How can i capture DV to HDD for archival

[lilhobo]

Hi all how can i capture video to HDD in the best possible way for storage??

how can i tell which DV codec windows/Vista is using?

is it better to go to DV format first or do i convert to huffyuv or lagarith?

[bb]

1st question: You simply save the DV file to your HDD, either directly from your capture program, or you simply copy the file. Did I get you right?

2nd question: It depends on whether your application uses DirectShow of VfW. I guess MediaInfo or GSpot should be able to tell you.

3rd question: If it is DV already, why should you want to convert it to a lossless format? You wouldn't gain any quality at all, but you would certainly lose HDD space...

bb

[JohnnyMalaria]

For capturing, there is no codec involved. The captured video will be the same compressed form as on tape. The codec (strictly, the decoder) is only relevant when playing the file or when transcoding to a different compression format. You can't tell from the file which decoder will be used in such cases. Typically, any DirectShow based program will use the Microsoft DV decoder unless another has been installed. A Video-for-Windows application will have to use a Video-for-Windows decoder which, by default, isn't installed on a Windows system. If such a decoder is installed, you can find out which it is quite easily. BTW, the decoding part of DV is the simple part and there shouldn't (!) be any difference. DV encoders on the other hand, can be quite variable.

[lilhobo]

cool thanks a lot for the information