Quote: Hi All. I've been collecting beautiful video around the lovely little city in the foothills of the Ozarks where I live. My goal is to incorporate all the clips together into a peaceful video which people can pop into their dvd players and let play over and over again.

My question..what sort of disc should I use to record the video? I rare use discs...never in fact, and there are so many types out there now.

This video will not be blue ray as I do not have a blue ray disc writer on my computer.

Any help would be appreciated...

Good quality DVD+R, DVD-R or DL DVD+R disks are what is available.
I prefer DVD+R Disks.

I use several different brands of disks, Nearly all of the major bands are good quality disks.
I like one brand of Double Layer Disks that are lower cost than most brands, Brand is RiDATA DVD+R DL.

You can get about one hour on a single layer DVD disk, and about two hours on a Double Layer (DL) DVD disk.

Don't over think what format you start with, DVD Video is always converted to VOB files which are MPEG-2 format.

Best quality is MPEG-2 HQ or about 8.3 Megabits per second.
Carl312: Windows 10 64-bit 8 GB RAM,AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz,ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB,240GB SSD,two 1TB HDs.

Thanks Carl, that helps a lot! Not sure what you mean about format...all my videos are .mov. Does that matter?

Dustie Dustie
I'm still working on it....

Quote: Thanks Carl, that helps a lot! Not sure what you mean about format...all my videos are .mov. Does that matter?

Dustie

If the source material is HD material the first thing Powerdirector has to do is re-render the video to 720x480. So the format of the source is less important.

On the other hand if you render all of your edited video to MPEG-2 HQ before you create a DVD, you take a great deal of the load off the computer while burning a DVD.

That works if you use the MPEG-2 HQ video to create the DVD.

you can make two videos, one the Edited HD version and one that is the Standard Def version for burning to DVD.

Carl312: Windows 10 64-bit 8 GB RAM,AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz,ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB,240GB SSD,two 1TB HDs.

What is the standard def version that I'd use in powerdirector 9 for future video.

All the vid I've been saving is HD and in .mov. So should I use PD to change them all to whatever standard def is and rerender them al to 720x480? I don't have the original (as out of the video camera) of all of these...only the edited .mov formats.

Thanks for helping me with this Carl. Dustie
I'm still working on it....

Will 720 x 480 play well on a big screen TV?
Dustie
I'm still working on it....

Quote: Will 720 x 480 play well on a big screen TV?

Well it is Standard Definition, it is the same as SD TV programs you get from Satellite or Cable.

If the Video is clean and little or no noise, it will play on big screen Digital TV, Not so much if the Big Screen TV is one of those old Analog Standard Definition projection TVs.

Carl312: Windows 10 64-bit 8 GB RAM,AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz,ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB,240GB SSD,two 1TB HDs.

Quote: What is the standard def version that I'd use in powerdirector 9 for future video.

All the vid I've been saving is HD and in .mov. So should I use PD to change them all to whatever standard def is and rerender them al to 720x480? I don't have the original (as out of the video camera) of all of these...only the edited .mov formats.

Thanks for helping me with this Carl.

If the .mov is what you have, then you use that. Backup, Backup what you have, you can never recover if you lose the videos.

Question: Why don't you have the original from the camera or at least a copy of the original camera files?

I know that many of the old DV cameras used a tape, so I would not expect anybody to have the original tapes. But a Digital copy saved on a hard drive or burned to a disk, I would expect people to do.

Carl312: Windows 10 64-bit 8 GB RAM,AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz,ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB,240GB SSD,two 1TB HDs.

My problem with keeping the original files as they came from the camcorder is memory space.

I do keep two copies of all my rendered videos, one on the computer and another on my external hard drive, and both are filling up fast. Add keeping the originals (which are always much larger and filled with much useless stuff) and the cost of the memory becomes a real problem for me. Dustie
I'm still working on it....

I agree that hard disk space can be hard, but one thing about it, the cost of USB hard Drives is not as expensive as it once was.

And the size of the drives has gotten much larger. Not uncommon to find a 2 or 3 Terabyte USB 3.0 drive for a reasonable price.

Carl312: Windows 10 64-bit 8 GB RAM,AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz,ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB,240GB SSD,two 1TB HDs.

Carl,

My external hard drive is 2 Terabyte, computer drive is 1 terabyte.

True, memory is not as expensive as it used to be, but with two dogs needing yearly vet visit, car needing an oil change and at least two tires, and groceries and everything going up in price..memory is on the back burner. I do keep the originals of the best video's, but just can't justify keeping the rest right now. I'm a very prolific videographer, taking my camcorder with me everywhere I go. Dustie
I'm still working on it....

Quote: Carl,

My external hard drive is 2 Terabyte, computer drive is 1 terabyte.

True, memory is not as expensive as it used to be, but with two dogs needing yearly vet visit, car needing an oil change and at least two tires, and groceries and everything going up in price..memory is on the back burner. I do keep the originals of the best video's, but just can't justify keeping the rest right now. I'm a very prolific videographer, taking my camcorder with me everywhere I go.

Yeah, I guess food comes before memory!

What I used to do is burn my camera originals to DVD disks. That got hard to do with HD cameras. the files got bigger than a Double Layer DVD.

I do have a BluRay burner which is 25 GB per Disk, but external hard disks have lots more storage space. You can store a lot of original camera files on a 2 or 3 terabyte drive.

