removing background noise in AVI files created from .MOV files

[p_s_92]

We had some miniDV tapes which were digitized/converted to Quicktime's .mov format files using a Mac machine.

Using MPEG StreamClip I converted those .mov files to AVI so that I can edit them using Windows MovieMaker. But, while the original .mov files are reasonably fine, the converted .AVI files have a lot of ambient noise. You can't hear what is being discussed in the AVI files, though you could hear them fine in the .mov files. I gather the converting process results in a loss of quality which led to this?

1. Which other tool should I use to convert the .mov files to a format which can be edited using Windows MovieMaker?

2. Since the original format files were on a Mac formatted external hard drive as the person who converted our miniDV tapes was using only Mac and I(using only Windows) can use Macdrive (http://www.mediafour.com/support/updates/product/macdrive8.en-US) only for 5 days as a trial product, is there any other free/open source alternative for Macdrive?

Thanks

[poisondeathray]

for the sound option did you select uncompressed? or did you use some lossy compression format like mp3 ?

other options to re-wrap mov wrapped dv files to avi are avidemux and ffmpeg , both are crossplatform compatible. Re-wrapping is preferable to re-encoding with a lossy format, because there is no quality loss (video or audio)

[p_s_92]

for the sound option did you select uncompressed? or did you use some lossy compression format like mp3 ?

I chose mp3 which is the reason for loss of quality.

other options to re-wrap mov wrapped dv files to avi are avidemux and ffmpeg , both are crossplatform compatible. Re-wrapping is preferable to re-encoding with a lossy format, because there is no quality loss (video or audio)

Thanks for the links. Will look into that option too.

Also, some of the original .mov files don't have sound. I don't know if the miniDV tapes did not have them as the speaker was not using a mic or the person recording it forgot to turn on the sound switch in the camcorder.

Can I add some background sound to them using MovieMaker or some other free tool?

Thanks

[Cornucopia]

Your DV cam has DV-compressed video and PCM (similar to wav) audio.
QT MOV has a DV codec. If you capture DV correctly with QT, it just saves the incoming stream and add the QT wrapper around it and provides the metadata.
AVI has DV codecs, Converting from QT DV to AVI DV should then just be a matter of unwrapping the DV+PCM from the MOV container and re-wrapping with the AVI container. The resulting file is a Type2 DV-AVI, BTW.

With is method, there should be NO loss at all from the original camera stream (and it should carry on through to the DV edited master).

MPEGStreamclip, iMovie, FCP, and QT Pro ought to be able to do this conversion on the Mac. Look for "Transcoding", "Direct Stream copy" or some similar option to enable this lossless method.

On the PC, any major NLE that understands QT+AVI ought to be able to do it. Also, MPEGstreamclip, QT Pro, and probably Virtualdub (with the QT plugin).

This is clearly the best way to go, until you're on the PC and ready to convert your edited master to a specific distribution format.

Scott

[p_s_92]

Your DV cam has DV-compressed video and PCM (similar to wav) audio.
QT MOV has a DV codec. If you capture DV correctly with QT, it just saves the incoming stream and add the QT wrapper around it and provides the metadata.
AVI has DV codecs, Converting from QT DV to AVI DV should then just be a matter of unwrapping the DV+PCM from the MOV container and re-wrapping with the AVI container. The resulting file is a Type2 DV-AVI, BTW.

With is method, there should be NO loss at all from the original camera stream (and it should carry on through to the DV edited master).

MPEGStreamclip, iMovie, FCP, and QT Pro ought to be able to do this conversion on the Mac. Look for "Transcoding", "Direct Stream copy" or some similar option to enable this lossless method.

On the PC, any major NLE that understands QT+AVI ought to be able to do it. Also, MPEGstreamclip, QT Pro, and probably Virtualdub (with the QT plugin).

This is clearly the best way to go, until you're on the PC and ready to convert your edited master to a specific distribution format.

Scott

Thanks for the advice, for the sound did the uncompressed conversion on PC from MOV to AVI using MPEGstreamclip. I chose 100% quality for the new AVI file to be created while the earlier AVI file I had was created using 50% quality and MPEG conversion for sound and it had a lot of background noise. The new AVI file(created using 100% quality and uncompressed format for Sound) is being played in slow motion(I can hardly hear what the speakers are talking as it is too slow) on the machine which is running Win XP with 1GB RAM(which was used for the conversion). Could it be the low RAM which is causing the newly created AVI file to be played in too slow motion?

1. Would I be OK if I choose quality of 50%(or 70-80) while creating AVI, but sound conversion as uncompressed. I mean would i get a file which is of reasonably good quality which can play on the 1GB RAM machine with sound which is fairly reasonable.

2. Or, should i keep 100% quality while creating AVI(and sound conversion as uncompressed) and try to play the file created on a machine with 4GB RAM.

The AVI files will be later edited using Windows Moviemaker.

Can someone please clarify?

Thanks

[poisondeathray]

what video compression did you use? it sounds like you are re-encoding and losing quality

think of re-wrapping as copying the video and audio from 1 "box" and putting it into another "box"

the windows version of mpegstreamclip you can use file=>save as , and the drop down menu "save as type" select "avi" , and this will re-wrap instead of re-encode (you need qtpro or a special free version of qt alternative (instructions are on the author's homepage)

[p_s_92]

what video compression did you use? it sounds like you are re-encoding and losing quality

Yes, I was opening the files using mpegstream clip, went to the File option, make AVI, then chose options like sound uncompressed, quality bar dragged it to 100%. I guess I was re-encoding it?

the windows version of mpegstreamclip you can use file=>save as , and the drop down menu "save as type" select "avi" , and this will re-wrap instead of re-encode (you need qtpro or a special free version of qt alternative (instructions are on the author's homepage)

[/QUOTE]

Thanks, this is what I am doing now.

[p_s_92]

Some AVI files which were created from the .MOV reencoding are not readable in Windows Media Player. With VLC Media Player I get the message "This AVI file is broken. Seeking will not work correctly. Do you want to try to repair it (this might take a long time)" I choose yes, VLC repairs it, but it is not permanent.

Saw the link http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-repair-broken-avi-files-that-wont-play-windows-only/

Tried DivFix++, but get a error message with it, can't read file at location C:\file.avi (error O operation completed successfully. ) I get the message constantly, though I unchecked the option to keep original file and also did the Strip Index before starting the operation.

1. Can I fix the broken AVI file permanently?

2. Or, do I have to reencode it from the MOV file? It was reencoded by my friend from a MOV to a AVI file using Mpeg StreamClip and i guess he used lossy compression methods. I don't have the .MOV file which was captured from the miniDV tape. He also does not have the MOV file anymore as he deleted them to conserve space. He just gave me the AVI file which he had reencoded from a MOV using mpeg stream clip. Does he have to capture the footage from the tapes as a MOV file and give that to me so that i can do a save as to AVI using mpeg streamclip?

Any advice would be welcome.

Thanks