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Mini DV to PC files to big

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  • 05-06-2010 10:26pm
    #1
    BadCharlie
    Registered Users Posts: 2,614 ✭✭✭


    I have about 15 tapes of Mini DV that i need to put onto my pc. They are all home movies like kids and birthdays ect...

    But when i put them onto my computer using Windv or another program but the name has slipped my mind. The 1 hour tape can take up to 14gigs.

    This is just coming out to big and i would like them to be around 1.5gigs ect...

    Am i doing something wrong with windv? any help at all would be great. As i now have 3 hours of tape taking up around 40gigs of harddrive space. Big problem is puting them onto DVD :(


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    #2
    decob
    Registered Users Posts: 927 ✭✭✭decob


    nope, 13gig per hour is the norm for DV,
    Should be able to fit 2hours of footage to dvd (mpeg2)

    if you were to transcode the footage when importing it to something divx or whatever and then convert to dvd you will loose quality and a generation.


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    #3
    jjd
    Closed Accounts Posts: 57 ✭✭jjd


    i bought a dvd recorder in argos (LG) with a hard drive plugged in the camera and copied the home movies to it no prob
    i also had some 90 min video 8 tapes so i bought some dual layer dvd discs in peats and copied them also
    you can save them to the hard disc in the dvd recorder and the burn them on to the discs as well as having them on the hard drive
    just as well as the video camera (sony) had an accident and now is in video camera heaven
    the replacement camera i got is crap a jvc mini dv junk the ammound of noise from the tape mechanisim that comes out on the recordings is unbeliveable


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    #4
    stunt_penguin
    Closed Accounts Posts: 222 ✭✭stunt_penguin


    Hang on a minute, 10gb per hour would be normal for High Def DV- you should be looking at something a little more like 3-6gb per hour for PAL resolution DV.

    Is your software transcoding the video or something? I suggest that you try software like Adobe Premiere Elements, it'll cost you maybe $100 or so but it'll be well, well worth it, and you get to download a demo first to try it out. Adobe's capping should be spot on. I wouldn't trust WinDV or any other app with something as important as that.

    Also, Nero should have some great software for getting stuff from tape to DVD- they've always made great software, I would tend to trust their methods for burning to disc over others:

    http://www.nero.com/eng/store-nero10.html


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    #5
    decob
    Registered Users Posts: 927 ✭✭✭decob


    stunt_penguin wrote: »
    Hang on a minute, 10gb per hour would be normal for High Def DV- you should be looking at something a little more like 3-6gb per hour for PAL resolution DV.

    hdv and dv have the same bitrate - so the filesize will be in and around the same


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    #6
    101001
    Registered Users Posts: 1,071 ✭✭✭101001


    As has been said before you will need to encode the footage. To get them onto DVD you will need to create mpeg-2 files. You might have windows movie maker on your PC use this to create discs that'll be about 2 hours long (4.7gb). You are taking about 7/8 disks... If you keep the files on the computer you are talking 15 tapes will be around 20ish GB.

    If you want them smaller than that you should be able to get your footage down smaller still 1 DVD sized chunk (about 2 hours/4.7 gbs) should be easily converted to an avi of about 1 gb with no real loss in quality (as far as you will be able to see)

    Download auto gordian knot     That should get your video down to about 5ish gigs total (all 15 tapes), with no real visible loss in quality.

    If you need anymore info get back to me and I can walk you through it. You might actual try throwing one of the 14gig original files in auto gk bring the size down to 500mb (not sure if it'll work with straight DV files... worth a shot though :)


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    #7
    BadCharlie
    Registered Users Posts: 2,614 ✭✭✭BadCharlie


    Ok thanks guys.
    Will try some of the above and let u know how i get on.
    Hope to do some tapes during the week.


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    #8
    thxireland
    Closed Accounts Posts: 34 ✭thxireland


    there is a program called handbrake for windows and mac that will allow you to take the video on your computer and shrink them down to a specific size in multible formats


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    #9
    Amalgam
    Registered Users Posts: 6,026 ✭✭✭Amalgam


    thxireland wrote: »
    there is a program called handbrake for windows and mac that will allow you to take the video on your computer and shrink them down to a specific size in multible formats

    Yes, I would go for Handbrake over Auto Gordian Knot, which is great for what it does, but the user interface leans more towards DVD conversion.

    Handbrake tends to be more logical in its user interface layout, along with handy output presets.

    http://handbrake.fr/ (free)


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