Creating a high quality DVD

[chatterjee]

This is my first post in this forum.I visit TechSupportGuy forum regularly and there David said me about this site.

I bought a Sony Camcorder -DCR TRV285E and I was having problem with it.So,I posted the query on TSG.

This was my question:

My newly bought Sony DCR TRV285E camcorder is giving me a serious problem.When I tried to transfer the recorded videos to computer via a USB cable it cost me nearly GB for a mere 5 minute video.I'm seriously concerned about the quality of picture it gives.When I see it throgh the camera LCD it is as bright as it should be but the recorded file is completely blurred,to be precise faces become dark.

As I couldn't capture the video to my computer,today I went to a vendor nearby.He said that I should convert the video to DVD format to gain the full potential.But the rate was as high as Rs.500(nearly 10$) per DVD.

I know the whole thing can be done by my computer but don't know how to work out the problem.Please help!

URL:http://forums.techguy.org/multimedia/433785-transfered-videos-taking-gbs-also.html

From the above thread I have decided that I'll go for a firewire card and a good software like Ulead studio.

Now my question is that how can the quality be bettered?I want to put it to
a DVD to have the best quality.I'm a complete newbie in video editing and compression field.Please guide me!

[thecoalman]

Firewire indeed, the USB is for web quality video and/or transferring still pics if your cam has that feature.

You can't make the quality better and the guy at the store was giving you a line of bullshit. What you can expect is the same quality or nearly the same quality as what you see directly from cam to TV.

Transfer as DV-AVI, this an exact copy of what is on cam. Convert o MPEG using a high bitrate. There's templates in VS for this, the high quality one is 6000kbps which is not the highest you can go but is usually more than adequate for low end digital cams.

Suggest you get your self a RW disc and do some experimenting, do some test clips and compare them on a TV to what your cam looks like. If they look identical then you have succeeded. Come back with any questions you have after you have done this....

There's a lot of guides to the left and all the information you could possibly need if you search fo it. Trouble with this site is there too much, information overload.....

[LloydAZ]

When I tried to transfer the recorded videos to computer via a USB cable it cost me nearly GB for a mere 5 minute video.

That sounds about right. Uncompressed video is about 100MB per minute.

[thecoalman]

BTW DV-AVI will come out to about 14GB per hour.

[Cornucopia]

When I tried to transfer the recorded videos to computer via a USB cable it cost me nearly GB for a mere 5 minute video.

That sounds about right. Uncompressed video is about 100MB per minute.

More like DV=216MB/Minute or 1080MB/5min. or 12.65GB/Hr.

Uncompressed D1 is 1.16GB/Min. Uncompressed RGB SD is 1.75GB/Min.

An uncompressed YUV 4:2:2 file at 100MB/Min would have to be ~192x144 size!?

AFA the original topic,
it could be that you are transferring it OK, but that your software is showing you levels on your monitor at 16-235 luminance, instead of what you might expect to see (0-255). This would very possibly make your image look "darker", and if your player app isn't DeInterlacing nicely, it could very well look like it was "blurrier", but neither problem means necessarily that your captured footage is bad.

Try this...
Load the footage into your editing app.
Cut a 2 minute piece together.
Roll it back out through Firewire (USB??).
Does it look the same when back on the tape? (You could hook your camcorder up to a TV if you want to see it larger)
If so, there's really no problem.
If it looks worse, it's back to square one, and I'd make extra sure that you are using the equivalent of a Firewire digital transfer--nothing less is acceptable.

Scott

[thecoalman]

His troubles are bad advice from some posters on the other thread he linked to above.... He was using the USB port. The sample I downloaded from his other thread was 320X???

Wrong---both USB and Firewire both transport the same data (1 and 0's) If you said that firewire is more dependable (fewer dropped frames) then I could agree with you.....

and from the same poster

I do this for a living----Let me educate you. Digital 8 format is a combination of the Hi8(TRANSPORT SYSTEM) and the DV codec. There should be no qualtative differences between it and DV. (IF THE LENSES ARE THE SAME THE CHIPS ARE THE SAME ETC) As far as transporting data goes, as I said before, firewire is preferable (and his camera supports it) but USB will work and IF YOU DONT DROP frames, the quality will be the same. I do wish people wouldn't give bad advice to people.

Yea me too in regards tothe last sentence... I set them straight tho...

[Cornucopia]

I just checked that thread...

MAN, there's a whole load of F.U.D. and 1/2 truths being told!!!! :P

chaterjee,

1st--USB 2.0 and Firewire both have THEORETICAL data transfer speeds of >400Mbps, well enough to easily transfer a DV-compressed stream.

That's not the problem.

2nd--USB & Firewire are JUST data transfer protocols and IF what the camera was feeding out of it's 2 ports (USB / Firewire) were the same, and a capturing app were to support both protocols for Video data transfer, THEN yes, the quality would be the same.

