So, I've got about 10-15 hours of DV footage just waiting for me to edit into a "What the hell have I been doing for the last 3 years?" DVD for my friends and family. But I find the process rather daunting and I'm not sure where to start.

Anyone who takes digital movies and turns them into DVDs care to share their process? I'm shooting for a final product something less than a Hollywood blockbuster, yet something more than a standard boring vacation slide show/movie of the kids kind of thing.

Please don't give me tips that are software dependent--I'm looking for the organizational process, not the mouse clicks. And since all my stuff's in MicroMV (MPEG 2) format, there aren't that many software packages that support it anyway.

In the immortal words of Carl and Lenny:

"Oh, goody! I've always wanted to be in a porno movie. I'll go run the sound board."

"And I'll participate in the sex scenes."

Preview text made me

Doh!

Go documentary style. Lay out a logical timeline for your film, probably starting from the beginning of your footage, and running towards the present, think about all the interesting things you've done, and those you have on tape, and then select short shots from each. Add either commentary in the background, or short clips of yourself being "interviewed" about your life these past three years, and then cut it together.

so the basic idea is that you take the footage you have, grab the best parts, put it in chronological order, and then with a mix of "interview" clips and voice-overs, you make sure that the content is given context.

That's not a half-bad idea. I was thinking of organizing geographically, though. I can probably do both.

Thanks for the idea.