So I'm working on a documentary on a local volunteer run music venue that is approaching it's 25th year being open. A lot of shows happened in this place, and a lot of videos were shot on video over the years, many of which are being submitted to me on DVD, and some I'm archiving myself on a Phillips 4-head VCR/DVD combo.
Now, I'm on a mac, so I had some difficulty finding a way to rip DVDs over to DV files that I can edit on FCP. I found Cinematize 2, and that has worked for my immediate needs. It has a "lossless" setting, which I know is a bit silly because the video itself is already compressed, but I certainly don't want to add any further compression to it.
After I play with the audio a bit, and do some color correction, the videos always come out looking far better than when I received it. So of course at times I like to burn it back over to a DVD through DVD Studio Pro for my own viewing / collecting pleasure.
While this is perfect for the documentary, where most of the videos will be seen in quick montages, and good enough for my own entertainment at home, I wonder if I give out or trade copies, am I sending out lossy DVDs now? Taking a standalone DVDR (and sometimes they are even shot direct to DVD by some folk who use those cameras), rip it to DV, run it though FCP and DVDSP, and back onto DVD.
I don't really know any other quick and reliable way to convert VHS & Hi8 to a DV file either, I tried Dazzle years ago and I didn't like it. Getting the standalone was a huge help in converting the mountain of videos I have, but some of the videos need a little more love to be their best.
So would I be polluting the trading pool if I trade out my remastered DVDs? Should I just stick to keeping my remasters for my own use, and give out the standalone transfers if I have to trade them out?
And is there some simpler way to do analog video transfers direct to mac that I am just oblivious to?