This page describes the procedure for moving video from the Hitachi DZ-MV230A or DZ-MV270A 8-centimeter camcorder DVD-RAM discs to a Linux computer, and then burning standard 12-centimeter DVD-R discs for use in a standard DVD player.
You need these open-source software packages:
- mplayer - for reading the input DVD-RAMs
- mplex (from mjpegtools) - for making DVD-compatible MPEG files
- dvdauthor - for making the DVD-compatible ISO file structure
- k3b or dvd+rw-tools - for DVD-R burning
- Each of the above packages usually has several dependencies that need to be installed as well.
These are the steps:
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If you plan to use k3b: Enable SCSI emulation of the IDE DVD drives in the computer (assuming you have IDE drives). In Fedora Core 1, this is done by adding "hdc=ide-scsi hdd=ide-scsi" to the "kernel" line of /etc/grub.conf, and then rebooting. This example assumes that you have two DVD drives, hdc and hdd. Use the "dmesg" command if you do not know the hdX label for the drive. Most burning software needs this emulation.
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Make a working directory, like ~/dvd-raw.
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Put the camcorder DVD-RAM mini-disc into the computer's DVD-RAM drive, with side A up. (We use the Panasonic LF-D321 drive, which appears in the filesystem as /dev/hdd).
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Read in the files from the camcorder disc:
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Method 1. Use mplayer to read the DVD-RAM disc, and save the audio and video streams separately. The dumpvideo and dumpaudio switches make mplayer save the streams to a file named "stream.dump". Rename this file to "audio" or "video", as appropriate:
mplayer -dumpvideo /dev/hdd; mv stream.dump video; mplayer -dumpaudio /dev/hdd; mv stream.dump audio;
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Method 2. Mount the DVD-RAM disc, copy the VRO file to the hard disk, and split up the audio and video streams. The dumpvideo and dumpaudio switches make mplayer save the streams to a file named "stream.dump". Rename this file to "audio" or "video", as appropriate:
mount /dev/hdd /mnt/cdrom
cp /mnt/cdrom/DVD_RTAV/VR_MOVIE.VRO input.mpg
mplayer -dumpvideo input.mpg; mv stream.dump video; mplayer -dumpaudio input.mpg; mv stream.dump audio;
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Re-combine the audio and video streams using mplex. The "-f 8" switch specifies a DVD-compatible output format. The "-o sidea-%02d.mpg" file pattern means that each chapter will be saved to a separate file, with a two-digit number in the file name (i.e., sidea-01.mpg, sidea-02.mpg, etc.).
mplex -f 8 audio video -o sidea-%02d.mpg
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Flip the disc to side B, and repeat the process (using different output mpeg file names):
mplayer -dumpvideo /dev/hdd; mv stream.dump video; mplayer -dumpaudio /dev/hdd; mv stream.dump audio; mplex -f 8 audio video -o sideb-%02d.mpg
or
cp /mnt/cdrom/DVD_RTAV/VR_MOVIE.VRO input.mpg; mplayer -dumpvideo input.mpg; mv stream.dump video; mplayer -dumpaudio input.mpg; mv stream.dump audio; mplex -f 8 audio video -o sideb-%02d.mpg
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Make an output directory:
mkdir dvd
dvddirgen -o ./dvd -
Combine all of the output files generated from Side A and Side B using:
dvdauthor -o ./dvd side*.mpg
List the files individually, rather than using wildcards, if you wish to re-order the chapters. The order of the files corresponds to the order of the chapters on the output disc. -
Make a table of contents:
dvdauthor -o ./dvd -T
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Make an ISO-compliant file structure:
mkisofs -dvd-video -o dvd.iso ./dvd
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Put a blank DVD-R disc in the DVD drive, and burn the disc:
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Method 1. Run k3b, and use the "Tools/DVD/Burn DVD ISO image" menu command to burn the dvd.iso file made above.
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Method 2. Write the ISO to the DVD with this command:
growisofs -dvd-compat -speed=1 -Z /dev/hdd=dvd.iso
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That's it! These methods do preserve the original chapter formatting.