importing WMV and preserving quality

[stannmaple]

I've searched for about an 2 hours on this forum, and I'm brand new, so please forgive me if this has been asked before... I've used Windows movie maker to capture some home videos (Sony DCR-TRV460 with USB out) and the quality is pretty good. (this was before I had video studio... so I have an archive of captured video in WMV format) My first question, is when I import them into video studio, how can I turn them into an MPEG-2 (after I edit the video down) while still retaining as much quality as possible. It seems to lose quite a bit.

Second, what is the process to keep the best quality when capturing from my high-8 without buying any new equipment. I've got an AMD 1600+ processor and like I said, I run USB (2.0) in. It seems like I'd get the best quality capturing to MPEG-2 at highest quality since this is what it will eventually be output to... is this correct? If so, the quality still isn't excellent, but it's ok... a bit grainy. Anything I can do about that?

Ok, last question. I've burned one DVD and it looks ok. The video is a little bit shaky though. Maybe this is just how video looks when edited on the computer. I have it set to 30 frames per second. Is there any way to smooth this out. Hopefully this isn't an overload of questions, but any help is appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Dann

[Ken Berry]

I'm sorry, I don't know anything about WMV format -- I never use it. However, it is a compressed format, and there is always difficulty doing extensive editing of heavily compressed formats.

But as for the rest, I would not think you would not have to spend any extra money as you already appear to have the correct capture instrument at hand in your Sony camera. I have an analogue capture card (Winfast DV2000) which does a good job and captures to DVD compatible mpeg-2 (amongst other formats). But I found the quality was not brilliant and it was a bit grainy. I eventually bought a Sony Digital 8 slightly up the model scale from yours -- mine is a DCR-TRV480E. But like yours, the important part is that it is a Digital 8. Looking at the product description of your camera, amongst other things, it says
"Backward Compatibility
The DCR-TRV460 is capable of playing back 8mm, Hi8 and Digital8 video tapes for maximum convenience for those who have an existing library of analog cassettes."

This is the sole reason why I bought mine. More to the point, you appear to be using the wrong connection to your computer. Your camera, like mine, has a Firewire connection (IEEE1394), thought it is called iLink on our cameras. That is what you need to use to connect to your computer to send a high quality digital video signal, NOT the USB connection. The latter, again according to the product description, is only meant for lower quality web camera-type video. And using Firewire, you capture (or transfer) to high quality DV format. That will guarantee the best quality as you can edit it as much as you like, then finally output to your DVD compatible mpeg-2 file for eventual burning to DVD.

In other words, my recommendation would be to scrap the WMVs and re-capture the whole thing in DV format. The only downside, of course, is that DV format takes up a lot more space than WMV or mpeg-2: about 13 GB per hour.

Now of course, to capture via Firewire, you will need a Firewire card on your computer and a Firewire cable to connect camera to computer (the latter will need to be a small 4-pin for the camera end to a larger 6 pin plug at the computer end). If you don't have a Firewire card on your computer, I am afraid you WILL have to consider spending some money, but here in Australia, a Firewire card with cable will only cost around US$25 so your outlay will not be huge. That's not much to convert your capturing of analogue tapes to high quality digital DV capture. And believe me, I couldn't be happier with the DV captures from my Sony. While I am sure there is some minimal difference between these and the true digital video I take on my Canon digital video camera, I have trouble seeing any real difference in the final product with my naked eye.

As for your final question, do you really have it set to 30 fps? Or is that just a rounding upwards? I assume you are in an NTSC country... If so, then the frame rate should be 29.97 fps. If indeed you have it set to 30 fps, then that slight difference could account for the slight shakiness. Then again, old analogue cameras did not have anti-shake devices built in to them, and a small amount of shake could have been involved in the original filming. You normally can't detect a slight shake when looking at a camera's preview screen, but believe you me, it certainly shows up in the final video! You could always use an anti-shake filter. One has been built into VS!0. But as I said in a recent post, I don't have much faith in it.

[stannmaple]

Hey, thanks so much for taking the time to reply. I just have a couple more questions. First, where did you find the product description of my camera. I supose I could hunt around for the manual to find out the same information, but I'm just surprised I never noticed the other connection for going to computer. This may have solved my problem! I need to know though that this video is going to be crisp and clear before I invest the money in the firewire card and the cable (I don't have either) otherwise it will be wasted money for me. Does the video look as good (or almost as good) when you capture it via firewire? It looks pretty good captured USB, but not great. Still looks like it was done on a computer.

Again, thanks so much for the help. I look forward to hearing from you.
Dann

[Ron P.]

I'm going to add to Ken's endorsement of Firewire, IEEE1394...

No it's not going to be as good as using a USB, or capturing to WMV format, no, not even, never as good....

It is Many Times Better!!!. There is no feasible comparison in capturing to WMV and DV-AVI. So long as you follow the tried and tested Recommended Procedures, you will be amazed at the difference...

Just my humble opinion on the matter...

Ron P.

[stannmaple]

Alright. I think I'm sold. I'm going to make the investment. This is for DVDs I'm creating of my daughter's life, so it's pretty important stuff (she's 15 months right now)
I have one more question to those of you who know a bit more about computer compatability than I do. I have a 1.4 ghz processor right now (AMD 1600+) Is this going to be capable of capturing and editing the video? I've had no problem with capturing and editing from USB in all formats (MPEG2, AVI, WMV) but is this going to be too much for my old processor to handle?
Thanks for all the help. It's much appreciated. If I know that my computer can handle it, I'm going to make the investment and get started.
Dann

[Ken Berry]

And to add to Vidoman's enthusiastic response, I was perhaps not emphatic enough in my earlier post. YES: capturing analogue tapes from your Sony via Firewire to DV format is the nearest you are ever going to get to the high quality you get capturing digital video shot in a digital video camera. In my case, it is so close that I can't tell them apart. Capturing via USB, as I said, may look decent enough, but it is low quality by comparison.

And I found your camera specifications by doing a simple Google search, and looked at the first answer in the list. It contained the specifications of the camera.

So definitely go ahead and buy the Firewire card and cable -- just make sure the latter is as I described it -- 4 pin to 6 pin (but they are extremely common).

[sjj1805]

.....I have one more question to those of you who know a bit more about computer compatability than I do. I have a 1.4 ghz processor right now (AMD 1600+) Is this going to be capable of capturing and editing the video? I've had no problem with capturing and editing from USB in all formats (MPEG2, AVI, WMV) but is this going to be too much for my old processor to handle? .......

Recommended System Requirements

Windows-compatible DVD writer for installation. Also to burn the completed DVD Video.
Hard drive space for video capture and editing - AVI files in type 1 DV format consume approx 13Gb per hour, add to this space required for editing and creation of MPEG2 files and DVD VOB files. So for 1 hour you need at least 25GB, 2 hours will require at least 40GB.
256 MB of RAM (512 MB or more recommended)
Windows®-compatible display card with at least 1024x768 resolution

For VideoStudio9:
Intel® Pentium® III 800 MHz or higher
Microsoft® Windows® 98 SE, 2000, Me, XP
1.2 GB of available hard drive space for program installation
Windows®-compatible sound card

For VideoStudio10:
Intel® Pentium® 4 or higher
Microsoft® Windows® 2000 SP4, Windows® XP SP2 Home Edition/Professional, Windows® XP Media Center Edition, Windows® XP Professional x64 Edition
1 GB of available hard disk space for program installation
Windows®-compatible sound card (multi-channel sound card for surround sound support recommended)

[stannmaple]

Wow, this forum is really amazing. You guys are great! I've been trying to get higher quality for months now and first I thought it was th program I was using, the I thought it was my processor, then the format I was capturing to. I think this will solve my problems.
You have all been incredibly helpful and I really appreciate it. Thanks
Dann

[Trevor Andrew]

Hi Dann

I can only support the feelings of the replies you have received.

Capturing to Dv-Avi via firewire is the best option.

Your footage on your camera is in Dv-Avi form.
I can only describe the capture process as similar to ‘copy and paste’ but done in real time.

What you have on your tape is what you get during capture. There are no capture properties to select other than Dv-Type 1. All other settings are copied from your camera.

When you capture to any other format Mpeg 2, Dvd, Wmv, etc the process has to re-code / trans-code your footage to the capture settings you select. This is very demanding on your pc.
Although Dv-Avi is 13Gb per hour the capture process is easier on your pc.

Go with Firewire to Dv-Avi, you will be impressed.
(Especially when you see your camera run at the click of your mouse.)


