Easy Software for Archiving DV from Camera

[lukas_ch]

Hi
I have several Videso on MiniDV-Media which I would like to Archive on my pc. I do already know how to Transfer them by firewire to my pc. I'll do that with WinDV or AvCutty, but then I Need to convert them to a compressed Format, but I do not really know which Software to use and which Format would be the best.
I do not need to cut them really or just Basic cutting (delete some parts or put together some Scenes).
At the end I would like to have a Video file which can be shown on mobile device, tv (Streaming from nas) but also it should be possible to burn a DVD with that Format.
Should it be mpeg-2 with 720x576? or what do you recommend? Which Software is easy for a beginner like me? Best would be Freeware.

Smart-Converter?
XMediaRecoder?
Full-Video-Converter-Free?
Format-Factory?
Other?

Thanks for help

[smrpix]

For archiving you should (must) keep a copy of the DV transfer. Period

From that you can make viewing copies. Currently popular is mp4 with h.264 video and AAC audio.
For DVD you need a completely different DVD-compatible mpeg2 file with DVD-compliant audio (Dolby Digital is the most efficient)

Any of the tools you mentioned can do that, as can dozens of others or a simple ffmpeg command line.

[hech54]

For archiving you should (must) keep a copy of the DV transfer. Period

Agreed.

[johnmeyer]

DV video is 13 GB/hour. I suppose you could cut that in half by transferring the MPEG-2 (the original "delivery" format for SD video). You could also use a more "modern" format, but the idea that newer codecs are going to give you better quality with SD is not entirely true. In particular, the reason so many new codecs have been developed over the past fifteen years has to do with other aspects of video encoding, such as:

• Dealing with HD
• Streaming
• Dealing with higher frame rate
• Dealing with long GOP structure

There are more, but my point in listing these is to point out that choosing H.264 may, or may not, make much of a difference, and probably won't give you the same quality, but at smaller sizes, than MPEG-2.

However, one thing for sure: converting from the original DV format will degrade the image. More importantly, it will convert from DV which, despite its color subsampling issues (which cannot be undone by converting to some other format) has no interframe compression, and therefore can be edited perfectly and simply, especially when doing cuts-only edits.

Therefore, I agree completely with what has already been posted: do your cuts-only edits in software that can do "smart-rendering" (i.e., no re-rendering when doing cuts-only edits), save the results, and go home. You're finished. There is no downside to this approach other than needing a little more storage, but when you can get 2-4 TB storage for $100, why waste time degrading your video, just to save a very small amount of money?

3 TB will store 230 hours of DV video.

[lukas_ch]

Thanks or advice. Now I have anoother Problem. On my first Video there are lots of Errors on Picture like this:



It is also on the Screen of the camera

Is this a Problem of the camera or on the dv-cassette? It is not always, but pretty often.

Thanks for help.

[johnmeyer]

It's probably dirty heads. However, rather than run a cleaning cassette, first try fast-forwarding the tape to the end, followed by a rewind. Then, play the tape and see if it plays OK. If it does, re-capture it.

You can also purchase a head cleaning cassette and run it for the time given in the instructions (typically 10 seconds). Do not run it for longer than recommended. However, I prefer the FF-->REW "cleaning" cycle because it is less destructive. I have found that it works well. Cleaning cassettes are often frowned upon, but it is almost impossible to use solvent and chamois swabs to clean the tiny DV heads, and therefore these cassettes are the only viable option for most people.

Finally, with DV tapes, there used to be a lot of posts in various forums about problems created by using tapes from different manufacturers. I was never able to tell if this was urban legend, or if there was something to it. The basic idea was that the tape coating on Sony tape was different than the coating used by Panasonic, etc., and that the residue left by one manufacturer's tape would somehow interact with the residue from the different formulation on another manufacturer's tape and end up causing a head clog. Like I said, I never entirely bought into this, but if there is any truth, then it suggests that you would be better off transferring all the tapes from Sony, followed by all the Panasonic tapes, etc.

You also might try finding a tape that doesn't exhibit this problem and transfer that tape first. Very often the action of playing a good tape "cleans" the head sufficiently that when you play the problem tape, it then plays OK.

[lukas_ch]

Hi

But if it would be the heads, then it would be always like that, no? It is just on some Scenes, not always. I already tried fast-Forward-back, without lock.

But I'll try with other tapes. Because of the age of tapes and camera I'm just a Little bit worried until all is on pc before anything is dying!

Cheers
Lukas

[smrpix]

If head cleaning doesn't clear it up, its likely to be an error in the actual recording. Not a lot to be done about that, unfortunately.

@johnmeyer, the mismatched binder issue was a real thing (it happened to me mixing sony and maxell Hi8 tapes,) but formulations were modified later so it became less of an issue.

[JVRaines]

It is just on some Scenes, not always. I already tried fast-Forward-back, without lock.

If the errors are always in about the same place, then the tape itself is damaged or degraded and cleaning the heads will not help.

[johnmeyer]

@johnmeyer, the mismatched binder issue was a real thing (it happened to me mixing sony and maxell Hi8 tapes,) but formulations were modified later so it became less of an issue.

I read about this enough times that I assumed it was real and therefore made a point to do all my recording on Sony tapes (I started with them because all my tape-based DV and HDV camcorders were Sony). However I worry about it every time someone gives me some DV to transfer and it is on a Panasonic tape. I have two camcorders and one DV deck (a rarity) that I use for transfer, and I guess I could dedicate one of them to the non-Sony tapes.

[smrpix]

I read about this enough times that I assumed it was real and therefore made a point to do all my recording on Sony tapes (I started with them because all my tape-based DV and HDV camcorders were Sony). However I worry about it every time someone gives me some DV to transfer and it is on a Panasonic tape. I have two camcorders and one DV deck (a rarity) that I use for transfer, and I guess I could dedicate one of them to the non-Sony tapes.

Me too. After the Hi8 fiasco, my Sony DVCam and HDV cams never saw anything but Sony tapes.