I just got Premiere Pro 2.0 and After Effects 7.0 and I'm wondering about my ability to do online and grading with it and my PC (spec in sig). Specifically, I am working on a film sourced on DVCam. What's the difference between offlining at home/onlining & grading at a company with Avid Symphony or something, and trying to online myself? Software aside, I'm thinking about my hardware. I know my PC and Premiere can handle DV footage full resolution, but is there any specific hardware a Postproduction company would have that makes the quality better? Can the capture card make a difference etc? Aside also from the colourising expertise available at a company.
Little video editing advice?
Miscellaneous Forums/General Discussion/Little video editing advice? capture card absolutely (compression ratio) can be reason. me personally used Adobe Aftereffects for many serious projects (Im licensed and certified by Adobe Microsystems for that piece of software), and I tell you with AE you can do anything. Problem with your home version is that on Avid systems video editing is in real time as well as capturing, while you at home dont have interface for DVI or Beta SP system (depending what you using) and separate audio processor/mixer for equalizing levels. Usually Adobe Premiere you can connect over firewire cable and it SHOULD be fine with DVCam, but remember, DVCam is still 512 certical lines with bad compression ratio. Thats why Avid is better (proffessional tool) as well as Speed razor (editing) with matrox Digisuite capture card card...etc..depending what you want
while you at home dont have interface for DVI or Beta SP system
DVI? Is that referring to a broadcast quality format like digibeta etc? For this particular project I shot on DVCAM. I guess I would deliver on DVD, but also output an AVI which I could then put on DVD-Rom and layoff to DigiBeta at a facility house should I ever be fortunate enough to sell it to a TV station.
I get confused by this so much. Since DVCam transfers over firewire, do I not get the best picture quality by capturing on any Firewire card? Or does the DV data get converted somehow upon capturing? I thought it was just a data stream that went straight in unchanged. (I'm just talking about DV and DVCam here, not DigiBeta or HD.)
If you are planning on broadcasting at some point:
Do not:
Lay off to DVD. The quality is not high enough for broadcast.
Add any coloring/effects etc on your suite. Unless they are new material: 3D stuff etc.
Add titles on your kit.
Do:
An off-line on your kit. And on-line at a broadcast edit suite.
A full edit on your kit, with no effects or re-compression. And then get it graded etc later at a suite.
The most important part is getting it graded and certified ok for broadcast at the edit suite. But, you must do all you can to maintain quality in the early processess.
An alternative to all this is to do the best edit you can, and only worry about broadcast quality when and if you get an offer. In this situation they may offer a re-edit etc anyway.
Good luck.
Do not:
Lay off to DVD. The quality is not high enough for broadcast.
Add any coloring/effects etc on your suite. Unless they are new material: 3D stuff etc.
Add titles on your kit.
Do:
An off-line on your kit. And on-line at a broadcast edit suite.
A full edit on your kit, with no effects or re-compression. And then get it graded etc later at a suite.
The most important part is getting it graded and certified ok for broadcast at the edit suite. But, you must do all you can to maintain quality in the early processess.
An alternative to all this is to do the best edit you can, and only worry about broadcast quality when and if you get an offer. In this situation they may offer a re-edit etc anyway.
Good luck.
You should install proper drivers for Adobe premiere in order to manipulate remotely with your DVCAM (cut in, Cut out), and for Adobe Aftereffects, you should know that AE is compositing tool, not editing tool..so it means everything you 'edit' with it, must be rendered. Second , be careful about exporting your AVI or whatever you want after capturing with your Premiere. Reason is FIELDS composition. usually its going like Upper first then lower. if you set up this wrong, your movie picture will 'shake' all time. I apologize for DVI sentence I wanna say DVCam.And DigiBeta is usually for TV stations (Broadcasting) but Beta SP system is still No1 in this area. And be careful about few things more:
1) You must know your FPS rate for your DVCam (NTSC 30 FPS or PAL 25fps) when you capturing your record
2) You must choose target /NTSC 800x600, PAL 720x576/
before you export to your DigiBeta.
3) Be careful about Fields order during export
4) Be careful about audio tracks. DigiBeta (any Beta actually), recording up to 4 audio tracks, so place your audio properly in order to be able to hear that.
