A Firewire card + what software?

hoops10 · 7th May 2002, 02:36

I have a Sony Digital8 camcorder and I'm in the process of purchasing a firewire card. What is the best software to turn the DV into SVCD? I've heard of Pinnacle Studio 7 and Ulead, is one of these the best? Or is there another piece of software that is better?

Mac Sidewinder · 7th May 2002, 13:18

Depends on what you consider best? Options? Ease of use? Output quality?, etc. Do you plan on making files to send over the internet, put on VCD, SVCD, DVD, play off your hard drive, etc.

I use Studio 7 and really like it. It works great with my Sony digital. It has good special effects and you can add multiple audio tracks. Some like Premiere but it is very expensive and hard to use (at least in my experience) but I'm sure with practice it can be learned.

I have found though that the mpeg output of these programs (for VCD and SVCD purposes) can't compare with encodes done with Cinema Craft encoder. Simply output your final project as an AVI and encode with cce.

Mac

theReal · 7th May 2002, 15:20

Premiere is the best solution because you don't have to use the internal encoders - you can frameserve to any encoder you like and use avisynth filters in between.

The Ulead Media Studio 6.5 encoder for MPEG2 seems to be quite good, but I think you can find better ones and the preprocessing filters in Media Studio are just crap plus there are not enough of them - you really need good pre-processing filters for good encoding.

Ulead is more a quick'n'dirty cutting solution for DV to DV video projects. Of course you could also output the final file to type 2 DV with the Panasonic DV codec and then filter and encode with what you like best. Only with Premiere, you don't have to write another avi file which takes time and HD space.

Dali Lama · 7th May 2002, 16:07

how do you frameserve in Premiere?

thanks,

Dali

hoops10 · 7th May 2002, 16:42

@TheReal

What I want to do is transfer the DV to my PC thru the firewire and use CCE to make an svcd with the highest quality possible. Would Premiere be the best software for this? Also, do you have a reccommendation on a not-to-expensive, but good quality firewire card?
Thanks

theReal · 7th May 2002, 18:28

I think quality-wise Premiere is the same as Ulead for DV video (for scenes where no filters are added, the video just stays the same, so it doesn't matter).
I have to admit I haven't used Premiere much up to now because I never needed any of its advanced functions for my DV videos and Ulead is rather easy to use.
There is a plugin for Premiere which allows to frameserve through avisynth - I haven't used it up to now, but I plan on using it the next time I need to cut/edit and encode, because saving another avi file goes on my nerves (and if the source avi is not DV, saving it once more is not good at all for quality).

I have a cheap no-name firewire card and I think it doesn't matter what card you have. I have never had any problems with it - there's only two kind of chipsets around for these cards and drivers come with windows. You don't even have to install it or use special drivers, it works right away (including camcorder-controls).

hoops10 · 7th May 2002, 19:22

@theReal

Thanks for the informative post. Do you think that this would work:
1) Transfer video/sound to pc thru firewire
2) Use Premiere/Ulead to edit and save (very large) .avi file
3) Use VDUB to demux audio and video up
4) Frameserve the video (.avi) using avisynth to CCE
5) Pulldown the .mpv
6) Encode the audio to mp2 using tmpgenc
7) Mux together with bbmpeg (using SVCD presets)
8) Any post processing done to svcd (chapters, menus, etc.)

Do you think that would work? Any additions/deletions you would reccommend?

theReal · 7th May 2002, 22:56

I can confirm up to step 4) that it will work, given you are using the right DV codec (the the DV codec used by Ulead doesn't work with most progs, there's a DV codec by Panasonic and one by Mainconcept which work).
From then on, I guess it works as well (sounds plausible), but I never encode to mpeg, only to Divx or DV, so I can't tell for sure.

Acide ascorbique · 8th May 2002, 01:04

@Dali Lama
To Frameserve Premiere using Avisynth, go to Videotools.net and you will find a guide + necessary link.
You need to install the avisynth version coming with the provided link otherwise it won't work.
I test it and it works fine.

Dali Lama · 8th May 2002, 20:58

Thanks Acide ascorbique!!!

7th May 2002, 02:36	#1 \| Link
hoops10 Registered User Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 398	A Firewire card + what software? I have a Sony Digital8 camcorder and I'm in the process of purchasing a firewire card. What is the best software to turn the DV into SVCD? I've heard of Pinnacle Studio 7 and Ulead, is one of these the best? Or is there another piece of software that is better?

