DV and HDV Video Editing FAQ

tmfwy

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In here, I will attempt to list, several topics which should be classified as a Frequently Answered Question.
 
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tmfwy

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AUTHORISED DISTRIBUTORS

Pinnacle Systems GmbH
Consumer
Convergent Systems (S) Pte Ltd
1 Rochor Canal Road
#06-12 Sim Lim Square
Singapore 188504
Tel: +65 63370177
Fax: +65 63362247

Prosumer
Epecom Graphics Pte Ltd
68 Kallang Pudding Road
#04-01 SYH Logistics Building
Singapore 349327
Tel: +65 68426994
Fax: +65 68424165

Canopus
Convergent Systems (S) Pte Ltd
1 Rochor Canal Road
#06-12 Sim Lim Square
Singapore 188504
Tel: +65 63370177
Fax: +65 63362247

And Yes, there is no typo in here. Convergent Systems is the distributor for both Pinnacle ( Consumer ) and Canopus.
 

tmfwy

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Useful Video-Editing Software List

Consumer Video-Editing
Pinnacle Studio Family
Ulead VideoStudio
Adobe Premiere Elements
Magix Movie Edit Pro

Prosumer Video-Editing
Pinnacle Liquid Edition Pro
Adobe Premiere Pro
Canopus Edius
Sony Video Vegas
Apple Final Cut Pro
Avid XPress Series

Free Video-Editing Software
Pinnacle VideoSpin [ http://www.videospin.com/ ]
Microsoft Movie Maker [ http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/moviemaker/default.mspx ]
Apple iMovie [ http://www.apple.com/ilife/imovie/ ]
 
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nautilus

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Please run a search on your queries first

Many of the topics asked have already been discussed before in previous threads posted by others with identical problems or situations. Please do a search under this forum first to see if the topic has been discussed before. You are warmly welcome to post if your questions are different. :)
 

nautilus

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Capturing for beginners

Hardware you need:
1)Digital video camera (miniDV, digital8, etc) with firewire port
2)Firewire cable
3)Firewire port on your PC (can be a firewire card too)

Software you need, any one of these for starters:
1) MS Moviemaker (free and included with winXP)
2) Pinnacle Studio 9
3) Ulead Videostudio 7
4) Apple iMovie

Basically the process is simple:
1) Turn on your PC <===just to be sure =p
2) Switch on your camcorder to VCR MODE.
3) Connect the camcoder to the PC, you should see winxp detecting your camera. If not, check that your firewire drivers are installed correctly.
4) Start your video editing program
5) Go to capture.
6) Try clicking on the "play" button in the capturing console to see if the link between your cam and PC is correctly set up.
7) Fwd/rew the clip to the desired position on the tape that you want to capture.
8) Start the capturing process. Varies from program to program. Some program would require you to press a "record" button first, followed by "play" on the console while others may require you to press one button only to start the capture process. Ensure that you have no programs running in the background to avoid drop frames which may give you problems later on. If you get excessive dropped frames, it may be due to several reasons including speed of cpu/fragmented hdd/backgnd programs, or it may be a problem with the videocamera such as dirty head which can be rectified with a cleaning cassette.
9) Stop the capture process and save the captured file. It should be in the form of XXX.avi
10) If no editing is needed, skip to point 11. You can import the clip to the VE program to do your editing such as cutting/joining/deleting of clips as well as adding effects. In case you are going to export the clip directly to the format you want in the VE program, skip point 11. Else if you decide to use a 3rd party transcoding software, export your final clip as a DV avi file.
11) Start your 3rd party transcoding software (tmpgenc, windows media encoder,etc). Select your source file as the avi file that you want to convert, and the destination as whatever you need, eg. mpg1/2 vcd/dvd/svcd, divx/xvid/indeo avi, quicktime, realmedia, etc. Start the convertion process. Go for a coffee break or sleep over it. Voila, your final video is done!
 
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nautilus

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FAQ on MPEG4 cameras

Some facts to know abt MPEG4 cameras before buying.
You can distinguish mpeg4 cameras from others by looking for these features:
1) Much cheaper than miniDV cameras. Most cost <$400.
2) Doesn't use a tape or disc for recording.
3) Incredibly small and compact. Much smaller than the smallest miniDV cam.
4) Although some would have model numbers with "DV" in them, don't be misled into thinking that they're miniDV cams, they're absolutely not!


