I have several very large AVI files from dv recording that I want to save on my hard drive (yes, I backed up to dvd). But they are huge.
what is the best format to save in that might be smaller? Is MPEG 2 ok? Is WMV better? Please let me know how I should set up the mpeg wmv or whatever file so it is sufficient in quality.
thx
Big files
Moderator: Ken Berry
That's a tricky question...
All of the video compression techniques use lossy compression. So, whenever you convert to a different format there is some detail/quality loss. The quality degradation may or may not be noticeable, depending on many different factors. The only way to completely archive/preserve the original quality is to save in the original DV format (13GB per hour).
The more compressed the format, the more likely you are to have problems editing or converting it. ...WMV is fine for watching on your computer, but you might have trouble if you try to make a DVD from it.
DVDs are MPEG-2. MPEG-2 is more efficient compression than DV, and MPEG-4 is more efficient than MPEG-2... Given "equal quality", an MPEG-4 file will be the smallest (most compressed) format of these three. (I think WMV is an MPEG-4 variation.)
Once you are finished editing the file, archiving to MPEG-2 is probably acceptable. (A higher bitrate will give you better quality, and bigger files.)
All of the video compression techniques use lossy compression. So, whenever you convert to a different format there is some detail/quality loss. The quality degradation may or may not be noticeable, depending on many different factors. The only way to completely archive/preserve the original quality is to save in the original DV format (13GB per hour).
The more compressed the format, the more likely you are to have problems editing or converting it. ...WMV is fine for watching on your computer, but you might have trouble if you try to make a DVD from it.
DVDs are MPEG-2. MPEG-2 is more efficient compression than DV, and MPEG-4 is more efficient than MPEG-2... Given "equal quality", an MPEG-4 file will be the smallest (most compressed) format of these three. (I think WMV is an MPEG-4 variation.)
Once you are finished editing the file, archiving to MPEG-2 is probably acceptable. (A higher bitrate will give you better quality, and bigger files.)
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It's like the whole world's
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radman2020
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re
these files are from my camcorder which is not that high res... it is a regular consumer sony minidv digital.... So...the quality isn't exactly HD... I would want to be able to edit later...maybe but, am I wrong that the differences wouldn't be huge?
are you not suggesting that I archive in mp4...you said it was pretty good.
are you not suggesting that I archive in mp4...you said it was pretty good.
vs 11+
ntsc
ntsc
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Ken Berry
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As for mpeg-4, it is good quality. But it would depend on what you want to use the archived video for. If you intend to burn a DVD with it, then I would archive my DV as mpeg-2 since DVDs use mpeg-2. If you archive DV > mp4, then you will inevitably lose some quality because that is the nature of these codecs. The mp4 might be high quality when played as mp4, but if you are planning to uncompress it out to mpeg-2 again, then it will go through another generation of quality loss.
As for DV, don't knock it. Before HD came along, it was the highest quality of home video you could aspire to...
And for the millions of us out there who still don't have or can't afford a HD camera, it's still pretty good!!
Again depending on your ultimate plans for the video, one other option is DivX which is similar to mp4. An increasing number of stand alone DVD players are rated to play DVDs containing DivX files instead of mpeg-2. If you have such a player and do not intend to distribute your final DVD to friends and family, then you could archive your DV as high quality DivX on DVDs. DivX has even now brought out its own authoring program (DivX Author) to allow you to make menus and chapters just like normal DVDs. However, for the moment, those can only be seen (the menus and chapters, I mean) by a limited number of DVD players.
As for DV, don't knock it. Before HD came along, it was the highest quality of home video you could aspire to...
And for the millions of us out there who still don't have or can't afford a HD camera, it's still pretty good!!Again depending on your ultimate plans for the video, one other option is DivX which is similar to mp4. An increasing number of stand alone DVD players are rated to play DVDs containing DivX files instead of mpeg-2. If you have such a player and do not intend to distribute your final DVD to friends and family, then you could archive your DV as high quality DivX on DVDs. DivX has even now brought out its own authoring program (DivX Author) to allow you to make menus and chapters just like normal DVDs. However, for the moment, those can only be seen (the menus and chapters, I mean) by a limited number of DVD players.
Ken Berry
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radman2020
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