Thats what you have to take care as well as fact that if you importing video from NTSC system and exporting for PAL, you must synchronize audio carrier.
I hope it helps a little..
1) You must know your FPS rate for your DVCam (NTSC 30 FPS or PAL 25fps) when you capturing your record
2) You must choose target /NTSC 800x600, PAL 720x576/
before you export to your DigiBeta.
3) Be careful about Fields order during export
4) Be careful about audio tracks. DigiBeta (any Beta actually), recording up to 4 audio tracks, so place your audio properly in order to be able to hear that.
Thats what you have to take care as well as fact that if you importing video from NTSC system and exporting for PAL, you must synchronize audio carrier.
I hope it helps a little..
Thanks - I'm really asking what the technical difference is in my home hardware and the hardware in a pro suite. I know I should online in a pro suite for the best output - I just really want to understand it because whether I online at home or with a company, I want to have a technical grasp on the process. (I also want to do as much as I can myself as it's really expensive using pp companies, and there's only so many times I can ask for a deal on downtime).
As I said I'm only really thinking about DV here - what is the specific difference between the data that ends up on my HD after capturing through a basic Firewire card and the data that ends up on a pro suite's HD after capturing through their capture card? I was just under the impression that firewire was a standard kind of thing that just transferred the data wholesale.
I know Avid is the industry standard but I've never had it explained to me why it is better. Functionality aside, I mean. Does it actually somehow give a better picture quality?
As I said I'm only really thinking about DV here - what is the specific difference between the data that ends up on my HD after capturing through a basic Firewire card and the data that ends up on a pro suite's HD after capturing through their capture card? I was just under the impression that firewire was a standard kind of thing that just transferred the data wholesale.
Usually Adobe Premiere you can connect over firewire cable and it SHOULD be fine with DVCam, but remember, DVCam is still 512 certical lines with bad compression ratio. Thats why Avid is better (proffessional tool) as well as Speed razor (editing) with matrox Digisuite capture card card
I know Avid is the industry standard but I've never had it explained to me why it is better. Functionality aside, I mean. Does it actually somehow give a better picture quality?
The data on firewire is the same.
It's a while since I worked in TV-land, but last I remember DV was still a grey area as a format for broadcast (outside of news and current events). Often directors/producers wouldn't mention that they shot on DV so as to avoid any problems from TV companies.
[EDIT: tv companies will sometimes make up technical 'issues'. For example: a friend of mine shot his TV program on DigiBeta when it was still a very new format. The technical people at the tv channel mistakenly thought it had been shot on film (16 mm). The report that came back from them said that it had passed the 'broadcast test' but there were minor issues, including: "hair in the gate" (ie. tiny strands of film behind the lens). Oh! how we laughed!]
Avid is just a computer much like any other. The main difference is in the quality of (analog) audio and video outputs.
Also, the video can be stored (and manipulated/composited) without lossy compression. This can make a huge difference.
It's a while since I worked in TV-land, but last I remember DV was still a grey area as a format for broadcast (outside of news and current events). Often directors/producers wouldn't mention that they shot on DV so as to avoid any problems from TV companies.
[EDIT: tv companies will sometimes make up technical 'issues'. For example: a friend of mine shot his TV program on DigiBeta when it was still a very new format. The technical people at the tv channel mistakenly thought it had been shot on film (16 mm). The report that came back from them said that it had passed the 'broadcast test' but there were minor issues, including: "hair in the gate" (ie. tiny strands of film behind the lens). Oh! how we laughed!]
Avid is just a computer much like any other. The main difference is in the quality of (analog) audio and video outputs.
Also, the video can be stored (and manipulated/composited) without lossy compression. This can make a huge difference.
MrTricks,
I think there is some excellent advise ablove, make the very best version you can on your home suite, ensure you keep the EDL (edit decision list for those reading who dont know) and when the time comes to make the broadcast version, ensure there is enough in the budget to do a fully fledged online edit.
To ensure the very best economic result, be organised. Be VERY VERY organised. Know every tape and shot intimately. Have ALL your music, sound effects (preferably in order on a CD ready to be trasnfered - in order is important too).
I know you have done quite a lot of video stuff over the years and are indeed quite knowledgable the reason I am asking some of the following quesiotns is so you can more clearly see a bigger piture for broadcast. There is a lot which can lead to a broadcaster refusing to transmit something, or not being able to under guidleines and rules. Keeping an eye on all of these details is a job for a professional.