Trevor

[stannmaple]

I may have to buy either a bigger hard drive (I have an 80 Gig and a 20 Gig both about half full) or I may have to convert the video into a smaller format after capturing it. Would this greatly effect the quality and/or editing capabilities. using say MPEG-2 or WMV. I know WMV is the smallest which is good, but I've heard it's better to stay away from it... is this true?
Last thing, I've been looking into getting a firewire card. This one looks pretty good and inexpensive: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... No=1070709
Is there anything specifically I should be looking for as far as speed or anything else goes? I think the cable provided is the one I need, but I'm not incredibly knowledgable when it comes to this stuff. Thanks again for all the help.

[Paulie]

Hello,

I'm new to this board (and video editing as well), and was going to ask a similar question before I found this thread.

My DV camcorder does not have a analog to digital passthrough, so to get all of my VHS taps on DVD (or in digital format), I bought the ADS Tech DVD Express 2, which comes with Video Studio 9SE.

The device does not let you capture in DV format - the highest setting is DVD MPEG2, 8,000 bit rate.

I've been doing some tests with the device and the software, and it seems that there is no big difference if I capture with the device in DVD MPEG format (bit rate of 8,000), or direct from my DV camcorder to DV format using Video Studio.

Again, it seems that way. I was thinking of capturing my footage from my DV camera in DVD MPEG format also, so the two would be the same when I go to edit and output to DVD's.

Is there some glaring issue with this that I over looked? Will this method of capturing yield good results, or do I have to upgrade my camcorder and buy one with a pasthrough so I can capture my vhs tapes in DV format, edit everything, and then output to DVD MPEG format?

- Paulie

[sjj1805]

stannmaple and Paulie

This article is still under construction but the part that has been written so far would appear to answer your queries.
http://phpbb.ulead.com.tw/EN/viewtopic.php?t=13421

[heinz-oz]

I may have to buy either a bigger hard drive (I have an 80 Gig and a 20 Gig both about half full) or I may have to convert the video into a smaller format after capturing it. Would this greatly effect the quality and/or editing capabilities. using say MPEG-2 or WMV. I know WMV is the smallest which is good, but I've heard it's better to stay away from it... is this true?
Last thing, I've been looking into getting a firewire card. This one looks pretty good and inexpensive: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... No=1070709
Is there anything specifically I should be looking for as far as speed or anything else goes? I think the cable provided is the one I need, but I'm not incredibly knowledgable when it comes to this stuff. Thanks again for all the help.

Any current 7200rpm HDD is going to be faster than needed. Converting your captured video to any other format is going to affect the quality, naturally. Having said that, keep in mind though, for DVD authoring your video has to be converted to mpeg2. That should be the last step though, after all editing has been done. You will not regret investing in a large HDD, they are relatively cheap these days. Format the new drive to NTFS file system to get over the 4GB file size limit of FAT 32 and you are done.

If you insert the drive into your system, make sure you are not slaving it from the CD/DVD drive. This would slow it down dramatically.

As far as the firewire card is concerned, there is nothing critical on these cards. You don't even need specific drivers if you are running WIN XP. Any cheap little device will do. Many come with both firewire connectors, 4 and 6 pin and some even offer you additional USB 2 (fast USB) ports also.

Converting the captured clips to WMV is going to get you back where you started from. WMV is incompatible with the DVD standard and needs to be converted to mpeg2 for DVD. WMV has a higher compressen rate than mpeg2 but very good quality, converting that to mpeg2 is going to reduce its quality beyond acceptable. Both, mpeg2 and WMV give you a good quality at different file sizes. If you only want to look at your video on the PC, WMV is the choice compression because the file size is smaller at comparable quality but for TV (DVD) it's useless.

[stannmaple]

Great! This answers my questions perfectly. I'll definately have to do something to accomidate the 13GB of video per hour. If I use the hard drive I have now and just do an hour at a time, will it just split the video into 4 GB files or will it not allow me to capture the video at all past 4 GB? If it won't allow me to capture, I don't suppose I can reformat my harddrive now? Hmmm..... I will look into getting a new harddrive. I don't have money for it at the moment, but it is an option for the future. Thanks again.
Dann

[heinz-oz]

Don't forget, whatever length of video you capture, you need about the same space free again just to edit it plus free space for the rendered file (mpeg2). Additional HD space is the most important addition to your system you can make at this point in time. Last time I looked one was able to get a 120GB HDD for around A$ 80.-, peanuts if you asked me.