DV Archiving Methodology Questions

[Psychotourist]

Please excuse me if this has been covered over and over. lol. I'm wanting to archive my indoor people-"action" footage that I've shot with my JVC DV Vidcam.

I've "captured" the footage using Pinnacle Studio 7 (using native M$ DV codec I presume since I've not installed any other DV codecs).

What I'd like to do is encode these DV avi's into mpeg2 elementary streams for archival and use in DVD authoring later. From my readings here I believe my best shot is to use TMPGEnc Plus (I have the latest version) using the settings in the document "Configuring TMPGEnc for high-quality, DVD compliant MPEG-2" referenced in various posts here. I'm also using the tmpgenc.ini DV template "mod" suggested by mb1. My goal is to have the highest quality (encoding time is not a consideration since I have a 2.4 Ghz P4 machine dedicated just for my multimedia activities) streams possible that may be archived onto DVD disc's ("unauthored) for later DVD movie production.

My first question is: Am I taking the right approach?

My second question is: Am I using the right settings by using the "Configuring TMPGEnc....(etc.)" document?

My third question is: It appears that I should be using pulldown as a final step to avoid jerkiness in my final, authored DVD production. I have pulldown, but apparently I'm too much of a doofus to figure out the appropriate phrasing of the command. What is the proper pulldown command syntax that I should be using in this final step?

My last question relates to audio: There is a background hum that I'd like to process out of the audio. Any suggestions as to how?

Any and all suggestions/guidance would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you very much.

[bira]

Originally posted by Psychotourist
My first question is: Am I taking the right approach?


Yes, but I use the avisynth script below first. I'm trying to get better quality. And I use the canopus DV decoder.



AviSource("file.avi")

FixBrokenChromaUpsampling

separatefields()
vid_e=selecteven()
vid_o=selectodd()
vid_e=convolution3d(vid_e,0,4,4,4,4,2.8,0)
vid_o=convolution3d(vid_o,0,4,4,4,4,2.8,0)
interleave(vid_e,vid_o)

weave()

ResampleAudio(44100)


Originally posted by Psychotourist
My last question relates to audio: There is a background hum that I'd like to process out of the audio. Any suggestions as to how?


Just use a sound editor software like Cooledit.

[preston]

Not only has it not been posted over and over, but the response I received to a similar question was pretty much "use the AVI for editing." I do the same thing and also use TMPGenc Plus. I don't have audio problems so I actually use TooLame to handle audio inside TMPGenc. Here are the two links I found most useful:

http://www.vcdhelp.com/tmpgencexplained.htm
http://pwp.netcabo.pt/0165394101/TMPGEnc_Template.html

vcdhelp.com's forum was more interested in this issue than this forum, which is more oriented toward ripping.

[bb]

First question: MPEG-2 is not a the format of choice for editing purposes. If you are not going to edit the video any more, MPEG-2 is good for archiving, and I'd recommend using a DVD format. Don't know why you are planning to use elementary streams, though. Do you want to keep video separate from audio?

Second question: Which "Configuring TMPGEnc....(etc.)" document do you refer to?

Third question: If your source is PAL, then there's no need for pulldown, so I guess you have to deal with NTSC. Unfortunately I don't have experience with that. Anybody else?

Last question: You need a sound editor capable of noise filtering. Depending on the kind of "background hum" you may need different kinds of filters. There are advanced noise filters available that create a noise profile from a silent part of your footage, which is then used to filter the whole audio file. As far as I know, CoolEdit has such a filter.

bb

[Psychotourist]

BB:
To clarify...

First question: I don't believe I would be doing anymore editing after converting to MPEG2 (other than splitting out a short clip possibly). No particular reason for elementary streams except to save a step or 2 if I wanted to replace audio with different sound track and some guides seem to suggest it.

Second question: The document I refer to is located at...
http://pwp.netcabo.pt/0165394101/TMPGEnc_Template.html

Third question: I should have included that info. lol. Yes, I'm dealing with NTSC.

Fourth question: I'll give that a whirl, there really isn't a clear spot in the audio...it's a background hum caused by distance between subjects and Vidcam probably...but I'll give your suggestion a try.

Bira and preston:
Thanks for your input.

[bira]

Originally posted by Psychotourist
No particular reason for elementary streams except to save a step or 2 if I wanted to replace audio with different sound track and some guides seem to suggest it.


Yeah. You might want to convert it to dolby digital.

[theReal]

My third question is: It appears that I should be using pulldown as a final step to avoid jerkiness in my final, authored DVD production. Even I'm not using NTSC, I'm 99.9% sure you don't need pulldown because you're not dealing with a telecined 24fps film source. If your camcorder records to 29.97fps interlaced, then this is the frame rate you must use (because it's 100% true interlaced 29.97fps) - if your camcorder is able to record in 23.97fps progressive mode then it's another story. I guess then you need a DVD Player and TV set that are able to show 23.97fps progressive content or you need to telecine your video and bring it to 29.97fps first (which wouldn't be a good thing to do, I guess...)

[ulfschack]

And also keep the streams separated (ES) you're gonna want it that way when it's time for DVD authoring.

The audio should be converted to DD, just like Bira suggests. Mp2 isn't a within DVD spec (allthough widly supported anyways)

cheers