7th May 2002, 15:20	#3 \| Link
theReal Piper at theGates of Dawn Join Date: Nov 2001 Posts: 2,136	Premiere is the best solution because you don't have to use the internal encoders - you can frameserve to any encoder you like and use avisynth filters in between. The Ulead Media Studio 6.5 encoder for MPEG2 seems to be quite good, but I think you can find better ones and the preprocessing filters in Media Studio are just crap plus there are not enough of them - you really need good pre-processing filters for good encoding. Ulead is more a quick'n'dirty cutting solution for DV to DV video projects. Of course you could also output the final file to type 2 DV with the Panasonic DV codec and then filter and encode with what you like best. Only with Premiere, you don't have to write another avi file which takes time and HD space. Last edited by theReal; 7th May 2002 at 15:25.

7th May 2002, 16:07	#4 \| Link
Dali Lama Registered User Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 331	@the real how do you frameserve in Premiere? thanks, Dali

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

7th May 2002, 13:18	#2 \| Link
Mac Sidewinder Registered User Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Virgina Posts: 495	Depends on what you consider best? Options? Ease of use? Output quality?, etc. Do you plan on making files to send over the internet, put on VCD, SVCD, DVD, play off your hard drive, etc. I use Studio 7 and really like it. It works great with my Sony digital. It has good special effects and you can add multiple audio tracks. Some like Premiere but it is very expensive and hard to use (at least in my experience) but I'm sure with practice it can be learned. I have found though that the mpeg output of these programs (for VCD and SVCD purposes) can't compare with encodes done with Cinema Craft encoder. Simply output your final project as an AVI and encode with cce. Mac

7th May 2002, 16:42	#5 \| Link
hoops10 Registered User Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 398	@TheReal What I want to do is transfer the DV to my PC thru the firewire and use CCE to make an svcd with the highest quality possible. Would Premiere be the best software for this? Also, do you have a reccommendation on a not-to-expensive, but good quality firewire card? Thanks

7th May 2002, 18:28	#6 \| Link
theReal Piper at theGates of Dawn Join Date: Nov 2001 Posts: 2,136	I think quality-wise Premiere is the same as Ulead for DV video (for scenes where no filters are added, the video just stays the same, so it doesn't matter). I have to admit I haven't used Premiere much up to now because I never needed any of its advanced functions for my DV videos and Ulead is rather easy to use. There is a plugin for Premiere which allows to frameserve through avisynth - I haven't used it up to now, but I plan on using it the next time I need to cut/edit and encode, because saving another avi file goes on my nerves (and if the source avi is not DV, saving it once more is not good at all for quality). I have a cheap no-name firewire card and I think it doesn't matter what card you have. I have never had any problems with it - there's only two kind of chipsets around for these cards and drivers come with windows. You don't even have to install it or use special drivers, it works right away (including camcorder-controls).

7th May 2002, 19:22	#7 \| Link
hoops10 Registered User Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 398	@theReal Thanks for the informative post. Do you think that this would work: 1) Transfer video/sound to pc thru firewire 2) Use Premiere/Ulead to edit and save (very large) .avi file 3) Use VDUB to demux audio and video up 4) Frameserve the video (.avi) using avisynth to CCE 5) Pulldown the .mpv 6) Encode the audio to mp2 using tmpgenc 7) Mux together with bbmpeg (using SVCD presets) 8) Any post processing done to svcd (chapters, menus, etc.) Do you think that would work? Any additions/deletions you would reccommend?

7th May 2002, 22:56	#8 \| Link
theReal Piper at theGates of Dawn Join Date: Nov 2001 Posts: 2,136	I can confirm up to step 4) that it will work, given you are using the right DV codec (the the DV codec used by Ulead doesn't work with most progs, there's a DV codec by Panasonic and one by Mainconcept which work). From then on, I guess it works as well (sounds plausible), but I never encode to mpeg, only to Divx or DV, so I can't tell for sure.

8th May 2002, 01:04	#9 \| Link
Acide ascorbique Registered User Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 31	@Dali Lama To Frameserve Premiere using Avisynth, go to Videotools.net and you will find a guide + necessary link. You need to install the avisynth version coming with the provided link otherwise it won't work. I test it and it works fine.

8th May 2002, 20:58	#10 \| Link
Dali Lama Registered User Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 331	Thanks Acide ascorbique!!!