I'm back with another question!! Uncompressed avi files

[peekay1000]

Hi guys,
Having now succeeded in capturing the video onto my pc i am now left with another problem dilemma, and with my limited technical understanding I am a little stuck.
The problem is that using standard windows software to capture the video the file is downloaded as an AVI file, which i believe is uncompressed as for a 1 hour video the file generated is approx 14GB. In its own right this is fine but i have about 30 tapes to transfer and the kids are only 3.5 yrs old!!!

So from reading around on the Internet I believe what I need to do is compress this avi file into another format. But the question is into which format and with which software? Do you have any suggestions/ideas as to which is the best format to compress/transfer these AVI files into? I have tried transferring into MP4 with various bits of software downloaded from the WEB but so far the ones i have tried have been unreliable and I am not overly impressed with the quality from MP4. My aim is to get the video onto my computer for the following reasons:
- As a back up to the physical tapes
- ease of playback
- ability to make copies on disc
- minor editing
- future proofing so that the videos can still be watched in years to come

Furthermore is there an easier way of doing this. As it currently stands I am capturing the video (which takes as long as the number of minutes on the tape) and then compressing/transferring which takes the same amount of time again. Is there any software that will automatically capture the video and write it to the pc in the required format in one process, ie from the DV tape directly into a mpeg/mp4/compressed avi file?

The only suggestion I have had so far is to compress the files using a divx codec into a compressed avi file - (I think) - I hope that makes sense to you because it confuses me!!!

Again I know I am asking a lot but any help greatly appreciated.

Kind regards,

[redsox_mark]

At ~14 GB per hour (should be closer to 13), you have DV-AVI. This is not the same as "uncompressed" (Uncompressed is around 60 GB per hour), but is the full quality files from a DV camcorder. Ideally that is what you want to save, if you want a full quality copy. It is also what is the best to edit.

If you want to make DVDs, capture the DV-AVI, edit that, convert it to MPEG2 (for standard DVD-video), or you could use DIVX if you must further reduce filesize.

As you still have the original tapes, you could then get away with just keeping the compressed files on your PC. It doesn't give you a full quality backup (only keeping the DV-AVI files gives you that), but you will at least have some backup.

[rhubarbe]

Also, please don't think that once you have archived to a DVD that the DVD will be around and playable for ever. many people have found out the hard way that the dye on DVDs (the dye is what makes up the recording environment) fails after a few years rendering the thing unplayable. I should archive using the tapes - after all, how many old VHS tapes do you have lying around still playable after 30 years?

My dad has a suitcase full of standard 8 film from when we were kids, but sadly no PJ to play them on any more.

[Waveform]

another (another) question related to AVI files...
I have a Panny SD5 which I edit the footage in Adobe PP CS3, as it can't do avchd I transcode the m2ts before the edit process. If I transcode as uncompressed avi I get a black border around the frame but if I transcode as mpeg2 I get full frame on the video. Obviously I am setting up the transcode wrong but despite many experiments with settings I cannot get rid of the border. I use elecard converter studio or ulead videostudio 11 to do the transcode. Anyone any idea which setting I need to adjust?
As a bit of an aside I did intend to use Pinnacle Studio to edit the avchd but the damn thing is so unreliable (regular hard crash when rendering final video) that I gave up.

[redsox_mark]

It will have something to do with having the wrong aspect setting/Pixel Aspect Ratio. I don't use that software so can't be more specific.

[peekay1000]

ok again from things i have read on here and advice given i think i have decided to compress the avi files using divx - from what i have read you can maintain good quality this way.

If i do this is it irreversible - I assume once compressed some information is lost and as such you will never be able to return to the original quality (without importing video again from camera).

Also, can i then create a dvd (which can be watched on a dvd player) from the divx file?

Thanks

[redsox_mark]

Yes the compression is irreversible.

Some but not all DVD players can play a DIVX disc.

[senu]

Originally Posted by peekay1000

ok again from things i have read on here and advice given i think i have decided to compress the avi files using divx - from what i have read you can maintain good quality this way.

Yes but I would have thought mpeg2 was perhaps better if there was any chance they might ever become DVD videos

If i do this is it irreversible - I assume once compressed some information is lost and as such you will never be able to return to the original quality (without importing video again from camera).

It is "reversible" somewhat :although there are DIVX to DVD type software dont expect the DVD to look anything like a DVD sourced from DV AVI or mpeg2

Also, can i then create a dvd (which can be watched on a dvd player) from the divx file?

Yes although as stated, not all DVD player can play divx. Also see the last line in the last reply

The point is that DV AVI is really meant to be used for editing withiut quality loss , and output to something else for playback. You can transfer the edited DV AVI back to tape to free up the PC but all the other formats are really playback end formats
DIVX isn't meant to be edited and DIVX sourced DVDs are not going to give you anything like the same DVD playback quality as mpeg2

You sound as if you need a big HDD to put transfer the video files on your PC
or
You simply need to buy a settop DVD player and make DVDs from tape if you don't feel like editing
Even when you edit DV AVI on a PC the render files ect still need cleaning up or else your PCs HDD will fill up very quickly

[glesgaguyav]

I would suggest that if HD space is a problem then as said previously you would be better to capture the footage as MPEG2, it is as also mentioned previously "best practice" to edit in the DV format, but as long as you keep the editing fairly simple, cuts and transitions, then there shouldn't be too much loss in quality with MPEG2.

Ulead and Pinnacle both offer MPEG2 capture straight to disk.

I do not like using DIVX to store footage, its good if you want to use a portable device for viewing movies etc.

[peekay1000]

thank you very much - changed my mind again now - mpeg2 it is!!!!!

[meansizzler]

I was reading your post and you want it to be played back easily on any platform, and so the bestf ormat I can think of is WMV, plays back on any windows pc, xbox 360, even PS3, and mac with the free codecs available, also best format for email and and uploading vids for online viewing, while mpeg 2 is good as you can view it on a dvd player your limited to just that really, try emailing an mpeg 2 file to a friendand they will wonder what to do with the file..

You can use the free program from microsoft Windows Media Encoder to compress your file to WMV...

You could burn an mpeg 2 dvd and then also convert to wmv so you have the best of both worlds, you can make dvd's with mpeg2 video and data files..eg.. WMV... so put it in the dvd player and it plays fine, put it in a pc and you can copy the wmv version off it..

[peekay1000]

Thanks for that - i understand what you are saying and that makes sense. I will have a play around and think ultimate decision will be what offers best quality. Is wmv conversion a standard process or are there lots of 'tweaks' that need to be made to optimize?
Thanks

[senu]

Like Divx ,Wmv is ultra compressed, not meant to be edited, and although you get a small size and fairly good quality,
your original quality is lost.

I would consider them to be in similar cartegories.

By all means be aware of the existence of WMV but it I would stick with mpeg2 as the barest minimum for archiving.

There is nothing to stop you from experimentimg;WMV is also onre of your output options in Vegas