Best way to convert DV file to something that have smaller file size

[Cazz]

Hi

I have recording ALOT of movie with a camrecorder and right now I have them in AVI (DV)

I like to convert all my file to something else so it dont take so much space. (1 hour recording is approx 10 GB)

I like to convert them to something that it still going to be same quality at the are from begin but still make the file smaller.


I like to save the original and sometime edit in Vegas Platinum.

[Baldrick]

Is your dv source interlaced?

Shrinking means you will lose quality and it wont be that easy to edit later. But you can always try and see, try convert to mpeg2 with high bitrate(8Mbit) if your dv is interlaced. Or try convert to mp4 with h264 video if your dv source is progressive.

[minidv2dvd]

you could always just save the tapes, then you would have the originals to use again at any time.

[Cazz]

Thanks going to try and see what I can do

minidv2dvd
Well yes I have think about that too but I think it more nice and easy for me that have everything on the disk and not so many tapes.

[filmboss80]

How important is the video material on those tapes? In order to squeeze everything down to a size that will fit on a few discs, you will degrade the original images. Compressed footage does not edit as well as the DV-AVI files that come directly off the MiniDV tapes. It's okay to make backups in whatever format you please, but don't throw out the original tapes - - unless the videos are not very important. MiniDV tapes do not take up much space.

[Cazz]

well it is not sooo very importen and I dont going to put them in some discs, I going to use a extern USB HD.

well I maybe going to use MiniDV if I dont find any good idea to store the file.

I was thinking about trying Handbrake, I have use it before and was thinking about save the file in H264 but I dont know what I going to have on Constant Quality

[minidv2dvd]

using handbrake is fine to produce mpeg-4. instead of constant quality, you can set the bitrate you want. 2000 would be more than enough for most DVavi.

another choice would be dvd spec mpeg-2. that way if you ever wanted to make dvds out of it, it would already be half way there. mpeg-2 is also easier for slower computer to display. the bitrate and file size would have to be bigger than mpeg-4 though. 4000 to 5000 is probably a safe range for mpeg-2.

[edDV]

well it is not sooo very importen and I dont going to put them in some discs, I going to use a extern USB HD.

well I maybe going to use MiniDV if I dont find any good idea to store the file.

I was thinking about trying Handbrake, I have use it before and was thinking about save the file in H264 but I dont know what I going to have on Constant Quality

So these aren't baby, family or priority travel experience camcorder tapes but junk TV captures?

[Cazz]

So these aren't baby, family or priority travel experience camcorder tapes but junk TV captures?

well not yet but maybe someday.

I have not any videocamera, I have just borrow one and use it and recording some performance.
So the miniDV tape is not my and I like to have that on the computer so I can easy get it to watch or edit to DVD or Flash on the internet.

I was just thinking "I have now a BIG AVI file and I like to have a same quality if that is possible but still have the file small
Then I can I have all my original file on my Extern Harddrive.

I try now to create MPEG2 file to see how big the file is going to be but also see if the quality is still ok

[edDV]

So these aren't baby, family or priority travel experience camcorder tapes but junk TV captures?

well not yet but maybe someday.

I have not any videocamera, I have just borrow one and use it and recording some performance.
So the miniDV tape is not my and I like to have that on the computer so I can easy get it to watch or edit to DVD or Flash on the internet.

I was just thinking "I have now a BIG AVI file and I like to have a same quality if that is possible but still have the file small
Then I can I have all my original file on my Extern Harddrive.

I try now to create MPEG2 file to see how big the file is going to be but also see if the quality is still ok

Was the camcorder on a tripod? That determines how small you can make the MPeg2 file.

[bpoe]

I've been down this long road and posted the following when I got something acceptible;

https://forum.videohelp.com/topic366986.html

[PuzZLeR]

I've been down this long road and posted the following when I got something acceptible;

Keep in mind, the key word is indeed "acceptable", in more ways than one, in spelling and in actual.

To the O/P: Do not use this method to archive if it's unrecoverable important stuff like family, experiences, etc. You will destroy lots of quality, won't be able to play it anywhere outside of your PC, and won't be able to edit it with any software available today (if ever).

If you do use this method, keep in mind, it will only be good for a small sized backup, and only really for viewing on a small monitor (which will forgive alot of the compression artifacts), and only if you find the major encode times worth it.

[bpoe]

You say that, yet you have not even seen the result. Additionally, I do not represent *any* method as being appropriate as a replacement for the original video. Nothing replaces original video.

[PuzZLeR]

Or course you can't replace original video with a lossy encode. But that's not the point.

I have indeed tried your method - decent quality but definitely not high quality. It will be quite lossy for most sources and not retain a very faithful version of the original.

