WinDV can't create files larger than 2.7G

[garybeck]

Hi,
I got a great recommendation here to try WinDV for capturing my video off my Canon MiniDV camera. The quality of the video is definitely better than what I was getting with Windows Movie Maker.

But there's one problem. The WinDV program breaks up the output into files that are 2.7G each. I can't figure out how to "sew" them back together, so I end up having all these snippets that start and end at random places.

I'm using NTSF, not FAT32, and I definitely have other files on system that are larger than that.

Can anyone tell me how to fix it so I can just get one big file as the output of WinDV?

Thanks
gary in vermont

[compuser]

Checkout https://www.videohelp.com/guides.php?guideid=566#566

[JohnnyMalaria]

I got a great recommendation here to try WinDV for capturing my video off my Canon MiniDV camera. The quality of the video is definitely better than what I was getting with Windows Movie Maker.

That doesn't seem right. The capture process for DV is just a bit-for-bit data transfer. What ends up on your hard drive should be the same, irrespective of the capture program.

[edDV]

In WinDV "Config", "Capturing from DV device" set "Max AVI size" higher. The number is in frames.

[garybeck]

That doesn't seem right. The capture process for DV is just a bit-for-bit data transfer. What ends up on your hard drive should be the same, irrespective of the capture program.

well all i can say is that the dvd output looks better when I use WinDV. one question I have is, if it's just bit for bit, why do we have to play it in real-time to upload it? Can the bits be transfered faster, without viewing the video? when I have to watch it in realtime, it gives the appearance that there's an analog video signal that's being digitized. Seems like you should be able to transfer it faster, if you're just copying 1s and 0s....?

[edDV]

That doesn't seem right. The capture process for DV is just a bit-for-bit data transfer. What ends up on your hard drive should be the same, irrespective of the capture program.

well all i can say is that the dvd output looks better when I use WinDV. one question I have is, if it's just bit for bit, why do we have to play it in real-time to upload it? Can the bits be transfered faster, without viewing the video? when I have to watch it in realtime, it gives the appearance that there's an analog video signal that's being digitized. Seems like you should be able to transfer it faster, if you're just copying 1s and 0s....?

Nope. The speed is set by the mechanics of playing the tape. The playback is always 1x.

DV format is encoded in the camcorder and recorded to tape as a data stream. There is no "file" in the OS sense. To "transfer" the data, you play the data stream back at 1x through the firewire (IEEE-1394) port where it gets captured to a file at the computer. There is no "codec" envolved because it is just a data transfer.

Data streaming is different than "file copy" which is managed by the OS. If the disk is busy, there is no resend so data flow is interrupted and lines or frames are lost.

In order to display the picture during the transfer, the DirectShow MS-DV codec is used to decode the stream to show the video and audio being transferred. This is a separate process from the DV data transfer itself which is not decoded. Decode for monitoring purposes does impact CPU loading and the software author can select quality levels for display. High quality display may overload a weak CPU so it is seldom used.

Broadcast level DV equipment extend this concept two ways. First higher cost (I mean much higher cost $$$) mechanical transports can run the stream faster to shorten transfer time. This is important if you are paying hundreds of $ per minute for satellite time or paying a tape operator to load the server.

The second "high end" strategy is to include a CPU and operating system on the camcorder. Then the camcorder becomes a node on the network and "files" can be created on the remote media (e.g. tape, DVD, hard disk, flash media, etc) and then files can be transferred over networks in standard ways. This technology will soon enter consumer and prosumer equipment.


PS: If your computer is overloaded by the DV monitoring task, a similar program called DVIO will do the transfer without monitoring, thus reducing CPU load. In this case you would watch the camcorder monitor to see what is being sent, then review the resulting file to see if it was all received.

[garybeck]

thanks! good info!