DV AVI to smaller file size format?

[movie]

Hi everyone.

I captured some DV tapes (that I no longer have) to my hard drive with Premiere and the finished files are DV AVI files, with every 10 minutes taking up roughly 2GB of space.

I would like to convert these to a format with no loss/barely any loss in quality and have the file size be about 60%-75% smaller.

I was experimenting with MPEG2 DVD Compliant format (.mpg) at 9.2Mbps and the end result was somewhat acceptable, however I would like to see if anyone out there has any other suggestions first before I convert all of my videos and cannot turn back.

Thank you!

[jagabo]

h.264 will get you better image quality at the same bitrate as MPEG 2, or the same quality with lower bitrates.

[filmboss80]

As long as you don't erase the tapes, you can do whatever you like. But keep in mind, if you want to do frame-accurate, lossless editing, it's best to keep the DV-AVI files as they are. After all, disk space is cheap enough these days for the large file sizes. Going to a more compressed format (like MPEG2 or h.264) will throw out digital information that cannot be recovered.

In the standard definition video realm, anything more compressed than DV is usually intended for viewing only (whether streaming or watching a DVD). If you want to preserve your footage for future editing, or simply keep it as good as it is, leave it alone.

[jagabo]

Yes, if they're important to you, keep at least two backups of your original DV AVI files, preferably three (tape, hard drive, DVD, cloud, verify them immediately after making them), keep one off site. Check them every year. If any of the backups is having problems make another. The MPEG 2 or h.264 versions are for watching.

[movie]

Hi jagabo and filmboss80, thank you for your replies.

filmboss80:
I no longer have the original tapes, only the DV AVIs, and now they are taking up too much space and the time has come to make them smaller.

jagabo:
I found that when encoding to h264 with Premiere that the output files had some type of frame loss, so I tried TMPGenc and that issue was solved. However now the task will be to preserve quality and aspect ratio.

Here are the original and some samples using basic settings. All are best played with Windows Media Player.

Original DV AVI:
https://rapidshare.com/files/363417410/film_original.avi

Premiere DVD
https://rapidshare.com/files/1893315930/film_premiere-dvd.mpg

Premere h264
http://rapidshare.com/files/3647556512/film_premiere-h264.mp4

TMPGenc DVD
https://rapidshare.com/files/1687025607/film_tmpg-dvd.mpg

TMPGenc x264
http://rapidshare.com/files/2405032679/film_tmpg-x264.mp4


Which format and program do you think I should stick with and play around with?

[sanlyn]

TMPGenc looked cleaner and smoother. You might want to reconsider keeping your original DV captures. In the future you likely will learn a few tricks about maintaining correct broadcast-standard luma and chroma levels, which would improved the samples you posted and make them look cleaner on TV. But once your source is re-encoded and discarded, then fixing levels and perhaps some denoising or repairing bad frames would not be options. Once defects are encoded, most of them are yours forever. And encoders will improve over time.

Info about correct luma and chroma levels is in your Adobe documentation.

[jagabo]

The Tmpg h.264 encode was truest to the original. I'd use that. Maybe bump the bitrate higher if you can afford the space. A lot of fine grain has been lost. A higher bitrate (or lower CRF value) would help retain more of that. That grain is mostly noise in this clip but in another clip a fuzzy sweater might end up looking like a smooth cotton shirt. Keep an eye on dark parts of the picture -- that's where x264's weaknesses are.