Even if you never intend on editing your footage, video editing software is great for transfer situations like this. When you first open a video editing program, it will likely ask you if you want to start a new project. Go ahead and do this. At this point, you may need to familiarize yourself with your particular software. What you want to look for are three parts of your project--a timeline, a capture/digitizing window, and a "bin" (used for storing captured videos).
The next step is a process either called "capturing" or "digitizing" by most programs. Find your capturing or digitizing window. You should see something that looks similar to VCR controls--play, pause, stop, record, etc. You may also see "In" and "Out" categories for entering time codes. If you're wanting to do an entire mini DV tape to DVD, the easiest thing to do would be to rewind your tape to around 5 seconds before the point you want the DVD to start. Press the "Play" button, followed by "Record" immediately after that. The computer should start capturing the video within your 5 second buffer. When you reach your end point, press stop. You should see a movie clip appear in the "bin" section. This contains what was on your tape.
You will need to select your movie clip and movie it to a timeline window. If you need to trim either end or even edit what you have, consult your video editing software's manual to do any last minute changes.
Once you are finished, you will need to an option in the software that says "Export to DVD." In Adobe Premiere, it's under the "File" menu. As a general rule, you settings should contain something about "NTSC standard" to play normally on U.S. DVD players. Audio for television is set at 48KHz (broadcast standard) and 44KHz is acceptable for consumer grade products.
Test your DVD on a normal DVD player. If you have any visual or sound issues, you may have selected a wrong setting for the burning process. Every program is a little different, and the guidelines I'm giving are very general. You may have to consult your software manual for more information and troubleshooting.
