How do I open/import DV format files?

[eskimobob]

I have some files in .DV format that I would like to edit with VideoStudio 10 however I can't seem to find out how to load the files into the editor.

If I go to the Edit page and then click "Load Video", the "Open Video File" dialog that appears does not include .DV format in the "Files of Type" drop down box.

I thought I might be able to just change the file extension to .AVI but then if I try and load them it says "File reading error".

I know there is nothing wrong with the .DV files because I can watch them using Quicktime Movie player.

I can't seem to find any mention of this problem in the knowledgebase.
Help - where am I going wrong?

[jparnold]

Welcome
I assume that the DV files are currently on your hard disk.
If this is true then you probably need to load your files into a video library.
To do this, start VS and then select the VIDEO library (also known as GALLERY) - when you run your mouse pointer over the downward pointing arrow it will display GALLERY. This can be found immediately underneath the tab marked AUDIO near top of screen. By the way this should have already been selected when you first start up VS.
Now click on the icon to the right of VIDEO which looks like a folder (LOAD VIDEO will display as you move the mouse pointer over it).
Now navigate to the location (folder) where your DV files are stored, select each file and click on OPEN - the file will then be loaded into the library.
You can then drag each of those video files from the library to the timeline for editing.

[eskimobob]

Now click on the icon to the right of VIDEO which looks like a folder (LOAD VIDEO will display as you move the mouse pointer over it).
Now navigate to the location (folder) where your DV files are stored, select each file and click on OPEN - the file will then be loaded into the library.
You can then drag each of those video files from the library to the timeline for editing.

Thanks John, that's what I thought I should do however it does not allow me to select .DV format files - my .DV format files are simply not shown in the list of files that I can open.

If I change the "Files of type" drop down box from "All Formats" to "All Files" then it does show my .DV files however if I try to open one of them it then gives me an error "File Format Mismatch". It seems that my version of VideoStudio cannot open files that have the .DV extension - surely this is incorrect??

[Devil]

The files should not have a .DV extension if they are proper DV files. DV files always have an avi extension. You can try changing the extension from DV to avi but this will not necessarily do the trick. However, it may be worth a try.

[jparnold]

Where did you obtain the DV files? I have never heard of type DV files (eg filename.DV - I assume that this is what you mean).
There is a nice FREE utility which will display exactly what type of video file they are.
It is obtainable from http://gspot.headbands.com/ and doesn't require installing.
If your video files are listed as type AVI I suggest that you rename them to filename.AVI

[Ken Berry]

Files with a .dv extension are the Apple/Mac version of our PC DV/AVi files. And while it is a nice thought, changing their extension to .avi does not work. The only way I have ever found to convert them is by using QuickTime Pro -- not the ordinary distribution version. It has to be the Pro version. I think I once suggested using SUPER but then I found I had deleted the few .dv files I had, and my one friend with a camera she uses on a Mac is currently overseas, no doubt making more files. So I have never been able to find out whether SUPER can do the conversion. I couldn't find any reference to .dv in the SUPER instructions, but then again, it doesn't mention DV/AVI either, nor other formats, so anything is possible...

[eskimobob]

The files should not have a .DV extension if they are proper DV files. DV files always have an avi extension. You can try changing the extension from DV to avi but this will not necessarily do the trick. However, it may be worth a try.

Hmmm - as far as I can tell they are definitely DV files. I did try changing the extension to .AVI but then got an error message "File reading error". I can watch them using Quicktime which happily recognises them as DV format files...

Where did you obtain the DV files? I have never heard of type DV files (eg filename.DV - I assume that this is what you mean).
There is a nice FREE utility which will display exactly what type of video file they are.
It is obtainable from http://gspot.headbands.com/ and doesn't require installing.
If your video files are listed as type AVI I suggest that you rename them to filename.AVI

Thanks for the link. Yes, the files are named capturexxx.dv where xxx increases with each file. I have opened one of the files using the GSpot program that you suggest and it says:

File Type: Raw DV - IEC 61834 (.DV)
Mime Type: video/DV

Does that give any clue? - It says it is Raw DV so I would have thought that was ideal

The DV files were captured some time ago from a Panasonic NV-GS85. They were actually captured using a program called dvgrab on a Linux computer but I was confident that VideoStudio would let me edit them.

Edit:

Files with a .dv extension are the Apple/Mac version of our PC DV/AVi files. And while it is a nice thought, changing their extension to .avi does not work. The only way I have ever found to convert them is by using QuickTime Pro -- not the ordinary distribution version. It has to be the Pro version. I think I once suggested using SUPER but then I found I had deleted the few .dv files I had, and my one friend with a camera she uses on a Mac is currently overseas, no doubt making more files. So I have never been able to find out whether SUPER can do the conversion. I couldn't find any reference to .dv in the SUPER instructions, but then again, it doesn't mention DV/AVI either, nor other formats, so anything is possible...

Thanks Ken, it looks like you know the answer or at least the cause of hte problem. What a pain I thought DV was a standard format
I will have to see if there is a way to convert them

[eskimobob]

Update:

Searching on google led me to many dead ends - the nearest thing I have found is a program called QuickMediaConverter - it does seem to read and convert the files however all the output formats are compressed in one way or another and I wanted to work with the raw data to avoid quality degradation.

I also found a hit on Google to a previous post on this issue which is quite informative - strange that this BB search tool did not find it for me before. It looks like I have to fire up a linux box to convert the files to a Microsoft AVI format that VS can then read - ho hum.

Thanks for your help.

[kfenaughty]

I have converted .DV files to .AVI using MPEG streamclip. You can find it at http://www.squared5.com/. Open the .DV file and then save as AVI - both options are on the first tab. (Do not use Export.) It does not re-render from what I can tell - GSpot says they use the same codec before and after. There is also a batch mode that lets you do a whole lot at once. But you need the beta version for that to work okay!

[Ken Berry]

For Steve Jones (sjj1805) -- I have looked at the website for this, and there a free downloads for both Mac and Windows. You might want to take a look and add it to our freebies list...

[eskimobob]

I have converted .DV files to .AVI using MPEG streamclip. You can find it at http://www.squared5.com/. Open the .DV file and then save as AVI - both options are on the first tab. (Do not use Export.) It does not re-render from what I can tell - GSpot says they use the same codec before and after. There is also a batch mode that lets you do a whole lot at once. But you need the beta version for that to work okay!

Thanks kfenaughty, that's a superb program and works!
You have saved me a lot of hassle there