DV file editing

[Intuit]

Hi everyone. I use a Sony Handycam which I record videos with. I use my xp window movie maker software to capture to Raw AVI type 1 video. I would like to split the video into different parts and name the parts. What would be the best way to do this to maintain good quality?

I will eventually encode to DVD format and put on a DVD...

Should i encode before I edit or after?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[harley2ride]

Edit first, then encode.

[Intuit]

Good deal. I have heard that I can use Virtualdub to take out portions of an raw avi file. I would like to save different portions of a raw avi file with different names so I can convert and assemble like scenes together on a dvd.

Does anyone know how to cut out sections of a raw avi file and save for later encoding? Also, will there be any quality loss simply by taking out a section of the avi and saving it with a different name?

[daamon]

Hi Intuit,

I don't use WMM to transfer my DV AVI, I use WinDV instead. I use this because it can be easily set to detect scene changes (i.e. the point on the tape at which recording was stopped and the started again) and save these into different (numbered) files.

I then rename these files but keep the numbering, so everything is still in chronological order - but named so I've a clue what's in it.

You can then use VirtualDub to do any trimming of each DV AVI clip. When saving, make sure that you have Video -> Direct Stream Copy set so that:

a) It doesn't save to (the default) uncompressed AVI and give you huge files.

b) There's no quality loss by chopping out the bit you want.

There are plenty of guides on VirtualDub - one will cover what you want to do.

[Intuit]

Thanks Daamon. I am downloading Windv now. The scene detect sounds like it will help things a bunch. Believe it or not, I have been unable to find a good guide on how to taking out parts of a avi file with virtual dub...

Any quick suggestions?

[daamon]

Hi Intuit,

Set up WinDV as stated here:

https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?p=1387878#1387878

I'll get back to you on chopping with VirtualDub - gonna have a play / do some hunting and make sure I give you good info. It's been a while since I've chopped AVI with VirtualDub.

EDIT: OK, trimming an AVI with VirtualDub:

www.videohelp.com/guides.php?guideid=115#115

Comments regarding the guide:

Step 1: When it refers to the "start", that means the first frame of the trimmed AVI.

Step 3: Likewise with the "end" being the last frame.

[Intuit]

well i tried using windv and I like it cuz it easy to use, but i keep getting dropped frames. I thought Windv was good about not dropping frames? ITs the same amount every time...639. Any ideas why?

[daamon]

WinDV isn't the only component invovled in the operation - there's the cam, the cable, the firewire card, the hard drive etc.

Where are the 639 frames being dropped?

Quite often, if you start WinDV recording then start the tape playing you'll get some dropped frames. But 639 seems excessive - I typically get around 80- if I do that.

If it's in the same place on the tape then it could well be bad tape.

Also, see the sticky in the "Capturing" forum about dropped frames.

[mikesbytes]

well i tried using windv and I like it cuz it easy to use, but i keep getting dropped frames. I thought Windv was good about not dropping frames? ITs the same amount every time...639. Any ideas why?

WinDV buffers something like 100 frames. When the PC can't keep up, eventually WinDV is forced to drop the frames. The most likely reason is that the hard drive is not keeping up.

Those of us who do lots of DV transfers usually have a seperate hard drive, used just for capturing the video. This means that the drive is not interrupted by other activities using the hard drive.

A search of this web site will return a large number of posts on DV transfer problems.

[daamon]

Those of us who do lots of DV transfers usually have a seperate hard drive, used just for capturing the video.

And regulalrly defragment it.

[Intuit]

well I am getting the hang of doing some crude editing with vdub. However, i have a problem. everything was going fine until I saw the little checkbox for batch mode and clicked it. I than ran my batch of clips to save to avi and they all contained static in the audio. So I figured I would go back to the original way I was doing it (saving each clip seperately)and start over by reopening vdub. Now, the static is there with all clips I edit out. The only other thing I messed with was changing from normal thread processing priority to highest. anyone know what happened to my audio? Help!

Update:
WEll i just determined its my sourcea audio. Apparently my furnace was running at the same time I was recording and it through vdub for a loop and caused a bunch of static!??? WTF???

