DV Codec question

[tmh]

For starters, the video projects i do all involve some mini-DV camcorder footage and usually some still photos (jpeg) mixed in. I edit/create and add a music track in Pinnacle 9.1 . Depending on the final audience I either do an easy encode to mpeg2 in Pinnacle or use TMPGenc or Procoder to encode. Either way, I use TDA to author and Nero to burn.

So.....here's my codec question. When I want to have Pinnacle output an AVI-DV file for encoding with another encoder I don't know what codec to select. If I use the default in Pinnacle it uses a codec called "DV Video Encoder". If I use the button that says "keep settings the same as project" it also goes to the "DV Video Encoder" in the codec selection section.

What is that codec and is it the one I want? I have the Panasonic DV Codec as one of the choices but do I want to change at this step? Also, WHEN does the AVI "pick up" the codec? Is it already there when I transfer from my Sony camcorder? Can I force it to use whichever one I want a some point? Does it make any difference?

Thanks

[guns1inger]

When you shoot some footage, a codec in your camera is used to create a file containg DV data.

When you plug your camera into your PC's firewire port and transfer the footage to the harddrive, you are transfering this file. A codec is not used at this point.

When you play back the footage, a codec is used to decode the information in the AVI file for playback. If you have multiple DV codecs on your system, which one is used is dependednt on the playback software. In most cases it will be the Microsoft codec.

Playback is not the real concern however. If you edit DV footage and add a few crossfades and some text overlay, then everywhere you have done more than a simple cut/join you will be creating new footage. This new footage will be created using one of the DV codecs if you are saving this back to an avi file.

It is generally considered that Microsoft's DV codec is very soft, and not a good choice for encoding. Sony ships a very strong DV codec with Vegas. The Panasonic DV codec has a pretty good rep as well, although not all will agree I'm sure. Pinnacle probably has it's own codec as well. Many editing programs will not allow you to change DV codecs anyway. If yours does, then best way to trial it is to encode the same footage with each and compare. Pick the one you are happy with and get on with life a little happier than yesterday.

[tmh]

Thanks, gs. Now, lets say I did add crossfades, text, etc. As you say, my original AVI-DV footage has a certain codec from my Sony camcorder. Should I typically stick with THAT codec when Pinnacle processes the new AVI project and encodes the new parts? Would Pinnacle then not touch the footage that hasn't been altered?

I'll do some trial and error but I want to narrow it down to a few to look at. When re-encoding from one DV codec to another is there quality loss, similar to going from DV to mpeg2 encoding? I really just want the program to leave the original DV footage alone, do what it needs to on the fades, etc. leaving me a DV-AVI file of the closest to original footage possible to feed to a better DV to mpeg2 encoder than Pinnacle.

[guns1inger]

Once the footage has been transferred from the camera, the camera codec plays no further role. It is built into hardware in the camera. Ideally, Pinnacle should not reencode all the footage, only that which has changed in a manner requiring the creation of new footage. Only if you decide to either save it back to disk as an AVI, or back to the camera, will a DV codec be required. If you go straight from pinnacle to mpeg2, then the cross fades will be encoded straight to mpeg-2.

A good DV codec (eg. Sony) can go several generations before it degrades visibly. Others (eg. Microsoft) can be soft in the first generation, and damn ugly after that. DV should be DV, but not all codecs are equal. If you have the Panasonic DV codec on your machine, and can select it as an output codec, give it a go and see how it stacks up against Pinnacle's native codec (which may in fact be Microsoft's - I don't know).

[tmh]

Got it. I'll try the Panasonic first. I'm trying to avoid using the Pinnacle mpeg2 encoder so I do need to output as DV-AVI. I'll also gspot the transfered original footage from my camcorder and see what codec it "came with" when captured. I'll use WinDV so that Pinnacle can't "Pinnacleize it".