Advice on best Video Capturing and Editing software.

[acommuter]

Hi,

I’m new to video capturing and editing and I'm hoping someone can offer software advice. BTW, I have a Panasonic Mini-DV camcorder with a USB 2.0 connection. I just purchased an Adaptec USB 2.0 adapter. The camcorder came with software called MotionDV Studio.

What software could I use for the following? Maybe there’s software that does all three; or at least two? However, if using 2, 3 or 4 types of software will yield the best results, than that’s what I’ll use.

1) Transfer video from camcorder to PC via USB 2.0. I tried the transfer using Windows Movie Maker, which created a .wmv file. I'm sure MotionDV is just as good, but I haven't installed it yet. I'm doing some research first.

2) Editing video from the PC transfer. For example, I would like to remove certain recordings from the final version and perhaps add some effects.

3) Converting the final version to DVD format. In #1, I mention .wmv, but I'm not partial to this format. I will use any format the best transfer and editing software yields. If it's .avi, I would then be interested in a good .avi to DVD converter.

Finally, any tips and tricks you can offer would be greatly appreciated. Of course, I'm looking to create the best quality DVD I can from the video I have. As for tips and tricks, maybe suggestions on fps, resolution and bitrate; things of this nature.

Thanks.

[gadgetguy]

My method for doing what you want to do is:
1. Capsfer using Firewire (Not USB) and WinDV (This capsfers to DV-AVI format.)
2. Edit using AviSynth, Virtualdub, and occasionally Ulead VS6. (Still in DV-AVI format.)
3. Encode using QuEnc. (Convert to MPG2 video and AC3 audio.)
4. Author using TDA version 1.5. (Create menu and convert to proper file structure for DVD.)
5. Burn using either Nero or TDA.

This is what works "best" for me. Others have their own version of "best".

I don't know about your camera, but most cams with USB only use it for stills and low resolution video (like to be used as a webcam). To get the best quality, use firewire (ilink, IEEE1394).

[Keitho]

I agree that you'll need a firewire card to get the quality you want. I use Ulead Video Studio 9 to transfer the video from the camera to the hard drive. I'll start and stop the transfer at the points I want, to save separate video files. These files take up about 13 gb per hour of video.
Next, I'll compress the avi files into mpg2 files using CCE, at 8000kbs cbr. Finally, I'll load these into Ulead Movie Factory 2 to author my DVD, making a menu icon for each separate video file. It's within this program that I trim off the beginnings and endings of each video clip. I'm talking home movies here.

[acommuter]

Thanks Gadgetguy.

I read the "How to capture video from your DV camera and convert to DVD" guide posted on this site, and it seems pretty straight forward.

First, I guess my biggest concern is any quality loss during the conversion from Camcorder to DV-AVI and from DV-AVI to DVD. The guide also suggests WinDV for this process.

Secondly, I imagine video editing is quite CPU and memory intensive. Since I have 4 tapes to convert and much splicing to do, I'm concerned quality might suffer and frame loss might occur. I'll be sure to read-up on "Frame Drops". For editing, the idea I have is to find/use an application that isn't too robust but offers the standard features.

Can you comment on the quality of the DVDs you created? Were they bright? How about the resolution; the guide suggests 720x576?

I will certainly try the apps you suggested.

Thanks again.

[Keitho]

When using firewire to transfer dv from your camcorder to your hard drive, you aren't capturing anything. The video is already in digital format. You're just copying it to your hard drive, so your computer isn't really working that hard, and you shouldn't experience any dropped frames. It also already is in 720x576 format if your camera is set to that resolution. So, all you have to do is compress and convert the avi into mpg2 somehow, and that is cpu-intensive. The higher the bitrate you compress it at, the better the quality. I use 8000 kps constant bit rate, because it is faster, and I'm not too concerned about how much will fit on a dvd. You can use variable bit rate, which will save space, but take much longer to encode because it would need to make at least 2 passes to do its job. I have used TMPGENC and CCE to do the encoding, and both do a good job, but CCE is almost 4 times faster. With my 2.4 GHz pentium 4, it encodes a little faster than real time, so 1 hour of avi takes about 50 minutes to encode. With TMPGENC, it would take nearly 4 hours.

