“Can you please show me how to convert Mini DV video to DVD disc? My grandpa has a Mini DV and recorded quite a great number of videos with it. Now he would like to convert these Mini DV videos to DVD disc for safekeeping. The problem is that I have no idea on how to do this. Do I need a special Mini DV to DVD converter? How can I burn Mini DV videos to DVD disc? Please help me with this.”

Digital Video (which is referred to more commonly as “DV”), was a small digital format that combined a handy size with excellent quality. It was released in 1995 as a result of the combined efforts of video camera producers like Sony, JVC and Panasonic, and had a lot of admirable properties. The smaller “Mini DV” format has since become a staple within both home and semi-professional video production. It can be used to achieve a high-definition standard on certain cameras, and sees a lot of use when it comes to recording various forms of digital media.

The older camcorder models used MiniDV tapes for recording their videos files. The MiniDV ( Mini Digital Video) is an analog format that gets degraded with time. So if you have these MiniDV tapes and want to preserve your videos, converting them to DVD is an ideal solution. You can transfer your old tapes into digital format on your PC and then burn them to a DVD. In this guide, we would like to recommend you effective solutions to help you convert Mini DV to DVD disc.

Part 1: Why Convert Mini DV to DVD?

In the era of modern video tapes, there are all kinds of video formats fitting for camcorders and video recorders. Among them, Mini DV is quite popular. As the smallest of the video formats, Mini DV (digital video tape) could records video and audio in a small size of plastic tapes which is 65 x 48 x 12 mm. Due to its reliable recording media and lossless video quality, Mini DV could record video from 30 to 80 minutes with the lower cost and the ease of use. The Mini-DV format supports both 12bit and 16bit audio tracks.

convert-mini-dv-to-dvd

Besides Mini DV, VHS, VCR and Betamax are also familiar to people. VHS (Video Home System) tapes had the open standard for Home Movie and Family Event Taping. This recording format system could record nearly six hours of video content with 240 lines of horizontal and 486 lines of vertical resolution. While as one of the magnetic tapes, Betamax videotape can record at most 120 minutes of content with better picture quality and faster speed.

However, both VHS and Betamax video formats are the two types of VCR technology. VCR is short for videocassette recorder which is the device that plays and records videotapes that are preloaded onto cassettes. Most VCRs have tape measuring 1/2 inch (1.27 cm) in width.

Nowadays, people enjoy sharing the movies and videos with other people. So if you have stored your videos in your Mini DV, then others will not be able to share the videos unless they are showed directly on the DV. Therefore, it is necessary to transfer the videos in Mini DV to the computer, and moreover, you had better know how to convert Mini DV to DVD for better preservation and what is the best way to transfer Mini DV to DVD with ease and accuracy.

Part 2: How to Convert Mini DV to DVD without Camcorder?

If you want to convert Mini DV to DVD without a camcorder, using Mini DV conversion services would be wonderful choice. The Mini DV conversion services like South Tree and Scan Corner offer high tech videotape conversion via mail-in service. Besides Scan Corner and South Tree, there are quite a few Mini DV conversion services available for you to choose from, such as Current Pixels, 8mm camcorder, 8mm player, etc.

You can choose to get back the converted files through digital download or thumb drive/ disc set for an extra charge. Other benefits of using third-party conversion service are the ability to transfer video at 1:1 speed, optimized image and sound quality, color correct, and digital noise reduction.

However, there are disadvantages of using Mini DV conversion services as well. Firstly, there might be data loss or data security issue when you use 3rd-party services. Your family memories might get leaked or lost. Secondly, the cost might be quite high if you have quite a few Mini DV files for conversion.

Part 3: Transfer Mini DV to DVD with DVD Recorder

Converting Mini DV to DVD is not so difficult with the help of professional Mini DV to DVD converter. However, the first thing you need to do is transfer the videos in Mini DV to the computer. Usually, the Mini DV output video format is AVI. Sometimes it can support MP4 and MPEG. To transfer Mini DV to DVD, you can use a DVD recorder as Mini DV to DVD converter or connect the camcorder directly to your computer. If you don’t have a DVD recorder or camcorder, consider the third-party conversion services.

To convert Mini DV to DVD, you can connect Camcorder and capture via Windows Movies Maker, record using a DVD recorder, or use a third-party service. Here we would like to show you how to transfer Mini DV to computer for burning to DVD with DVD Recorder.

transfer-mini-dv-to-dvd-via-dvd-recorder

Follow the below steps to learn how to convert Mini DV video to DVD with the help of DVD Recorder:

  1. Using the available connection cable, connect the output of your camcorder to the DVD recorder’s input.
  2. Insert a blank DVD into your DVD record.
  3. Make sure you have inserted the Mini DV taper into your camcorder.
  4. Press play on the camcorder and record on the DVD recorder simultaneously. The DVD recorder will start recording your MiniDV tape.
  5. Once the recording is complete, stop your DVD recorder and camcorder.

In this way, you could easily record Mini DV video to DVD disc. But it will take you quite a long time and energy to complete the recording. Meanwhile, if you want to make some editing on Mini DV video, this won’t help. Therefore, we would like to recommend you using another solution below.