I think that the real 'big issues' here are things outside of your control whilst using a home suite. How can you tell if the video signal is within broadcast specifications for white levels, black levels and chroma levels? You need a scope and other extra kit really. How will you check if the auido levels are within spec?
{Having said that have you seen some of the very poor quality which is transmitted and the amount of compression Sky puts on some stuff is just outrageous when comparing to watching older style terrestrial telly pictures.)
It has been a while since I worked in broadcast but, as I remember it, a broadcast television pitcure signal should have no clipped white levels - no white should go above 100% and nothing less than 30% for black. The chroma signal has to lie in phase on a scope and levels adjusted accordingly so they do not cause transmitter distortion. You do need a scope to ensure these - although some can be corrected later, its a bit like using the sharpen filter in Photoshop because the picture is out of focus - it will help but not improve the real quality of the image.
Cables, connections, noise, compression, incorrect levels, out of phase chroma, high or sub sync blacks can all cause problems for a broadcast system. Blanking can also creep in without you knowing it - again a scope will help see this before it causes any real problems.
Ratios and storeage formats also bring extra problems when handling media. Widescreen - what ratio?, captions and titles need to be within the safe title area (thats' what that grid is for in Premiere).
I have known a few people have edited for broadcast on Premiere and the esult has been acceptable.
Avid itself is not going to guarantee that all these small details have been monitored and adjusted to provide a quality end result. You need a properly trained technician to help ensure these details are monitored correctly. A fully equipped Avid Suite with realtime capture cards for audio and video at full bandwitdh will speed your edit along (as long as the editor is any good!).
When you come to online edit, make sure you sit with the editor briefly to show him/her the edl and the offline so they can prepare for anything before the edit, which may throw them during the edit. Such as - oh this is the bit where we have used green screen and we have to key in 200 space crafts now... if you get my drift?
Bars and tone clock and a technical sheet showing the details of the braodcast programme will be supplied as part of the online edit (normally) so the broadcasters will be able to technically review your programme quickly and efficiently too.
I hope some of this helps. - Sorry I rambled on a little.
IPete2.
I think there is some excellent advise ablove, make the very best version you can on your home suite, ensure you keep the EDL (edit decision list for those reading who dont know) and when the time comes to make the broadcast version, ensure there is enough in the budget to do a fully fledged online edit.
To ensure the very best economic result, be organised. Be VERY VERY organised. Know every tape and shot intimately. Have ALL your music, sound effects (preferably in order on a CD ready to be trasnfered - in order is important too).
I know you have done quite a lot of video stuff over the years and are indeed quite knowledgable the reason I am asking some of the following quesiotns is so you can more clearly see a bigger piture for broadcast. There is a lot which can lead to a broadcaster refusing to transmit something, or not being able to under guidleines and rules. Keeping an eye on all of these details is a job for a professional.
I think that the real 'big issues' here are things outside of your control whilst using a home suite. How can you tell if the video signal is within broadcast specifications for white levels, black levels and chroma levels? You need a scope and other extra kit really. How will you check if the auido levels are within spec?
{Having said that have you seen some of the very poor quality which is transmitted and the amount of compression Sky puts on some stuff is just outrageous when comparing to watching older style terrestrial telly pictures.)
It has been a while since I worked in broadcast but, as I remember it, a broadcast television pitcure signal should have no clipped white levels - no white should go above 100% and nothing less than 30% for black. The chroma signal has to lie in phase on a scope and levels adjusted accordingly so they do not cause transmitter distortion. You do need a scope to ensure these - although some can be corrected later, its a bit like using the sharpen filter in Photoshop because the picture is out of focus - it will help but not improve the real quality of the image.
Cables, connections, noise, compression, incorrect levels, out of phase chroma, high or sub sync blacks can all cause problems for a broadcast system. Blanking can also creep in without you knowing it - again a scope will help see this before it causes any real problems.
Ratios and storeage formats also bring extra problems when handling media. Widescreen - what ratio?, captions and titles need to be within the safe title area (thats' what that grid is for in Premiere).
I have known a few people have edited for broadcast on Premiere and the esult has been acceptable.