But, THAT's not the problem.

also, BTW iLink = Firewire = IEEE1394 (identically same thing, different corporate "branding" BS)

3rd--It sounds like you know plenty well how to take good shots.

That's not the problem either.

The problem is that,

4th--Your camera will NOT transfer digitally it's original DV-compressed stream via USB (as has been stated before, no cameras are known to at present). Firewire, OK. USB, No.
When you tell your camera to send video out via USB, it sends out a lower resolution and "webready" (but uncompressed???) facsimilie. This is for some STUPID Sony corporate Marketing BS gimmick that they want you to get all excited about and use. DON'T. EVER.

You will ALWAYS get a better picture going the standard Firewire route--EVEN were you to re-compress that for a small webclip (like a 320x240 WMV). And the apps to do that well are here at this site.

5th--It ticks me off that the people over there were so bent on either SELLING you some encoder boxes, or POMPOUS to the point of ignoring your needs and not conceding that they weren't telling the whole story.

Hopefully, you'll be treated better over here, and learn much more too.

Scott

[Cornucopia]

Oh, and a few other things:

If you have the "right" software, showing DV-AVI on a computer monitor is NO BLURRIER than on a TV.

and,

that HISTOGRAM doesn't tell you how you "wanted" the shot to look. If you wanted it to be HighKey and you shot it that way, and didn't waste your dynamic range, then a histogram like that might be totally appropriate.

...the coalman had some good things to say there, I don't want to add over there. I don't need to add another site to my list...

Scott

[LloydAZ]

When I tried to transfer the recorded videos to computer via a USB cable it cost me nearly GB for a mere 5 minute video.

That sounds about right. Uncompressed video is about 100MB per minute.

More like DV=216MB/Minute or 1080MB/5min. or 12.65GB/Hr.

Uncompressed D1 is 1.16GB/Min. Uncompressed RGB SD is 1.75GB/Min.

An uncompressed YUV 4:2:2 file at 100MB/Min would have to be ~192x144 size!?

OOPS! My mistake! Thanks for clearing it up!

[chatterjee]

Thank you for your quick replies,pals!

You can't make the quality better and the guy at the store was giving you a line of bullshit. What you can expect is the same quality or nearly the same quality as what you see directly from cam to TV.

Yes,I just want my video to look similar to that of TV.To tell the truth,the quality of the video is better on the LCD.But,when viewed in TV,even though the quality is inferior to that of LCD,it is GOOD or SATISFACTORY.I'll be quite happy if I manage to make the video(on DVD) of TV-quality.

Transfer as DV-AVI, this an exact copy of what is on cam. Convert o MPEG using a high bitrate. There's templates in VS for this, the high quality one is 6000kbps which is not the highest you can go but is usually more than adequate for low end digital cams.

As I said it before,I repeat,I'm a complete newbie in the VIDEO field.I'm just a novice here.Please don't leave nothing unexplained if you want me to derive benefit of your knowledge.Please suggest me the s/w and the other useful stuffs that I need to buy.

4th--Your camera will NOT transfer digitally it's original DV-compressed stream via USB (as has been stated before, no cameras are known to at present). Firewire, OK. USB, No.
When you tell your camera to send video out via USB, it sends out a lower resolution and "webready" (but uncompressed???) facsimilie. This is for some STUPID Sony corporate Marketing BS gimmick that they want you to get all excited about and use. DON'T. EVER.

So,that's true that the quality will be better if I use Firewire and a good s/w like-Ulead studio.

---------------
START EDIT
---------------
I've found a great article on "Creating High-Quality Home Videos" here.

URL:https://www.videohelp.com/forum/userguides/179038.php

But I have to distrbute a picnic-video to my friends and I would like to do the same with SVCD.Please Guide me!

------------
STOP EDIT
-------------

[thecoalman]

As I said it before,I repeat,I'm a complete newbie in the VIDEO field.I'm just a novice here.Please don't leave nothing unexplained if you want me to derive benefit of your knowledge.Please suggest me the s/w and the other useful stuffs that I need to buy.

If you have Ulead Video Studio that is a fine product to start out with, to get you feet wet so to speak. It's pretty much straight forward and guides you through the process. The biggest mistake you can make is how you get the footage to HDD.... When your on the capture screen one of the selctions is DV-AVI, pick that and follow through.

Everyone here was in your shoes at one time but no one is going to want to post specific directions from start to finish... it would require a book. Besides I'm not even familiar with VS enough to provide that info.... experiment. You're trouble was getting good footage to HD correct? You now have the information to get it to HD at the best quality possible... take it from there and come back if you need any futher help if you get stuck.

[chatterjee]

My father will bring me the firewire card today and experiment will commence in no time.I'll surely get stuck and will be here to bother you guys.Thanks!