Can I Use AVI Instead of MPEG?

[markannab]

I notice that most seem to use MPEG format as their source file for making DVD's. Footage from my camcorder is captured by default as AVI. I pull that into my editor and when finished editing I can export as AVI or MPEG. I've tried both & both produce good results. Can someone explain the difference? Thanks.

[Baldrick]

You must use mpeg if you want a standard dvd-video, www.videohelp.com/dvd#tech . If you only are playing the video on your computer you can use whatever format you like.

And you can't compare avi and mpg video because mpg is a video codec and avi a container that can store several video formats. But I guess you mean dv-avi ?

[Pinstripes23]

I notice that most seem to use MPEG format as their source file for making DVD's.

Mpeg is for DVDs. AVI is not.

Whether you want to convert to either depends on what your end goal is.

[Richard_G]

MPEG is a final product format and not particularly well suited to editing due to the way it is compressed. DV AVI from a Digital camcorder is ideally suited to being edited. Transfer as DV AVI, edit and when you are happy with your final production, assuming your goal is a standalone playable DVD, encode to MPEG.

If your video from the camcorder is of fairly decent quality (not shot in poor light, without camera shake, etc) and the MPEG is encoded at a high enough bitrate, the difference between the orginal DV AVI file and the final MPEG file should be barely noticable.

[thecoalman]

If your cam is mini-DV cam and you're transferring the footage footage as DV-AVI via firewire that will give you the best results for editing and fianl encoding to MPEG. Note that I said transferring, this is eaxct bit for bit copy of what is on the tape. Not much different than if you copied a file from one folder to another on your computer.

[markannab]

You must use mpeg if you want a standard dvd-video

What I'm about to ask isn't a challenge . . . I'm just trying to understand:

Until now, I've mistakenly been exporting from Videostudio into AVI format. From there, I've imported into NeroVision for burning, and it works fine. The quality is excellent. That being the case, am I actually missing out on something by continuing to use AVI rather than MPEG?

[Nitemare]

If you're burning a standard DVD, then Nerovision must be converting/encoding the MPEG for you. You'll get better results using another MPEG encoder or exporting to a DVD compliant MPEG from Videostudio.

If you're using the disc on your PC, then Nerovision might be making a data disc. If it's still a DV-AVI then that is the better quality.

[thecoalman]

am I actually missing out on something by continuing to use AVI rather than MPEG?

Not unless your in a rush. Capturing as MPEG only saves you a little bit of time because the MPEG doesn't have to be re-encoded again. I've seen some pretty good results with VideoStudio doing capture on the fly but be aware you want to make sure that it doesn't get re-encoded by either VideoStudio after you make any edits or Nero when you import it.

If you are using Videostudio the procedure for the best results is as follows.... Capture as DV-AVI, this is a loss-less transfer from your cam to your computer, it's an exact duplicate of what's on the cam. No quality loss. Use this as your source for editing, exporting or creating DVD compliant MPEG.

From there you can make your edits and export as DV-AVI, Video Studio will only re-encode the necessary frames when you do this. For example if you added a title somewhere it will have to re-encode just those frames. The rest of your video will still be the same exact frames that transferred from your cam. Again 0 loss in quality.

You can also export MPEG directly from Videostudio which is what I would recommend because Videostudio uses a version of Mainconcept's encoder which has superb quality. Can't speak for Nero but from the posts I've read it's not so hot. One thing that is important is you want to make sure Nero doesn't re-encode your MPEG, this is bad.

Basically it comes down to doing as little as possible, the highest quality video you have is whats on the cam. The more conversions it goes through the more you are going to degrade it.