MPG or AVI

[sdctlc 0]

I have been downloading from my HC40 in a .avi format. I was told that by going with a download in a mpeg fprmat you can do all the editing just the same but when you "make" the movie the rendering time is WAY LESS and is basically almost ready to burn?

Anybody know about this or have suggestions?

Thanks
Scott C.

"He who Hesitates Shall Inherit the Earth!"

[quade 4]

Going to depend on the operating system and software you're using. A blanket statement probably isn't going to work for everyone.

That said, you're images will be far better in the long run if you capture from camera to computer in the same format that was on the tape to begin with. That's called, variously; DV, DVCam or DV25. Do all of your editing in that and take the recompress hit AS you're compressing for DVD output.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[sdctlc 0]

I will have to play with it later I am guessing. I am using Studio with good results and a pretty fast computer. the edits are quick but the rendering is the time killer. If I can get that reduced I could do more on site stuff a lot easier!

Scott

"He who Hesitates Shall Inherit the Earth!"

[quade 4]

DVD software compression (high quality DVD software compression) is time consuming no matter how you look at it. Figure at least 2 to 3xReal Time plus the DVD burn time.

The "fast" way to do it is to edit your program as normal and output to a stand alone DVD recorder via Firewire which does a hardware compress in Real Time.

If you want to go "really" fast (for 4-way debriefs for example), you skip the computer altogether and just download from your camera directly onto the DVD.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[Dokeman 0]

are you talking about an external computer dvd burner or one that goes to a TV.

I quit using pinnacle because it was way to slow. I just started using windows movie maker instead. MUCH faster. I guess it depends on what type of video your doing. Fun jumps, tandem, 4 way, etc. And mostly what kind of editing you need to do. Using movie maker, i have a dvd ready within 20 minutes after i land. Its takes a little time to render and burn, but thats when i pack, so I am ready to go back up in 20 minutes

[DSE 5]

Quote

Going to depend on the operating system and software you're using. A blanket statement probably isn't going to work for everyone.

That said, you're images will be far better in the long run if you capture from camera to computer in the same format that was on the tape to begin with. That's called, variously; DV, DVCam or DV25. Do all of your editing in that and take the recompress hit AS you're compressing for DVD output.

*Most* NLE systems don't support MPEG rendering without a recompress. For this reason, using avi for your master, and compressing to mpeg is the better option. Recompressing mpeg causes a quality hit. Only you can decide if the hit is bad enough to deal with the render times.
There are other options.
For example, you can frameserve from your NLE to your encoder, or you can render to DV25, output to an ADS Instant MPEG, and have realtime, high quality encoding. Better than most software encoders unless you look at commercial MainConcept or CinemaCraft.
On the PC side, hardware assistance is now available from some cards as well.
Additionally, DV25/DV is a compression format of 4:1:1, which is already color-starved. SD MPEG is a 4:2:0 colorspace, and is significantly missing information, so when you color process or use FX, you're going to usually find macroblocking, depending on the bitrate of the encode. If you have a very high bitrate for SD, you can somewhat avoid this outside of the extreme blacks and whites. Using an AVI container for DV helps avoid this as well.
Finally, bear in mind that MPEG is temporal, and therefore doesn't edit well. AVI containers (generally) are interframe, and therefore more frame content, making for much more accurate and higher quality output.
PM me if you'd like more info.

[Fast 0]

Quote

DVD software compression (high quality DVD software compression) is time consuming no matter how you look at it. Figure at least 2 to 3xReal Time plus the DVD burn time.

The "fast" way to do it is to edit your program as normal and output to a stand alone DVD recorder via Firewire which does a hardware compress in Real Time.

If you want to go "really" fast (for 4-way debriefs for example), you skip the computer altogether and just download from your camera directly onto the DVD.

I have been doing my tandem editing in Premier Pro 2 and have eliminated quite a bit of a time sink by doing the export from Adobe right to DVD mpeg format. I used to download from camera in AVI then output from adobe as avi then have the dvd software encode it to mpeg. Now I am just dumping it right from Adobe to .m2v+wav format and importing that into the dvd burning software which then doesn't have to re-encode it. I saved 15 min off my tandem edit time that way.

~D
Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me.
Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka