Convert DV .avi to uncompressed mov

[Richard_G]

Hi all, been away from video for at least the last 5 years so not been here much in a while. I've been asked to shoot some short video to be used by a community TV station. Footage will be shot on a pair of Sony VX2000E (PAL) camcorders so the output will be 4:3 aspect ratio, 720 x 576 and transferred to the computer as Type 2 DV .avi files. These will then be edited as required and saved as Type 2 DV .avi so there will be no loss of quality.

However, when I asked the TV company what format they wanted the video in (I intended sending it as DV .avi) the reply I got was this:

We are working with Quicktime files on Mac.

HD Quicktime
Quicktime in HD PAL, 16:9, 25fps
Image size should be 720 x 1080 or if you have full HD capacity- 1920 x 1080 at 25 frames

SD Quicktime

Quicktime in DV Pal, Pro Res 422 or 8/10bit uncompressed.

Image size should be 720x576 FHA (Full Height Anamorphic.)

Audio - 48Khz 16bit

Minimum bitrate of 3mbps and optimal bitrate of 10-15mpbs

Basically we need a Quicktime .mov file in DV Pal, Pro Res 422 or 8/10 bit uncompressed.

If the video was shot in 4:3 then that’s fine. Converting it to 16:9 would cause things to get stretched and look a bit odd so we’ll take the 4:3 file.

So, what I need to know is what have I got to convert to. I have no experience with Apple products but understand that Quicktime 7 Pro can convert to DV Pal but what is this? Is it uncompressed or is it a format that allows different compression ratios and, if so, can it be set to output uncompressed? If this is what they mean then I'll give Apple my $30 to buy Quicktime 7 Pro.

Alternatively, my video editing software (Ulead MediaStudio Pro, I know it's old but it works and I know how to use it) can output as an mov file in DV Pal format. I can select uncompressed as the compression type but I can also set 24 bit or 32 bit colour depth. It defaults to 24 bit so I assume that is correct although it also defaults to 8 bit, 8kHz, mono audio so that isn't correct and has to be changed to 48kHz, 16 bit, stereo. Which colour depth setting is correct and does this meet the requirements?

[poisondeathray]

I have no experience with Apple products but understand that Quicktime 7 Pro can convert to DV Pal but what is this? Is it uncompressed or is it a format that allows different compression ratios and, if so, can it be set to output uncompressed? If this is what they mean then I'll give Apple my $30 to buy Quicktime 7 Pro.

Yes, Quicktime Pro can export DV PAL, or uncompressed or many other formats

DV Pal in MOV is almost the same thing as DV-AVI PAL . AVI and MOV are just container formats. You could swap the DV-AVI into MOV container and they will be happy . Many editing software allows you to export as DV PAL/MOV . If your software doesn't , you can re-wrap it with ffmpeg (or batch process with a ffmpeg batch script ) . The video & audio compression is unchanged - think of it as taking the audio , video , metadata and putting it into a different "box"

Alternatively, my video editing software (Ulead MediaStudio Pro, I know it's old but it works and I know how to use it) can output as an mov file in DV Pal format. I can select uncompressed as the compression type but I can also set 24 bit or 32 bit colour depth. It defaults to 24 bit so I assume that is correct although it also defaults to 8 bit, 8kHz, mono audio so that isn't correct and has to be changed to 48kHz, 16 bit, stereo. Which colour depth setting is correct and does this meet the requirements?

24bit is correct. "32bit" is only if you need alpha channel

[Cornucopia]

I concur with PDR.

Edit as you expected: DV-AVI PAL (720x576i, 25fps), using 24bit color palette for Video, 16bit/48kHz Stereo LPCM Audio. Render and Export your Master then re-wrap the file into the MOV container for lossless conversion.

Me, I'd use QTPro (for rewrap). Only costs ~$29USD, and is easy and invaluable for a job like this. Makes DV type2, just like the AVI.

Scott

[Richard_G]

OK, I seem to be getting there. I've just tried a 4 minute test clip that I had already saved as DV-AVI (although Type 1) and opened it in GSpot. Then I created, using MediaStudio Pro, a DV PAL MOV file from the same clip and the two results are shown below. The only question I have now is how do I reduce the compression rate? If I set compression to DV PAL, it is fixed and quite a bit higher than the 10-15 mbps that they are asking for. No idea if it will make a difference, personally I'd prefer as little compression as possible. Will QTPro or Quicktime 7 Pro (both costing $29) allow me to reduce the compression rate a bit? Fortunately, the finished article will be no more than 22 minutes long so will still fit on a single layer DVD-R.

[poisondeathray]

DV has a fixed bitrate.

It's obviously a mistake in their submissions instructions (they probably copy-pasted from some other MPEG2 template usded for another purpose and didn't proofread it) .

Prores422, uncompressed will have more bitrate than what they list as well

This is obviously a typo as well

Image size should be 720 x 1080 or if you have full HD capacity- 1920 x 1080 at 25 frames

It should probably say 1280x720

[Cornucopia]

SD Quicktime

Quicktime in DV Pal, Pro Res 422 or 8/10bit uncompressed.

Image size should be 720x576 FHA (Full Height Anamorphic.)

Audio - 48Khz 16bit

Minimum bitrate of 3mbps and optimal bitrate of 10-15mpbs

Basically we need a Quicktime .mov file in DV Pal, Pro Res 422 or 8/10 bit uncompressed.

This is the part you should use, and PDR is right: DV is fixed at 25Mbps. The bit about 10-15Mbps is a cut-&-paste typo. ProRes 4:2:2 or 8- or 10-bit Uncompressed will all be even larger (uncompressed would be >10 times).

If you want to quote us when asking again with them, that's ok. I'm sure enough of my figures to stand by them. I'm pretty sure they just want something that is Mac-compatible and something that uses industry standards and is only lightly-compressed (if at all), aka "master" quality.

BTW, I would strongly recommend you use MediaInfo preferentially to Gspot for describing your media contents. While MI does have its quirks & faults, it is MUCH more accurate and is still being updated (GS stopped ~2007).

Scott

[Richard_G]

Thanks both, that's cleared it up now and I can produce MOV files directly from MediaStudio. I was aware that DV-AVI is a fixed bitrate but, as I said, know very little about any Mac formats. Up until now the only formats I've ever used are DV-AVI straight from the cam or full D1 mpeg2 for DVD final output. The bit about 720 x 1080 HD confused me but I assumed that maybe there was some sort of HD equivalent to 1/2 D1.

Now all I've got to do is remember how to operate the VX2000s! I've considered selling them a few times as they haven't been used for quite a while but decided that one day I may start using them again, good job I didn't. Fortunately they don't want 16:9 HD and are quite happy with 4:3 SD. I may try using them in 16:9 but as the output isn't full height anamorphic, then that probably wouldn't be good enough anyway.

Cornucopia, didn't you used to be in Europe somewhere a few years ago?

[Cornucopia]

Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Back in Illinois again. Europe would be fun, though. Got any leeds? I'm game!

Glad it all worked out for you. Yes, you don't want "faked" (aka letterboxed, non-full height) widescreen as your master. If you can't do anamorphic SD, don't do it at all.

Scott