Editing/Joining AVI files using MGI VideoWave 4

[ehill]

I am using the Dazzle Hollywood DV-Bridge device to capture video from VHS to DV on my system. I am using MGI VideoWave 4 to edit a scholarship pageant for certain contestants and put the edited video back onto VHS (one for each contestant).

I have about 8 different video clips for each contestant that I edit together (with titles and transitions) into one video. The problem I am having is that the final produced clip is about 40 minutes long. When I try to produce that into a new AVI file, I get the "file too big" error from VideoWave. When I narrow it down, I get 4 AVI files that I now need to export to VHS.

My two questions are these:

1. Is there an editing package out there that will build an AVI file larger than the 4GB limit that VideoWave seems to have?

2. Is there another option to join the 4 AVI files I have together into one large AVI file? VirtualDub did not like that I had built the files using DV-1.

Any help would be appreciated.

700Mhz
128Mb SDRAM
10GB 7200RPM OS hard drive
60GB 7200RPM Video Only hard drive
Windows 98SE
Dazzle Hollywood DV-Bridge capture device

[lady7]

i too have dv bridge and i would also like to know if there is a program out there that cuts and joins avi's without too much rendering time. i just want to cut my avi and save it and then encode it to mpeg. Am i asking for too much? :-?

[dumwaldo]

the 4 gig limit is not video wave, it is windows.

windows 2000 with an ntfs formated drive can exceed 4 gig.

what i would suggest if you are putting this back to video tape is to just pake a playlist that will play your files in series. this is very easy to do, just open notepad and make a list of the files you want to play and save that file with an extension of .m3u and when you double click it it will launch the first file in your play list. when it get to the end of the first file it will auto start the second file and so on untill it gets to the end of your playlist.

if you have all your files together in the same directory you can just use the file name to create the m3u file but if the video clips are in different directories you will need to use the full path.

ALL IN ONE DIRECTORY should look like this
pagent001.avi
pagent002.avi
pagent003.avi


IN SEPERATE DIRECTORIES should look like this
c:/my storage/video1/pagent001.avi
c:/my storage/video1/pagent002.avi
c:/my storage/video2/pagent003.avi

the only problem this might raise is sometimes there is a flicker when the files change. if this is a problem then as best as i can tell you will have to suffer through a recording session where you are constantly pausing and queuing files.

[TechJunkie]

May I ask you owners of the Hollywood Bridge couple of questions as I'm on the verge of buying one? I assume that you like your Dazzle!

1 - I understand that Dazzle provides a compression program that will shrink DV files to 1/8 their size. Is this true? I want to archive my DV files so that I can burn DVD's down the road once the DVD standards settle down.

2 - While I understand that editing in DV is best, I've been told that I must convert my DV to AVI and then the AVI to MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 in order to burn VCD's and SVCD's and that this takes a LONG time. Is this true or does Dazzle provide a tool to go directly from DV to the MPEG's.

I was considering doing my analog video to digital conversion by using a VIVO graphics card, but my sense is that the Dazzle Hollywood may be the best.

All your comments would be appreciated.

[lady7]

sorry but the dazzledv bridge does not provide direct avi to mpeg. i dont know what are your system setup. but if you are using a firewire card to capture then you will capture from your camcorder or vcr and it will be in Avi form. then you will have to use a program that will convert your avi files into mpeg1 or mpeg 2. if you want to convert directly into mpeg 1 or 2 you will either need a hardware mpeg encoder or a software on or have a graphics card with those capabilities. Usually firewire is used for mini dv tapes from your digital camcorder. i am no expert but i have the dazzle dv bridge. The dazzle dv in is another product which does straight from source to mpeg. There are 2 products. Dazzle dv bridge and dazzle dv in. both are different. the later will directly convert to mpeg. But i have heard that seemless capture is difficult and you have to sit in on the capture. I hope this helps.
Jan

[TechJunkie]

Lady7,

I'm learning something! Fabulous!

Thanks for your post. What you're telling me is that I must use a 3rd party product to get my Dazzle files to MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 format. 8)

[JHebert]

To add a few comments:

The program Scenalyzer http://www.scenalyzer.com/ lets you do segmented DV AVI capture and playback in segments of 1, 2, or 4GB to work around the 4GB filesize limit of FAT32 in Win9x OS. Its not quite the same as having NTFS but its a good solution.

TechJunkie, yes after you capture and edit your DV AVI files you need to convert from DV AVI format to MPEG for VCD/SVCD/DVD. There are many options available.
There are "all in one" programs like Ulead DVD MovieFactory that combine capturing, editing, MPEG encoding, VCD/DVD authoring, and CD burning all in one program. This can be a good way for a beginner because it is very user friendly with help and wizards.
Or instead you can use seperate programs for the different steps. This gives you more control and potential for better quality final product, and there are several great freeware and shareware programs available. But the process can be confusing at first. For example the MPEG encoder called TMPGEnc is freeware and produces higher quality MPEG encoding than most commercial consumer programs, but it has many settings and there is a learning curve to get the hang of it. If you go this route check out the How To guides here and search the forums for help.

[TechJunkie]

JHebert,

Great suggestion. I will read as much as possible, now that you got me on the right track. I'll be interested in your comments to my response to your reply on the other thread - (boy, that was complicated).

It appears that the niche that Dazzle is going after are those folks who want to do "A to D" conversion but do not have the system horsepower to use a VIVO-type graphics card solution.

I'm not afraid of technical complexity (I'm an out-of-certification, very stale MCSE - Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer) and am willing to use a non-integrated suite of products as long as the quality of the output is good and I don't have to make my life's work understanding those products. (That's why I gave up being an MCSE - NT/Windows2000/XP were changing so quickly, it required a tremendous amount of life's energy to remain proficient).