I do understand that one will shoot a lot of stuff that should end up on the cutting room floor. I think that you never know where you might find that one jewel in all of the junk.

In the 70s I had a 35 mm camera and like you carried it everywhere, now I have hundreds of rolls of film that was shot back then. If I want some image, I can scan the film and get a very good image.

Carl312: Windows 10 64-bit 8 GB RAM,AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz,ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB,240GB SSD,two 1TB HDs.

I'm out nearly every morning in my little boat -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TL1J2YAkpA looking for those jewels you talked about.

Seriously, thanks to power director, I really do cut the jewels out of the video. The stuff I toss is really cutting room floor stuff.

Today I shot a water snake, some playful vultures, a Kingfisher, and a Tern (amazing figuring I'm in NW Arkansas). In the last two weeks I've gotten raccoons, fox, young great horned owl, and another water snake. Each day is an adventure.

I'm still trying to get deer and I'd give my eye teeth for a bobcat! This is just so much fun!

I'll bet you have some awesome 70s/80s shots. Dustie
I'm still working on it....

nightowl123,

I just watched your video, that is a cute boat, I looks to be small enough for you to pick up and carry. I don't know if it is that light.

I like to way you shot that video, put the camera on a tripod and let it run.

Here is an example of photographs I shot back in the early 80s.

This was at one location, Hurricane Mills, TN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PDWVY0pDQ8

I am not sure some the photos from the 70/80s were all that good.

I lived in Nashville TN and have a few shots of Show taping. Some photos from when Opryland was in operation.

I'm still trying to get deer and I'd give my eye teeth for a bobcat! This is just so much fun!

I have a couple shots of deer, shot with a Game Camera, I have never seen a Bobcat in the wild.

Trouble with the deer shots, they are in the bush or night infrared shots, so are not real clear.

Carl312: Windows 10 64-bit 8 GB RAM,AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz,ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB,240GB SSD,two 1TB HDs.

Carl,

Thanks for sharing your Loretta Lynn photos. They are amazing! I remember in the movie, Coal Miner's Daughter when Sissy Spacik and Tommy Lee Jones we standing on the hilltop talking about where their new home was going to be built....and now I saw the home! Awesome place...loved the mill that was restored. Great old pics! Very entertaining.

I've only ever seen one bobcat in the wild...well, not really in the wild but more along the side of the road since he'd been hit by a car and killed. Very sad....

But I can still hope... Would also like to get an Armadillo and a Opossum, but since they are nocturnal it might be hard to tape them.

Got a tern yesterday...interesting shot seeing as how terns aren't normally found on fresh water lakes in Arkansas. There were 5 of them flying around the lake, but only one who landed on a buoy long enough for me to get some video. I'm still trying to get him identified...

Also got a group of black vultures being very playful! Bet no one thinks of vultures as being the fun loving type.. http://youtu.be/Hk9dd8PGY7U

Wildlife videography from a boat is certainly a challenge. Especially from a little boat that doesn't want to stay still if the wind blows at all.

I do love my boat though.. Weighs 175 lbs empty.. can't pick it up by myself, but it does have a little trailer. What I like about it is I can handle putting it in and taking it out of the lake myself. Dustie
I'm still working on it....

Quote: Carl,
But I can still hope... Would also like to get an Armadillo and a Opossum, but since they are nocturnal it might be hard to tape them.

Come to Texas, not unusual to see Armadillo or Opossum at night.

Got a tern yesterday...interesting shot seeing as how terns aren't normally found on fresh water lakes in Arkansas. There were 5 of them flying around the lake, but only one who landed on a buoy long enough for me to get some video. I'm still trying to get him identified...

A couple of books that I like are:

"A Guide to Field Identification, Birds of North America" ISBN 0-307-33656-5 Published by Golden Press.

"Peterson Field Gudies, Eastern Birds" ISBN 0-395-26619-X Author: Roger Tory Peterson.

I got my copies in 1996, so they may be hard to find now.
Both books have well done drawings.

Also got a group of black vultures being very playful! Bet no one thinks of vultures as being the fun loving type.. http://youtu.be/Hk9dd8PGY7U

Wildlife videography from a boat is certainly a challenge. Especially from a little boat that doesn't want to stay still if the wind blows at all.

Your vultures turned out good, I did not notice any sign of the boat rocking or moving.

I do love my boat though.. Weighs 175 lbs empty.. can't pick it up by myself, but it does have a little trailer. What I like about it is I can handle putting it in and taking it out of the lake myself.

Yes, 175 lbs is a bit much, it must be made out of fiberglass.

At least you can unload and load the boat at a boat ramp.

We better quit, we are not on the subject of Powerdirector any more. Unless you mention editing the video in Powerdirector.

Carl312: Windows 10 64-bit 8 GB RAM,AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz,ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB,240GB SSD,two 1TB HDs.

Well, you would have noticed some rocking of the boat in the vulture video if it hadn't been for editing in powerdirector. Fortunately It was early morning when I shot that and the wind hadn't kicked up. Then it was mostly current drift from the spring that feeds the lake that I was fighting.

The tern video is a different story. It was later in the day and in deeper water. Out of 10 minutes of video, I was able to come up with only about 15 seconds of usable film, even with the magic of PD.

OK...no more chatter. Been nice talking with you. Thanks for all the help! ; Dustie
I'm still working on it....