How to Transfer miniDV Camcorder Tapes Directly into DVD Movies with dvdSanta?

Connect an IEEE 1394 (Firewire) cable to your miniDV camcorder. Turn on your camcorder and switch the mode to VCR mode.

Step 2: Connect the IEEE 1394 (Firewire) cable to your PC's IEEE1394 port.

Connect the other end of the IEEE 1394 (Firewire) cable to your PC's IEEE 1394 port. (If your PC does not have IEEE 1394 port, you will need to purchase and install an IEEE 1394 card on your PC.)

Step 3: Run dvdSanta and burn the DVD.

Run dvdSanta, click the "Digital Camcorder Direct to DVD" button.

Use the buttons on the left side to control your camcorder. You can play, stop, rewind your tape. If you want to transfer a whole tape, click the "Rewind" button to rewind the tape to its beginning.



Then, click "Play and Capture" button to start transferring the miniDV tape into DVD video.



Now the transferring begins. Wait until it ends. If you want to stop in the middle, click the cancel button. After the transferring completes, click "Create DVD" button to burn your DVD video.



dvdSanta has done preparing the DVD video, now it's time to burn your disc.
Before you burn the disc, you can use a software DVD player such as PowerDVD to examine the DVD video created by dvdSanta. The DVD video is stored under c:TempDVDVIDEO_TS folder.
Now you can insert a blanc DVD-R/+R disc in your DVD burner now and click "Yes" to continue.
If you want to burn this DVD disc later, you can click "No" button now and quit dvdSanta. The DVD video is stored under C:TempDVDVIDEO_TS folder. You can burn it later using dvdSanta and follow "How to Copy a 4.7GB Single Layer DVD movie"



If you are a using DVD+R/RW disc, just click "Burn!" and wait dvdSanta finish the burning job. If you are using a DVD-R/RW disc, you should select burning speed to 1x,2x,or 4x, then click the "Burn!" button to burn the disc.

Done! When the burning is finished, you can play your newly made DVD in your DVD player and watch the home video on TV!