Digital8 Capture Questions

[pjirele]

Hello everyone. I have a few questions regarding standards and capturing formats. I have read through the forums but I have not been able to get these questions 100% answered. More or less for my own sanity and need the answers. Thank you very much. Here we go.

1. When video taping with my Sony Digital8 camera, or any other Digital8 or DV camera, what is the resolution I am recording in? 352 x 240, 680 x 680, etc. I am capturing using the Highest Quality setting. As a result, what is then the best capture resolution I should choose when capturing it using Ulead? If I film in 352 x 240 why would people then capture using their FireWire card in any other format except what they have captured in.

2. What is the format Digital8 and MiniDV cameras film in? AVI1 and AVI2? What are these? Is this standard better than MPEG2 or is it just another way to compress the data while being filmed.

3. Should I always capture in MPEG2 format and use Tmpeg to convert it? Seems to work the best but I am just wondering from the pros.

Thank you everyone for your information and input. Pat

[mrtristan]

1. I don't really know, but I would guess that it's 640X480, or something close. Sorry, but I haven't been able to find the answer to this question, either.

2. Digital8 uses Digital8 format. MiniDV uses DV format.

AVI is Windows' version of "pure" video.

Mpeg2 is a form of compression. AVI files can be converted to Mpeg2.

I wouldn't say that either is better. Each has it's benefits and drawbacks.

AVI video has better quality than mpeg, but it takes up enormous amounts of disk space, if you don't use any compression.

Mpeg can't offer the same quality as AVI, but the trade off is a much smaller file. You can get a decent picture and sound, in about 1/10 of the space.

3. What are you converting your mpeg2 files to? Most people use Tmpgenc to convert avi files to mpeg or mpeg2.

Do you plan on editing your captures at all? If so, then you might want to work with AVI files, then convert your final project to mpeg or mpeg2.

[pjirele]

Thank you very much for your response. I really appreciate it. I have even called Sony Tech Support, Pre-Sales Support, and their Customer Service and none of them could answer my question about size when video taping. One did elude to the size you had suggested. I guess I could assume that it is the size to capture to when using Ulead.

Next, thank you for clarifying the digital standards and AVI versus MPEG2. What I am doing is your basic VCD/SVCD burning without menues. I am just capturing off of tape and burning them right to SVCD. I also do use Tmpgenc to convert. The weird thing is that when I choose the MPEG2 option in Ulead to capture the data, it ends up being AVI format anyway and I have to convert it. Oh well.

Thank you again for your assistance. Have a great day. Pat

[bishop]

1. NTFS: 720 x 480; PAL: 720 X 576

3. For best results, don't capture. Transfer video by firewire and convert the your preferred format.

[mrtristan]

I just did the same thing with our wedding video.

Since your captures are coming out in avi format, you might want to download a program called "VirtualDub." You can find a link in the "tools" section of the site menu.

Also, download the huffyuv codec. This is what it called a lossless codec. It allows you to compress the avi file, without losing quality.

From there, I captured my files at 640X480. I'm assuming that higher resolutions will lead to better results, but I haven't played around with the settings very much.

My next step was to create a WAV file, in order to isolate the sound of the clip. I still haven't figured out why, but the sound on my project was cutting off at 1:43.

Using Tmpgenc, I selected the avi file as the video source and the wav file as the audio source.

Although firewire is even better, I don't have any experience using it, so no comments there.

[holistic]

Pat ,

""1. When video taping with my Sony Digital8 camera......" ... NUFF said !
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That's all i need to know here .....You are taping with a digital camera. It will be in DV format 720*480 (NTSC) . To edit this file simply connect the camera to a firewire (IEEE 1394) card and 'copy' the data stream to your computer using an application like say Premiere (or vegas video) [look around there are many app's out there]. Your computer will see it 'wrapped' as an *.AVI file from here you can edit then RE ENCODE to MPEG2 using anyone of many MPEG2 encoders (my favourite TMPGEnc)
http://www.vcdhelp.com/comparison.htm


""2. What is the format Digital8 and MiniDV cameras film in? AVI1 and AVI2? What are these? Is this standard better than MPEG2 or is it just another way to compress the data while being filmed. ""
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DV1 and DV2 are two flavors of the AVI file format. The dv1 format is slightly smaller in size than the dv2 format. The DV standard is 'better' than MPEG2 because it is LESS compression !
The path being ..... Capture DV (5:1 compresion)-> edit -> encode MPEG2 (20:1) give or take ! depends on BR


"" 2. Digital8 uses Digital8 format. MiniDV uses DV format. ""
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To set the record straight --->>

The Digital 8, MiniDV, full-size DV, and DVCAM tape formats all store the same DV video bitstream

hope this helps

[pjirele]

Everyone............, thank you again very much for all of the assistance. It has helped a lot. Your information has been passed on to others I know who are asking the same questions. Have a great day. Pat