Creating DVDs from XACTI .mp4 files

The Sanyo Xacti HD 720p video camera is bundled with Adobe Premiere Elements 3.0.1 editing software. This software would not function sufficiently to create even the simplest of movies. A version of Quicktime is also bundled for playing the individual .mp4 files. It is also ineffective at the task. It is extremely choppy on even a Q6600 machine with 6G of memory. After much experimentation I am documenting the following for dealing with this cameras files.

For playback there is no better program than the VLC media player. It can utilize a playlist of a whole directory of Xacti files or you can build it individually. Shoot your movies in short clips, delete the ones from the directory you don't want, create a playlist, and watch VLC step through the clips seamlessly with no jitter on even a low end XP machine.

For creating DVDs you can use the following sequence: mp4cam2avi -> DeVeDe -> ImgBurn. These are all freely available open source programs.

FIRST: gather up all the files you want to place on your DVD using mp4cam2avi (2GB Limit). Set the appropriate options for the video based on the source material and let the software convert the individual files to a single .AVI file. Remember that .MP4 is just a container for the x264 encoded video. The mp4cam2avi doesn't re-encode, it just installs a wrapper that other programs will recognize (like DeVeDe). So there is no loss in quality for this step. You now have a single .AVI movie file that can be played with any media player.

SECOND: use DeVeDe to create an ISO file. This program allows you to create a custom DVD menu. For a still image you will need a .PNG graphic file. Set the options and generate the ISO file. This is where the x264 conversion to MPEG2 takes place. Use a constant bit rate for the highest quality.

THIRD: use ImgBurn to burn the .ISO file to as many DVD disks as you want.

Now your done. While this method does not allow you to mix various media in a single timeline. It does allow you to create a DVD from your HDV source material that will play anywhere. The quality is outstanding and you don't have to be an expert to create these DVDs. Just try to plan ahead when you are recording. It helps to think about chapter breaks. Shoot the scenes so that they make sense on their own and they will combine nicely for a home movie.