Avid itself is not going to guarantee that all these small details have been monitored and adjusted to provide a quality end result. You need a properly trained technician to help ensure these details are monitored correctly. A fully equipped Avid Suite with realtime capture cards for audio and video at full bandwitdh will speed your edit along (as long as the editor is any good!).
When you come to online edit, make sure you sit with the editor briefly to show him/her the edl and the offline so they can prepare for anything before the edit, which may throw them during the edit. Such as - oh this is the bit where we have used green screen and we have to key in 200 space crafts now... if you get my drift?
Bars and tone clock and a technical sheet showing the details of the braodcast programme will be supplied as part of the online edit (normally) so the broadcasters will be able to technically review your programme quickly and efficiently too.
I hope some of this helps. - Sorry I rambled on a little.
IPete2.
It has been a while since I worked in broadcast but, as I remember it, a broadcast television pitcure signal should have no clipped white levels - no white should go above 100% and nothing less than 30% for black. The chroma signal has to lie in phase on a scope and levels adjusted accordingly so they do not cause transmitter distortion. You do need a scope to ensure these - although some can be corrected later, its a bit like using the sharpen filter in Photoshop because the picture is out of focus - it will help but not improve the real quality of the image.
Cables, connections, noise, compression, incorrect levels, out of phase chroma, high or sub sync blacks can all cause problems for a broadcast system. Blanking can also creep in without you knowing it - again a scope will help see this before it causes any real problems.
Cables, connections, noise, compression, incorrect levels, out of phase chroma, high or sub sync blacks can all cause problems for a broadcast system. Blanking can also creep in without you knowing it - again a scope will help see this before it causes any real problems.
As IPete2 said.
Thanks very much for the advice. It's much appreciated - however I actually know about these issues and for my current project I'm heading to an online suite on this Monday coming. I'm actually asking a technical question about the specifications of firewire, DV, Premiere etc because I want to understand the technical reasoning behind the advice. Sorry if that sounds unappreciative: it's not intended that way, I'm just a little more advanced in my knowledge than maybe my question implies and am curious about what steps I can take with upgrading my setup to minimise future outlay on PP suites. I'm asking what's the technical difference between A and B, not should I do A or B.
For instance, Beaker says
The data on firewire is the same.
So I don't understand why going
should give any different results for me at home than in a PP suite. Again, I know about legal levels, scopes etc and I'm not talking about the experience and expertise of a professional technician. FCP for instance has a Legaliser plugin (which I know might not be as good as a pro one). I'm asking specifically about the hardware behind the data transfers and storage. I'm not asking anything about what to do to my film to make it more suitable for broadcast.
To put it another way: hypothetically, say I took my DVCam source tapes and offline EDL to an online PP suite, and they did nothing but capture, edit and layback to DVCam (without grading, legalising, putting through scopes etc) - would the picture quality be any different having gone through their capture card, their AVID etc, that doing the same at home with my unbranded Firewire card, Home PC and Premiere Pro 2.0?
For instance, Beaker says
The data on firewire is the same.
So I don't understand why going
DVCam deck -> any old firewire card -> my PC -> Premiere, After FX or whatever software I use to edit and grade -> Layback to DVCam [or output to AVI -> DVD-Rom -> layback to DigiBeta at a basic facility house like Stanley Productions]
should give any different results for me at home than in a PP suite. Again, I know about legal levels, scopes etc and I'm not talking about the experience and expertise of a professional technician. FCP for instance has a Legaliser plugin (which I know might not be as good as a pro one). I'm asking specifically about the hardware behind the data transfers and storage. I'm not asking anything about what to do to my film to make it more suitable for broadcast.
To put it another way: hypothetically, say I took my DVCam source tapes and offline EDL to an online PP suite, and they did nothing but capture, edit and layback to DVCam (without grading, legalising, putting through scopes etc) - would the picture quality be any different having gone through their capture card, their AVID etc, that doing the same at home with my unbranded Firewire card, Home PC and Premiere Pro 2.0?
To put it another way: hypothetically, say I took my DVCam source tapes and offline EDL to an online PP suite, and they did nothing but capture, edit and layback to DVCam (without grading, legalising, putting through scopes etc) - would the picture quality be any different having gone through their capture card, their AVID etc, that doing the same at home with my unbranded Firewire card, Home PC and Premiere Pro 2.0?
