how do i compress a huge avi file coming from a DV?

[tommybs]

hi,
since im gonna use my firewire card soon to capture from my DV-cam, i heard that u get huge abi files doing that. something like 30 mins = 4Gb. so is there a way to make these files smaller?
i know call me dumb, im noob

tommybs

[tweedledee]

It depends what you want to do with them later. If you run them thru TMPG and turn them into mpeg 1 files they will be a lot smaller, and you can burn them onto vcd's.

[davewave]

When you transfer from the camera it will be in full frame format, if you want to keep it and edit as an AVI, then use another codec, such as divx (www.divx.com), you will then be able to have reasonably small files and good quality, usually about 700Mb for 2 hours, the data rate can be changed when you save it, if you need smaller files or better quality.

[tommybs]

so how do i capture it then with DivX? or do i have to do later after i transfered it via firewire?

[Gazorgan]

Bah.

If you want to keep you DV quality, you are looking at more like 1 hour per CDR. Cams tend to be jumpy and have a lot of movement, this eats up bitrate.

Basically you have to decide if you are going to watch you movies on a PC or a TV, and encode to DivX/XviD or SVCD (for CDR's). You can encode to DVD if you have a DVD burner.

[tommybs]

wanna watch them on TV.... so??? wot to do?

[nerdboy69]

Actually, you will probably be looking at 30min=12Gb if doing a direct DV transfer to AVI.

More bad news - capturing direct to DivX real-time may not be an option unless you have a particularly grunty beast or a hardware encoder (if such a thing even is available). The quality is likely to be shocking due to the compromises it will need to make for real-time encoding.

I can capture to MPEG2 at reasonable quality if I go Half-D1, but I sacrifice quality compared to DV capture (which is really just a transfer) and then re-encoding from there using a decent encoder (TMPGEnc/CCE). But, you are staring down the barrel of 60min=24Gb.

All of this is a matter of priorities and opinion. I suggest giving it a go and see what you can tolerate either way.

[tommybs]

well, what i really want is to get my stuff from the dv-cam on to my pc no matter how but then to convert this file which just came from the dv to SVCD. as far as i know the file shouldnt be too big then or will the my encoding programme (AVI2SVCD) compress the file?

[nerdboy69]

You may be able to capture direct to SVCD specification, but you will have to judge the quality for yourself. (Morpheus: "Nobody can be told what the [insert-concept-here] is - you have to see it for yourself")

If you go via AVI and use something to then convert, then you need about 24Gb/hour. Period.

EDIT:
Please note, somebody already picked me up on my mistake - it is actually more like 13Gb/hour.

[Dragonsf]

You may be able to capture direct to SVCD specification, but you will have to judge the quality for yourself. (Morpheus: "Nobody can be told what the [insert-concept-here] is - you have to see it for yourself")

If you go via AVI and use something to then convert, then you need about 24Gb/hour. Period.

What kind of DV format is that? My DV goes at 13GB per hour- not more or less!

[nerdboy69]

Normal DV (type II, I believe).
But, you might have me there on my figures.

I did pause before I wrote that, because it has been a few weeks since I have done direct DV as I have been transferring to Half-D1 recently for stuff I don't intend to keep.

I will repost my figures when I confirm. Either way, even if we use your figures, he will need a considerable amount of disk space above 800Mb for direct transfer.

EDIT:
Yes, my apologies. It is more like 13Gb/hour.
Somebody spank me - I have been a very naughty nerdboy.

[tommybs]

my question is still not answered! i would like to know wot can i do to the 13 gb/hour when i want to fit it on ONE or TWO SVCD? how do i compress it?

[vandakeg]

I believe the reason nobody has answered your question is b/c i don't think it is possible to convert dv while capturing. As far I know, you must first capture the DV in DV form, then encode the video to whatever you like. Which still means you're going to need at least 13-14 gb free for one hour.

EDIT:
Yes, my apologies. It is more like 13Gb/hour.
Somebody spank me - I have been a very naughty nerdboy.

Don't be so hard on yourself nerdboy, for all inents and purposes, you really should have around 24gb per hour of DV video. You need 12gb for the captured file, and another 12 for the edited file (if you're going back to DV).

[tweedledee]

I was the one that sent you the first reply. I have a dv camera and I take movies and place them on my hard drive at about 12GB per hour. Then I use TMPG to convert to MPEG 1 for PAL TV which will fit 60 minutes of video on one CD. I find the quality reasonable, and have often spent hours fart-arseing around with little, if any, improvment. What's hard to understand about this?

[ZippyP.]

well, what i really want is to get my stuff from the dv-cam on to my pc no matter how but then to convert this file which just came from the dv to SVCD. as far as i know the file shouldnt be too big then or will the my encoding programme (AVI2SVCD) compress the file?

Yes, the encoding program will compress the file. You will be converting from DV-Avi format to mpeg2 and the size of the mpeg will be much smaller. It depends on the bitrate you specify which will determine how many minutes per CD, anywhere from 35-60.

[tommybs]

thanks gusy thats all i wanted to hear.... !
@tweedledee: im sorry, i somehow didnt see ur reply...

anyways: can somebody tell me good dv-cam there is for sale around 700 $ or Euros? which has if possible analog digital passthrough? and it has to be good of course...

[tommybs]

another question: i know that a Fat32 system only handles 4 gig and ntfs more but its too much work for changing mine to ntfs! i got w2k. i heard u can use Vdub which automatically splits the avi in to segments. well i dont really know what codec to use since my huffy yuv no matter how many i install wont appear in the compressions list or an error appears when i choose YUV2 in custom format...
need help
greetz

[MrKGB]

tommybs,
converting to ntfs is very easy, just type in command prompt:
convert /?
and you will see instructions.

[tommybs]

wont i lose all my data on that drive then??? thats whats making me anxious....
???

[MrKGB]

I understand you, but AFAIK you will not lose data. try on some drive which you don't care about.
I normally do such things using partition magic.