Diference betwen .mov (dv) files and .dv files

[DavidCasillas]

There are some aplications (Quicktime one of then) that when save a .dv file imported from a miniDV camcorder create a .mov file (with dv inside) instead of a .dv file. This .mov file happens to be exactly twice the size the original .dv file.

What is the diference betwen then?
Is that .mov file in fact a dv file?
Why is double size?

To get the original container/format I have to chose export instead of save. Does this mean that the files are being reencoded even when the input and output formats are the same? Or do I have exactly the same quality even chosing exporting instead of save?

[Frobozz]

The quality is identical. You have a .dv file inside a QuickTime container and exporting to DV just removes the container. I don't know why the file size would be so much larger. I'd expect it to be nearly identical in size.

What are you wanting to do with your videos after transferring them to the Mac.? Maybe there is a better tool we can suggest other than using QuickTime Pro.

[rumplestiltskin]

Frobozz is correct; there are many tools; tell us what you are trying to do and we can recommend the right tool(s) for the job.

[DavidCasillas]

Thanks. What I was trying was to find a better way of editing my .dv files before I back them up to disk. By edit I basically mean split and join. Till now I was using iMovieHD, but I fell unoying having to open the files in iMovieHD and having to wait those files being copied into the movie project. I was looking for a straight forward app to do this. I try QT, AddMovie and SimplemovieX and all of them have the same problem, the file output is a .mov file, not a .dv file and the size is double the original file. I think I will continue to use iMovieHD.

To clarify the technical side of why the file is being duplicated here is what Media Info reports:

In the original .DV file (29.7Mb) Media Info reports:

Video:
Codec: Digital Video
Frame rate: 25.000

Audio:
Codec: PCM
Bitrate: 1.536

In the .mov output file Media Info reports:

Video:
Codec: Digital video (dvcp)
Frame rate: 25.000
Video stream size: 29.7Mb (exactly the size the original file)

Audio:
Codec: DV Audio (vdva)
Bitrate: 28.8 Mbps
Audio Stream size: 29.7 Mb ((exactly the size the original file)

[DavidCasillas]

It's me again. Trying some apps I find Mpegstreamclip does not do the internal switch to .mov the .dv files, so it will be the best solution. Any other idea?

[Herve]

some answers:

dv is a stream with a fixed bitrate, with enough place for audio and video

an "export in a mov wrapper" isolate both track:
- one dv track for video only
- one dv track for audio only
so, disk space needed is increasing by 2

some softs (FinalCut) need to isolate tracks
some softs (iMovie) doesn't need but support it too (like a raw dv stream)

MPegStrreamClip export dv inside a "mov wrapper" but desguise it to look like a dv stream (it's only for compatibility purposes)

a raw DV streams or a isolated dv stream in a mov, is the same quality (no lose)
bye

[DavidCasillas]

Hi Herve, it's a pleasure to hear from you again.

Things are starting to get a bit technical for me, I have not enought background to understand some of your answers.

So coming back to the practical side:

- If any of you would have to edit frequently .dv files from a camcorder doing spliting and joining of these files, which application will you use? Considering that the output file should be again a .dv file and reencoding shoud be avoided. Also easy operation should be considered.

Herve I can't understand what you say about Mpegstreamclip. If you open a .dv file and just save it, the result is again a .dv file (this does not happen with QT or any of the other apps comented before), if you export it as a dv file you get also a .dv file, but this time it takes longer (supose it reencodes de file). Everytime the output is same size as the input.

[rumplestiltskin]

{snip}...Till now I was using iMovieHD, but I fell unoying having to open the files in iMovieHD and having to wait those files being copied into the movie project...{snip}

You don't have to wait. Create the iMovieHD project. Save it. Quit iMovieHD. Locate your project file. Control-click (right-click) on the file and select "Show Package Contents". A window will open. Open the "Media" folder. Drop your "dv" files into that folder. Close the project window. Launch iMovieHD and it will tell you that it found some files and do you want to keep them or toss them. Keep them. They will now show up in the bin. Done. No "import" necessary.

[DavidCasillas]

Thank's for the imovieHD trick. That's a lot of time saved for me considereing that I always import the miniDV tapes with imovie08 (it uses a good naming system) and then I open those files in iMovieHD which take me a lot of time, now is just 5 seconds a whole tape.

[rumplestiltskin]

Glad to help!