DVD MPG quality vs AVI, etc.?
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ae-piper
DVD MPG quality vs AVI, etc.?
I'm using MF3 mainly to transfer, using IEEE1394/firewire, my MiniDV camcorder video (and some 8mm through a Digital8 camcorder) to DVDs. The "default" for "capture" (I know, it's really just a transfer) is DVD High Quality (about 1 hour per DVD). I have used this a number of times and video looks good on my (non-HD) TV. I have read much about "capturing" to AVI files. Is there any pro/con to doing this? I think that the DVD High Quality is a "straight to MPG" transfer for DVDs, so no "conversion" is necessary. If I wanted just "best quality" archival to file on my PC, what format should I use? Thanks!
If you brought it in as DV and then performed a 2 pass VBR to MPG, the quality would probably be better than converting to MPEG "on the fly" (single pass.)
However, given the time for the conversion and your current viewing equipment, the extra time may not be worth it.
You might want to try an experiment. Pick a high motion segment of 5-10 minutes. import in both manners. Use the same MPEG characteristics for both the on the fly and 2 pass conversion files and burn to the same DVD with chapter points for both clips to easily flip back and forth on the DVD. See if you notice the difference and make the decision from that.
However, given the time for the conversion and your current viewing equipment, the extra time may not be worth it.
You might want to try an experiment. Pick a high motion segment of 5-10 minutes. import in both manners. Use the same MPEG characteristics for both the on the fly and 2 pass conversion files and burn to the same DVD with chapter points for both clips to easily flip back and forth on the DVD. See if you notice the difference and make the decision from that.
2-pass VBR
Hi,
If you do go the route of dv .avi capture, and then encoding (which I also recommend), keep in mind that there are certain times when 2-pass VBR works better than others.
If you are using a high encough bitrate (say about 6mbps), then 2-pass vbr won't look that much better (if any) than a one-pass CBR encode. It's when you start using much lower bitrates (to squeeze more video onto a disc), that the 2-pass VBR should give you better results...
Regards,
George
If you do go the route of dv .avi capture, and then encoding (which I also recommend), keep in mind that there are certain times when 2-pass VBR works better than others.
If you are using a high encough bitrate (say about 6mbps), then 2-pass vbr won't look that much better (if any) than a one-pass CBR encode. It's when you start using much lower bitrates (to squeeze more video onto a disc), that the 2-pass VBR should give you better results...
Regards,
George
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ae-piper
Am I correct (or close) in saying that a transfer from my miniDV camcorder to my PC as AVI uses no compression, while the "DVD High Quality" transfer (MPEG "on the fly") does use compression? If I wanted to save video on my PC as a "pure" data file, then I should use AVI?
Thanks! and sorry for my lack of knowledge on all this!
Thanks! and sorry for my lack of knowledge on all this!
You got the right idea...
You have the right idea. But DV .avi's doesn't add additional compression as what's recorded to your DV tape. DV is a compressed format. But if you keep it as dv .avi, then you are doing something like a "file copy" from your dv tape to your computer -- so you don't lose any quality during the transfer.
If you capture/convert on-the-fly to mpeg, you are going to a lossy format, and in the case of NTSC DV, you will be changing the color space of your original video as well (4:1:1 to DVD mpeg 4:2:0).
The DV .avi's will take more room, but storage is pretty cheap nowadays... (about 13gb per 60 minutes of dv .avi).
Regards,
George
If you capture/convert on-the-fly to mpeg, you are going to a lossy format, and in the case of NTSC DV, you will be changing the color space of your original video as well (4:1:1 to DVD mpeg 4:2:0).
The DV .avi's will take more room, but storage is pretty cheap nowadays... (about 13gb per 60 minutes of dv .avi).
Regards,
George