Workflow to Split .dv Captures and Process

[marka87uk]

Hi,

I've started a process of capturing home VHS tapes which involves using an old Mac Mini to capture DV video via a MiniDV camcorder into iMovie. The process is working and I'm getting 720x576 PAL 25fps .dv files as a result (approx. 13GB/hour which looks to be as expected).

Ideally I want to split the files into scenes so that I can process them individually (de-interlace with QTGMC, filters if necessary, and then render for upload online).

My problem so far is that VirtualDub is not splitting the .dv file correctly to the mark-in and mark-out - it will output up to the mark-out but from the beginning of the file. This is saving as AVI with direct stream copying for both video and audio. Why would this be (hopefully I'm just doing something wrong!)? I've tried other tools such as Avidemux and tsMuxeR but these do not open the .dv files.

My main machine is a Mac but I am running these Windows tools in a virtual machine. I was hoping that once they are split into more manageable scenes that I can use Hybrid to process them.

Any guidance would be really appreciated as I am a newbie to this!

Many thanks!

[DB83]

Well I just did a quick test and all was done as expected.

Just made sure that the start of the split was on a key frame. Selected section should be highlighted.


Just one thought. Do you have filename.dv or filename.avi. My test file was the latter.


If you are using a VM then why not transfer with WinDV which should split the scenes automatically.

[Alwyn]

Scenalyzer will split your clips at the timecode changes.

In the "capture folder" line at the top, browse to the folder that contains your captures.

Scenalyzer will display all the captures/clips in that folder.

Click on a clip to highlight it in yellow, then right-click it and choose Clips>Detect Scenes is selected clips".

Scenalyzer will then split the capture into the timecode clips.

You can also choose "Optical" for scene detection. I haven't tried that.

[marka87uk]

Thank you - the filename extension is .dv. I'm capturing on an old Mac Mini as that is the only device I have with a FireWire port to accept the MiniDV camcorder.

In VirtualDub it doesn't look like there are any keyframes. As the .dv file is actually of a VHS tape (recorded using the AV-in on the camcorder to pass-through), I don't believe there are any timecode changes but I'll have a look at Scenealyzer.

[Alwyn]

I don't believe there are any timecode changes but I'll have a look at Scenealyzer.

I just did a quick run-thru using Optical scene changes on a 21 minute DV file and it went pretty well (missed only a couple of changes), in a minute or so. You can select the sensitivity.

To finish/save your split-up file, click Clips>Commit changes.

[DB83]

The issue here appears that you have a RAW capture. All the qualities of dv but without the necc. header that allows vub to correctly establish the next stage. I am not familiar with Mac systems but I would have thought (and I am sure I read elsewhere) that you can transfer DV in a mac compatable format in a .mov container.


I have no experience as to how vd deals with .mov but if .dv is really RAW (no header) then you have to encapsulate since the header could well determine the rest.


Having said that, vdub2 might well be accomodating to RAW files. But since I have no RAW files to test this I simply do not know.


Of course you can upload a sample .dv file which we can then persue.

[marka87uk]

Sorry, I'm not having my luck and Scenealyzer doesn't seem to like my files. I wonder if the .dv files are broken in some way - is there a way to tell? They do play fine in VirtualDub/Quicktime/INNA/etc. After capturing in iMovie I simply copy the resulting .dv file without making any changes.

[marka87uk]

The issue here appears that you have a RAW capture. All the qualities of dv but without the necc. header that allows vub to correctly establish the next stage. I am not familiar with Mac systems but I would have thought (and I am sure I read elsewhere) that you can transfer DV in a mac compatable format in a .mov container.


I have no experience as to how vd deals with .mov but if .dv is really RAW (no header) then you have to encapsulate since the header could well determine the rest.


Having said that, vdub2 might well be accomodating to RAW files. But since I have no RAW files to test this I simply do not know.


Of course you can upload a sample .dv file which we can then persue.

That may explain it. I'll do some more experimenting!

[DB83]

Just make available, via download, one of these .dv files. No re-encoding. No youtube version. Wot u got from the initial 'capture' is wot we need.

[marka87uk]

I believe I've found a solution! Your suggestion that the .dv files were in a raw format gave me enough information to do some more research.

The .dv files I have are in a Mac .dv format which is similar but not the same as DV-AVI.

Now for those who encounter the same issue... Enosoft DV Processor contains a secondary tool called AVI Repair Tool. I renamed the .dv file to .avi and fed it into the tool, selecting Create As Type 1. The resulting file is a very similar file size (no re-encoding appears to have been done) and is in the DV-AVI format which VirtualDub now successfully opens and can split as necessary.

Thanks again!

[marka87uk]

Small update - I was experiencing problems with the audio not adhering to the markers in VirtualDub using Type 1 DV-AVI, so I tried Type 2 instead and VirtualDub now correctly splits both the video and audio where expected.