VirtualDub, Divx, and Adobe Premiere???

[Yocona]

I posted this one on the VirtualDub forum too, but was told it might fly better here.

A relatively straight forward question:

I have Divx avi files that I downloaded from Kazaa. I would like to edit these files in Premiere. Not just cut, but add in effects.

When I edit them in Premiere, often times the sound drops out or sounds staticky, and even when I render the Divx in Premiere, the video gets jerky and is not as high resolution as the original Divx file.

I heard on the Adobe forum, that Virtual Dub can convert Divx files into the Microsoft DV avi files that Adobe Premiere knows and loves, and doesn't require pre-rendering to work with.

I've tried loading the Divx file in VirtualDub, and then saving as an avi file. After the warning about the file size, it then converts the Divx into an avi file. The file it converts to though is bigger pound for pound than DV avi files I capture from my camcorder, which I think is weird, but I'm sort of a newbie. But more importantly, does not solve the problem of lowering the video quality and f**cking up the sound.

Is this problem intractable? I mean, is it possible to 'uncode' a Divx encoded file to the DV avi file format? Is there room to meet in the middle? Meaning, what can I convert the Divx file to in Virtual Dub, and what Project settings do I need in Premiere to get a happy finished product (clear video with sound)*.

Note: I'm not looking to improve the video quality of the original Divx, just maintain it. I suppose improving it would be arguably theoretically impossible.

Also, if you know how to do this, please post some rather specific instructions on how to do this, as I'm new at VirtualDub. I did search the archives for Adobe and Premiere and came up with nothing relevant.

[bb]

Originally posted by Yocona
I have Divx avi files that I downloaded from Kazaa.
Please confirm that you do not infringe any copyrights before I answer to your question, else I have to close this thread.

bb

[Yocona]

I certify that I don't plan on reselling these videos for profit or impingeing on any copyright restrictions.

[bb]

Ok. I guess the easiest way to get the file converted to DV is to use VirtualDub, but not like you did by creating a huge uncompressed AVI, but using a DV codec instead. For VirtualDub you have to use a VfW (= Video for Windows) codec. You may download the Panasonic codec from the sticky threads in this forum.

After installation of the codec open your AVI file in VirtualDub, then select your DV codec (Compression), and set "Fast recompress" for the video (if that does not work use "Full processing"). In the Audio menu set "Full processing" to get PCM WAV. Save the DV AVI file via "Save AVI" from the File menu. You'll end up with a type-2 DV file (which you may convert to type-1 using one of the converters, again see sticky threads).

Be aware that transcoding to DV means a (slight) quality loss. If you want to edit the video without losing quality, try the lossless Huffyuv codec instead (files will be double in size compared to DV).

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[Yocona]

Thanks for the help. Can I assume that the Huffyuv codec works in the same procedure you described for the Panasonic codec?

[Yocona]

I took the lossless advice and install the huff codec. I uncompressed to DV and imported the file into Adobe. Once I imported it, it showed a red bar above the clip indicating that it needed to be rendered. I rendered it, edited it, and the rendered again and exported the clip as a movie.

The post-Adobe Premiere clip won't open in Virtual Dub. It gives me an error message that flashes up really quick--so quick I can't read it to figure out what it is.

My only export setting in Premiere is to export it as a MicroSoft DV (NTSC) file. Is this incompatible with Virtual Dub? Or is this getting back to the VFW question?

I thought getting the Huffyuv v2.1.1 should have solved this. Please advise.

Thanks in advance.

[Yocona]

Things I've done to get the DV file back in Divx....

1) I got the reg file from the sticky links and installed:

********[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\drivers.desc]
"pdvcodec.dll"="Panasonic DV Codec"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Drivers32]
"vidc.dvsd"="pdvcodec.dll"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\MediaResources\icm\vidc.dvsd]
"Driver"="pdvcodec.dll"
"Description"="Panasonic DV Codec"

Attachment: panadv.zip
This has been downloaded 172 time(s).**********

Does this qualify as a VFW?

2) The Panasonic codec from the Japanese site as located in the sticky FAQ area does not download.

3) I tried this manuever:

********Make sure you installed AVISynth, then open a text editor, e.g. notepad. Write a small script like:

DirectShowSource("C:\DV\MyFile.AVI")

You can add filters for denoising and resizing, if you prefer to do this in AVISynth (it's faster than using VirtualDub filters, because you don't need to do YUV<->RGB colorspace conversions). Save the file with and AVS extension, like MyFile.AVS.

