Which Format?

dstarr wrote on 11/16/2009, 6:56 PM

I am trying to convert some older video files that I have when I had a dv Camera. I conveted all of my tapes to Uncompressed AVI. An example of a file is a 2.72gb AVI uncompressed file that is 13:31 minutes long.

I want to convert them to something alot smaller but keep similiar quality settings. I have tried most of the formats but the quality is not the same as the original large AVI file. I am getting alot of Motion Blur as well. Any suggestions?

Thanks.

Comments

Former user wrote on 11/16/2009, 7:16 PM

to help answer

1) What is your purpose for converting the files?

2) Sounds like you aren't "uncompressed" but you are at DV AVI format? Is that true? DV AVI is about 20 gigs for an hour (4 gigs for 18 minutes).

3) Your file will never be any better than the original format. If possible, that is how you want to keep it. If it is from a DV camera, I suggest you capture it as a DV AVI for best quality. There are some lossless codecs (lagarith, huffyuv) that might make it a bit smaller, but it is already compressed so it won't get much smaller.

4) What is the final use of these files?

This might help get a better answer.

Dave T2

dstarr wrote on 11/16/2009, 7:36 PM

1. 2 things. Watching them on TV's with a Windows Media Center (primary) and editing them for home production. All my new stuff is Full HD so I sometimes mix it with the old stuff.

2. You are correct it is DV AVI.

3. I would love to keep it at that but I have 8TB of space of those DV AVI files. What about AVCHD? If I upconvert it will it look better and save space?

I appreciate your help.

Chienworks wrote on 11/16/2009, 7:44 PM

Any lossless codec is going to be a bigger file than DV so they're not worth considering.

Most AVCHD and similar formats occupy the same 13GB/hour as DV, so there's no space savings. On top of that, those formats have 4.5 times as many pixels for the same amount of data, so the quality actually drops to about 1/4 what you have in the DV files. Also not worth considering.

You could try a CBR 8Mbps render to a DVD MPEG2 format. The quality will be pretty good and the file size should drop to less than 1/3 of DV. As a bonus you can play them on a standard set-top player.

Another format i've had good luck with when space was the primary concern is DivX. 4Mbps looks better than 8Mbps MPEG2 and will be half the size. Unfortunately, "looks better" is a very subjective judgment and your judgment may vary a lot from mine. It's free to try it though.

dstarr wrote on 11/16/2009, 7:50 PM

I'm trying CBR 8mbps right now. I'll let you know how it looks. What about if I do some editing and mix it in with my 1080p stuff. I usually render to some type of HD format like AVCHD. I tried rendering the AVI file to AVCHD but it looks bad with alot of motion blur. Maybee I have the wrong setting like wrong field order. What should I put for De-interlace method?

Thanks.

dstarr wrote on 11/16/2009, 7:57 PM

I just tried the NTSC CBR and it looks real good except I get a lot of spuratic colored blocks. I tried a CBR of 8,000 and 9,800. The quality is exactly what I am looking for. Any suggestions?