Here are the facts.
1) Using mpeg4 format. Highly lossy compression format. Produces clips small in file size. Ideal if video quality is not important and if you intend to constant stream lower quality video with smaller file size over the internet.
2) Video needs to be converted to other formats such as avi or mpeg for editing.
3) Most cameras use small and low quality ccd/cmos sensors resulting in horrible video quality and low light performance.
4) Quality is MUCH lower than DV. DV records in PAL at 720x576 25fps to give abt 13gb of data per hour. Mpeg4's filesize is much less, and varies depending on the resolution of capture and fps
5) Uses inbuilt memory or memory cards to store video. DV uses DV tapes that store an hour of video for every tape and are very easily available everywhere.
6) Mpeg4 videos cannot be played back on standard VCD/DVD players. You'll need to convert it to mpeg1/2 to do that. However, mpeg4 files can be viewed readily on the PC.
 
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nautilus

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FAQ on MPEG2 cameras

Some facts to know abt MPEG2 cameras before buying.
You can distinguish mpeg2 cameras from others easily if the camera uses dvd recordable or microMV as the recording media.

Here are the facts.
1) Using mpeg2 format. Lossier compression format as compared to DV. Produces smaller but lower quality clips, around 2.4gb per hr of footage compared to 13gb for DV.
2) Video needs to be converted to other formats such as avi or mpeg for editing.
3) Quality is lower than DV. Records in PAL at 720x576 25fps (same as miniDV).
5) Uses small dvd-r or microMV as recording media. Not as easily available as miniDV.
6) Mpeg2 videos can be played back on standard DVD players only if the recording media is DVD-R. For microMV, you'll need to extract, convert and burn it onto a DVD in order to view it through a standard DVD player.

On another note. To edit MicroMV, it is advisable to
1. Capture via Sony Movieshaker
2. Save it as a MiniDV AVI format
3. Edit in your chosen application.
 
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tmfwy

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Occasionally, you might run into people telling you to

RTFF or RTFM

For those not in the know, that is the simplest of all, yet most difficult to understand tip.

RTFM = Read The F___ing Manual.

RTFF = Read The F___ing FAQ.

2 very important, yet never followed tips of all time. ;)
 

nautilus

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About still picture quality on miniDV cameras

It is a widely known fact that many miniDV cameras support the capture of still pictures into storage cards such as SD, memorystick, etc. Many questions have also been raised regarding the still picture quality of these cameras. As a rule of thumb, the pictures taken from a camcorder is of lesser quality as compared to dedicated decent digital cameras. To put things in perspective, the picture taken from the best camcorder is lackluster when compared to shots from entry level cameras of leading brands (eg. sony, canon, fuji, olympus, panasonic, etc). If picture quality is of great importance to you, especially if it's for that special vacation or occasion, please do not solely rely on your camcorders for great shots - it can provide you with decent shots at most. Buy a dedicated camera and you'll find yourself smilling from ear to ear. :)
 

nautilus

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bbqstingray

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Hi, i tried usin WMM2 to capture and edit some footages. But the final result created by WMM2 is WMV or AVI if i save it to my HDD. So i tried to save it to a cd directly from the program but it cant detect my writer, it keep telling me that my writer is not present. Is it because WMM2 is not compatible for my LG- GSA 4040B writer?
 

tmfwy

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How come the VCD / DVD I produced is not as good as the ones I've bought.

Many have asked this question and for those not in the know, this should set the facts straight.

Firstly, some basics
Garbage in = Garbage Out
To get Hollywood Quality Videos, you need to pay at least Bollywood Prices ( Which still isn't that cheap ).

Factors that determine quality include, but is not limited to the following:

a. Quality of source
b. Quality of native file format
c. Quality of Editing App
d. Quality of encode
e. Final Output format

Explanations
a. The quality of the source matters. Videos that were shot under poor conditions will not produce high quality videos. Similarly, the quality of the camcorder lens and the format of the source will also have to be considered.

b. There are many different types of file formats available. With regards to NLE, the most common ones are DV25 / DVC25 or MJPEG.

e. Obviously, a DVD will produce a much better picture quality than a VCD.