Open the AVS file in VirtualDub instead of the AVI (File / Open video file). Open the WAV file from step 2 through Audio / WAV audio.*****

But couldn't get it to work.

Do I include the "'s in the txt file? -->DirectShowSource("C:\DV\MyFile.AVI"), I assume not. Even still, I can't seem to save this txt file as an AVS file. It just names it Myfile.avs.txt. Further, if its the original AVI file, I don't know how to change the file extension from AVI to AVS. If I right click the file and choose rename, it just renames it to myfile.avs.avi.

I have the AVISynth version of VirtualDub. I tried opening various scenarios with Open video file, and Open with AVISynth to no avail.

I guess this post is to say that I tried the Sticky Links and couldn't get it to work.

Cheers

[bb]

Originally posted by Yocona
Thanks for the help. Can I assume that the Huffyuv codec works in the same procedure you described for the Panasonic codec?
Yes.

[bb]

Originally posted by Yocona
The post-Adobe Premiere clip won't open in Virtual Dub. It gives me an error message that flashes up really quick--so quick I can't read it to figure out what it is.

My only export setting in Premiere is to export it as a MicroSoft DV (NTSC) file. Is this incompatible with Virtual Dub? Or is this getting back to the VFW question?
VirtualDub will give you a warning if you save a type-1 DV file, because it can't deal with the audio. It should be possible to open it in VirtualDub, though. There's probably something wrong with your Premiere export settings. Unfortunately I'm not a Premiere expert.

[bb]

Originally posted by Yocona
Does this qualify as a VFW?
Yes, the Panasonic codec is a VfW codec.

2) The Panasonic codec from the Japanese site as located in the sticky FAQ area does not download.
I'll have to check that.

Do I include the "'s in the txt file? -->DirectShowSource("C:\DV\MyFile.AVI"), I assume not. Even still, I can't seem to save this txt file as an AVS file. It just names it Myfile.avs.txt. Further, if its the original AVI file, I don't know how to change the file extension from AVI to AVS. If I right click the file and choose rename, it just renames it to myfile.avs.avi.[/B]
You must include the quotes, so write
DirectShowSource("C:\DV\MyFile.AVI")
NOT DirectShowSource(C:\DV\MyFile.AVI)
Please read the AviSynth documentation. Make sure you installed AviSynth correctly.

As for the file extensions: disable your "Hide file extensions for known file types" setting. You'll find it in Explorer (View/Options or Folder Options). When saving the AVS file from Notepad, make sure your selected file type ("Save as type") is set to "All Files", not "Text Documents (*.txt)".

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[Yocona]

OK, now I'm not sure if I even have AviSynth. I downloaded and installed VirtualDub in this version: VirtualDubMod 1.4.13.

Among the files in the zipped download was a file called:
AviSynthLexer.lexer

In the readme file for this lexer file there's this "AVISynthesizer - A tool to make Avisynth usable by mere mortals", which leads me to believe that AviSynth and AVISynthesizer are two different things.

So questions:
1) Do I still need to get AviSynth, or is it wrapped up in the VirtualDubMod that I have? It would seem so, because there is a option under file to "Open video file via Avisynth...". I would hate to do some goofy installation that screws up what I already have.

2) Since the Panasonic codec download doesn't appear to be working, is there another vfw codec that you recommend, that's free?

3) Does the huffyuv codec qualify as vfw?

Thanks

BTW I tried to use the Ulead convert from type-1 DV to type-2 and it said my original file was not type-1. Just thought this might be instructive.

[bb]

Yocana,

I know you're a newbie and need lots of help to get your stuff working, but may I remind you of forum rule 1 (and 1a as well): http://forum.doom9.org/forum-rules.htm

The questions you posted have already been answered several times. So please try to help yourself a little instead of asking every question directly.

1) Yes, you need to install AviSynth. It's not included neither in VirtualDubMod, nor in AviSynthLexer.

2) See above.

3) Yes.

bb

[Yocona]

Sorry to be tedious, a lot of what I read didn't seem specific enough to get me all the way there. A lot of the newbie threads seemed either too new, or just out of reach. Thanks anyway!