Importing DV source into VideoStudio

[Mitzi]

Hi all,

I'm a newbie user who has just purchased PaintShop Pro X3 and VideoStudio X4. I have a Panasonic camcorder which writes to mini DV tapes and has Firewire output. I previously did my editing using iMovie on an ageing Macbook. My new Windows 7 laptop doesn't have a firewire port therefore I was hopeful of capturing the raw footage on the Mac and then importing it into VideoStudio on the Windows laptop. When I try and import the .dv files created by iMovie I get the error 'File format mismatch'.

The videos play fine on the Windows laptop so I don't understand why VideoStudio can't read them.

I was thinking I could perhaps use something to convert the videos to a format readable by VideoStudio. Could anyone advise what format it would expect the inputs to be in?

Any assistance or advice appreciated!

Many thanks

[Ken Berry]

Welcome to the forums!

The problem is that .dv is a proprietary Mac format, and as I understand it, may use internal tags which VS cannot recognise. DV video, when captured by a PC, uses the .avi extension. The only way I ever found to convert the .dv to DV/AVI was to use Quicktime Pro (which you would realise was also originally a Mac application). However, I cannot say I was ever happy with the quality.

Does your new laptop have a space where you could insert a PCMCIA or PCI Express card with a Firewire socket embedded in it?

Or can you use iMovie to convert the .dv to DVD-compatible mpeg-2, and then open that in VS for editing?

[Mitzi]

Hi Ken,

Thanks for the response. Unfortunately the machine doesn't have the space for a PCMCIA Firefire port. I'll try converting the raw footage to MPEG2 in iMovie and get it into VS for further editing and see what the quality is like. Alternatively I'm looking at a USB capture device, such as -

http://www.amazon.co.uk/ClimaxDigital-V ... 905&sr=8-2

Perhaps its time to upgrade to a new HD capable camcorder though I would love to be able to get these DV tapes and my old Hi8 tapes into VS some way hence trying out the USB capture device might be the way to go!

[Ken Berry]

At least the capture device you are considering is not the dread EZCap/EasyCap -- see the sticky towards the top of this forum for a discussion of the fake devices using one of these names.

But the reality is that it will only be able to capture at best in mpeg-2 format -- not DV format. So I would first try capturing or converting straight to mpeg-2 using your old iMac, and if the quality seems OK, then forget about further outlay on a new device. If converting or capturing on the iMac, though, make sure you use the highest quality settings for mpeg-2, including a bitrate of 8000 kbps. Mind you, for your old hi8 tapes, this would be overkill since you won't get any better quality above 6000 kbps.

[skier-hughes]

Not sure if Imovie allows you to, I know the more up market FCP does, but also look for a windows compatible dv format to save to.

[Mitzi]

Thanks for the response guys, it really is appreciated!

I've found some software called Super (http://www.erightsoft.com/SUPER.html) which can convert the native .dv file into something VideoStudio can read though at the moment I'm not happy with the results. There seems to be a million and one options and I'm basically going down the list using a sample clip to see the results.

Can you provide any pointers as to what container, format, audio format, bit rate etc I should be aiming for!?

[Ron P.]

Not sure where you're located, but I would try converting it to DV (avi), NTSC or PAL. Make sure the frame sizes, frame rates, and above all the field order matches that of your original source.

NTSC
NTSC drop frame (29.97 fps)
Microsoft AVI files
24 bits, 720 x 480, 4:3, 29.97 fps (16:9 for widescreen)
Lower Field First
DV Video Encoder -- type 1 or type 2
DV Audio -- NTSC, 44.100 kHz, 16 Bit, Stereo

PAL
Microsoft AVI files
24 bits, 720 x 576, 4:3, 25 fps (16:9 for widescreen)
Lower Field First
DV Video Encoder -- type 1 or type 2
DV Audio -- PAL, 44.100 kHz, 16 Bit, Stereo

[Ken Berry]

Ummm... Ron ... If its DV, then it *has* to be Lower Field First...

[Mitzi]

Firstly, thanks for a swift response!

I'm in the UK so the video format is PAL. I've converted a short clip and the quality is pretty much close to the original source so I'm quite excited about that! It's getting late so I'll batch convert one of my tapes overnight and have a play with it over the next few days and finally get to try VideoStudio out!

I did order that basic USB capture device so I can capture my Hi8 tapes, it hasn't been delivered yet so I'll try that out when it arrives but for these tapes I'm happy with capturing using the Mac and then converting the source tapes using Super.

Many thanks for your help, it is really appreciated

Edit - I couldn't find some of those options in Super so I just picked the nearest thing

[Ron P.]

Yep, it sure does... I copied those from VS. Last project I worked on must have been an MPEG-2... Thanks for catching that Ken.