Uncompressed Codecs

flashlight wrote on 8/8/2002, 4:34 PM
I am trying to eventually make a DVD for a small business. I was only given the betacam master and I do not have a betacam player. I usually send betacams to a video house that will capture it for me. I asked for an uncompressed .avi file, and they asked me which codec. I told him the names of some of the codecs that are in VV# and they did not seem to be matching up with what he had. The Video house uses Toast? I think. If they do not have any of the codecs that I have loaded in VV3, what should I do?

Does it matter which codec you use if it is uncompressed?
From what I have read about the VV3 DV codec, if I ask him to give me a DV .avi, it should not matter which codec he uses on his end as long as it is DV????
Are there any Free codecs that we could both download and use?

Comments

Chienworks wrote on 8/8/2002, 5:05 PM
Vegas should be able to open any DV .avi file, no matter what codec was used to create it.
HeeHee wrote on 8/8/2002, 5:08 PM
AFAIK there is no codec for uncompressed AVI files. The very meaning of codec is short for Compression/Decompression. However, This may not be a good alternative due to the extreme size of uncompressed AVI files. A 720x480 with cd quality sound will be about 1GB/minute in size. I think your best bet is to obtain a BetaCam with the proper A/V connections for your system and capture it straight to your system.
Former user wrote on 8/8/2002, 6:27 PM
There is not a codec, but there are file formats. YOu can make an uncompressed MOV file, or AVI. That might be what they meant.

Dave T2
kkolbo wrote on 8/8/2002, 7:01 PM
An uncompressed AVI is universal for Windows based systems. I do not know if the Toaster is a Windows system or not.

The best thing to do if you have a DV Deck or a DV camera is to take the tape to a local POST house and have them dub the tape to DV for you with a good DV deck that accepts a component input. That way you do not have to rent a Beta deck and transfer it composite. The dub here runs about $100 - 150 depending on length.

K
flashlight wrote on 8/9/2002, 11:06 AM
Thanks for the replies!

The guy that I am dealing with at the video house is one of these guys who thinks Vegas is a toy and is not what the "big boys" use. He keeps asking for a codec when I ask for an uncompressed .avi. What do I tell him?

I just need a couple minutes for a test and I have a DVD-Rom drive so I can take 4.7 gig. I can deal with the size for my test.
HeeHee wrote on 8/9/2002, 11:25 AM
Cheinworks is right, any DV avi codec will suffice. This will give you a 5:1 compression ratio over uncompressed avi so you will be able to have a larger sample. However, this guy must not know much about digital video editing if he doesn't know how to make an uncompressed avi. Tell him to render to AVI without selecting a codec or selecting uncompressed as an option. For DV, have him select DV NTSC or DV PAL, depending on what region you are in, for the codec when selecting an AVI file format. I'm not familiar with Toast, so I am not sure how these settigns are selected there.
BarryB wrote on 8/9/2002, 12:00 PM
"dub the tape to DV for you with a good DV deck that accepts a component input"

Defintely the way to go and get the business to pay for it. This the best way to maintain the image quality because otherwise you will ultimately be converting it twice (1st to an AVI, and then eventually to mpeg2 for DVD).
kkolbo wrote on 8/9/2002, 7:48 PM
If you are not going to have it dubed to DV, I went to a Toaster demo today. It will use any CODEC on his system. Tell him an MS uncopressed AVI. If he still doesn;t get it, have him output it to Quicktime DV NTSC which is as not good as the output of the SF codec but it will work for you.

K