Mjpeg dv camera

[bonnie]

Hello. I bought myself a Canon dv-camera where the video is recorded in the Mjpeg format . I was wondering how to best work with this format.
I want the video to be put on a dvd or on my computer for storage.

I`m using windows movie maker and powerdirector which have only 2 possibilities when i capture. Make a DV-Avi file or convert straight away to Mpeg2. What should i use?? Capture it to the computer first in the DV-Avi format and edit the file, and then convert it to MPEG2. Is that the best way

Need help!
Thanks!

[redwudz]

I would go with the DV output. It's a lot easier to edit. If you do try the MPEG, make sure it's DVD compliant if that's your final destination. Look in 'What is' DVD to the upper left for the specifications. <<<<<<

[bonnie]

Yes. But then convert the edited DV-Avi file to Mpeg2, right? Otherwise the file will be extremely big.
What is a DV-Avi file?
Thanks!

[edDV]

What camera are you using?

I think you have a still Canon camera if it records to MJPEG. It will record short MJPEG clips to the CF card. Your video is transferred to the hard drive over USB as a AVI using MJPEG codec. You can also directly copy it off the CF card.

Windows Movie Maker can read it but only outputs in DV-AVI or WMV. You will need another editor with a MJPEG codec and MPeg2 encoder if you want MPeg2 output.

Most retail consumer video editors have that capability.

I just tried a Canon MJPEG AVI in Power Director 3 and it worked fine.

[masterpug]

http://www.pegasustools.com/mjpeg3release.htm

buy this mjpeg codec, install/register and then you can
use your mjpeg avi's from your camera with ANY video
editor. works perfect...highly recommend!

[edDV]

VirtualDubMod will read these files without additional codecs.

Others that have worked so far for me:

Ulead Video Studio v8 or v9
Pinnacle Studio 8 up
Vegas
Premiere and Premiere Pro
Cyberlink PowerDirector 3 up
Windows Movie Maker 2

[bonnie]

Hello. I do not have a still camera. I have a videocamera: Canon DM- MV950 that uses a MiniDv to record the video.
The video is encoded in Mjpeg. I use a DV cable to transfer it to my computer. I use either Powerdirector or windowmoviemaker to capture it.
Both powerdirector and movie maker reads the video fine.
I was just wondering if Mpeg2 is the best encoder to use for this.
Is there a decoder that gets my Mjpeg video to a Mjpeg file on my computer and can i put this file on a dvd?? Or must i convert it to Mpeg2 sooner or later? If so, why do Canon use that format in the first place?
Does converting it to DV-Avi and then to Mpeg2 give a good result for me?

Thanks!

[edDV]

Hello. I do not have a still camera. I have a videocamera: Canon DM- MV950 that uses a MiniDv to record the video.
The video is encoded in Mjpeg. I use a DV cable to transfer it to my computer. I use either Powerdirector or windowmoviemaker to capture it.
Both powerdirector and movie maker reads the video fine.
I was just wondering if Mpeg2 is the best encoder to use for this.
Is there a decoder that gets my Mjpeg video to a Mjpeg file on my computer and can i put this file on a dvd?? Or must i convert it to Mpeg2 sooner or later? If so, why do Canon use that format in the first place?
Does converting it to DV-Avi and then to Mpeg2 give a good result for me?

Thanks!

That is a standard MiniDv DV format camcorder for normal DV video recording. DV format is transferred to the computer on IEEE-1394 firewire.

That camera also has JPeg still picture capability and some way to link JPeg into MJpeg.

Is this the feature you are using. Why are you doing that? What is you goal for using MJPEG when MiniDV is 100x higher quality used in this way?

You will find the MJPEG files on the SD card, not on tape.

If you are on MJPeg, you are in a low res low quality dead end road.

If you are on DV format and want DVD, then use WinDVto capture DV over IEEE-1394 and output to DVD MPeg2.

