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  1. I'm sure this isn't the first time this question has been asked, but I couldn't find an exact variation of my question, so I hope nobody minds my asking...

    I have some Digital8 video taken with a Sony HandyCam DCR-TRV320. It's obviously not HD. In fact a lot of it contains dance lessons which will be watched to learn steps, not admired for video quality like a great movie. I can get the video from my camera to PC easily via Firewire resulting in a huge AVI. I'm wondering if anyone can recommend a good all-around format and appropriate container to use for these, along with settings.

    How will I watch them and what on?... I have a PS3 that I use for streaming many formats to my HDTV. Suffice to say I'm ok with either streaming with Sony PS3 or playing on a PC. Making a standard DVD is possible for some of these but probably not the majority. I just don't have the time to ever get around to making chapters, labeling, etc. I would like good compression while keeping visually close to the same quality (being technically lower quality is ok, I just don't want it to be obvious from my couch).

    I have a couple Core 2 Duo PCs with 4 GB RAM, 500 GB SATA HDD, and I have Windows XP, Windows 7, and Ubuntu Linux installed (I prefer an Ubuntu solution, but I'm not that picky). I have access to and have dabbled with Adobe Premiere 6, Virtualdub, Avidemux, and Handbrake... emphasis on the word dabbled.

    I know some basics of video concepts, but am not completely fluent in "video-speak." I am really hoping not to have to spend hours reading about 1-pass vs 2-pass, and all the other tweaks I don't understand. I hope someone can say, "use XXX format, YYY container, WWW settings, then hit GO."

    --FS
    Last edited by Baldrick; 26th Mar 2010 at 04:11. Reason: Better subject.
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  2. Wow. Over a month and not a single reply. Not exactly the help I was hoping for.
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  3. Member edDV's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by fuzzysword View Post
    I'm sure this isn't the first time this question has been asked, but I couldn't find an exact variation of my question, so I hope nobody minds my asking...

    I have some Digital8 video taken with a Sony HandyCam DCR-TRV320. It's obviously not HD. In fact a lot of it contains dance lessons which will be watched to learn steps, not admired for video quality like a great movie. I can get the video from my camera to PC easily via Firewire resulting in a huge AVI. I'm wondering if anyone can recommend a good all-around format and appropriate container to use for these, along with settings.

    How will I watch them and what on?...
    Most any PC with media player. VLC has good deinterlace modes
    Recommends: Kiva.org - Loans that change lives.
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  4. Member edDV's Avatar
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    Digital8 after capture is DV format (with PCM uncompressed audio). Can't get much easier to import to edit apps.
    Recommends: Kiva.org - Loans that change lives.
    http://www.kiva.org/about
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  5. How did Handbrake turn out? It should be sufficient for your needs. Use High Profile. Either MKV or MP4 format will do.
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  6. Far too goddamn old now EddyH's Avatar
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    Probably not much replies because there's several guides on this sort of thing already...
    If you're not prepared to learn this stuff it may be better to get a professional to do it for you, otherwise it's like "I want to travel around in a car but I can't be bothered with all that Accelerator, Steering-wheel stuff"... so, get a chauffeur.
    Then again there are some simple programs out there like total video converter that may work for you, but there are still _some_ things to learn and consider even so.

    I'd suggest if you're wanting to store and watch it on the PC, some MP4 format (like DivX-AVI) would be entirely sufficient and matched alright to the video quality of Hi-8 with typical settings. Probably want to try your best to make sure it actually saves as an interlaced-mode file (or deinterlaced to 50/60Hz rather than the usual 25/30) though - which will in most cases also require quite high rez (e.g. 640x480 for NTSC, and maybe 1mbit/sec video) - because I expect for something like dancing practice you'll want smoothest, most detailed motion possible even if the actual resolution and clarity of the still images isn't so important.

    Don't know about the PS3, but it may well be able to play those, or generic MPG4 files, which is really just a change of "box" that the video data fits in rather than remaking it altogether.

    Then again, throwing it straight through to DVD may be best, if streaming isn't deadly important. It'll preserve all of whatever quality the Hi8 has, AND is natively interlaced. Plus if you really don't have time to do any kind of editing, you may be as well just to connect the camcorder to a set-top DVD recorder by AV cables (or indeed firewire if it supports it) and hit the big red button - by the time you would have got it initially captured into the PC (plus 2 or 3 minutes), you have a playable disk that can be carried by SneakerNet to the PC or PS3 and played in their physical drives.
    -= She sez there's ants in the carpet, dirty little monsters! =-
    Back after a long time away, mainly because I now need to start making up vidcapped DVDRs for work and I haven't a clue where to start any more!
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