Best video format
- Thread starter LULA
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PerroneFord
Contributor
Avi
AVI because it generally is uncompressed. MPEG-2 uses a compression/recompression scheme that noticeably degrades quality after a few edits based on my early experience with it.
avi is merely a container and does not indicate the encoding method (like mpeg2, mpeg4, ...), i.e. avi files can contain movies encoded in a variety of formats and the header information in the avi specifies the encoding method for that movie. That being said, I always use the avi containers (they have some limititations that are not present in the Matrosky (sp) container (e.g. aspect ratio) but avi containers are much more popular than other more featureful containers that are not understood by many players).
Keep in mind that any container you choose must contain an encoded movie for which you have a decoder (mpeg2 is a very common encoding format). DVDs are encrypted in mpeg2, I like to encode my movies in mpeg4. mpeg4 results in about 1/4 the size of mpeg2 and can almost fit on a CD, but not all equipment supports mpeg4. If not, I would personally opt for mpeg2, and I would put it into an avi file.
Oops, but that assumes your just going to watch the movie. If you plan on editing it, you should use an encoder that is not lossy (mpeg2 and mpeg4 are lossy).
Keep in mind that any container you choose must contain an encoded movie for which you have a decoder (mpeg2 is a very common encoding format). DVDs are encrypted in mpeg2, I like to encode my movies in mpeg4. mpeg4 results in about 1/4 the size of mpeg2 and can almost fit on a CD, but not all equipment supports mpeg4. If not, I would personally opt for mpeg2, and I would put it into an avi file.
Oops, but that assumes your just going to watch the movie. If you plan on editing it, you should use an encoder that is not lossy (mpeg2 and mpeg4 are lossy).
LULA:
It also depends on how you're capturing the video.
If you're using firewire or USB for capture.
I am assuming that if you're serious about your video, you would use firewire.
I ususally use firewire to capture to AVI format, edit it and save it as an AVI for burning to DVD. I also make WMV copies for sharing on the internet.
OP
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Thank you all for the quick answers.
When i edit the AVI files does it lose quality like in foto (now there are the RAW format to prevent that).Anda after the editing should i save in AVI too for later making the DVD?
Sorry for the newby questions, and thank you for been so helpful.eyebrow
When i edit the AVI files does it lose quality like in foto (now there are the RAW format to prevent that).Anda after the editing should i save in AVI too for later making the DVD?
Sorry for the newby questions, and thank you for been so helpful.eyebrow
What are you using for editing?
ChrisA
Contributor
LULA:
You are mixing apples and oranges. "AVI" is a container and "mpeg2" is a compression method. Or put another way "AVI is one kind o box. and mpeg2 is one thing that you might want to put into a box.
But to answer your question: "DV in an AVI container."
DV is the video compression method used by MiniDV camera. It is high quality and perfect for editing because each frame is compressed independently there are no "key frames" and no generational losses in post production.
AVI is a popular container format on systems that can't do Quicktime. But the contaner matters
little. Use what works best on your system The big thing is to keep it in DV format until you are
finished editing then convert the final product to whatever is required for distribution.
Mpeg2 is compressed in a way that DVD player like.
THe only "problem" with DV is that it is big. 12GB per hour of video. I put "problem" is quotes
beause it is real not a problem. You WANT lots of data. big data files equal big resolution and detail. The more pixels the beter the image.
ChrisA
Contributor
In still photography "RAW" is camera data that is not yet converted to an image. The RAW to image process required interpolation. Video camera don't output RAW or anyhting like it. Not even high end professional cameras. Some highend cameras can produce image without need to interpolate. These camera have three CCD chips OK , more than you wanted to know.
Even HD video is only 1080 lines tall. Even the cheapest point and shoot stil camera does
more resolution
In the video and movie world there are two classes of compression methds. One clas uses "key frames" and the other class does not. DV, "Movie jpeg" and many other do NOT use keyframes. MPEG2 doe use them.
A keyframe system puts in one full image every 20 or 50 frames and the frames between are computed differences from the last key frame. Because things like backgrounds and the sky don't change from frame to frame, keyframe systems can save a lot of bits. But if you cut a keyframe format the system will have to recompute a new keyframe and differences. this decoding and re-encoding introduces loss.
Even HD video is only 1080 lines tall. Even the cheapest point and shoot stil camera does
more resolution
In the video and movie world there are two classes of compression methds. One clas uses "key frames" and the other class does not. DV, "Movie jpeg" and many other do NOT use keyframes. MPEG2 doe use them.
A keyframe system puts in one full image every 20 or 50 frames and the frames between are computed differences from the last key frame. Because things like backgrounds and the sky don't change from frame to frame, keyframe systems can save a lot of bits. But if you cut a keyframe format the system will have to recompute a new keyframe and differences. this decoding and re-encoding introduces loss.
ChrisA:
And how do you do it? If I understood right, when you capture via FW in APP, it writes the video in a AVI container wiothout any compression. So it is the original DV format. Is that true?
thnx
Yener
