Advice needed with Raw DV encoding

[zack28]

Hi All

I have a 5 Min Raw DV file taken from camcorder which uses up about 1.2 GB of space.

I want to be able to play on a computer (using Windows Media Player 11 or 12 )which does not have access to the Internet, so no additonal codecs are needed

Now i'm trying to reduce the size of the file, but retain the video quality

which is PAL 720x576 25 fps bottom field, (captured from a panasonic GS200EB)

I am prepared to lose the Sound Quality a bit or a lot

I've tryed MPG, but i get little dark lines where there a movements (camcorder shakes, which don't appear on the Raw DV) and file sizes go down to about 225mb
also

I've tryed AVI, using Cinepak etc., but I cant get the files sizes down, or its too choppy and lines just like MPG.

i've used 3 diffrent PCs

Dell Precision M50 (p4 2.0ghz, 1gb ram, 64mb quadro 700go)
Dell inspiron 9300 (Centrino cpu 512mb ram, x300 graphics)
Desktop (core duo 820d, 2gb ram, 256mb 6800ultra )


I'm using ProCoder 3 and Sony Vegas 7

I'm stuck, which is the best format to save in AVI or MPG, and for it to run on the maximum amount of PCs without codecs using WMP

I'd love a file size of about 400-500 mb, as i keep getting file sizes ofeither 224mb (MPG) or 1.1 Gb using AVI... Aslo which AVI type should i use as there
are quite a few Cinepak, Indeo etc. or ab i using the wrong software

Hope someone can give me a few options

[JohnnyMalaria]

Your raw DV file is an AVI file (unless you used an usual application to capture it).

The lines you see in the MPG are in the original DV - it's called interlacing. You don't see it when you play the DV file because your DV player (i.e., WMP) deinterlaces it. Interlaced video is what conventional television uses.

Personally, I would convert the DV AVI file to a WMV file. You can even do this with Windows Movie Maker. Microsoft's free Windows Media Encoder can also do it but with much more control - including deinterlacing.

WMV is supported natively on Windows and all you will need is WMP to play it. You'll be pleasantly surprised how much you can reduce the size. You'll get much less that 400MB.

[zack28]

Thanks for that

Windows Media Encoder did the trick it , gave me a 664 mb file which worked perfectly on all 3 PCs.. I chose the De-interlace options in Properties, I could reduce the quality of the sound as i've kept it too good a quality.

Just 2 more questions

Is there 2 Pass VBR option for WM Video and would it improve the conversion

and

Conversion on WMV file a little soft, is there a option to sharpen it up just a bit

Thanks again


FILE INFO

length 05:03

bit rate 21.30 Mps

Media type Video

Video Size 720 x 576

Aspect Ratio 4:3

Audio Codec Windows Media Audio 9.2 Lossless
VBR Quality 100, 44 kHz, 2 channel 16 bit 1-pass

Video Codec Windows Media Video 9

[JohnnyMalaria]

There is a 2 pass VBR option.

If you are using the wizard, before clicking Finish at the last step, uncheck the 'Begin converting when I click Finish'. (I'm assuming you are targeting 'File archive' for the destination type).

Now select 'Properties' on the toolbar. Go to the 'Compression' tab. You'll see a 'Two-pass encoding' check box that is disabled. Click the 'Edit...' button and you will see options for Audio and Video. Both are set to 'Quality VBR'. The drop-down list included 'Bitrate VBR' - select it for both. In the 'Target bit rates' pane, click the existing entry (301 Kbps) and then click 'Edit'. You can now change the video bitrate (100Kbps by default). Close the dialog box and then click 'Apply'. You'll notice that the disabled check box is now checked for 2-pass VBR encoding. Now start encoding...

For the softness, that may be because you are deinterlacing the source. Try encoding without deinterlacing as see if it seems sharper.

[zack28]

Thanks again

I used the following options

CD quality sound 64mb/s
Bit Rate UBR (peak)
Video bit rate 13 MB/s
Video peak rate 14 MB/s
Processing Video None

File size 247mb (orignal was 1.2 gb)

Its given me a nice quality with sharpness, although there still fine lines where theres camcorder movements

Should I

Lose the lines, and keep the smoothness (ie De-interlace)
or
keep the sharpness and the lines (interlace)

Any advantages to keeping or not keeping De-lace or Interlace


Also I'm selling my Panasonic GS200EB for a Panasonic HDC HS9 which does 720P. would that mean no more lines in movement because it does'nt do Interlace, just Progressive.

Thanks again for your help