[Intuit]

NEWEST UPDATE:

its not my source audio, its something else. I don't understand it, one second the clips sound fine that I have cut out of the source video with Virtualdub and the next minute all I hear is really loud static. Anyone know what the heck is going on?

[gadgetguy]

I don't know if this will help because for me it happened in the source as well as the clips, but I had a problem a while back that I spent days chasing down only to find that there was no static in the recording at all. In my case it turned out that my sound card produces static whenever certain frequencies are played. Most of the time there is no static at all, but certain sounds cause it and only through the headset port.

[edDV]

NEWEST UPDATE:

its not my source audio, its something else. I don't understand it, one second the clips sound fine that I have cut out of the source video with Virtualdub and the next minute all I hear is really loud static. Anyone know what the heck is going on?

If WinDV doesn't transfer properly it indicates serious problems with your system. Win DV is essentially a control panel for DirectShow. It adds a small software buffer.

problems could stem from single drive framedrops due to OS asserting control of the drive or background processes doing the same thing.

If you can't transfer DV over IEEE-1394 without framedrops, your system isn't ready for serious video.

[Intuit]

Windv seems to be the only capture software that drops frames...or at least says it does. I dont see anywhere where WMM claims to have dropped frames. I'm not trying to do some serious editing, I'm just trying to transfer home movies of my son on the pc and put like clips together and then burn to dvd. I already know how to makes menus, encode, stuff like that. But this static in the audio problem baffles me.

[Intuit]

I don't know if this will help because for me it happened in the source as well as the clips, but I had a problem a while back that I spent days chasing down only to find that there was no static in the recording at all. In my case it turned out that my sound card produces static whenever certain frequencies are played. Most of the time there is no static at all, but certain sounds cause it and only through the headset port.

I tried going ahead and burning to DVD and the static was still there...thanks though

[Intuit]

NEWEST UPDATE:

its not my source audio, its something else. I don't understand it, one second the clips sound fine that I have cut out of the source video with Virtualdub and the next minute all I hear is really loud static. Anyone know what the heck is going on?

that may have been misleading. The static is throughout the entire clip one time when I play it. But another time when I play it, it sounds fine. Unfortunately, now all my clips have the static and it isn't going back to normal, but my source video still sounds fine...

[edDV]

If the audio plays fine out of the camcorder, there is nothing that could add noise during a IEEE-1394 transfer.

Can you play a similar file from the hard drive without noise?

[mikesbytes]

Windv seems to be the only capture software that drops frames...or at least says it does. I dont see anywhere where WMM claims to have dropped frames. I'm not trying to do some serious editing, I'm just trying to transfer home movies of my son on the pc and put like clips together and then burn to dvd. I already know how to makes menus, encode, stuff like that. But this static in the audio problem baffles me.

WMM doesn't tell you that it has dropped frames. WinDV is possibly the best DV transfer program out there. As per EdTV's comments, if WinDV is dropping frames, then there is something wrong with your computer, from a DV transfer viewpoint.

[Intuit]

If the audio plays fine out of the camcorder, there is nothing that could add noise during a IEEE-1394 transfer.

Can you play a similar file from the hard drive without noise?

Yes I can play similar files such as my source file fine. Its just the clips that were created when I used Vdub to take out section of my source video.

[Intuit]

Windv seems to be the only capture software that drops frames...or at least says it does. I dont see anywhere where WMM claims to have dropped frames. I'm not trying to do some serious editing, I'm just trying to transfer home movies of my son on the pc and put like clips together and then burn to dvd. I already know how to makes menus, encode, stuff like that. But this static in the audio problem baffles me.

WMM doesn't tell you that it has dropped frames. WinDV is possibly the best DV transfer program out there. As per EdTV's comments, if WinDV is dropping frames, then there is something wrong with your computer, from a DV transfer viewpoint.

Could the dropped frames be from taking a still photo? My cam has a still picture function and there are at least two pictures intermixed with my video. Do you think that could be the cause for the dropped frames?

[mikesbytes]

On my camera, still photos are simply the same frame recorded for 5 seconds on the video.

Why don't you try transferring some video that has no photos on it.

BTW, do you have a separate drive for the capture to go to?