What video format to use?

[CDub]

Just got a new PC with a All-in-wonder card. My project is to convert and digitize all my family video from Hi8.

The record format available: AVI, MPEG3, WMV or ATI

So far I tried...
Format: MPEG
Length: 15 minutes in the highest quality setting ...
File size: 700MB.

Could someone Mac-Educate me for the best format to use? I need:

1> Best picture quality
2> Smaller file size with better compression
3> Most compatible format.

Thanks in advance!

Chris

 

[NSX-Ster]

viseo

MPEG is probably the best way to go. That's really the best quality for the file size. Quicktime is good too, but will almost always be a larger file size the MPEG. Thae other formas just don't look that good.

 

[Acura NsX Pilot]

wmv will be the smallest of all the formats but if you want high quality dvd video then mpeg is the way to go....ive downloaded both formats b4 and in all cases wmv is about half the size of mpeg with only a small loss in resolution. I am no expert but these are my observation . If would like to be able to play them back on your dvd player you will have to convert them to mpeg ntsc format and burn it as a VCD - Video CD ... in which case your dvd player must be VCD capatible as well.

Here is a great site with alot of info as well as shareware programs that will help you along with the project. Hope this helps.

www.vcdhelp.com

www.DivX.com

 

[akira3d]

What's your target media?

1> Best picture quality
2> Smaller file size with better compression
3> Most compatible format.

This really depends on how you plan to share these videos. And remember that these file formats aren't necessarily restricted to a single codec or a preset bitrate (for video and/or audio)

If you're targeting the Web, MPEG (1) is by far the most compatible video format across PCs and Macs, but PC formats like WMV (and AVIs with DIVX codec) offer better compression and smaller file sizes.

I personally would want to archive my videos to DVD-R...in which case you should stick with DVD-safe MPEG2 (I usually encode with variable bitrates between 6 and 8Mbps) and Dolby Digital 2.0 audio. Such DVD-Rs should play on most DVD players and DVD-ROM drives...

Note: If you ever intend to edit the material you're transferring from Hi-8, record them first as DV codec AVIs. These files will be huge, but preserve most of the quality. More importantly, simple edits do not require recompression which would further erode the quality of the video. Once you're done, export the video to one of the more compressed formats.

 

[CDub]

Thanks for all your feeback! I think I'm going to go with mpeg format.

Now if I recorded a 2 hour segment, can I split it up into 700MB chunks, without affecting the quality, so that I can save them on CD for the time being until I get a DVD burner? I just don't feel comfortable storing them on a harddrive.

Thanks guys!

 

[PHOEN$X]

Now if I recorded a 2 hour segment, can I split it up into 700MB chunks, without affecting the quality, so that I can save them on CD for the time being until I get a DVD burner?

You might want to have a look at this link:

http://www.afterdawn.com/articles/archive/sefy/splitting.cfm

 

[Acura NsX Pilot]

You might want to have a look at this link:

http://www.afterdawn.com/articles/archive/sefy/splitting.cfm

You might have just given him a direct link to the download so that the 6 pop-ups wouldnt show.

 

[PHOEN$X]

You might have just given him a direct link to the download so that the 6 pop-ups wouldnt show.

Huh? All the links on that page are from the same site, afterdawn.com (a well known source for video encoding/editing information). I could have given him links to the software directly I suppose, but then he wouldn't have the benefit of those detailed, step-by-step guides. Anyway, I only got one pop-up window.

Believe me, I don't arbitrarily give URLs without doing thorough research. I really thought the information on that site would be of value to CDub. Sorry you got inundated with annoying pop-ups.

 

[Acura NsX Pilot]

Huh? All the links on that page are from the same site, afterdawn.com (a well known source for video encoding/editing information). I could have given him links to the software directly I suppose, but then he wouldn't have the benefit of those detailed, step-by-step guides. Anyway, I only got one pop-up window.

Believe me, I don't arbitrarily give URLs without doing thorough research. I really thought the information on that site would be of value to CDub. Sorry you got inundated with annoying pop-ups.

No problems .... i have not uploaded that pop up blocker yet and its just so annoying.....i use TMPGE for all my mpeg joining/editing and virtual dub for avi's and asf tools for wmv/asf......sometimes when TMPGE dosent work Camel Mpeg join is a good alternative.

 

[CDub]

Hey guys, Thanks for links! It helps me get started on the right foot so that I have to redo everything a couple years down the road. You guys are great!

I'm kind of used to popups now. Not something that I'd prefer to get, but I've learned to live with it... until the government mandate Spams like what they are doing with telemarketers calling at dinner time.