[anoraknophobe]

Dear Forum Members, I hope you can help and shed some much needed clarity on my plight

I want to capture DV from my Sony, onto my PC. I don't have a firewire connection on the Cam, but can capture via USB. I have successfully captured onto AVI via the Arcsoft Video Impression (I got with my camera), and I've used Virtual Dub (I used the option to compress using DIVX, but I'm not sure what file format this has saved in - it doesn't seem to be the DIVX logo beside the file name).

However, here's what I want:
1 to be able to capture the DV onto the hard drive, one tape at a time (I have 60 minute tapes)
2 to then edit out all the bits I dont want
3 to compress the resulting file (or files) for storage on the PC, so I can use to stream via MCE type software (at a later date!). I have DIVX loaded, and this would seem to be the best option as it seems to be the most compatable for future streaming (right/wrong?)
4 to back up the edited file (files) onto DVD for sharing with family/firends. I'd like this DVD to be playable on most machines, and have a menu of each of the main clips, and possibly chapters.

I don't want/need to be able to edit the audio or provide fancy backing tracks or visual effects etc.

I've studied various websites (videohelp, afterdawn to name but 2) which all provide oodles of info, but if anything, it's just left me confused over all the bits of software I need etc. etc.

Is there such a thing as one bit of software that will do all this for me? Is Nero 7 such a thing, and if so is it any good? Should I go down the route of getting all the free bits of software out there? Is there a single guide I could use??

You'll gather I'm in need of help.

Cheers.

[bu5ter]

Nero will certainly do the video capture and recording straight to DVD with very easy menu creation and chapters etc. You even get to control the camera from the on screen edit mode (FF, Rwd, Play etc)

I believe you need the full version as I have Nero 6 and use the add on Nero Vision Express I am not sure if this is the same in Nero 7.

As for bringing it into an Avi then you will have to do this seperately as the file formats for DVD are very different. And I have not as yet done this but would be good to know about the Divx bits so I will be waiting on peoples recomendations aswell.

Cheers
James

[senu]

Nero Vision can but
You seem to be asking for:

Video capture/ minimal editing

DVD authoring

Video file conversion

TMPGencXpress + DVD authoring should be able to do all of this

However:
I would suggest 2 separate programs
Ulead DVDMoviefactory4 (excellent for the first 2 tasks)Dvdmf4
Verson 5 is recently out so 4 should be quite cheap now

Canopus Procoder Express for the last:Procoder Express

Niether is freeware but none is that expensive and each does what you want very well .
There are other DVD aurthoring programs and file convering software but these 2 easily come to mind : I certainly use them more often than others
Im sure there is a single program able to do everything but probably not as well as separates.

[senu]

neilwatson 68

Ive just reread your original post:
Firewire is the defacto way to capture video and both the card and cables are cheap , easy to install , does not need drivers and failing any problems a lot more reliable than usb
Besides many software do not recognise usb for video capture

Divx resides on your HDD as *.avi file format. This is not the same as the DV avi that comes from your camcorder and requires a different codec so they are not nessesarily compatible. Divx and xvid are mpeg4 files with avi file extension
Im not too hot on streaming formats but windows media, quicktime, real and flash seem to have an equal share with mpeg4. Mpeg4 (divx/xvid) seem to be more popular for uploading to FTP sites or p2p for downloading ( slight difference)

Regarding Nero . The full Nero 7 comes with Nero Vision 4 which you may want to try before shelling out on any of the programs suggested in my earlier post, just for the practice. I dont use it much but on cursory glance it seems able

[anoraknophobe]

Thanks for the help so far.

When transferring from DV to the PC, is there a limit to the size of AVI file I can create? e.g., a one minute portion from the Cam creates an AVI file of about 350MB, so to capture the whole tape in one go would create a file of about 21GB. I seem to recall reading somewhere that there is a file size limit.

Also, if the file sizes are as big as this, does converting from AVI back to MPEG (is it 1 or 2?) to back up on DVD result in a smaller file, as obviously, for single layer DVD's we're talking about a 4.7GB limit. Surely you can get a one hour DV film onto standard DVD without a huge loss of quality?

[anoraknophobe]

senu....

also, I'm starting to get a tad confused over what an AVI file actually is

is AVI a generic term for all sorts of video files? the reason I ask is that you said that divx is actually an AVI file ??!! I thought that divx was actually the file format, but it seems it is in fact an mpeg4 file. Why then does it have an AVI extention???

[senu]

Originally Posted by neilwatson68

senu....

also, I'm starting to get a tad confused over what an AVI file actually is

is AVI a generic term for all sorts of video files? the reason I ask is that you said that divx is actually an AVI file ??!! I thought that divx was actually the file format, but it seems it is in fact an mpeg4 file. Why then does it have an AVI extention???

