posted on December 23, 2002 08:21:02 AM new
I just bought a digital video camera that lets me download videos to my PC. A 90 second video takes over 300 megs. I don't get it. I can record 15 minutes of super high quality video off a commercial DVD on to one CDR (700 mb) so why do my home videos, which are much less quality, take up so much room? Is there a way to make them take less without losing quality?
posted on December 23, 2002 08:28:50 AM new
Izzy: which compression are you using??
From what little I know, AVI's use much less than MPEG1, which uses much less than MPEG2....however, the video quality of MPEG2 is fae superios to all the rest.
Most digital-video editing software give the option of the format you wish to save the clip into -- at least I know MGI's VideoWave does
For that matter, WinDoze MovieMaker ain't toooo shabby
posted on December 23, 2002 08:33:04 AM new
That's actually part of my question: what's the best format to use? I used the highest quality they offered (I believe 720 x 480) but this should still be less than a commercial DVD. What kind of format is VOB anyway?
posted on December 23, 2002 12:08:23 PM new
Understand first that .AVI is just a file format, not a compression scheme. AVI files can be uncompressed, or heavily compressed. You cannot generalize, as the last poster did, that AVI is less or more quality or whatever. AVI files compressed with DivX can be of exceedingly high quality if done correctly.
As to what to use... my policy is that I don't lossy compress videos until they reach their final destination. When I capture (either suck in digital video or do analog capture from VCR or whatever) I do it using a lossless compression like HuffyUV. That still takes a lot of space but it's better than uncompressed.
Then I decide what the final destination format is. If I am getting video from a HiRes source (digital video cam or analog from laserdisc or HI-8 or S-VHS), I usually want an SVCD (Super Video CD) that I can play on a DVD player. So I convert the videos to 480x480 MPEG-2 (I know, the resolution sounds weird, but it ends up looking normal).
If I am analog capturing from normal VHS or 8MM, or from some other lower-res source, I then want a VCD (Video CD) to play on a DVD player. So I convert the videos to 352x288 MPEG-1.
There are lots of other options, and it can be very complex. If you want more information on all this, let me know and we'll strike up an email conversation.
--chris
[ edited by cdheer on Dec 23, 2002 12:10 PM ]
posted on December 23, 2002 12:22:11 PM new
Thanks for that, Chris. I just unpacked my new toy and used it for the first time yesterday. With the right people offering suggestions, I'll get it right.
My basic observation is the VOB files on commercial DVDs are very high quality. I can rip a DVD to my PC in 700mb chunks (to fit on CDRs). Each chunk plays for about 15 minutes. So I know that it is possible to get 15 minutes of high quality video on a CDR. My first experiment with my digital camcorder gave me 90 seconds of video and took half a CDR as AVI. I can't see using a CDR for every 3 minutes of video. Not only that but the AVI doesn't play on some computers. I guess I'll try your suggestion of SVCD or maybe MPEG-2. My goal is to protect my tapes because they do fade with time. I am using the software that came with my Dazzle PCI-firewire card from Ulead software. If you have any other suggestions, my email is [email protected].
thanks
izzy