[bonnie]

Hello!
Yes, the camera has still picture capability with jpeg. The pictures are recorded on a SD card. Yes, you can use the SD card to record video but i use the MiniDV which records in 720-576 resolution a full hour. The SD card has a way lower resolution. The MINIDV has mjpeg format as the only possibility. That`s what it says in the manual. I have no choice in the matter.
I can capture it to my computer in DV-Avi file or Mpeg2 with powedirector or windows movie maker. That`s all I know. With the DV-Avi file i can do whaterver i want, keep it, convert it to mpeg 1 or 2 or divx. But i gotta do something because the DV-Avi file is too big. Is the Mpeg2 the best way to go??????
I bought the camera with slight knowledge of codecs,encoders or decoders, that`s why i signed up here to get help from you guys.
Thanks!

[edDV]

The MINIDV has mjpeg format as the only possibility. That`s what it says in the manual. I have no choice in the matter.

Then the manual is wrong. DV format is described here
http://www.adamwilt.com/DV.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DV

MJPeg is a JPeg stream

With the DV-Avi file i can do whaterver i want, keep it, convert it to mpeg 1 or 2 or divx. But i gotta do something because the DV-Avi file is too big.

DV files are about 13.5 GB per hour.

I don't understand your problem. Is it disk space?

[bonnie]

Maybe there isn`t a problem. I bought a camera and the format for digital video on it is Mjpeg. Every retailer says that the video recording format is Mjpeg on my camera. This is recorded on a MiniDv with 61 minutes availible in SP mode.
Of course i don`t know enough about Dv cameras or codecs.

Is it alright to use the DV-Avi file to convert to Mpeg2 and reach a good quality video? Or is it better to copy the DV-Avi file direct to dvd and enjoy my recordings?? This gives about 20 minutes per Dvd, which in my view is pretty slim. What do you recommend? I don`t know shit!

Thanks for any input!

[edDV]

...

every retailer says that the video recording format is Mjpeg on my camera. This is recorded on a MiniDv with 61 minutes availible in SP mode.

They are not correct. DV format uses a more advanced DCT intraframe compression. 61 minutes SP indicates DV format. Historical MJPEG at similar quality would get less minutes per hour at lower quality.

Is it alright to use the DV-Avi file to convert to Mpeg2 and reach a good quality video? Or is it better to copy the DV-Avi file direct to dvd and enjoy my recordings?? This gives about 20 minutes per Dvd, which in my view is pretty slim. What do you recommend?

DV to MPeg2 conversion will give good results for viewing but material that is important to you should be archived in DV format DV format preserves field resolution and is more futureproof in the High Def world.

[bonnie]

Does this mean that DV cameras with Mpeg2 recording also is in the DV format and not Mpeg2?. I don`t get it! That`s okay with me if you`re correct. I just wanna know what`s going on. Canon says the vidoe format is Mjpeg and not DV-Avi format. The video can`t be recording at 25 mbit per second or i would not have gotten 61 minutes from it would I?
So you recommend storing the video from my DV-camera on DV-Avi files with 25 mbit per second?? Does the Avi file come with higher resolution then 720-576?
I have 1250 gigabyte availible so i don`t really have a big problem storing important video on that format if You recommend that. But some of my recordings are for general use, maybe with these files I can capture to DV-Avi file and then convert to Mpeg2 and enjoy them on pretty good quality?
Sorry, but i lack a lot of knowledge about these kinds of things.
Thanks!

[redwudz]

Here's a link to a technical sheet for it:

http://www.mpl.be/productinfo/technicalsheet.aspx?prd=59879

Appears to be PAL DV. But that's good news. DV is a lot easier to work then Mjpeg video.

[edDV]

Does this mean that DV cameras with Mpeg2 recording also is in the DV format and not Mpeg2?. I don`t get it! That`s okay with me if you`re correct. I just wanna know what`s going on.

Ref: http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/188664/art/canon/mv950-minidv-camcorder.html#fichetechnique

Think of this camcorder as split personality. It is camcorder that also behaves as a still camera.

The camcorder does not record MPeg2. It is a MiniDV camcorder. It records video in DV format to a MiniDV tape. It will transfer DV format video over a IEEE 1394 (FireWire/i.LINK) cable to a computer at full 720x576 DV quality with PCM audio.

