Installing Panasonic VFW DV codec

[Theresa]

Hello--
Just wondering . . . what program do I use to install this?

Thanks!
Theresa

[teegee420]

Did it come with a ".inf" file? If so, just right-click it and select "install".

[Theresa]

I may be a total idiot here--really. I have both PANADV and pdvcodec.dll in the folder. I have unzipped the .inf file, installed it . . . but the same things just appear in a new box--exactly the same as the previous box. Should I be opening up the pdvodec.dll in a different program?? Is it supposed to have an exe. file to run it? I know I'm completely exposing the amount of air in my head, but I'm learning from scratch.

Thanks so much

[redwudz]

You right clicked on the .inf file and you saw a menu with 'Install'? You clicked install and it should have installed the pdvcodec.dll to your system 32 folder. You might want to reboot, though you shouldn't have to.

You should see the codec now in VirtualDub under 'Compression'. You will only see the codec when you run a program that can use it. Otherwise, nothing to see after it installs, no .exe there. It's not like Divx where you can access the codec settings outside of a encoder program.

[Theresa]

Hi Redwudz--
Thanks for weighing in on this. I am away from my computer two hours away, but I will be back Monday and go through this process. I will open up VirturalDub and see if it's there. If not, I'll post again, begging for help.
In the next few weeks, I will be driving all of you nuts. I finally have all the hardware and software--I think--for this. All I don't have is an idea how to do it. I know just enough to be an annoyance. I just don't know where else to turn, and everyone here has been so wonderful helping me out in the past---including you!
So . . . [Austrian accent] "I'll be back".
Thank you!

[redwudz]

I'm going to take a guess you have a DV camera. For that I use a FireWire input/FireWire card and WinDV to transfer the file to the computer. I use VirtualDub Mod to edit, filter if needed. Then I extract the audio to a WAV format, put it through ffmpeggui to convert to AC3 audio. The video I frameserve from VDM to TMPGEnc encoder and convert only the video to DVD compliant MPEG-2. Then I take both files and put them into TMPGEnc DVD Author and author and burn. Or, if I'm in a hurry, I just use ConvertXToDVD and let it do all that.

Or not, if you have something else in mind.

[bobkart]

Just curious if you are avoiding using TMPGEnc to also encode the AC3 just because the extra plugin costs money, or is there a technical reason?

[redwudz]

Actually, I've never tried the TMPGEnc plug-in. I've been using ffmpeggui for a long time with no problems. It doesn't take long to save out the audio as a WAV and convert it with ffmpeggui. If the AVI has VBR audio, I usually have to do the WAV conversion anyway. I do prefer freeware tools whenever possible, with the exception of TMPGEnc Plus encoder and Author, and even those are older versions of the softwares; 2.5 and 1.5.

[bobkart]

Thanks for your answer. I guess I'm still wondering if you would get the same results either way, or if there is the potential for (slightly?) different results based on the quality of the two encoders. I understand that, for example, two different MPEG encoders will yield different results (quality-wise) despite having the same bitrate (etc.) specifications, but I am not familiar enough with the AC3 format to know if the same holds true for it.

[redwudz]

I'll try posting a question about the differences between the two encoders and see what responses I get.

EDIT: Post is here: https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?p=1553557#1553557

[Theresa]

Hi again, Redwudz-
No, I am transfering VHS-C via a Canopus ADVD 110. I have been trying to learn ScenalyzerLive--not doing to good there, though I think I captured an indexed AVI-2 file. Now, I have to figure out what to do with it. I'll print out your suggestions and add it to what I have. Thanks again for helping out.

Theresa

[Theresa]

Ok--I have reinstalled the Panasonic codec, but only the same two files keep showing up: PANADV and pdvcodec.dll. No inf. file anywhere. What am I doing wrong here?? I'm an idiot, yes, but there has to be a way to install this, right?

Thanks
Theresa

[redwudz]

The PANADV is the .inf file. Have you set folder options to show extensions? Try this: Click on any folder, 'Folder Options>View' then UNcheck 'Hide Extensions for known filetypes' and you should see your extensions.

Anyway R click on the PANADV.inf file and choose 'Install'. If that doesn't work, it may be corrupt and you might need to download it again.

Actually I have a ADVC-100, which is just the earlier version of the 110 with it's own power supply.

If you have to give up on the Panasonic DV codec, there's always the Canopus DV Codec.

[Theresa]

Hi redwudz--
I had to be away for a day. I followed your instructions, and the .INF file showed up! I installed it and I'll run Virtualdub and see if I can figure out what to do from there. I hope you call can tolerate the learning curve I'm facing. Perhaps I shouldn't have taken this on, but since I have all the software and hardware now . . . *sigh* . . I have to figure this out.

Thanks again!

Theresa