If all the O/P wants is only some form of compression to very low bitrates, then yes, your method is among the best. But the playback options will be few (especially since the profile contains b-pyramid) and encode times will be very long. It's up to the O/P if it's worth it.

But it's not clear what he wants because at the beginning he mentions he wants to retain high quality and to also be able to edit it. Your method will definitely not work here.

[midnightsun]

one thing is that that method throws away half the temporal resolution by bobbing and then decimating every other field. I'd keep interlaced video interlaced but people's tastes may differ.

[PuzZLeR]

one thing is that that method throws away half the temporal resolution by bobbing and then decimating every other field. I'd keep interlaced video interlaced but people's tastes may differ.

I agree. But if archiving as a high quality, yet smaller source with re-encoding, is the objective then you must retain the interlacing, regardless of tastes.

Unfortunately x264 can't (yet) handle interlaced source video or effectively encode interlaced either. That's one of several reasons why I find little use for it regardless of its compression abilities (which I still say is not that great at the higher bitrates anyway).

[SatStorm]

You have the same problem with all of us. DV to what? mpeg2? mpeg4?

There is one workaround... Get a nice DVD standalone recorder, with a HDD, component video out and upscale abilities. Grab to the HDD your source with 15.000kb (if possible). When finished, playback it from there, upscale to 576p (or 480p) and use a Hauppauge HD PVR TV Tuner, to grab it again as H264 with an average bitrate of 3.500 kb/s. It gonna look good at a small filesize. If you have a TBC or a video enhancer device, you might be able to adjust some things realtime, like colour bleed, saturation, sharpness, etc.

The H264 result can be authored on a DVD5 later and it you can playback with your BD standalone / PS3 (at least this is what they telling me, I don't have neither of them to test - I'm out of money the last months.

[bpoe]

Hmmmmm, looking back at the o/p;

1. I like to convert all my file to something else so it dont take so much space. (1 hour recording is approx 10 GB)

Answer; OK, we can figure something out.

2. I like to convert them to something that it still going to be same quality at the are from begin but still make the file smaller.

Answer; Uh, there is no "something" that meets this requirement.

------------------------

[Moontrash]

TMPGEnc Xpress has many options...i use it all the time with my MiniDV avi files

[ron spencer]

why do anything? Hard drives are cheap

[gll99]

Dvd discs are cheap so you could make multiple copies of the dv transfers on DVD+R and DVD-R and DVD/dl cutting the files into 4GB chunks (or larger for dl). Keep one copy off site as a safety. I did this with my dv tapes and also made some high bitrate divx so we could watch them on our Philips (Divx) DVD players. Keeping the original tapes is a good idea also. My fear was that if my camcorder breaks and technology advances, my descendants might have to go to a museum to play those things in the future.

Anyway once it's stored on a fairly common digital media like DVD discs, for additional longevity, it's not too hard to recopy the files onto Bluray or whatever else comes along in the future.

This reminds me that I have to finish the same job I started with all my old analog camcorder family videos.

[glenpinn]

dam theres a lot of pretty crazy replies in this thread, poor guy i feel so sorry for him having to listen to all this rubbish.

he has Dv-Avi format files filmed on a dv camcorder, taking up about 225mb of space for every 1 minute of video (13.5gb per hour)

output to dvd compliant mpeg2 format at between 6000 and 8000 bitrate, so you get approx 45mb to 60mb per minute file and its editable later on, and can be authored to dvd, and is upscalable on most good quality dvd players to play on any HD tv if he wants to. i use TMPGEnc xpress 4.0 to do this.

alternative is to use TMPGEnc xpress 4.0 to import the Dv-Avi, then edit the footage if so desires, then output to Xvid mpeg4 using a bitrate of 2000 (no 3000 so im told) to retain near dvd quality, and get a file size of approx 20 to 25mb per min (about 1/3 to 1/2 the size of mpeg2)

dont have to use TMPGEnc xpress 4.0 but i use it for all editing and conversions, cos its good quality and easy to use.

cheers

[glenpinn]

why do anything? Hard drives are cheap

because its absurd and rediculous to keep Dv-Avi files on your pc at 13.5gb per 1 hour of video, even if a hdd is cheap. better to output to mpeg2 or Xvid and leave the original footage on the tape and store it away.

there are ways to convert/edit those Dv-Avi files to very good alternative formats but none that will be identical to the original file even if it is compressed.

he can output the files to dvd compliant mpeg2 at 8000 bitrate and will get as good as you can quality wise and keep the files about 70% smaller than the original Dv-Avi (225mb per min compared to 60mb per min) or he can go to high quality Xvid using 2000 bitrate and get 15 to 20mb per min at similar quality to dvd mpeg2.

mpeg2 and Xvid are also playable on nearly all stand alone dvd players/recorders these days, which is why i suggest mpeg2 and Xvid over any other formats such as H264 or divX (Xvid being better than divX)

[lordsmurf]

I agree with the sentiment of keeping the DV tape in a box or a shelf in a closet, and making a high-bitrate MPEG-2 backup on an external drive.