Canon says the video format is Mjpeg and not DV-Avi format. The video can`t be recording at 25 mbit per second or i would not have gotten 61 minutes from it would I?

DV format records video at very high quality 25Mb/s (plus audio plus data) to a MiniDV tape that can hold 61-62 minutes. The DV stream can be transfered over IEEE-1394 to the computer where the stream can be saved to a DV-AVI file on the computer's hard disk.

Like many camcorders, this one also has a photo mode. The same CCD is used to create a 640 x 480 or 1024 x 768 JPEG still. It also supports a sequence of JPEG stills in MJPEG format at some unspecified ("Mini film" mode) resolution. These are stored locally to a SD flash card. The stills and MJPEG video can be accessed from the SD card over a USB connection. USB is limited to 1.2 Mb/s so I would assume from that the MJPEG video is limited to 352x288 CIF @25 frames per second. If a higher resolution 640x576 resolution is supported, it is probably offered at less than 25 frames per second.

So you recommend storing the video from my DV-camera on DV-Avi files with 25 mbit per second?? Does the Avi file come with higher resolution then 720-576?
I have 1250 gigabyte availible so i don`t really have a big problem storing important video on that format if You recommend that. But some of my recordings are for general use, maybe with these files I can capture to DV-Avi file and then convert to Mpeg2 and enjoy them on pretty good quality?

DV video is always 720x576 @ 25 mb/s + audio and when transferred over IEEE-1394 to a DV-AVI file, it will consume 13.5GB per hour. If you want to compress one hour to a DVD, encode to MPeg2 at about 8100 Kb/s with full LPCM audio. If you want 2 hours on a DVD compress to MPeg2 at about 4750 Kb/s VBR with 224 Kb/s MP2 compressed audio.

MJPEG video is only good for short clips recorded to the SD card, or for low bitrate streaming.

If any of this is unclear, ask more questions.

[bonnie]

I still don`t get it. In the information about the camera it says the pictures are stored on a SD card with the possibility of recording video on that card at 320-240 resolution or something.
But I record the video on the MiniDv. What format it is i don`t know. It is reported that the digital video is Mjpeg. I don`t know anymore than this.
Do you say the MiniDv is an encoder in itself? and that the MiniDv which I record on is not Mjpeg but DV-Avi? That`s great with me. But then i would not have gotten 61 minutes out of it would I??
Why does canon describe the video encoding as Mjpeg then?? It should say that the SD card produces jpeg pictures and mjpeg video and the MiniDv produces DV-Avi video files.

[edDV]

I still don`t get it. In the information about the camera it says the pictures are stored on a SD card with the possibility of recording video on that card at 320-240 resolution or something.

That is camera mode. In camera mode, JPEG format is used. "Mini Movies" are MJPEG probably 320x288 and these are recorded to the SD card.

But I record the video on the MiniDv. What format it is i don`t know. It is reported that the digital video is Mjpeg. I don`t know anymore than this.

In camcorder mode, DV format is used. DV format is high quality 720x576 and audio is high quality PCM.

Do you say the MiniDv is an encoder in itself? and that the MiniDv which I record on is not Mjpeg but DV-Avi?

The video format is DV.
MiniDV is the tape. It holds 61 minutes of DV video and audio.
DV-AVI is the file on the hard drive after you transfer over IEEE-1394.

That`s great with me. But then i would not have gotten 61 minutes out of it would I??
Why does canon describe the video encoding as Mjpeg then?? It should say that the SD card produces jpeg pictures and mjpeg video and the MiniDv produces DV-Avi video files.

Canon makes all this a mystery.

[bonnie]

I think you`re correct. I just checked the video recorded on the SD card and it has mjpg compression. With 320-240 resolution.

But do a DVtape have over 13 gigabytes of video availibile on it??

[edDV]

I think you`re correct. I just checked the video recorded on the SD card and it has mjpg compression. With 320-240 resolution.

But do a DVtape have over 13 gigabytes of video availibile on it??

Yes about 14GB