need help - quality issue

[biker250]

Hey guys, I'm new to this forum and somewhat new to videography. I've been doing it for a few years now but high quality has never been a need until recently.

I'm wondering why my quality suffers. I have a consumer-type Sony Mini-DV camera and record the video through a firewire port on my Dell XPS420 machine (3 gig ram, quad core processor, vista, big graphics card, Cyberlink PowerDirector) but regardless of the settings I use, I can't get the quality of the recorded video up.

Why can I hook the camera up to the TV and it looks nice and crisp but the video, once on the computer, looks crappy? How can I make it better? Thank you.

[biker250]

anybody?

[paglamon]

What software are you using to transfer the video from cam to computer ?

regardless of the settings I use

What settings ?

[biker250]

What software are you using to transfer the video from cam to computer ?


What settings ?

Using Cyberlink PowerDirector to import the video from the camera. I've tried all the settings. I'd have to open up the program and look at them specifically (different computer that I'm on now) but I've tried virtually everything and it all turns out about the same.

It's not NEAR as crisp as if I plug the camera straight to the TV and watch the video. So any video I produce doesn't look crisp at all. I'll have to get back to you on the specific settings but what should I be using? Or what settings are typical for importing video when using firewire cable?

Thanks.

[paglamon]

Or what settings are typical for importing video when using firewire cable?

Actually, none. DV-AVI from cam to computer via firewire should be just a "transfer"(which means you just move the video from cam to computer as it is) instead of "capture"(which denotes some amount of real time compression/encoding of the original file). I personally transfer my home videos through firewire using WinDV. I have not used CPD to capture/transfer DV from cams, but there must be an option to import as DV-AVI(which is the native video format of MiniDV tapes). DV-AVI is typically sized about 13GB per hour. What is the size of your captured video ?

[biker250]

Actually, none. DV-AVI from cam to computer via firewire should be just a "transfer"(which means you just move the video from cam to computer as it is) instead of "capture"(which denotes some amount of real time compression/encoding of the original file). I personally transfer my home videos through firewire using Win DV. I have not used CPD to capture/transfer DV from cams, but there must be an option to import as DV-AVI(which is the native video format of MiniDV tapes). DV-AVI is typically sized about 13GB per hour. What is the size of your captured video ?

WOW. What a difference-maker that is!!! Thank you very much! Here's what I was doing... when I import video with Cyberlink Powerdirector, I was using all the different settings under MPEG-1 video as seen in this screenshot:



I was trying DVD HQ, SVCD HQ, etc...then I would try the MPEG-2 Video option and try the DVD HQ options all over again. But I never tried the AVI and DV option as seen in this screenshot:




I just re-imported some video using this option and it's a WORLD of difference. Thank you so much for the help. A clip of a little over a minute was 286 MB so it sounds about right.

I still have to click the record button you can see in the pictures...which actually plays the video from the camera and records it as it plays....does this sound right or is there other software, such as WinDV, do it better/differently?

[biker250]

ok so it wouldn't let me post the pics until I have 10 posts so here we go

[biker250]

ok I give up. I have 11 posts, have been a member for 12 days and still can't post a pic.....so i'll post up the screenshots whenever it starts letting me

[paglamon]

Upload your screenshot to Imageshack and post the link here.

Anyway, I think you are on the right track now. There should not be ANY difference whether you transfer through WinDV or CPD or whatever other software as long as you import as DV-AVI. WinDV just uses maybe a less amount of computer resources.

[biker250]

Actually, none. DV-AVI from cam to computer via firewire should be just a "transfer"(which means you just move the video from cam to computer as it is) instead of "capture"(which denotes some amount of real time compression/encoding of the original file). I personally transfer my home videos through firewire using Win DV. I have not used CPD to capture/transfer DV from cams, but there must be an option to import as DV-AVI(which is the native video format of MiniDV tapes). DV-AVI is typically sized about 13GB per hour. What is the size of your captured video ?

WOW. What a difference-maker that is!!! Thank you very much! Here's what I was doing... when I import video with Cyberlink Powerdirector, I was using all the different settings under MPEG-1 video as seen in this screenshot:



I was trying DVD HQ, SVCD HQ, etc...then I would try the MPEG-2 Video option and try the DVD HQ options all over again. But I never tried the AVI and DV option as seen in this screenshot:




I just re-imported some video using this option and it's a WORLD of difference. Thank you so much for the help. A clip of a little over a minute was 286 MB so it sounds about right.

I still have to click the record button you can see in the pictures...which actually plays the video from the camera and records it as it plays....does this sound right or is there other software, such as WinDV, do it better/differently?

[biker250]

HEY, there we go! It worked.....so now it should make more sense.

So now I can capture video and have high quality footage to work with. Now I'm figuring out how to produce a HQ edited movie.....quality seems to suffer once a movie is produced....

[rsynder]

I think, you can use Desk share software for high quality video