Question: DV video camera to DVD (video card advice)...

[frenchdetective]

Hi,

I'm new to this forum and to DV editing/capture. Here is my question: I have a DV camera (Sony with Firewire output) and I would like to transfer the video to my hard drive for editing and eventual creation of a SVCD or DVD. I recently bought a firewire card for my desktop since it did not have one. I tried video capture using the included software......but the video was terrible! I did everything right and maximized all the settings for good capture but still the video was of poor quality. After doing some more reading, it seems that I need a video capture card. I actually thought that the firewire pci card would be sufficient. So where can I find a listing of affordable video capture cards? Is Pinnacle systems package (which comes with a firewire/video card) a good one...does it create good quality video?

I am still not sure whether a firewire card is any different that a bundled firwire/video card (the box makes no distinction). Any clarification and guidance on this matter would be appreciated.

Thanks!
Ed

[floydyuk]

> I tried video capture using the included software......but the
> video was terrible!

What was the bundled software that you used?

> I did everything right and maximized all the settings for good capture but still the video was of poor quality.

What was the video format (AVI, MOV or MPEG) and output size of the finished video?

> After doing some more reading, it seems that I need a video
> capture card. I actually thought that the firewire pci card would > be sufficient.

You already have a capture card, the Firewire card is just that but the 'capture' software makes all the difference.

> So where can I find a listing of affordable video capture cards?

http://www.videoguys.com/vidcap.htm

Capture card choices:

1. Firewire (IEEE 1394) - soley for DV connection to a camcorder

2. Firewire/Analogue - as above but also allows connection to VCR's or camcorders with analogue in/out - more versatile

3. MPEG capture card - offers high quality video, they may have hardware that allows realtime/faster editing/encoding.

Firewire cards offer an affordable way to get video from your DV camcorder but usually the file format is AVI or MOV. AVI has a few limitations (max file size and Max Output size). If you capture at PAL or NTSC default size and you exceed 352 x 288 resolution when saving the finished video - the output may end up with unwanted artefacts/video noise.

http://pers-www.wlv.ac.uk/~c9653177/avi.html

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a.tcl?topic=Editing%20DV%20Films

The software used makes all the difference - here are my faves:

1. Adobe Premiere 6 - captures from a DV camcorder - outputs to a wide variety of formats.

2. Digital Origin's EditDV 2 (not sure if this available as Digital Origin has been taken over) - this software gives excellent results but uses the Quicktime format so the captured footage stays in Quicktime DV format until you save it back to DV tape or other format. If you change format then you need to observe the limitations of the saved output format.

3. Ulead Media Studio 6 - this was my number 2 choice until Premiere moved to version 6 as it allows direct DV capture and supports many different file formats.

To sum up - it all depends on what you wish to do with captured DV footage and what equipment you intend to connect to.

If you want to edit and export the finished project back to your DV camcorder (if it has DV-in) then a firewire card is all you need. If your video is for distribution on CD or playback on a PC - the firewire card is still viable. If your needs are for high quality video to output to VHS tape then either an Analogue/Firewire combo card or MPEG card are the way to go. MPEG cards although more expensive sometimes come with proprietary but powerful editing software AND give excellent results. The Hauppauge PVR card is a good choice here although there are a few compatibility issues.

http://www.reviewmakers.com/showdoc.php?review=7

If you want an alround solution (Digital/DV/Analog/TV/3D) then look to ATI's Radeon 8500DV which gives you everything including analogue connections but lacks hardware MPEG encoding/decoding.

http://mirror.ati.com/products/pc/aiwradeon8500dv/index.html

hope the above helps a bit

[frenchdetective]

a bit?

it helps a lot.
thanks for your input and your time. i'll look into those links.
i think i just wasnt satisfied with the quality of the mpeg file that was produced by the software (mgi suite -- came with the firewire pci card). ill look into adobe, but it sounds expensive.

one other question: how much difference does an mpeg card make? is the quality much improved over just software alone?

thanks again,
ed

[floydyuk]

> i think i just wasnt satisfied with the quality of the mpeg file
> that was produced by the software (mgi suite -- came with the > firewire pci card). ill look into adobe, but it sounds expensive.

Adobe Premiere 6 sometimes ships with mid-high end capture cards.

> how much difference does an mpeg card make? is the quality
> much improved over just software alone?

MPEG Hardware capture cards take the load off the computers CPU so higher quality output can be achieved without the lengthy wait while the video is being rendered. This is especially so when effects / transitions are used or the video footage is long. The quality is improved over software (there is good and bad software too!)

Here is a card that offers DV & Analogue capture and produces excellent quality - see:

http://www.crmav.com/video/21/dvstorm_capture_card_s.shtml

If you want to make the best of what you have by getting sharp fluid MPEG video, see:

http://www.100fps.com

You may want to locate

Virtual Dub (Excellent AVI tool)
FlaskMpeg (Edits MPEG2 or DVD 'VOB' files)
Mpeg2VCR (MPEG2 editing only with the full version)

The LATTER 2 tools allow editing of MPEG2 and have enough power to yield good results. They are free to download but you may need to spend small amount for extra functionality plus plug-ins like the LSX or Panasonic MPEG encoder(s) (for use with FlaskMPEG)

[floydyuk]

Better quality DV output

Further to my previous post I have tried out the following:

you need Pinnacle Studio 7, DiVx AVI codec v3 or v4 (not 5!!!) and Virtual Dub.

Capture your DV footage using the 'Capture' tab (Pinnacle Studio)
Edit the DV footage using the 'Edit' tab (Pinnacle Studio)
Save Movie using the 'Create Movie' tab (Pinnacle Studio)
Under 'Create Movie' tab (Pinnacle Studio) select AVI DVI codec
Save the movie (it will be something like 720 x 576 resolution)
The output file will be large in file size and be non interlaced

Use Virtual Dub to convert the output AVI
In Virtual Dub under the filters menu select De-interlacing
Choose the default/recommended option (blend both fields)
Up the frame rate slighty ie: from 25fps->30 fps or 30fps->35fps
The above will result in slightly more fluid video - if there is sound Virtual Dub has an option to keep it in sync and the result is undetectable to the untrained ear (the voices do not sound squeaky).

Finally output the video AS per the settings above. What you will end up with is nice sharp output without stary artefacts or blockiness and it remains at the same size as the captured DV footage.

If you use the MPEG codec in Pinnacle Studio the output will look poor if created at anything over 384 x 288.

Regards

Floydy