Having said that,

When you pay peanuts, you get monkey (or sometimes, peanut shells ).

Typical consumer level video-editing apps cost about SGD$200 while proper Video-Editing cards cost upwards of $250. Professional equipment costs alot more...
SGD$200 does not buy you the world and consequently, it also does not allow you to produce a Video Quality that rivals that of Hollywood movies. One should expect their final Video output to be good enough for people NOT to complain about it. In 90% of the cases, consumer grade Video-Ediitng applications produce video quality that is of a reasonable quality.

However, quality is a subjective matter and certain people have higher standards than the others.

Should you feel that your video quality is not good enough, Ask yourself this question

1. Are you using a professional camcorder ( Preferably >DV50 or Beta)
2. Are you using a professional Video-Editing application? (eg: Liquid Edition, Avid XPress, ......etc) that supports your native file format?
3. Are you prepared to shell out at least >$10,000 for mpeg compliant encoders ( MPEG2 ).

4. Are you prepared to take the time and trouble to go through that 1000 page manual?

If the answer to any of the above is NO, then most probably, you have set yourself a standard that may be too high.

Hollywood quality videos require at least Bollywood budgets and unless one is prepared to invest a great deal of time and money in equipment, software, along with the technical knowhow on how to properly string everything together, one will find that the road to Nirvana is difficult to attain.

I've seen people, who try to obtain the best possible camcorder often out of their budgets, only to find that they do not know how or find it too difficult to operate their purchases. Similarly, there are people who try to skimp and save on everything. Being Pennywise Pound Foolish also does not help as good help / equipment does not come cheap! ;)

When comparing video quality, Compare your output on a normal TV Screen, and not a Progressive scan display ( eg: Monitor ), or High Resolution Video Display Monitors. VCDs may look acceptable on the television screen but when projected on a much higher resolution, artifacts will be magnified to produce a quality level that may not be desirable.

Ask someone for a second opinion on the quality of the final output. You will find that in 90% of the cases, they will have no complaints about it. ;)

So don't worry too much about quality. Video-Editing is all about fun and a video that is generally watchable, is considered good video, no matter the quality.

;)
 
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nautilus

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HDV editing FAQ

carried from the HDV FAQ thread

To answer many of the questions you might have with regards to HDV, here is a short list of common Questions


What is HDV
High Definition video is the standard used in High Definition camcorders, much like the DV standard used in current MiniDV Camcorders. Because of its format, it is using the same MiniDV tape, and capturing at the same bitrate. Certain camcorders are also able to capture video at both HD or SD quality.


How many Different Standards of HDV is there
There are many different HDV standards. But generally, the 2 main formats are
HDV1: 1280x720 with support for progressive video. The MPEG transport stream is 19.7Mbps/s. Supporting camcorders: JVC JY-HD10U and GR-HD1U.
HDV2: 1440x1080 with support for interlaced video. The MPEG transport stream is 25Mbps/s. Sony HDR-FX1 and HDR-Z1.


How do I edit HDV Content
You can use current software editing suites to edit HDV content.
Consumer
Pinnacle Studio 10 Plus & above [ http://www.pinnaclesys.com ]
Sony Vegas Movie Studio+DVD Platinum Edition [ http://www.sonymediasoftware.com ]
Ulead VideoStudio 9 with paid online upgrade [ http://www.ulead.com ]

Prosumer
Avid Liquid 7 ( formerly Pinnacle Liquid Edition ) [ http://www.pinnaclesys.com ]
Sony Vegas 6 [ http://www.sonymediasoftware.com ]
Ulead Mediastudio Pro [ http://www.ulead.com ]
Adobe Premiere Pro [ http://www.adobe.com ]
Canopus Edius [ http://www.canopus.com ]
Apple Final Cut Pro [ http://www.apple.com ]
Avid XPress Pro [ http://www.avid.com ]


How do I capture HDV Content
Same as what you have to do, for your DV sources. Simply hook up your camcorder with an application that supports it, via Firewire.


Can I use external hard drives to edit HDV content
Yes you can. Consumer external hard drives provide sufficent bandwidth for you to edit, at most 2 streams of data.