[glenpinn]

I agree with the sentiment of keeping the DV tape in a box or a shelf in a closet, and making a high-bitrate MPEG-2 backup on an external drive.

yep, keep the tape in a box (aluminium is great) and store it in a cool dry environment such as a wardrobe or a safe or a bank vault

a dv tape will last a lot longer than a dvd disc if it is kept in the right environment, but its best if you can output the video from your tape to the correct format as soon as you can, then make several copies (more than 2 copies) and keep each copy in a different location.

i have 1.5 TB of mpeg2 files (17 years family videos) taken from analog vhs video tape and dv tape, all stored on 3 seperate lots of hard drives (ie: 3 copies of each video) and each set of drives is stored in 3 locations.

1. a file server out the back (backed up to every night from my main pc)
2. my home safe (backed up onto ever sunday night from the server)
3. at my parents place (backed up via online file storage)

i then have 2TB of server space with an online data storage service that i use to upload my videos onto whenever i get new ones made.

im paranoid

[themaxx69]

I am also trying to convert my minidv vids to dvd, and not having good results.

I used to windows movie maker to get the vids from the tape to computer in the dv-avi format I think. Big files, like 12Gigs an hour. I tried using tmpgenc xpress 4.0 and 2.5, and virtual dub to decompress the audio. Audio/video sync is fine, but the outputed mpg vids don't look nearly as good as the originals on the computer. I tried vbr & cbr ranging from 4000kbs to 9200kbs and the mpg vids still don't look as good, not even close to as smooth. I mean, they look pretty good, but the originals are WAY smoother.

I ran across another forum where someone said minidv converted to dvd should look the same or really really close.

Some of the post here talked about high bit rate mpg2, but I tried 8000 & 9200kbs mpg2 and it still looked bad. It actually didn't look that different from bitrate half as much.

Any help would be great.

Thanks.

[aedipuss]

you might try using windv to capture the minidv tapes to the pc. and then convert to mpeg-2 with tmpgenc. or try a program that uses henc to encode with like AVStoDVD.

if that still doesn't work for you, it might be time to send the tapes out to a pro.

[glenpinn]

themaxx69


Try using DVIO 1.32 to capture your video from the dv tape to your pc hdd
https://www.videohelp.com/tools/DVIO

or use Win-Dv 123 http://windv.mourek.cz/
and follow the setup guide for capture, otherwise in default mode the video captured from your tape will be broken up in hundreds of separate files which will require joining again.

capturing in type2 Dv-Avi is the preferred method, creating a digital file approx 13.5gb for each hour of tape (225mb per min)

dont try this stuff if you think your going to get an mpeg2 file the same quality as the captured Dv-Avi file because you wont.
also remember, viewing these files on a small pc screen isnt quite the same as watching them on a tv.

remember also, your dv tape is standard def footage (ntsc @ 720x480 if your in usa) (im in aust and we use pal @ 720x576) so be sure to keep your conversions to that resolution.

despite what many say, upscaling encoded MPEG2 footage to a HD tv isnt that bad, so dont be put off by playing these files on HD res tv.

also, contrarty to whats been said, dvd format is still a great format to work with, and will still be around for quite a while yet, so i personally would choose MPEG2 as my output format, remembering dvd format is actually MPEG2 that is dvd compliant.

once u have the dv-avi file on your hdd, i still suggest using TMPGEnc Encoder to convert the footage to dvd compliant MPEG2 format, using 8000 video bitrate and make sure that you set the encode to do 2 passes, not 1, as it will result in shithouse output quality.

you can convert the dv-avi to Xvid or h264 using 1 pass but not mpeg2.

i think i may have stated earlier that i convert all my dv-avi footage to both mpeg2 and Xvid format and sinsce posting in here last june 2009, i have taken my Xvid and h264 encoding to higher levels so im now getting Xvid files at approx 50% file size but almost same quality as my mpeg2 files encoded at 8000 bitrate.

also, dont expect too much quality difference between 6000 and 8000 or 9200 bitrates because in most cases you wont, and if your dv-avi file is pretty good quality footage, i suggest using no more than 6000 bitrate for mpeg2 as you will get very good quality, and fit more video content on the dvd.

6000 bitrate i think is about 45mb per min which allows u about 90 minutes on a dvd and 8000 bitrate is about 60mb per min in file size, giving you about 70 minutes on a dvd, but you wont see any quality difference on a standard def tv.

i have output some files at 4500 bitrate and still got good quality, what i call "acceptable"

retain your DV tapes as your masters, as outlined in an earlier post i made up this page.