What format do I use to transfer video to my hard drive?

Chipmunk · Post by **Chipmunk** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 1:57 am

Hi,

I have read a number of related threads but I am still confused.

I have a copy of VideoStudio 10 Plus and I want to transfer video from my JVC GR-DVP9EK (DV) via firewire to my hard drive (I am also transferring video from my older Sony CCD-TR710E (Video

via the JVC to the hard drive).

When I select Video Studio Editor / Capture / Capture Video the Format option is set to DVD (which produces an MPEG variable bit rate file on the hard drive). I however also have the option of selecting DV, AVI, MPEG, etc.

What are these various format options for and which one should I choose if I want to create the best quality file on my hard drive possible ie one that will allow me to create the best quality movies to either play back from a DVD or from my hard drive to the TV. Also a format that will provide me with the most flexible options for future editing - my intention is to retain these files as the tapes are getting old.

Other threads that I have read seem to suggest that I should use the AVI format option as it doesn't perform any conversion. If this is so then why does it default to DVD?

Any help will be much appreciated.

Regards
Chris

heinz-oz · Post by **heinz-oz** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 2:33 am

There is only one option which will do that, DV-AVI. You don't "capture" that, you simply copy it to your HDD although this process is commonly referred to as "capture". The only option you can set is type 1 or type 2. The easiest is type 1. Type 2 has a separate sound stream which has been known to cause problems for some. Also, some of the NLE's out there< Adobe I believe, require type 2 but VS is happy with both.

Post by **Ken Berry** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 2:50 am

I agree with Heinz. Wherever possible, I use DV/AVI as my preferred format, including when I capture my old analogue 8mm tapes like you are doing (though I put them directly into a Sony Digital 8 camera which has its own firewire port...) The quality, particularly for these old tapes, is truly excellent this way and I often have difficulty telling them apart from my mini DV tapes in terms of quality.

The only downside for DV/AVI is that it produces very large files -- around 13 GB for one hour of video. Mpeg-2 at its highest quality settings is one third that. So that may be a consideration if you intend to archive the captured video (as well as burning the edited video to DVD).

But I certainly recommend you continue to capture in DV format and edit in that format as well. Then when you are sure the editing is complete, you convert your project to DVD-compatible mpeg-2 (Share > Create Video File > DVD) and then in a separate step, burn it to DVD.

I don't know why your particular set-up is causing VS to default to DVD/mpeg-2 capture. Normally when it detects a firewire connection, it automatically defaults to DV. When you set it to this, make sure that the Capture plug-in changes to Ulead DirectShow Capture Plug-in.

Dick99999 · Post by **Dick99999** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 9:18 am

I am a newbee with video and have a follow up question. If HD TV can use MPEG4 to achive HD quality, why would I save dv/avi or any other source in in that source's format?
I realize that if final output in something else then MPEG 4, it might/could/will? cause conversion artifacts. However, if MPEG4 is my final output there only seems to be advantages to use that format as my save format>

skier-hughes · Post by **skier-hughes** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 11:26 am

Well if you are spending say £500,000 just on an encoder then you can go straight to mpeg4.
One mpeg 4 made by VS isn't going to be the same even as another made by somebody else using VS due to the difference in material on the video itself.

To achieve highest quality then it is best to start with the best quality you can, so a minidv tape has a dv stream recorded to it.
You copy this dv stream to your pc adn have a dv-avi file.
Quality change = zero
You edit and save as a dv-avi
Quality change = zero
You then decide you want to make a dvd, so you encode the dv-avi to an mpeg2 for dvd production
You have a quality change here, it decreases - by how much depends on settings and encoder used.

You want a video for the web, so you go back to your dv-avi file and encode it for the web.
You have a quality change here, it decreases - by how much depends on settings and encoder used.

If you don't want to do any editing then capture as a compressed ofrmat and dump straight to it's end result, but every bit of editing will cause a decrease in quality.

Take a jpeg still image and save it ten times, see how much smaller it is at version 10 from version 1 and you haven't even done anything to it.

Most HD quality isn't even proper HD, most tv's for sale in the UK won't display a proper fiull HD size!!!!!

