Transfer miniDV to hard drive. Does it matter what software is used?

[vid83]

When transferring videos from miniDV tapes to a hard drive by firewire, does it matter what software is used? Does software effect video quality? I use Adobe Premiere Pro 1.5 to capture my videos.

[JohnnyMalaria]

They all use the same underlying parts of Windows. What ends up on the computer is identical.

PPro's capturing is perfectly OK. You could use others but there's really no point since you have a high-end editor.

[stantheman1976]

As long as you are transferring Type 2 DV-AVI it doesn't matter what software. Transferring by firewire to DV-AVI is doing nothing more than copying 0's and 1's.

[vid83]

What is type 2?

[stantheman1976]

A.: DV Type 1 is the original DV AVI format. It contains audio encapsulated in compressed video frames, meaning that it has no directly accessible audio-stream.
In contrast, DV Type 2 contains an additional audio stream. It contains the same audio stream twice: as an audio stream and also encapsulated in video frames. It is not necessary to have the audio stream encapsulated (you can do this when exporting raw DV from the timeline directly to Type 2, in which case the encapsulated audio is "0" and the "real" audio is in the separate stream). The Type 2 format was created to be compatible with the VfW (Video for Windows) architecture. Older programs and operating systems used this video architecture. In these cases.

[vid83]

How can I tell if my miniDV tape is type 1 or 2? I use a Sony Premium miniDV tapes purchased at Wal Mart (blue case).

[dun4cheap]

The is merely the codec used by the capturing software when capturing it from the camera. You can use Windows movie maker, virtual dub, pinnacle studio, ulead video studio.

[SmokieStover]

How can I tell if my miniDV tape is type 1 or 2? I use a Sony Premium miniDV tapes purchased at Wal Mart (blue case).

Nothing to do with the tape.

The type only comes into play when you transfer to PC. Your editing software will select the type by default.

[ofbarea]

Try using WinDV. Very small and it could generate Type 1 and 2.

[stantheman1976]

The only bad thing about WinDV is that when the tape is finished it doesn't stop capturing. So if I try to capture a 30 minute tape and forget about it I'll get a file with 30 minutes of the last frame. I don't think it's me because the same thing happens on my PC an laptop. Maybe there's something I'm missing?