How to trim large files

gregburrow wrote on 12/8/2004, 8:28 PM
I am capturing videos from an old 8mm camcorder using a new MiniDV camcorder and the result is 27 GB avi files. I would like to break these files up into something smaller and more reasonable sized without any quality loss.

My plan right now is to use the trimmer to select portions of the large file, dropping a segment to the timeline, then using the save to hard drive in DV format. Since the original file is DV no rendering should be necessary and therefore no generational loss of quality.

Is there any problem with this strategy or is there an easier way to break up these large avi files while preserving the quality?

Thanks,

Greg

Comments

gogiants wrote on 12/8/2004, 10:39 PM
You're certainly right about not having any generational loss of quality.

You might consider just slapping the whole file onto the timeline and then using the split feature to split them into segments. Chances are you'll wind up saving time versus constantly using the trimmer. I've always found working on the timeline easier somehow, but maybe that's me.

One thing I've done when working with very large clips is to cancel out of the audio waveform generation that happens when you first place the clip on the timeline; it can be time consuming with a very large file. If all you're doing is pretty raw splitting of files you likely won't need the sound info.
Elmo27376 wrote on 12/9/2004, 7:15 AM
Have you thought of Batch capture, where you can trim the original shot before capture?
PaulS wrote on 12/9/2004, 8:21 PM
If you simply want to break a large AVI file into smaller files, there are many programs that can do it for you - just do a Google search for "AVI splitter". Unfortunately I do not have experience with them and cannot recommend one.

If you want something a little more, I highly recommend a program called Scenalyzer Live (http://www.scenalyzer.com/). ScLive performs automatic scene detection during capture from your MiniDV camera, breaking your analog 8mm feedthrough into smaller AVI files with no quality loss. When you bring the resulting smaller files into Vegas, just sort them by date and drag the ones you want to the timeline and they will be placed in order. It is then easy to add transitions and effects or chapter points at the breaks without having to spend alot of time finding just the right spot to split the clip.

You can download the full version to try it out. Until you purchase the software (US $39) and get a key, there will be a watermark on the video you capture. I find that the time it saves me has easily made it worthwhile. If you search this and the Vegas forums you will find quite a few positive messages about ScLive.

A few more comments about Scenalyzer Live:
1. It works only during capture - the next release is supposed to include scene detection for existing files. There is a free version that works with AVI files, but I found that it won't work under WIndows XP.
2. I have never seen it miss a scene change, but sometimes it will put a break where I moved the camera too fast or someone walked in front of the camera, so I set it at the lowest detection setting.
3. The interface isn't the most intuitive at first, but is actually rather simple and has automatic context sensitive help. Just make sure your MiniDV camera is hooked up before you spend to much time trying to figure ScLive out.
4. Make sure you play around with the options and closely check their effect on the resulting video prior to capturing a complete 8mm tape. One important one is that if you tell it to remove bad frames at the start/end of a scene where someone walks in front of the camera, it could remove a few frames causing noticeable discontinuities in audio and video.
5. Currently in ScLive you cannot join some of the smaller AVI files into one larger AVI file, but I have heard this will also be a feature in the next release.