digital 8 problem (capture specific)

[drewson99]

I am using a Sony TRV-130 Digital 8 camcorder.

I am connecting it to my PC with a firewire, and capturing with Premiere (although I can use anything)

Every time I capture, the end result is a stretched image. It is wider than it should be.

I believe (not sure, but I think it is common sense) the camera records in 4:3, 640x480. The result is something wider, like 720x480. When I go to the capture settings, the H and W settings are greyed out at 720x480.

Help! I want it to create a non-stretched .avi file.

Thanks,

Andy

[kabanero]

Hi Drewson,

There is nothing wrong with it. This is specification of DV AVI for NTSC: 720x480. Digital8 and MiniDV camcorders record in 720x480.
Also, when you encode to MPEG-2 with 720x480, your decoder will stretch the picture vertically, so you will get 4:3 image on your TV.

Don't worry about that.

[drewson99]

when I try to use tmpgenc to re-encode, it won't allow me to put the .avi file in the video source field. It will allow it to go in the audio, but not the video.

In one of the Guides in the capture part of this web site it shows someone putting an .avi file in that field. What is going on?

Andy

[kabanero]

Hi Drewson,

Do you rerender your captured AVIs in Premiere? And if you do, what codec do you use? Do you use DV codec?

Also, try this: open TMPGEnc, click Option, Environmental setting, VFAPI plug-in tab, and increase priority for "AVI VFW compatibility Reader".

Regards.

[drewson99]

I tried to rerender my .avi but it took too long (a 30 minute clip said it would take 17 hours) - but I have an Athlon 1800+ so I think I may be doing something wrong. Is there another program I can use to convert the .avi to something that I can put into TMPGenc? I also tried changing the priority settings in the "environment" tab in TMPGenc, but it still wouldn't recognize it. I really just want to be able to open my avi files in TMPGenc, is there another program?

Andy

[deb]

Hi Kabanero,

I saw your earlier reply:

"There is nothing wrong with it. This is specification of DV AVI for NTSC: 720x480. Digital8 and MiniDV camcorders record in 720x480.
Also, when you encode to MPEG-2 with 720x480, your decoder will stretch the picture vertically, so you will get 4:3 image on your TV. "

I noticed some captured pictures somewhere else on this site and they looked distorted also, only they appeared to be stretched too tall. Are you saying it starts too wide but is corrected when it is encoded? And what is the result if something starts out as widescreen?

What I'm wondering is - will it be in the original proportion when it finally is displayed on television, either from VCD or DVD or whatever? Or will it have that out of proportion stretched look, either too tall or too wide? If it stays stretched, is that common only to any digital capture, or just camcorders or what?

Thanks!!

[kabanero]

Hi deb,

try the link below, it may help you to understand frame sizes and aspect ratios:

http://geocities.com/dunder01au/Do-it.html

[Tiras]

Hi drewson99, to open Premiere .AVI in TMPGEnc you have to convert .AVI. In this can help Canopus DV File Converter. Send me E-Mail if you need one. pavl0006@aei.ca

[EricB]

drewson99

You should be able to capture DV directly to Premiere, edit, export as DV (no rendering other than edited parts), then encode with TMPGenc. You don't need to convert DV avi to some other thing to encode.

What you describe sounds more like the problem people experience when trying to use a Type 1 DV file in an application that requires Type 2. The "typing" is determined during capture and has to do with how the audio is stored with the video. Both versions use 720x480 (NTSC) video frame. Ulead products typically use Type 1 and Premiere uses Type 2.

If you load a Type 1 file into Premiere, it will report the wrong frame size and require rendering. You indicated a 17 hour time for a 30 minute clip. What is confusing, is you seem to say that the video was captured by Premiere, which would always capture as Type 2. If captured within the program, you should be able to drag to the timeline and have no requirement for rendering.

To summarize, what you are originally trying should work. The frame should not be distorted, and TMPGenc can render DV avi.