AVI to DVD

[poisson]

I've a 14GB AVI FILE, footage shot on Handycam (Mini-dv and edited in and exported out of Adobe Prem) that I wish to author to DVD.

I'm very much a dummie in DVD encoding. I'm interested in a DVD authoring program with a real user friendly GUI BUT . . . of course at the end of the day, I want high quality picture (audio no issue, I think?, as is PCM) I can get. So, in choosing the right program, should I be trying to find out what codec that program will be using to encode my AVI? Would that be a legitimate question to be asking if high quality visual is my main goal?

[Guest]

Please read and follow forum rules, specifically, rule 12: do not ask what's best.

http://forum.doom9.org/forum-rules.htm

[Guest]

No, your question is misguided. You should export out of Premiere with a lossless codec and feed that to your MPEG2 encoder (if you can't frame serve it directly). The germane question is how good is your MPEG2 encoder and its settings.

[poisson]

Thanx Neuron2.

You should export out of Premiere with a lossless codec. . . .

Mmmmmm . . . . Um . . . I did the bulk of this work a year ago and I can't be sure if I did or didn't export it from Premiere with a lossless codec. Is there anyway sure-fire way of finding that out? Would running my AVI file thru G-Spot, Media Info or even "file information" in VDM tell me that?

[Guest]

Yes, use any of those and see what codec was used.

[poisson]

Codec
4CC = DVSD Name = DVC/DV Vid

Are you able to glean much from that?

[Guest]

You exported it as DV.

So you had a generation loss from multiple DV encodings. If that is what you want to put on a DVD now, you need to concern yourself with the quality of the MPEG2 encoder and how you set it up.

[poisson]

OK. Just looking at Premiere now and trying to see where/how I'd set for a lossless compression . . . ??

Under "Export Movie Settings" there are four tabs. General, Video, Keyframe and Rendering and Audio. I figure the setting I want is under either General or Video or both. Can you tell me which one please.
The choices of compressor under Video are DV (PAL), DV (NTSC) & DV (24p advanced).

Under General, File Type there are many including Microft DV AVI and Microsoft AVI . . . . . . ??

[Guest]

You have to install an appropriate lossless codec.

E.g.: HUFYUV:

http://neuron2.net/www.math.berkeley.edu/benrg/huffyuv.html

[poisson]

Oh . . . . OK . . .. Thanx Neuron!

[poisson]

Um . . . . Neuron . . . I followed that link you provided and downloaded "huffyuv-source-2.1.1.zip"

At the risk of sounding pretty dumb and hand-holdy . . . er. . . how do you install the codec from there?

[Gehenna]

You need the Pre-built dll version
http://neuron2.net/www.math.berkeley.edu/benrg/huffyuv-2.1.1.zip

unpack ,then right the .inf then select install

[poisson]

Hi Gehenna .. . . . . Thanx!!

OK . . huffyuv codec installed and up and running.

So . . . .doing some testing . . . . Using Premiere I've captured some footage from my handycam. 45secs worth which makes a (AVI) file of just under 150MB. I've exported that as a Microsoft AVI using the lossless huffyuv codec to make an AVI file just over 504 MB. Is that what you'd expect? That the output file to be a bit over three times bigger than its source file?

[poisson]

You exported it as DV.

Hi Neuron . . . can you help me again please . . . .?
Using Prem & b4 exporting, obviously one has to have material to export. As I've mentioned, in my case, that is footage from mini-dv. This footage it seems is captured by Premiere in AVI format and this resulting AVI when put thru G-spot, gives me the same codec read out I mentioned above. i.e. Four CC = dvsd Name = DVC/DV Video. So does this mean that footage has already been compressed b4 I even get to work with it then export? If so, where/when has it been compressed? Before it even got to tape in the camera, on the way out of the camera or on input to Premiere? Ideally, at the top of the project, I'd want to be working with raw, uncompressed material wouldn't I?

I'm currently trying to find more info in Premiere help page. Hopefully I'll come across the info I'm after soon.

Thanx again!

[Gehenna]

Probably gonna sound like i don`t know what im talking about here: But

Could poisson just install a Frameserver (http://www.debugmode.com/frameserver/) and frameserve directly out of premiere into an mpeg2 encoder (http://www.playout.net/ccspt2701.zip) ?

I notice in this thread http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=112966
that the trial version of CCE SP 2.70.02.10 ,although limited to 30days usage,does not insert logo into stream

[poisson]

I presume Frameserving is somewhat different to (in Premiere) just going File/Export/Export to DVD?

[Guest]

...where/when has it been compressed? It is compressed by a hardware DV encoder in your camera and is written already compressed to the tape.

[poisson]

It is compressed by a hardware DV encoder in your camera and is written already compressed to the tape.

OK . . . . Interesting . . . . . .

But you're saying it's important to choose a lossless codec (e.g. huffyuv) when exporting . . . . That to choose Microsoft DV AVI (on export as I think I did a year ago . . . damn!!) is to double whammy it with Four CC = dvsd. Name = DVC/DV Video again . . . . . !!?? That's what you meant by "multiple dv encodings" no doubt.

I notice that a (Premiere) captured AVI, when then exported using Microsoft DV AVI, is about the same size . . . about 200MB/min. However, when exported using Microsoft AVI and choosing a codec such as huffyuv, the file size increases more than 3 fold. Would you expect this Neuron2?

Hope this makes sense . . . .??

[Guest]

Yes, lossless codecs cannot compress as highly. Encoders typically throw away (lose) high-frequency detail, which results in less data in the encoded file. If you are not allowed to lose that detail ("lossless"), then the encoded file must retain it and so will be bigger.

[communist]

You may not need to export lossless (with HuffYUV for ex.) if all your editing is just pure cuts. Parts that Premiere wants to render (look at red / green markings in the timeline) are the only parts where Premiere will reencode.
So in case you only have cuts and some transitions just export DV AVI, make sure there is nothing checked under Settings -> Video -> Data Rate, because if there is Premiere will reencode everything (incl. things that could be copied over directly).

However if you've done a lot of filtering / color tweaking it may be better to export to HuffYUV.

[poisson]

Many thanx all!!