[mallidiv]

I am on the way for a camcorder. But I 1st wanna decide the format. I am between DV and the ones that write on dvd at once... I have already read about the DV being superior in quality, but I am confused about the editing when I want to make the DV into a DVD... (I do have a firewire)

How much time would a 2ghz processor 512mb memory need in general to transform into mpeg2, 30ins or an hour of DV?

[felix2]

Hi, I've got a 2100 XP with 1GB RAM, and I'd usually reckon on it taking anything up to 3 hours to encode 1 hour of DV-AVI into MPEG2, using Ulead's DVD Movie Factory software. It can also vary depending on what software you use and what settings you choose.
(If you were to use Variable Bit Rate - as opposed to Constant Bit Rate - to squeeze slightly more video onto DVD at "effectively" the same quality, you'd probably use "2 passes" for the encoding, which would take roughly twice as long as that.)

[mallidiv]

What I am looking for is a rough calculation... 3-4 hrs does not sound that much for me... I wanted to make sure that it would not take sth like 16-20 that I heard here and there...

[IAmATeaf]

On my system which is a P4 3.4Ghz with 1GB of DDR400 RAM and SATA disks - 90 mins on DV footage takes just over 6 hours when using Adobe Premiere 1.5, bitrate set to average of 6000 and 3 pass multi-pass.

[felix2]

I'm not sure there is a rough calculation I'm afraid, with so many variables with the PC, the encoding software, and what settings you use. I'm guessing the 16-20 hours you've heard are for slower/older computers - yours should do it in a reasonable time, although 512MB RAM will obviously be a fair bit slower for the encoding than 1GB...?

There again, if yours takes say 4-5 hours for 1 hour at one pass, then if you wanted to put a whole 2 hours onto a DVD, with 2-pass encode, you're then looking at the 16-20 hours. Personally, I tend to stick with 1 - 1 1/2 hours per disc, and only use 1-pass CBR (unless it's getting a bit tight for space). And whatever time it takes, remember to add on another 20-30 minutes for the authoring (compiling the files to make a "proper" DVD and adding menus etc) and actually burning the disc.

Do you know anyone with a DV camcorder who could put a few minutes of DV video onto your PC, and then you could try out one of the bits of software* that's available as a free trial to see what you make of the quality of the encoding and how long it takes per 5 minutes say (and just factor it up)?

(* editing prog like Adobe Premiere Elements, Sony Vegas Movie Studio or Ulead Video Studio etc etc, or encoding/authoring prog like Pegasys TMPGenc or Ulead DVD Movie Factory etc)

[jomike]

Hi mallidiv

You said that you were also looking at DVD camcorders. I have the Sony DVD203 and these are the kind of times I am looking at. I do my editing in Womble mpeg wizard. I place my finalised 8cm DVD in my DVD drive and import the .vob file. 5 mins for a 20 min video. I then edit it and save it. 15 mins to save if you have lots of clips with transitions in between (these slow the process down). Lets say 30 - 40mins per 20 min of video. 20 min of video is of course max capacity for a 8cm DVD at HQ. So 1.5 hrs for 60 min of video. Then another 30 mins to author and burn DVD in Nero 7. In 2 hrs you have 1hr of video burned on DVD, and on a normal TV you will have to look very hard to see any difference in picture quality with one shot on mini DV and encoded as dicussed above. The same holds true with hard drive cams of course.

Mike

[dejongj]

I'm surprised that people are simply just quoting the MPEG2 transformation time...Jomike at least has been honest with the DVD option...Don't forget that with AVI-DV you have to render the movie to AVI-DV first when you make cuts and transitions etc...So easily do the highest time quoted times two and on a 2Ghz processor you can easily have it going for more than a day when you've done some fancy transitions on an hours worth of video in decent quality....Heck on my 3.4EE an hour can take easily 4-6 hours....

[jomike]

I'd just like like to add that these times are on my P4 1.6Ghz 256M with a 3 year old installation of XP that runs like a bag of nails!

[felix2]

Yes, thanks for pointing that out, Jean-Paul. Although the original question was just for encoding (DV-AVI -> MPEG2), you also have to add in the actual capture time (which is going to be in real time with a DV camera, so the whole length of the video), and then once you've done your editing, the time to render - before encoding and then authoring/burning. I'm still pretty new to the editing and haven't done many fancing things yet, so rendering for me hasn't taken much time at all. In effect, just trimming, cutting & pasting the DV-AVI's, adding a couple of transitions, a bit of music, and a few other bits and pieces. Obviously the more effects you add, the longer rendering will take. Cheers!

[mallidiv]

there is a whole new world for me to discover... I'll try my creativity...