What are the system Requirements to edit HDV content
If you take a look at the picture quality afforded by the HDV standard, you will see that it contains much more data at the same bitrate. Because of this, more compression is involved, to store 6 times more information than that of conventional DV. To handle this format, you should have a fairly powerful PC to edit HDV

A minimum system specification should comprise of an
Intel Pentium 4 HT 3.0 or Dual Core 3.0 with an Intel chipset based motherboard
1gb of Ram
A mid range graphic card, such as the ATI Radeon 9600 or Nvidia 6600 wuth 128mb ram
Multiple physical hard drives

In short, if your PC is able to play games, it should be able to edit HDV


What should you look out for when choosing software for HDV Editing
If you are using the Mac platform, you only have 1 choice. But if you are using the PC platform, you will be spoilt for choices.

The main important considerations, in no order of importance should be
a. The editing interface
b. Whether it is using Native HDV codecs or not
c. The functions that you require

a. The editing interface
This is self explanatory. The faster you get up to speed, the more money you can start making to recoup the initial investment

b. Whether it is using Native HDV codecs or not
This is an EXTREMELY IMPORTANT consideration. Many software applications make use of an intermediary format to handle HDV content. This is either to conform to the nature of the proprietary editing hardware / software, or to lower system resources. When an intermediary format is used, time is spent transcoding ( converting to the format ) during capturing / importing and when exporting

Eg of capture and export process
Capture / Import
Convert to intermediary format ( Loss of quality ) 1 generation
Editing
Convert to HDV ( Loss of quality ) 1 generation
Export

Note that when editing, you are losing 2 generations of quality for each editing workflow
You are also spending time transcoding, which may take as long the rendering time ( which is long enough! ) for a project.

Alot of editing applications emphasise on the tons of functions they offer but NOT the need for transcoding. Since the purpose of HDV is to increase the video quality, one should NOT compromise the quality of their projects by having to suffer generation loss with each edit.

c. The functions that you require
No matter how much features a solution has, it means squat if it cannot do the things you want.

Some editing applications, like Pinnacle's Studio 10 or Liquid Edition range of products, have a feature known as InstantSave or Background Rendering, both of which i find extremely useful and wish to point out
InstantSave is something which will allow you to NOT lose your work in the event of a crash. it saves your work 30 times every second
Background Rendering This is an option in the editing suite to render your project in a format you choose. Best suited if you have a DUAL CORE processor system, i find that if the final format is DVD, and you select MPEG2 as the background render format, your projects will take MUCH LESS time to render, than normal.


Pricing, Licencing issues
For pricing details on each software, you should consult the distributors for each line of products

Educational Licence
If you are a student studying in a qualified institution, you are eligible for a student price on the software product. Simple present your student card in the retail outlet (eg: Challengers ) to obtain the special pricing.

Please take note that most educational licences are meant for home usage and users are NOT allowed to create commercial content with it. This said, if you are a company / individual that purchased an educational licence at a much cheaper price, and sell your projects for commercial gains, it is no better than using the PIRATED version of the software!

Upgrade Licences
Similarly, Upgrade licences allow users who own a previous version of a product, to purchase the current version of the software ata discounted rate. This is usually done to reward loyal customers of that product. If you read the licence agreements, a prerequisite to be eligible for the upgrade product, is that you need to have a full version of the software.

That means one full version, one upgrade
Again, if your company only has 1 full version, and multiple upgrade softwares, it is contravening the licence and is no better than using the pirated copy of that software!
Eg: 5 upgrades, 5 full softwares.

Installation of the software on multiple computers
Depending on the licence, this is generally tolerated. with a single software purchase, you are usually allowed to install it on multiple computers, but you can only use ONE instance of the software at any one time.
 

hobbes_

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Great thread, pretty infomative... Could anyone enlighten me about the different choices of exporting my finish product? The formats, how large and the medium it can be played on..

:D
 

defn

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Why is it necessary to have a moderate range graphics card?
 

hobbes_

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Correct me if I'm wrong, but as you edit your footages, your gfx will have to render the footages on the spot, so u can preview. Its like playing a gfx demanding game.. more pixels, fast and more pictures.
 

Lord Hokage

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Hi I am currently editing a file using premier and adding in additional audio streams and photos etc. What format is an ideal export format to maintain a relatively high resolution. THe source videos are dv pal video .

My preference would be to save it in divx format but i am not sure how to do it using premier. THank you for all assistance!
 
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