Nope - as long as there was no re-compression applied. And this is where your home suite will come unstuck. Every time you apply an effect to a shot and write back to a DV file you will add artifacts to your picture. [this includes dissolves]
Firewire is not a capture card. A capture card will digitize analog video, Firewire will simply transfer the digital data stored on the DV Tape. Movies transmitted over firewire will then be saved as DV-Avi.
There are several DV-codecs, by a number of companies. They differ in quality. DV is using colorspace subsampling (4.1.1 in NTSC and 4.2.0 in PAL/SECAM). Some of the codecs will interpolate the chroma information in a smart way, some lousy codecs will simply double the chroma information. So the result differs a lot. You may have to read reviews about the qualities of codecs. Main-Concept may offer a decent dv and mpeg2 codec.
When you edit a movie and save it back to the DV-tape, it will be resampled and there will be some quality loss.
The only way to prevent loss is to store uncompressed avi, or use an explicit lossless codec, eg. HuffYuv.
There are several DV-codecs, by a number of companies. They differ in quality. DV is using colorspace subsampling (4.1.1 in NTSC and 4.2.0 in PAL/SECAM). Some of the codecs will interpolate the chroma information in a smart way, some lousy codecs will simply double the chroma information. So the result differs a lot. You may have to read reviews about the qualities of codecs. Main-Concept may offer a decent dv and mpeg2 codec.
When you edit a movie and save it back to the DV-tape, it will be resampled and there will be some quality loss.
The only way to prevent loss is to store uncompressed avi, or use an explicit lossless codec, eg. HuffYuv.
DVCam is 4:1:1. You do need to make sure it doesn't convert to PAL DV (4:2:0) as it transfers. I would hope on decent hardware this wouldn't happen, but you never know.
This isn't true, as long as you don't recompress or record over analog.
When you edit a movie and save it back to the DV-tape, it will be resampled and there will be some quality loss.
This isn't true, as long as you don't recompress or record over analog.
Ah, now we're getting to the meat of it!
Okay, so this is because a new piece of video is rendered from the composited sources? Is this primarily a hardware or software (or codec) thing? i.e. Is Premiere not as good as Avid at the effects, or is the codec that Premiere uses too lossy, or is hardware used to make these transitions? In which case, what hardware is it that a pro suite uses to aleviate this problem? (what component, I mean)
If I use Premiere, will it only work with a certain codec? And Avid only works with another? Or can I make Premiere work with a better codec for better results? And are certain codecs hardware-specific, or can they be installed and used on any machine?
Again, what component is at fault here? The firewire card? Or the software? Is Avid (or Symphony, or Nitris HD or whatever) better than Premiere at resampling, or does it go through a hardware component which does the resampling?
I guess I'm trying to find out where the weak links are in the chain, so I can fully understand whether or not I can update my system in a meaningful way?
Every time you apply an effect to a shot and write back to a DV file you will add artifacts to your picture. [this includes dissolves]
Okay, so this is because a new piece of video is rendered from the composited sources? Is this primarily a hardware or software (or codec) thing? i.e. Is Premiere not as good as Avid at the effects, or is the codec that Premiere uses too lossy, or is hardware used to make these transitions? In which case, what hardware is it that a pro suite uses to aleviate this problem? (what component, I mean)
There are several DV-codecs, by a number of companies. They differ in quality.
If I use Premiere, will it only work with a certain codec? And Avid only works with another? Or can I make Premiere work with a better codec for better results? And are certain codecs hardware-specific, or can they be installed and used on any machine?
When you edit a movie and save it back to the DV-tape, it will be resampled and there will be some quality loss.
Again, what component is at fault here? The firewire card? Or the software? Is Avid (or Symphony, or Nitris HD or whatever) better than Premiere at resampling, or does it go through a hardware component which does the resampling?
I guess I'm trying to find out where the weak links are in the chain, so I can fully understand whether or not I can update my system in a meaningful way?
Understanding the color subsampling methods 4.1.1 and 4.2.0 will help you to understand why resampling degeneration occurs:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chroma_subsampling
The DV codecs installed are depending on your prev. video tools installations. There may be multiple DV-codecs installed on your system, but only one is set to be the default dv-codec, that is used by most applications.
