how big can an dv captured avi file be for a dvd

[bohboh]

I have two avi's i captured using windv. One is 13gb and the other 8gb, i want to get them both (21gb) onto one dvd. What will the quality be like?

Generally as a rule, how big can a dv-avi file be without losing any quality?

To create the dvd i am using avi2dvd.

[jimmalenko]

That's about 1 hour 40 mins combined, right ?

Provided you either a) know how to handle your tools, or b) your tools know how to do it for you, then the outcome should be quite reasonable.

IMHO there aren't any universal "general rules" so to speak, only those that you can set for yourself based on your own quality thresholds.

Filesize means sweet FA - it's all about the running time. Some will say that anything over an hour @ Full D1 on a DVD is a drop in quality, others will say that they quite happily cram 8 hours or more on at sub-VCD (or KVCD) quality. It really depends on what YOU class as good/bad/indifferent, even moreso since YOU are the one watching these.

[jtoolman2000]

Is not hte file size of the captured video that counts but the length in minutes. If we asume that 60 mins of full DV is about 13+ gigs. Then you will compress to MPG2 and 1:30 to 2 hours to fit nicely with good to very good quality. Depending on how it is encoded.

[bohboh]

Depending on how it is encoded.

Can you elaborate on what i would need to take into account with regards to encoding.

[jimmalenko]

Depending on how it is encoded.

Can you elaborate on what i would need to take into account with regards to encoding.

http://members.dodo.net.au/~jimmalenko/AVI2DVD.htm tells you pretty much everything you need to know.

I'm guessing he means things like 2-Pass VBR, using appropriate bitrates, maybe even some masking of the overscan area, some filtering if required ...... there's a few different things you can do to optimise your encodes.

[bohboh]

I see. Blimey.

I have been encoding to a format that avi2dvd accepts, using panasonic dv codec, then loading it into avi2dvd and creating the dvd folder.

Would doing what was explained in the tutorial result in a better quality dvd compared to encoding to dv codec and then avi2dvd?

[jimmalenko]

That tutorial is very much just the basics, and does not include any filtering or anything like that. However, it does teach things like using a bitrate calculator and recommending encoding methods and frame sizes to use given the results the bitrate calculator returns. It should give you excellent to adequate results, but I use the term adequate loosely. A good source may not require all the bells and whistles of filtering and so may come out really well, but OTOH, a poor source will produce a poor result without filtering.

I don't understand what you mean by "encoding" ? WinDV transfers DV from a DV source. The encoding has actually been done on the mechanism you're transferring from. Are you just feeding this footage into AVI2DVD, or are you re-encoding with another tool first ?

[Browncoat]

I capture DV with my ADVC100 and end up with very large files which I turn into DVD compliant mpg's using PowerDirectorPro. This works well for me.

[bohboh]

My process is as follows:

Capture from camera using windv (13gb avi)
Add timestamp to avi using vdts
Encode using panasonic dv codec (for some reason avi2dvd doesnt like the avi directly from windv)
Create the dvd folder using avi2dvd

Having seen what the tutorial details, i wonder if i could improve even further the quality of the dvd.

[tmh]

You may want to play around with some filters (lots here use virtualDub for that) if the DV footage is less than optimal - which it usually is if it's general camcorder footage and not a "staged" event with lights and all.

Also, the transcoder (encoder?) from AVI to DVD compliant step is critical to the quality and all transcoders are not the same. Some work better with certain material some with other. I haven't used avi2dvd myself so I don't know what internal encoder it uses, but there may be other ones that yield better quality (there may also not be). it's worth trying some others on 5 min. clips to see how you like the output. You may also be able to skip the step of screwing around with the capture file just to make it cooperate with the encode program.

Procoder and TMPgenc are encoders discussed here all the time as good quality options. There are others as well. I personally use TMPG because I have it and it's better than the others I've tried (mostly some of the free ones). The quality seems very good to me.

[jimmalenko]

Virtualdub and/or AVISynth would probably be a couple of the more popular methods for filtering. Be warned though that they both can take a bit of learning before you'll be able to use them effectively. Google and http://www.avisynth.org may be required frequently !

[bohboh]

ok. Just so's i know.. i need to look into

1. Filtering to improve the quality of the captured avi, place to start would be virtualdub and avisynth.
2. The avi to dvd conversion (is that transcoding?) . Places to start are procoder and tmpgenc.

I.e. the 2 most critical stages for digital video to dvd are initial avi filtering and the transcoding stage.

Correct?

[jimmalenko]

1. is a bit hard because you need to know what filters you want to use, but you can't know what filters to use if you don't know anything about it. Catch 22 !

http://www.avisynth.org/warpenterprises is a pretty good place to start though. With a mountain of surfing here, Doom9 and google you should be able to find peoples' sample scripts and it's really just a little bit of trial and error to find the filters (and their configs) that improve your picture. https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=297929 might be a good starting point though.

2. To be brief, the process is called encoding if you are decoding all frames back to raw and reassigning bits to the entire frame. Transcoding trims "unneeded" DCT data already in the encode and doesn't decode each frame back to raw footage. It's much more involved than that but that definition will suffice for the purpose of this discussion.

The guide I linked you to steps you through using TMPGEnc, but you should be able to find guides on ProCoder either here or at Doom9. There's other encoders (some free) as well.

[bohboh]

One bit within all my videos i would like to improve (if at all possible) is the grainy picture you get in low light filming. I know this is due to the lack of light. I just wonder if there was a way to, in any small way, improve it.

[guns1inger]

avisynth with convolution3d can do wonders. There is a good tutorial with some basic starter scripts here -> https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=225951

There are a number of other noise filters such as peachcleaner than also be used. I find convolution3d on a medium setting is a good compromise between noise removal and detail retention for this type of problem, however you are still left with dark, low contrast video. Once you start trying to increase the brightness of the contrast, you bring back the noise.

The thing to be wary of with all software noise removal methods is that they do reduce the detail level of the clip to some degree, and the stronger the noise removal, the more detail is lost as a consequence. Too much, and you get plastic looking, posterised output.