Grab a coffee :

"AVI stands for Audio Video Interleave. This is a container video format that specifies certain structure how the audio and video streams should be stored within the file.

AVI itself does not actually specify how it should be encoded . As such the audio and video may be stored in very various ways. Most commonly used video codecs that use AVI structure are M-JPEG and DivX ;-).

AVI contains code called FourCC which tells what codec it is encoded with

A basic AVI file (or Windows AVI) usually consists of one video stream and one audio stream. On the other hand, native DV format (as stored on your DV camcorder) (DV AVI) will interleave audio and video into a single stream.


Generally, Windows AVI files are larger in size than DV-AVI files, because they are stored in raw format, without compression. Quality-wise, it is difficult to say which is better, when using the same source material for both.

A: When you transfer your DV content from the DV camcorder to your computer, there are two ways to save it to DV-AVI format. Microsoft defines two standards for DV-AVI, known as Type 1 and Type 2.

a. DV-AVI Type 1: a single stream is used to store audio and video.
b.DV-AVI Type 2: there is one video stream, and one or more audio streams. File size will be bigger due to the extra stream information"


Divx /Xvid ( Mpeg 4 ) are compressed video which also have the AVI extension. They are primarily formats like mp3 is to Wav where there is an attempt to reduce file size without too much loss in video quality. Many internet downloads and video clips destined for PDAs or meant to be watched on PC via Media player are Divx or mpeg4 ,AVIs..Many digital still cameras record video clips as M-Jpegs, another type of compressed AVI.


You will probably never have any use for a fully uncompressed Windows AVI ( 80 g / 1 hr as opposed to 13g / 1hr for DV AVI which is compressed but is not often described as such).
HTH

[senu]

When transferring from DV to the PC, is there a limit to the size of AVI file I can create?

The file size limit in FAT32 is 4G in NTFS it is limited only by the size of your HD ( no real size limt) The maximum volume size limit for NTFS is 256 tetrabytes!

So in reality there is no file size limit for NTFS

e.g., a one minute portion from the Cam creates an AVI file of about 350MB, so to capture the whole tape in one go would create a file of about 21GB

One hr of DV AVI is 13G not 21G

Also, if the file sizes are as big as this, does converting from AVI back to MPEG (is it 1 or 2?) to back up on DVD result in a smaller file, as obviously, for single layer DVD's we're talking about a 4.7GB limit.

Mpeg is indeed a very efficiently compressed video format(from DV avi)

Converting the DV AVI ( 13G= 1hr) to Mpeg 2 (DVD standard) = 4.7G= 1hr at best quality: you can get even more time for slight drop in PQ. The more you try to squeeze in the more noticable drop in PQ becomes
Mpeg 1 is for video cd a smaller file size but also less Picture quality ( Video CD is on CDs and is a lot more common in the Far East, Africa, etc) Many DVD players can play VCD but the converse is not true ( VCD players cannot play DVD) The PC with appropriate software can gennerally play both.

Surely you can get a one hour DV film onto standard DVD without a huge loss of quality?

Yes You can ( and should ) However the end PQ depends on the source material and the means by which the encoding is performed. Not all encoders ( software or hardware) are made equally and the PQ output will reflect on how good they are. Dont forget that your commercial DVDs are mpeg2 and not all require more than 4.7G


Mpeg 1 or Mpeg2 files are not all identical and may have different pixel sizes as well as encoding rates which eventually determine thier file size .
The video cd-compliant ( mpeg1) or DVD-compliant ( mpeg2 ) files have specific criteria that make them "compliant".This compliance makes them conform to agreed standards so that they can be used to make DVDs which will play world wide on a wide variety of standard equipment.
With either, the higher the encoding rate ( bitrate ) and pixel size, the better the resulting PQ. However higher bitrates ( like more megapixels in the camera world) also result in bigger file sizes

Just to confuse you The new High definition video exists as a higher pixel size mpeg2 which in addition to better encoding algorithms accounts for its much higher PQ (but bigger file size)

At any rate, you are not limited to turning your DV AVI to Mpeg only: Quicktime ,wmv , and mpeg4 ( divx/xvid) are video file formats which are meant to compress file size without significant loss in PQ as long as ( for the most part) they are intended to be watched on a computer not a big widescreen TV.

Very clear ( )
HTH

[anoraknophobe]

Cheers!

Let this all sink in, and if I still have queries, I'll come back.

[oldjohn]

That's got to be the best explanation of formats and codecs I've ever seen.

Thank you.
John.