Very Simple I bet, but Im so new to it I dont know!

[Leemaster]

Hi Peeps!

First of all, what a great website, I'm glad I came across it!!
I'm from the UK, so hello! :O)
*enough of the sucking up, I need help peeps!*

All I want to do is capture home made video on to my PC and edit it, then put it onto DVD.

I have a capture card, and will have a DVD Writer.

My question is, I want the best possible quality, but I also want to edit in Premier... (Ulead doesn't do it for me, although its nice that you can edit in mpeg2)

Should I be capturing in MPEG1? so I can edit in Premier?
What I presumed was:
- capture MPEG1,
- edit MPEG1 *in premier*
- Then use 'TMPGENC' to encode into MPEG2 ?
- Finished product, ready for me to put onto DVD.

(will this method lose any quality, or won't I notice?)

I hear that if I capture in AVI, it will max out at 2gigs.?

My main point being, I want MAX quality, and still want to able to edit my video...

I'm not hot on codecs, or how you use them , so please be gentle!

Thanks for any tips/advice peeps! 8)

[Bravoxena]

Have you ever heard the term "garbage in, garbage out"? Well if you capture with mpeg1 and later convert to mpeg2... you are losing a lot of quality because mpeg2 is generally a lot better than mpeg1.

[Leemaster]

Thanks Bravoxena! lol...
This is why I wanted to know the best method....

Thanks for your advice... no really! lol..

So, please explain what would you do?

[Gazorgan]

Not. You should be capturing in max resolution. You should NOT be capturing in a lossy codec (MPEG2). Capture in HUFFYUV (lossless). If you don't have GB's of free disk space you can capture in MJPEG (virtuously lossless) with a setting of 18-19 (90-95%). This will give you the best raw material to work from. Capturing in MPEG2 will create artifacts when you re-encode.

At this point, you can use premier if that's your editor of choice. Personally I would dump segments out via VDUB, so I can filter the tape source. I would then import the clips into Premier, add my transistions and audio tracks, intro's and ending credits, and dump it all back out in HUFFYUV. Take the final product and run it through TMPGEnc for 2-pass VBR for DVD standard (your resolution is already the correct size, since you captured in that resolution). Piece-o-Cake!

[spidey]

to help give you pics with Gazorgan's advice check out https://www.videohelp.com/capture

Huffyuv is your best bet if you're doing analog (VHS) caps.