Chipmunk · Post by **Chipmunk** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 12:11 pm

Heinz and Ken

Many thanks for your repies.

Just to confirm - when you refer to DV/AVI I assume that this is within the capture facility of the VideoStudio Editor with DV as the selected format (drop down box) creating an AVI file (as shown in the detail on the LHS of the screen) and that the resolution of 720x576 is the maximum resolution that I can "capture" at?

Apologies for being so specific but I need to transfer around 50 video tapes and want to make sure that I get it right

Regards
Chris

sjj1805 · Post by **sjj1805** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 12:18 pm

Almost right. The maximum resolution that you choose depends upon the dimensions of your source.

If you are using PAL then 720 x 576
If you are using NTSC then 720 x 480

High Definition 1440 x 1080

skier-hughes · Post by **skier-hughes** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 2:37 pm

HD full resolution is 1920 x 1080

sjj1805 · Post by **sjj1805** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 4:56 pm

Thanks Graham, I tried looking it up but my source material was wrong.
Although I have a HDTV ready TV set I am still in the 'ordinary' world.

skier-hughes · Post by **skier-hughes** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 5:23 pm

Mot hd cams record at 1440 and then it is interpolated up.

Dick99999 · Post by **Dick99999** » Sun Jan 28, 2007 11:21 am

skier-hughes wrote:Well if you are spending say £500,000 just on an encoder then you can go straight to mpeg4.!

Sorry, I meant using the MPEG4 mode of VS10. I presume, seeing the $ amount mentioned, that VS10's conversion is 'not as good'?

To achieve highest quality then it is best to start with the best quality you can, so a minidv tape has a dv stream recorded to it.
You copy this dv stream to your pc adn have a dv-avi file.
Quality change = zero
You edit and save as a dv-avi
Quality change = zero

..........

If you don't want to do any editing then capture as a compressed ofrmat and dump straight to it's end result, but every bit of editing will cause a decrease in quality.

Take a jpeg still image and save it ten times, see how much smaller it is at version 10 from version 1 and you haven't even done anything to it.
......

I like that scheme to understand what's happening. However, I thought that VS does not 'edit and loose'. Instead it refers to the original and does not convert except when finally 'sharing'

So the scheme would be:
catch and save in MPEG4, Quality change dv-AVI->MPEG4
edit, Quality change = zero
edit, Quality change = zero
share MPEG4, Quality change = zero

share DVD, quality loss MPEG4->Mpeg2

Am I misiing something?

sjj1805 · Post by **sjj1805** » Sun Jan 28, 2007 11:35 am

Dick99999 wrote:I like that scheme to understand what's happening. However, I thought that VS does not 'edit and loose'. Instead it refers to the original and does not convert except when finally 'sharing'

So the scheme would be:
catch and save in MPEG4, Quality change dv-AVI->MPEG4
edit, Quality change = zero
edit, Quality change = zero
share MPEG4, Quality change = zero

share DVD, quality loss MPEG4->Mpeg2

Am I missing something?

Please refer to:
What is a project file?
Workflow
From Camcorder to DVD with VideoStudio

Briefly........
wherever possible capture to DV (avi) and work with the DV when performing your editing. This is not always possible as some sources will only output in some other format such as MPEG2.
The more highly compressed a format the more prone it is to problems.

It is only when you have completed your editing and are ready to move onto the next step which for many is to create a DVD, but for others could be to share on the internet, transfer back to the camcorder, or in your case create an MPEG4 file, that you actually do so.

skier-hughes · Post by **skier-hughes** » Sun Jan 28, 2007 7:29 pm

Dick99999 wrote: However, I thought that VS does not 'edit and loose'. Instead it refers to the original and does not convert except when finally 'sharing'

So the scheme would be:
catch and save in MPEG4, Quality change dv-AVI->MPEG4
edit, Quality change = zero
edit, Quality change = zero
share MPEG4, Quality change = zero

share DVD, quality loss MPEG4->Mpeg2

Am I misiing something?

Depends on what editing you do. Smart render will not render any part of a file which hasn't been altered, but add a transition over a part of the movie, an effect such as slow down, black and white or anything at all and it has to be rendered = loss of quality

So each of yur edit stages could result in a quality loss.