[MacDV] Re: archiving footage on DVD

[Michael Winter]

On Jul 27, 2004, at 4:56 PM, Gregg Gorrie wrote:

> Erica's point above does need to be stressed though ... I think too 
> many
> people have been convinced by the "hype" of DVD-Video that somehow it 
> is
> "the" final archival format when realistically it is only a consumer 
> viewing
> format.

While both Erica's and Gregg's points are very important, I just wanted 
to toss in "the other side". The first question I would ask is why you 
want to archive? I think there's a fundamental difference between what 
a professional user needs verses the home consumer.

Are you thinking you may want to go back to the video some day and 
re-edit? If yes, you'll want to maintain the DV video.

Is it important for you to have the "full quality" DV footage or is the 
DVD quality all you will ever want? If having the DV quality video is 
important, you'll want a method to archive that.

If all you want is a "spare" for safe keeping over time with the 
possibility of making copies, I see no reason not to use DVD disks (I 
generally keep duplicates on different brands of media). I know Erica 
mentions a high failure rate for DVD, but I haven't seen that compared 
to tape -though I'll admit I don't have as much experience in the DVD 
realm and I haven't been using DVDs for more than a few years.

-Mike