Part 4: Best Mini DV to DVD Converter - Leawo DVD Creator

You could use professional DVD creator software tools to help you convert and burn Mini DV video to DVD disc, folder and/or ISO image file once you have successfully turned your Mini DV analog video to digital videos on computer, which is quite easy.

convert-mini-dv-to-dvd-03

You could follow the below steps to learn how to turn Mini DV analog video to digital video (in AVI or MP4) for saving onto your computer.

  1. Connect your Mini DV camera to the computer with the FireWire, or IEEE 1394 cable.
  2. Set your Mini DV to VCR mode. After setting the mode and connecting your DV to computer, the Autoplay dialog box will appear. You just need to click Import Video to continue.
  3. Name the output video file and choose the final location on your computer. And you can choose the format, usually AVI format.
  4. Capture the video in Mini DV. You can simply click Import the entire videotape to my computer and then continue. The process bar will appear and you just need to wait in patience. Minutes later, the video in Mini DV will be transferred to the computer in the format of AVI.

Then, with your Mini DV analog videos saved into AVI or MP4 file, now you could make use of some professional DVD burner software to convert and burn these Mini DV videos to DVD disc, folder and/or ISO image file as you like with professional DVD burner software tools.

Among all the professional DVD burner tools, Leawo DVD Creator is the best Mini DV video to DVD burner software program for you. It supports more than 180 formats to DVD, including videos formats like AVI, MKV, MP4, WMV, Xvid, MOV, and FLV to DVD-9 and DVD-5 discs. With this app, you can easily create DVD from all kinds of videos like homemade videos shot by Canon or other camcorders, downloaded online videos from YouTube, recorded videos from iOS and Android devices, etc. What’s more, it enables you to edit source video files in multiple ways like trimming, cropping, adding watermark, adjusting effect, applying 3D effect, etc., and apply disc menu for output DVD content. You could easily convert and burn Mini DV videos to DVD disc, folder and/or ISO image file as you like in either DVD-9 or DVD-5 type.

  • Leawo DVD Creator
  • Leawo DVD Creator

    ☉ Convert videos like MP4, AVI, MKV to DVD format fast.

    ☉ Create DVD-5, DVD-9 disc, folder or ISO image without quality loss.

    ☉ 1-click operation to create photo slideshows and burn to DVD.

    ☉ Easily editable effects, 2D to 3D conversion support.

    ☉ Built-in menu templates and edit disc menu with personal preferences.

    ☉ Built-in menu templates and edit disc menu with personal preferences.

Download Leawo DVD Creator and install it. Insert a blank DVD to a PC's DVD drive if you want to convert and burn Mini DV videos to DVD disc. And make sure you have turned your Mini DV analog videos into AVI or MP4 digital videos as mentioned above.

Note: Leawo DVD Creator is a module built in Leawo Prof. Media.

Step 1: Import Mini DV videos

Launch Leawo Prof. Media and then enter the “Convert” module. Click the “Add Video” button to browse and load the AVI or MP4 digital videos turned from Mini DV analog videos to the DVD Creator or you can directly drag and drop source video files to the program.

add-menu

After the video files are imported, you could select subtitles and audio tracks, and play back the videos. Then you are able to set the output DVD disc type (DVD-5 or DVD-9), quality and aspect ratio (16:9 or 4:3) at the bottom. Also, you could click the edit icon to edit loaded Mini DV video as you like.

Step 2: Set disc menu

In the right sidebar, various preset disc menu templates in different themes is available for you to choose, such as Standard, Business, Education, Childhood, Holiday, etc. You can click the middle of the theme to preview disc menu. If you like, you could even DIY disc menu as you like by clicking the pencil icon on disc menu preview window.

Set-disc-menu

Step 3: DVD burning settings

When disc menu settings complete, click the big green “Burn” button to open the burning settings panel where you need to figure out “Burn to”, “Disc Label”, and “Save to” options. “Burn to” box allows multiple choices.

burning-setting

Step 4: Burn Mini DV video to DVD

After the burning settings gets done, hit “Burn” button on the pop-up burning settings panel to start burning. The DVD Creator would immediately convert Mini DV videos to DVD. The conversion will be completed quickly.

start-burning-video-to-dvd

Finally, you only need to wait for the conversion to complete. With this Mini DV to DVD converter, you can easily turn your Mini DV videos to DVD disc, folder and/or ISO image file as you like, without needing to worry about data safety. Other than burning videos to DVD, it can also turn photos into DVD photo slideshow to help you better save and share your happy memories on DVD.

Part 5: Conclusion

There are in total 3 different ways for you to burn Mini DV video to DVD disc. Using 3rd-party Mini DV conversion service is much easy and you don’t have to do anything but provide your data to the service and pay for the service. But you need to consider the data security and cost. By using DVD recorder, you don’t need to worry about the data security but it costs you much. With DVD burner tools like Leawo DVD Creator, you could not only complete Mini DV video to DVD conversion, but also get other features like editing Mini DV video and adding disc menu. More fun will be available.