We just replaced the 10yr old Sony 8mm camcorder with a new Sony DCR-DVD108. It was one of those last minute, "had to do" deals, so I may not have gotten the best model for everything I want to do.
Anyway, instead of the old 8mm tapes that used to yield 2 hours of recording time, this unit uses mini DVDs that only record about 30 min. Rather than accumulating a lot of these little discs, I'd rather find an easy way to transfer them to regular DVDs in 2 hour segments.
If I use DVD-RWs and format them in "VR" mode, my Panasonic E85 DVD recorder will actually see the finalized disc as a DVD-ram, allowing me to high-speed dub from the mini-DVD back to the Panny's HDD - I believe without any PQ hit. I could then un-format and reuse the little DVDs over again in the camcorder.
From there I can edit out parts I don't want and once I get 2 hours worth, high speed dub to a full size dvd-r. This is pretty straight forward but I can't seem to retain those nice little chapter thumbnails / menus that the camcorder creates.
I also have an external DVD burner on my computer but can't figure out a way to do what I want. I've tried Windows XP's movie maker, which seemed to just die in the process. I've also tried the Nero programs that came with the drive, some shareware called Imageburn and a collection of Sony programs that came with the camcorder. Apparently I'm too dumb to get any of these options to work right. I can get the contents of the mini-DVDs to my computer's HDD but that's it.
Thanks to anyone that has patience enough to help me out here.
Anyway, instead of the old 8mm tapes that used to yield 2 hours of recording time, this unit uses mini DVDs that only record about 30 min. Rather than accumulating a lot of these little discs, I'd rather find an easy way to transfer them to regular DVDs in 2 hour segments.
If I use DVD-RWs and format them in "VR" mode, my Panasonic E85 DVD recorder will actually see the finalized disc as a DVD-ram, allowing me to high-speed dub from the mini-DVD back to the Panny's HDD - I believe without any PQ hit. I could then un-format and reuse the little DVDs over again in the camcorder.
From there I can edit out parts I don't want and once I get 2 hours worth, high speed dub to a full size dvd-r. This is pretty straight forward but I can't seem to retain those nice little chapter thumbnails / menus that the camcorder creates.
I also have an external DVD burner on my computer but can't figure out a way to do what I want. I've tried Windows XP's movie maker, which seemed to just die in the process. I've also tried the Nero programs that came with the drive, some shareware called Imageburn and a collection of Sony programs that came with the camcorder. Apparently I'm too dumb to get any of these options to work right. I can get the contents of the mini-DVDs to my computer's HDD but that's it.
Thanks to anyone that has patience enough to help me out here.
