Converting DV tape for Archival Purposes

[trikcard]

I have a camera that records to DV. I transfer to the computer and it comes out as .AVI. As .avi storing them would be next to impossible because of the size. I was wondering which format would be the best to save them, so I can edit them later if I choose. I use Premiere Pro 2.0 to edit if it matters.
I thought MPEG 2 would be the best, but I heard there is substantial quality loss. I can't seem to find my answer anywhere, so I thought I'd ask here. It must be possible to put 2 hours of good quality video on a DVD, since that's what your DVD recorder does from the TV. I'm just wondering how.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Joey Evans

www.EvansMagic.com

[JohnnyMalaria]

Quite honestly, your best bet is to keep the original tapes.

[trikcard]

Yes, I thought of that, it's just that the tapes are so expensive and cumbersome. The majority of the content of them is home videos and a few of my shows.

[edDV]

I keep the tapes and backup to hard drives.

These days I'm using 200GB Maxtors as if they were DVDR discs.
BTW, a DVD-5 single layer holds about 20 min of DV or HDV format.

[Marvingj]

I also kept the original tape plus in addition to that kept them on portable harddrive. Portable harddrive are not expensive anymore. You can get 500G for about $200 or so.

[trikcard]

How much quality loss is there in a conversion to DVD or MPEG 2? Is it substantial?

[pijetro]

Trikcard...

The DV tapes are your archival media...

Yes, I thought of that, it's just that the tapes are so expensive and cumbersome.

Oh really???
You'll be hard pressed to find another way of archiving more efficiently or cheaply without losing quality or time...

How much quality loss is there in a conversion to DVD or MPEG 2? Is it substantial?

Yes there is, but how much is subjective. Simply get a settop recorder with a front DV input, and record to disk..
But don't forget, in the future, any advanced editing will require recompressing that information, so you'll definately lose some quality..
It's like turning water to icecubes, only to melt back to water again..

JohnnyMalaria's suggestion is your best bet.

[pijetro]

Trikcard wrote:

I was wondering which format would be the best to save them, so I can edit them later if I choose. I use Premiere Pro 2.0 to edit if it matters.

Sorry, didn't see that till later..

Then definately.......Tapes..

If storage space for tapes are an issue, you can simply capture, remove unwanted material, and transfer back to tape..Sort of a rough cut of potential future footage...

Good luck!!!

[edDV]

Today I bought a 500GB SATA 300 (Maxtor MaxLine) for $109 (no rebate required) at Fry's. 500GB will store 38+ hours of DV format.

In quantity of 50, DV tape is ~$2.50/62 min tape or 38 x 2.50 = $95.
http://www.tapestockonline.com/sonyminidv.html

About a wash on cost but hard drive prices are dropping faster than tape. Random access for hard disk is the big advantage for clip re-use. Tapes can then be stored properly off site in temp controlled space.