[MrMister111]

Hi

Eventually getting around to importing my MiniDV Sharp Viewcam tapes.

Im beginning the import now on my iMac Leopard with iMovie 08, the process is easy so far.

My question is however, I dont have the time yet to edit them (will do later), so what will I store the video files in now format wise? I believe they get imported as MPEG2, which means big file size.

Should I convert the files straight away to a different format? if so what please?

Also what is the best way to convert it to the suggestions please? what program etc? I dont really want to export it to DVDs yet, I want to edit it etc, and store it on my HDD.

Ive just done the 1st tape (60min one) and in total its about 13Gb

Surely theres a better format to store them? please help Im going to be able to do a couple of tapes at this rate before having to stop

chers

[Hitby]

Working with video is always going to be storage intensive. For what its worth, you can buy a 750Gig external hard disk for less than £70 delivered... It might be worth looking into?

[MrMister111]

Originally Posted by Hitby

Working with video is always going to be storage intensive. For what its worth, you can buy a 750Gig external hard disk for less than £70 delivered... It might be worth looking into?

Cheers, I actually just bought an internal 750gb!!

I just thought it might be better to store it in a different format? which will pretty much have the same quality?

Or should I just store it in DV format?

Or if not whats the best format to convert it to?
thanks

[senu]

Originally Posted by andyloc

Hi

Eventually getting around to importing my MiniDV Sharp Viewcam tapes.

Im beginning the import now on my iMac Leopard with iMovie 08, the process is easy so far.

My question is however, I dont have the time yet to edit them (will do later), so what will I store the video files in now format wise? I believe they get imported as MPEG2, which means big file size.

Should I convert the files straight away to a different format? if so what please?

They get imported as DV AVI. Best quality mpeg2 will fit a DVD disc at 4.7Gb

Also what is the best way to convert it to the suggestions please? what program etc? I dont really want to export it to DVDs yet, I want to edit it etc, and store it on my HDD.

Ive just done the 1st tape (60min one) and in total its about 13Gb

Surely theres a better format to store them? please help Im going to be able to do a couple of tapes at this rate before having to stop

DVD video is mpeg2
It represents the best compressed format for storage if editing is desired later

As suggested above, a Big HDD for £70 should get you a lot of video
However, unless you forsee anything happening to the tapes there may be no need to lose them
If the mpeg2 you archived on the HDD prove less than inspiring after editing and rerendering you can always recapture from source

Any other compressed format like MP4 or Quicktime will occupy less space and look good played off the PC but may not prove to be decent starting material for a DVD video in the future ( if they still exist!)

[MrMister111]

Originally Posted by senu

They get imported as DV AVI. Best quality mpeg2 will fit a DVD disc at 4.7Gb

DVD video is mpeg2
It represents the best compressed format for storage if editing is desired later

As suggested above, a Big HDD for £70 should get you a lot of video
However, unless you forsee anything happening to the tapes there may be no need to lose them
If the mpeg2 you archived on the HDD prove less than inspiring after editing and rerendering you can always recapture from source

Any other compressed format like MP4 or Quicktime will occupy less space and look good played off the PC but may not prove to be decent starting material for a DVD video in the future ( if they still exist!)

I see - I think!?!?

So, I suppose I could keep the tapes, I was going to wipe them and sell them with the camera.

So what is the best format to convert to, not DVD, I normally convert all DVDs to video files anyway, so want them to be in a video file format which is best please? ad what app?

cheers

[senu]

Originally Posted by andyloc

So what is the best format to convert to, not DVD, ....

mpeg2..

FWIW the video files on a DVD video are mpeg2 but are encoded in a special way to account for audio and the DVD structure for universal compatibility
They are called VOB files when encoded in this way
If you explore a DVD video , you will typically find two folders . The Video-TS contains the files of which you will find VOB and other navigational files

As such even If you have a data DVD with mpeg2 files, it will not play as a DVD video on a DVD player

MiniDV tapes are cheap enough : you don't need to wipe them and sell them. it will not make your camcorder sell any better

Besides , the tapes are truly the best archive. if well kept.. they wont crash or fail like an HDD can, and they retain best quality
Also just how much do you reckon the camcorder itself will sell for?
In fact the idea of DV-in is to store edited versions on tape

[A n d r e w]

Keep your tapes as an archive and invest in a decent (preferably RAID-capable) external harddrive for backing-up your imported .mov files - unless you like the sound of importing the tapes all over again some time in the future when your internal harddrive fails.

Andrew.

[senu]

How do MOV files compare to mpeg2 for generational PQ loss in editing, and file size?

[A n d r e w]

Pass.

iMovie imports as DV. I see the OP has posted on the Apple Support forums (http://discussions.apple.com/thread....sageID=8322549) and received what looks to me like sound advice, though I'm not sure about the need to export as Quicktime. Personally, I'd invest in a big drive (which you have done, though I prefer to keep media and applications on separate drives) and locate and copy the imported files: 13GB per hour as they may be! But that's because my technical knowledge peters out once the importing has been done.

Andrew.

[MrMister111]

Originally Posted by Courtaj

Pass.

iMovie imports as DV. I see the OP has posted on the Apple Support forums (Apple - Support - Discussions - Importing movies from MiniDV camcorder, ...) and received what looks to me like sound advice, though I'm not sure about the need to export as Quicktime. Personally, I'd invest in a big drive (which you have done, though I prefer to keep media and applications on separate drive) and locate and copy the imported files: 13GB per hour as they may be! But that's because my technical knowledge peters out once the importing has been done.

Andrew.

Cheers, Ive worked out what he meant about exporting to QT, He means do aquick trim of any no good clips, then export to QT using DV (ie the same format) to use less space.

Ive decided to keep the tapes, and copy it to my HDD.

the big HDD I am copying to is in a PC that I dont use much on a network, sort of using it as a NAS, so my video and Music etc media are on a seperate drive as such