[acommuter]

Damn.

I rechecked my camcorder manual and it's DV port (IEEE1394 - 4 Pin) is capable of both input and output. I'm sure I read input only.

Anyhow, the Adaptec site states their USB adapter is capable of 480 Mbps while their Firewire is capable of 400 Mbps. Did I miss something?

I will probably purchase a Firewire adapter anyway since most are telling me it's the best way to go. As for the USB 2.0 adapter, is this the only way to view still pictures? Can I view stills with Firewire? If yes, I'll return the USB card and pickup a Firewire instead.

Thanks.

[Keitho]

You would think that USB 2.0 would be fine for transferring dv to computers, but I've never seen anything that supports that - just firewire. All the software I've seen that will save dv to the computer only uses firewire. I'm sure someone else will correct me if I'm wrong.

Regarding your still images, it depends on how your camera stores them. If they are stored on the tape, then I think you do have to use the USB cable that came with the camera, not firewire. If your camera stores still images on a memory card, then a card reader would work for you. My camera (Sony HC21) stores stills on the tape, but I've never used that function, since I have digital cameras that do a much better job. Check you camcorder manual to make sure about the stills.

[Keitho]

I forgot to mention that you can buy combination USB/Firewire cards, so you'll have both on one card.
I'm assuming your computer's built-in USB ports are 1.1 and not 2.0 ports?

[acommuter]

Thanks Keitho for the replies.

My camera model is Panasonic PVGS250.

I can definitely transfer video using USB 2.0. I did a little last night. Also, my camera stores stills on an SD card and based on the documentation, USB 2.0 seems to be the only method to transfer stills. It would be nice if Firewire did it as well.

If I have to get two adapters or a dual-adapter (Firewire and USB 2.0) I will. I guess at this point, I'd be interested in knowing what the technical differences are between USB 2.0 and Firewire? If Firewire gets me the best results, Firewire it is.

I'll get the adapter stuff straightened out, and then I'll worry again about software.

Thanks again.

[edDV]

Thanks Keitho for the replies.

My camera model is Panasonic PVGS250.

I can definitely transfer video using USB 2.0. I did a little last night. Also, my camera stores stills on an SD card and based on the documentation, USB 2.0 seems to be the only method to transfer stills. It would be nice if Firewire did it as well.

If I have to get two adapters or a dual-adapter (Firewire and USB 2.0) I will. I guess at this point, I'd be interested in knowing what the technical differences are between USB 2.0 and Firewire? If Firewire gets me the best results, Firewire it is.

I'll get the adapter stuff straightened out, and then I'll worry again about software.

Thanks again.

Firewire is what you need if you still want convincing, DV transfer rate over IEEE-1394 is 1x realtime at 3.7 MB/s (~30Mb/s) but even going that slow, it will be near the limits of your 1.2 GHz CPU and 80GB HDD if your profile is correct.

Single drive transfer means that your CPU can clobber the DV stream if the OS wants the drive. This is a stream not a file transfer under OS control. You should shut down other processes while transferring and don't use the computer. Consider the transfer somewhat fragile because you don't want frame drops for the full hour.

To minimze this issue, a second drive is usually used for video capture or DV firewire in/out transfer. A second drive on a second disk controller will operate independently of the OS drive through a process known a PCI Bus Mastering.

If you only have a 80GB single drive, make sure it is defragmented. Be prepared for 13.5GB per hour of DV transfer and make space for about 18GB of tmp files to create the DVD. It would be a good time to add that second drive if your space is tight.

USB video transfer from MiniDV camcorders is usually a low quality highly compressed MPeg stream ~320x240/288 intended for web streaming. Most camcorders (all that I have seen) allow full quality DV 720x480/576 transfers only over IEEE-1394.

Avoid going to wmv format if your goal is a high quality DVD. Transfer in DV format, edit in DV format and then encode to DVD MPeg2. ULead Video Studio 8 or 9 is a good all-in-one solution but many other options exist.

[acommuter]

Ok, I'm convinced. Firewire it is.

Thanks to everyone for your detailed replies on both the hardware and software questions. It’s very much appreciated, especially for a novice like me.

BTW, great website with very skilled members.