Sometimes the choosen codec is not the best codec you got. Not sure but I guess you can set the default codec in XP. If you can't, you still could back up the corresponding dlls of the unwanted codecs, then remove them in the multimedia- video-codecs section of the system settings.
(We are only talking about DV codecs here!)
This discussion may be interesting:
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=5ae5118f5ac39d66e3d70394ba4ea554&threadid=33526
And this may be a good entry point for further studies:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DV
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chroma_subsampling
The DV codecs installed are depending on your prev. video tools installations. There may be multiple DV-codecs installed on your system, but only one is set to be the default dv-codec, that is used by most applications.
Sometimes the choosen codec is not the best codec you got. Not sure but I guess you can set the default codec in XP. If you can't, you still could back up the corresponding dlls of the unwanted codecs, then remove them in the multimedia- video-codecs section of the system settings.
(We are only talking about DV codecs here!)
This discussion may be interesting:
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=5ae5118f5ac39d66e3d70394ba4ea554&threadid=33526
And this may be a good entry point for further studies:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DV
In regards to the main question about how to transport from MiniDV tape to uncompressed raw video on the PC the biggest problem I have experienced is with errors. The likelihood of consumer gear to miss a single bit introducing a colorful rainbow of rectangles into multiple frames of your footage is a lot higher than with pro gear. Quality of tape and something about formatting tape with the same gear you are going to record with before you use it may also be issues you want to look into.
Thanks for those links jfk, really useful! I never understood chroma subsampling before, so I feel much better armed. I'll also read the links on codecs when I get some quiet time.
How do I find out if this is happening or not? Is there a way of telling the chroma subsampling of a particular video file? I have AVIcodec, but it only says the codec used. Interestingly, I pointed at a bit of my imported DVCam footage and Avicodec told me the codec is 'dvsd=Sony Digital Video' but then in the other tab (a list of all codecs installed) it wasn't there.
To which piece of hardware are you referring? Which component decides whether or not to convert the footage? Is it not just stored on the tape in a certain CS format and streams in in that format?
Is there an accepted 'best' dv codec? Or a website somewhere which lists them all and reviews them? Apologies if that discussion link is just that, I'm doing this at the same time as working so am a bit distracted!
DVCam is 4:1:1. You do need to make sure it doesn't convert to PAL DV (4:2:0) as it transfers.
How do I find out if this is happening or not? Is there a way of telling the chroma subsampling of a particular video file? I have AVIcodec, but it only says the codec used. Interestingly, I pointed at a bit of my imported DVCam footage and Avicodec told me the codec is 'dvsd=Sony Digital Video' but then in the other tab (a list of all codecs installed) it wasn't there.
I would hope on decent hardware this wouldn't happen, but you never know.
To which piece of hardware are you referring? Which component decides whether or not to convert the footage? Is it not just stored on the tape in a certain CS format and streams in in that format?
The DV codecs installed are depending on your prev. video tools installations. There may be multiple DV-codecs installed on your system, but only one is set to be the default dv-codec, that is used by most applications.
Sometimes the choosen codec is not the best codec you got. Not sure but I guess you can set the default codec in XP. If you can't, you still could back up the corresponding dlls of the unwanted codecs, then remove them in the multimedia- video-codecs section of the system settings.
Sometimes the choosen codec is not the best codec you got. Not sure but I guess you can set the default codec in XP. If you can't, you still could back up the corresponding dlls of the unwanted codecs, then remove them in the multimedia- video-codecs section of the system settings.
Is there an accepted 'best' dv codec? Or a website somewhere which lists them all and reviews them? Apologies if that discussion link is just that, I'm doing this at the same time as working so am a bit distracted!
you'll see if the video was converted from 4.2.0 to 4.1.1 or the other way when the framerate changed: when your camera used to record in NTSC (4.1.1, ~30fps) and the file is PAL (4.2.0, 25fps) then you'll know there was a convertion (basicly the framerate says all)
On the dv-codec discussion I linked to somebody mentiones a tool that allows to hot-swap codecs. The tool is still downloadable and claims to be capable of letting you choose a dv codec. Tho I am not sure if the file is clean and if it works on XP.
