.MOV to something that Premiere CS3 will import

[Ygramul]

Sup. I want to do a few things with a MOV I recorded with my camera (Canon SX130 IS), but CS3 isn't compatible with that format.

The file looks like this:

https://forum.videohelp.com/images/imgfiles/tyQxg.png

What format and conversion program would be the most suitable? I want to preserve as much of the original quality as possible.

Another question - is there another program like GSpot that displays all the important info about video files or is GSpot still good enough?

[poisondeathray]

Sup. I want to do a few things with a MOV I recorded with my camera (Canon SX130 IS), but CS3 isn't compatible with that format.

The file looks like this:

https://forum.videohelp.com/images/imgfiles/tyQxg.png

What format and conversion program would be the most suitable? I want to preserve as much of the original quality as possible.

Another question - is there another program like GSpot that displays all the important info about video files or is GSpot still good enough?

CS3 doesn't have support for h264 video, newer versions CS4 and up do

You might be able to import if you have quicktime installed, but it might only work with CS4 and up

You can convert to cineform (Go Pro Cineform Studio is the free version) . It's a high quality intermediate that has good performance (snappy timeline performance in premiere and NLE's). Make sure you have lots of HDD space

http://gopro.com/software-app/cineform-studio/

[Ygramul]

I tried Cineform Studio and while it's pretty fast, it strips the clip of audio streams. I Googled a bit and someone suggested to install AC3 filter, which I did, but that didn't help.

Does anyone know how to fix that problem? Any other recommendations?

[poisondeathray]

Not sure why, are you sure audio isn't clipped before?

You can use other intermediates e.g. avid dnxhd (you would encode through quicktime) . It's similar to prores on Apple, but performance is slower than cineform. Quality/compression size is similar
http://www.avid.com/US/industries/workflow/DNxHD-Codec

Or you can use Matrox VFW codecs . It's MPEG2 I-frame high bitrate. You might use it through vdub wih the vdub ffinput driver to open the MOV in vdub

http://www.matrox.com/video/en/support/windows/vfw_software_codecs/downloads/softwares/version1.0/
http://code.google.com/p/ffinputdriver/downloads/list

(you can also batch convert to I-frame MPEG2 / uncompressed audio with ffmpeg if you know how to use that)

[Ygramul]

Oh god. I just want to convert a few files. Why does this have to be such a chore?

Not sure why, are you sure audio isn't clipped before?

Definitely not. GSpot shows no audio streams in the output files.

You can use other intermediates e.g. avid dnxhd (you would encode through quicktime) . It's similar to prores on Apple, but performance is slower than cineform. Quality/compression size is similar
http://www.avid.com/US/industries/workflow/DNxHD-Codec

I installed it, but the folder in Program Files is just... empty. What software would I use to encode with it, anyway?

Or you can use Matrox VFW codecs . It's MPEG2 I-frame high bitrate. You might use it through vdub wih the vdub ffinput driver to open the MOV in vdub

I experimented a lot and saw a lot of "Video compression error. An internal error occurred. (error code -4)".

DVCPRO HD seems to work, though. The encoding process is really fast and Premiere imports it no problem. Thanks!

Feel free to comment on my other issues, I'm always willing to learn.

[poisondeathray]

One reason you might not use it is DVCPRO HD isn't full raster (it doesn't use the square pixels or the full resolution - it "squeezes" the horizontal resolution, and the software or player "stretches" it during playback) .

e.g. 1280x720 is encoded as 960x720 , 1920x1080 is encoded as 1440x1080

But you probably won't notice the deterioration too much depending on the quality of original footage . (On more expensive cameras you will notice it being softer)

Nor is it considered a very high quality intermediate (it's "decent" , but definitely lower quality than dnxhd, cineform)

[Ygramul]

So I experimented a bit more and figured out what works and what doesn't. To be honest, the digital camera I'm using is rather cheap, so the clips it records aren't very good quality. I'm saying this because the profile and advanced settings may be important when I get a better camera in the future, for instance.

Can you explain in layman's terms which one of the following is the "best"?

DVCPRO HD
MPEG-2 I-frame HD
MPEG-2 I-frame HD + alpha
Uncompressed HD
Uncompressed HD + alpha

I'd also like someone to suggest what I should set the following parameters to:

DC precision (8,9,10,11-bit) - I read a bit about it and supposedly 10-bit is optimal. Is that true?

Data rate (10-50 Mb/sec) - data rate = bitrate, right? How much would you suggest?

Zig zag order (regular/alternate)

Rounding type (MPEG-2 / Matrox custom)

[poisondeathray]

"best" in terms of what?

best quality is uncompressed, but also largest filesizes

"alpha" means alpha channel , only if you are using compositing (things like green screen) so you don't need those options

10bit is optimal

data rate - higher is better quality, larger filesizes (filesize = bitrate x running time) . You might be using the wrong option because 10-50Mb/s would be for SD. I think HD options go in to the 100's

zigzag is usually for progressive, alternate for interlaced - these refer to the block scanning order

I don't recall what rounding type is (and I don't have matrox installed on any of my computers)

[Ygramul]

You might be using the wrong option because 10-50Mb/s would be for SD. I think HD options go in to the 100's

50 is the highest setting when I use Vdub. I dunno how I can set it to more, maybe using text commands or whatever? It's all so complicated!

Screenshot:

https://forum.videohelp.com/images/imgfiles/nWzJb.png

[poisondeathray]

I-frame HD (go 2 down)

I-frame refers to SD only

[Ygramul]

Aww, crap. I think my brain got constipated.