What exactly is a codec.

[troyvcd1]

I have some questions about codecs. When I capture minidv from my camcorder what codec will it get captured to. I have always heard that capturing is just a digital transfer so where does the codec fit in. I hear about all these people comparing codecs but where does the codec fit in. When I capture does the video get a codec depending on the codecs in my computer. Can I associate my video with a specific codec and if I am encoding to mpg2 does the specific codec matter.

[edDV]

Partial answers:

"Codec" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codec

When you capture DV from a DV camcorder to a DirectX capture-transfer program like WinDV, two things happen

1. The data is sent as a datastream to your HDD (to the DV-AVI file specified). No codec is used. The original video was encoded with the hardware DV codec in the camcorder.

2. The video preview window in Windv needs a codec to decode the stream to video and audio. Unless a different codec is specified, the default MS DV codec will be used.

If you edit the captured video in such a way that it needs to be decoded to YUV or RGB and filtered, and then re-encoded to DV, a DV codec is required.

Commercial editing programs install their own (licensed) internal DV codec (often Mainconcept). Free or nearfree editing programs often require that you separately install a "free" DV codec.

[Darth Paris]

edDV gave a pretty good answer

if I am encoding to mpg2 does the specific codec matter.

It only matters as far as the quality of the video that results from whatever codec you choose. Your MPEG 2 encoder will be able to use any codec you have on your system.

[jimmalenko]

When I capture minidv from my camcorder what codec will it get captured to.

That depends on what program you use, and what codec you configure it to "capture" to. It would normally be a DV codec of some description.

I have always heard that capturing is just a digital transfer so where does the codec fit in.

Uncompressed AVI can be anywhere between about 40-120GB depending on the colorspace. 25Mbps DV-AVI is fixed at 13.2GB per hour so it is generally more beneficial to "capture" using this.

I hear about all these people comparing codecs but where does the codec fit in.

The codec is required for compression and decompression of your file.

When I capture does the video get a codec depending on the codecs in my computer.

Yes, you choose the codec you want to use, depending on the codecs on your computer, and the software you capture with.

Can I associate my video with a specific codec and if I am encoding to mpg2 does the specific codec matter.

If you use the same program for capture, then you can keep using the same codec. It doesn't really matter what codec you convert from when converting to MPEG-2, although a DV codec does make editing a lot easier since every frame is an I-Frame.

[lordsmurf]

https://www.videohelp.com/glossary?C#Codec