Also make sure to read the stuff about the diffrences between type 1 dv avi and type 2 dv avi (= when your tool is using DirectShow to open Avis then the codec cannot be choosen, if your tool is using VFW instead (like eg. the original virtualDub)) then you can control what codec is used.
Just to clarify a few points: installing a DV codec is only necessary for programs that only use video for windows (vfw) and type 2 avi DV files such as Vdub. If your program uses directshow (included in Direct X) and type 1 DV avi, it will automatically use the built-in MS DV codec.
This was the link to the codec swapping tool, tho: not tested by me (well, "Enabling and Disabling installed Codecs on the fly" sounds good):
http://members.chello.nl/p.bekke/
On the dv-codec discussion I linked to somebody mentiones a tool that allows to hot-swap codecs. The tool is still downloadable and claims to be capable of letting you choose a dv codec. Tho I am not sure if the file is clean and if it works on XP.
Also make sure to read the stuff about the diffrences between type 1 dv avi and type 2 dv avi (= when your tool is using DirectShow to open Avis then the codec cannot be choosen, if your tool is using VFW instead (like eg. the original virtualDub)) then you can control what codec is used.
Just to clarify a few points: installing a DV codec is only necessary for programs that only use video for windows (vfw) and type 2 avi DV files such as Vdub. If your program uses directshow (included in Direct X) and type 1 DV avi, it will automatically use the built-in MS DV codec.
This was the link to the codec swapping tool, tho: not tested by me (well, "Enabling and Disabling installed Codecs on the fly" sounds good):
http://members.chello.nl/p.bekke/
But Beaker states that DVCam is 4.1.1? But I shot PAL 25fps (or 50i, I guess), so the framerate is not changed.
But, from what I am starting to gather, it seems there isn't a difference in the captured and outputted footage between my system and a pro suite system (for edits just involving straight cuts and simple dissolves). So from this am I right in thinking that the main reason I would go to a pro suite is to use the expertise of the colourists and their level-legalising tools? So if I were to gain that expertise for myself and a legalising plugin for Premiere, there's no reason I couldn't online myself (on DV at any rate)?
But, from what I am starting to gather, it seems there isn't a difference in the captured and outputted footage between my system and a pro suite system (for edits just involving straight cuts and simple dissolves). So from this am I right in thinking that the main reason I would go to a pro suite is to use the expertise of the colourists and their level-legalising tools? So if I were to gain that expertise for myself and a legalising plugin for Premiere, there's no reason I couldn't online myself (on DV at any rate)?
As far as I see sonys DVCAM are available in both, PAL and NTSC, at least that's what a PDF from sony says, that I am reading right now. Probably the most informative page about DVCAM is here:
http://www.sony.ca/dvcam/brochures.htm
The videos you import over firewire are the same on all systems. Only the way they are decoded will differ. So if you add some fx or something, they must be decoded, then resampled and saved. If you only import them on the cheap system, then transmit the files to the pro system, it will be the same as if you imported them on the pro system from the camera.
The diffrence between them is not only the way the DV Avi is decoded, but of course also the quality of all operations.
EG: where a cheap tool would calculate color, saturation and brighness corrections in 3*8 bit and lead to horrible rounding error artefacts over time, a better suite will convert to 48 bit internally (or more) and only convert down to 24 Bit RGB as a final step.
There are many little diffrences between the cheaper and the real pro apps. Basicly they all affect the post production and editing. Importing DV video from a camera is about the same with all of them since it's a trivial task, the data is already there, on the DV Tape.
Depending on what you plan to do with your video material you may think about to use an other camera.
DVCAM is good, although basicly the same as MiniDV, it uses more robust parts and has a higher band speed and therefor less artefacts (that said, with new MiniDV tapes I never had any artefacts). These formats (DVCAM and MiniDV) all use 4.2.0 or 4.1.1. subsampling. So if you plan to use chromakeying, greenscreening etc. you probably need a better color subsampling method (because these are the cause for bad mattelines, blocky contours of the footage). A cheap solution would be to use a hi quality analog camera, then capture it in at least 4.2.2. But this is really only useful if you want to do serious chromakeying.
Hope this helps.
http://www.sony.ca/dvcam/brochures.htm
The videos you import over firewire are the same on all systems. Only the way they are decoded will differ. So if you add some fx or something, they must be decoded, then resampled and saved. If you only import them on the cheap system, then transmit the files to the pro system, it will be the same as if you imported them on the pro system from the camera.
