Easiest way to edit home video onto DVD

[buster2cajun]

I currently record home video using my Sony Mini DV Digital Handycam,
Model # DCR-TRV22. I'm beginning to pile up the mini tapes, which I
can view by connecting the Handycam to my television. It would be nice
to transfer the ones I want onto DVD. For instance, I have a new baby
and would like to select favorite footage of her nicely edited onto a
DVD she would cherish.
Can anybody recommend the easiest way for me to accomplish this?

 

[CyberTaz]

Certainly not with anything in Mac Office.

Having no idea what equipment you have available its hard to say, but if
you're running OS X you already have iDVD software. It's just a matter of
getting your system hooked up to your camera or DVD player.

I suggest you post your questions on this issue in the Apple Discussions
forum... Just make sure you give them enough info to work with.

Good Luck |:>)

 

[buster2cajun]

I have a 14" Mac iBook. I got it Jan 2002. It did come running OSX
but I set it to OS 9.2 because of the old version of MS Office for Mac
I had. I did a Sherlock search and there's no iDVD. Fact is, I want a
new Mac laptop. I've saved the $$ for it but I'm stumped as to whether
to buy a new iBook or Powerbook and which one. I get so confused that
I keep putting off the purchase. So any of them come w/ this iDVD
software you mention, and if I connect my Handycam to one of these new
Mac laptops I can edit my home video and burn my results to DVD? Which
laptop would be best for this? Can the new laptops handle saving many
5 megapixel photos on them? The one I'm working off seems low in
memory. Any video making advice and advice on which new Mac laptop to
purchased would be MIGHTY APPRECIATED!!

 

[Alan Quirt]

For basic home video editing, you can't beat the combination of iMovie
and iDVD. You get both in the iLife 05 package for $79 (assuming you are
in the USA). Just plug in your camera with its firewire (i.link in Sony
speak) and away you go. There's a good tutorial for iMovie included. The
package comes bundled with a new Mac.

You don't say how fast your iBook is, but you will certainly find it a
little slow rendering the output of your editing. You will also need an
external DVD burner, and a program such as Toast that lets you burn a
DVD image (created by iDVD) to that external drive. But if you want to
try it out and see how you like it, this could be your cheapest solution.

If you are buying a new Mac laptop, get one with a dvd-burning
Superdrive. In my opinion the best value at present is the 14 inch
iBook. It's nearly as fast as the PowerBooks, and has the DVD burner.
its only serious disadvantage is that the screen is limited to 1024x768
resolution, even if you attach an external monitor. The PowerBooks have
bigger screens, and can output even higher resolution to a second
display (and can run two screens at once).

I've edited several movies on an iBook, and although more screen space
would be nice, it works just fine. I ended up buying a PowerBook myself,
nearly a year ago, but at that time the iBook was a far inferior
computer. Today's iBook has nearly caught up to the PowerBooks, and will
likely stay there until the new Intel-based PowerBooks come out sometime
in 2006.