualDub to record a 3 hour recording using Huffy 720x480 so I can burn a dvd. (let it record for a couple hours)

Audio was all out of whack so I open the AVI, clicked Video > Framerate > and synced audio with video, save AVI (wait around 3 hours.)

Now I dropped the gigantic file in Blaze Media Pro to burn a video dvd and let it run overnight (after 8 hours it was barely over half way converting).

So Instead I'm using a program called Power Video Converter to convert the AVI into MPG2 format for DVD. (looks like it's going to take around 8 hours.)

Am I doing this right? Just seems like it shouldn't take two days of processing to burn a DVD of my family VHS. Can I even burn a 3 hour clip? I don't want to waste all that time.

Thanks for the help.

[CWR03]

You won't be able to burn a 3 hour clip to a standard DVD without either lowering the resolution or compressing it (or using a dual-layer disk). You might consider using something that'll capture straight from your device to a DVD-compliant MPEG-2 format so you won't have to do any re-encoding at all.

[macro_]

Okay so here's the instructions I'm using so far.

1. Record my movie. (couple hours) -- VirtualDub & Huffy
2. Clip the beginng/end, Divide up clips into 1.5 hour sections, Re-save each clip. (more than a couple hours) -- VirtualDub
3. Re-code each clip to MPEG-2. (several hours) -- Power Video Converter.
4. Burn (5-10 Minutes a disc.) -- Blaze Media Pro


The reason I don't use the original capturing program is because I've lost my ATI disc, and ATI won't let you install the software (for their own 500.00 card) because you don't have the original disc. I've tried using another program, but 3 hours of MPEG-2 doesn't even fit on my 500GB external WD drive.

I guess the question is then, what program will let me capture straight to an MPEG2 dvd standerd, WITH audio in sync?

[macro_]

Just to let everyone know my setup (I used DxDiag to get most of the info):

-- Board: Asus SLI, Processor: AMD 64 4000+. Memory: 1GB DDR PC3200 --
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 4000+, MMX, 3DNow, ~2.4GHz
Memory: 1024MB RAM
Page File: 317MB used, 2143MB available
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)


-- Video: ATI X1900XTX, Sound: SB Audigy 4 --
Card name: Radeon X1900 Series
Manufacturer: ATI Technologies Inc.
Chip type: Radeon X1900 Series (0x7249)
DAC type: Internal DAC(400MHz)
Display Memory: 512.0 MB
Current Mode: 1280 x 1024 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor: Dell 1905FP (Digital)

Description: SB Audigy 4 [A000]
Default Sound Playback: Yes
Default Voice Playback: Yes
Driver Version: 5.12.0001.1164 (English)


-- Drives: System- Raptor 74GB 10,000 RPM Internal, Storage- WD 250GB Internal, Backup (Storage in this case)- WD500GB MyBook External USB2.0 --
Drive: C:
Free Space: 34.7 GB
Total Space: 70.9 GB
File System: NTFS
Model: WDC WD740GD-00FLC0

Drive: D:
Free Space: 34.5 GB
Total Space: 238.5 GB
File System: NTFS
Model: WDC WD2500JD-00HBC0

Drive: O:
Free Space: 254.2 GB
Total Space: 476.9 GB
File System: NTFS
Model: WD 5000YS External USB Device


- Might want to also note that it took 24 hours of processing to get my 3 hour clip to DVD.

[CWR03]

Lots of programs will work with an ATI capture card and will capture in DVD-compliant MPEG-2. Three hours of video at that profile should only be 6-8 GB. From that point, you'd only need to burn it.

[macro_]

What program would you recommend?

[CWR03]

Unfortunately anything I might recommend would be a commercial program. Many of them offer a free trial.

ULead's Video Studio 9 gets very high marks for quality and ease of use.