The diffrence between them is not only the way the DV Avi is decoded, but of course also the quality of all operations.
EG: where a cheap tool would calculate color, saturation and brighness corrections in 3*8 bit and lead to horrible rounding error artefacts over time, a better suite will convert to 48 bit internally (or more) and only convert down to 24 Bit RGB as a final step.
There are many little diffrences between the cheaper and the real pro apps. Basicly they all affect the post production and editing. Importing DV video from a camera is about the same with all of them since it's a trivial task, the data is already there, on the DV Tape.
Depending on what you plan to do with your video material you may think about to use an other camera.
DVCAM is good, although basicly the same as MiniDV, it uses more robust parts and has a higher band speed and therefor less artefacts (that said, with new MiniDV tapes I never had any artefacts). These formats (DVCAM and MiniDV) all use 4.2.0 or 4.1.1. subsampling. So if you plan to use chromakeying, greenscreening etc. you probably need a better color subsampling method (because these are the cause for bad mattelines, blocky contours of the footage). A cheap solution would be to use a hi quality analog camera, then capture it in at least 4.2.2. But this is really only useful if you want to do serious chromakeying.
Hope this helps.
MrTricks,
I went to my local Apple centre recently - as you are thinking about how to upgrade I believe you should also start to think about HD.
An HD camera, a decent Apple Mac, Final Cut Pro and DVD Studio pro (now combined) and related cables are probably all you will ever need in the fututre.
I had a demo (they spent 2.5 hours with me altogether even though I wasn't buying and I made that clear btw) = it was genuinely eye opening, especially with HD around the corner.
Any investment in technology should look at the ability to future proof yourself as much as possible. I know that doesn't help with this question too much, however if you sold all your current kit and re-invested, you would be getting rid of good kit at potentially a better price than you will get in a year or so.
Final Cut Pro is stunningly powerful as is DVD Studio Pro. The quality of HD is almost unsurpassable and the ability to 'degrade' to SD is always available in the short term with HD versions 'already in the can' you are prolonging your capabilities with such kit.
Just thought I should mention it.
IPete2.
Hey you could even programme in BMax in your spare time! :)
I went to my local Apple centre recently - as you are thinking about how to upgrade I believe you should also start to think about HD.
An HD camera, a decent Apple Mac, Final Cut Pro and DVD Studio pro (now combined) and related cables are probably all you will ever need in the fututre.
I had a demo (they spent 2.5 hours with me altogether even though I wasn't buying and I made that clear btw) = it was genuinely eye opening, especially with HD around the corner.
Any investment in technology should look at the ability to future proof yourself as much as possible. I know that doesn't help with this question too much, however if you sold all your current kit and re-invested, you would be getting rid of good kit at potentially a better price than you will get in a year or so.
Final Cut Pro is stunningly powerful as is DVD Studio Pro. The quality of HD is almost unsurpassable and the ability to 'degrade' to SD is always available in the short term with HD versions 'already in the can' you are prolonging your capabilities with such kit.
Just thought I should mention it.
IPete2.
Hey you could even programme in BMax in your spare time! :)
I hear you IPete2, I'm definitely thinking with HD in mind :)
I use FCP HD at work and I really love it, and ultimately I would prefer to get a mac and use it. But: I also love my PC and the games and programming options it gives me, and since I'm not flush enough with either money or desk space, I have to have one system. So I'm looking at Premiere Pro too.
JFK, again very informative. I believe Premiere Pro 2.0 and After Effects 7.0 work internally with 32-bit colour.
As for DVCam, it's only this project I have shot using it - after this everything I do I will look to use HD (or at least HDV). But all this information is so useful. Thanks again everyone and keep it coming :)
I use FCP HD at work and I really love it, and ultimately I would prefer to get a mac and use it. But: I also love my PC and the games and programming options it gives me, and since I'm not flush enough with either money or desk space, I have to have one system. So I'm looking at Premiere Pro too.
JFK, again very informative. I believe Premiere Pro 2.0 and After Effects 7.0 work internally with 32-bit colour.
As for DVCam, it's only this project I have shot using it - after this everything I do I will look to use HD (or at least HDV). But all this information is so useful. Thanks again everyone and keep it coming :)