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Converting Sony miniDV tapes to MPEG

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  • 18-01-2010 3:51am
    #1
    Maximus747
    Registered Users Posts: 11 ✭


    Hey Guys,

    Not an expert in this area :P

    I have about 15 one hour tapes (Sony DVpremium mini dv) from a holiday to the states i took 4 years ago that I want to convert to MPEG files.

    What would be the best way of doing this? Keeping in mind that I want to have good quality MPEG videos. So that I can edit them into a movie using a video editing program on my computer. I also would like to know what size the files would be incase i need to get another hardrive to deal with the quanity.

    I have a sony handycam DCR-HC35 with a docking station.

    the station has the following outputs.
    • usb
    • dv
    • dc in
    • av out
    Any advice would be appreicated.

    Cheers!


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    #2
    TadhgAnnaDonnad
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2 ✭TadhgAnnaDonnad


    Hi Folks,

    I have a similar problem. I have a Sony DCR-TRV22E and have a number of tapes that I want to transfer. I tried to transfer to my laptop using both the USB connection and the DV-Firewire connection (tried using both Windows Movie Maker and Image Mixer ver 5 for Sony) but the quality of the resulting video was very poor, very stop/start.

    Anyone got any ideas? Any help much appreciated


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    #3
    artvandulet
    Registered Users Posts: 1,301 ✭✭✭artvandulet


    Maximus,
    Dv/firewire is the way to do it. So your pc will need a firewire connection on it.
    Firewire can control your camera playback too. So depending on the program you'll edit with, you'll be able to plug the camera in to pc via firewire, open the edit program and use it to play the footage from your camera onto your computer.
    mpreg files will certainly be bulky enough with 15 hours of footage so an additional drive would be needed (why mpeg btw?). But you'll have to watch the connection here too. You'd be better off getting a drive with esata or fw800 connection as long as your pc supports it. Editing footage via a usb2 drive could probably cause you issues, though if its just to store them, then it would be fine.

    Tadhg, your issue is a different one and is most likely down to either the quality of your pc, the settings you've used to digitize the footage or some kind of codec problem.
    2 things to check - go to display properties, settings, advanced, troubleshoot and check that hardware acceleration is up full. Download VLC player and see does the video play back smoother with that.


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    #4
    dr.fuzzenstein
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 16,620 ✭✭✭✭dr.fuzzenstein


    Firewire is the way to go, 2 ways you can go about it.
    Cheap option:
    Capture using WinDV(it's free), a small program that transfers the data from your camcorder onto the PC via Firewire and deposits it there as DV avi.
    Encoding in TMPEnc to mpeg (good quality for a reasonable price), this program also allows for some basic editing.
    More expensive option:
    Capture, edit and encode using Adobe Premiere, great results, but costs a bit more.
    Alternative option:
    Encode to Divx, much smaller files and equal quality than mpeg at much smaller bitrate, resulting in much more compact files.
    And, yes, for playback use VLC, great media player.
    I personally capture video using Premiere and encode using Divx encoder.
    One important thing:
    Editing MUST be done on the AVI file, not the finished mpeg. The other way round will only cause problems and loss of quality because the mpeg would need to be re-encoded.
    Don't fixate on having the final result on a DVD, the way forward is Divx and keep your files on an external drive or memory stick.
    I play everything through the USB port on my DVD player from a small external HDD.
    DVD's get messy and scratched, also take up a lot of space.
    Watch out for new solid state HDD's, since the mechanical type always fails sooner or later.
    And always keep a backup.


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    #5
    TommyGun
    Registered Users Posts: 621 ✭✭✭TommyGun


    Maximus747,
    DV is about 12-13 GB per hour when downloaded on to your PC. So unless you have allot of HD space. The tapes will probably be where these video will be stored.
    You kind have to work out your workflow.
    (Note: It is never recommended to edit in MPEG. It is not an editing format. The quality outputed will be poor.)
    　
    So I would advise if you do not have much space, download the tape (via fire wire) edit output in DV. Do this for each tape and at the end encode to MPEG2. Most editing programs will do this quite well.
    　
    Settings I would recommend for the Encode:
    VBR - Variable bit rate
    Min 1.5
    Target 7.5
    Max 8
    And if your software can do it - 2 Pass
    This will give you the best conversion to MPEG2/DVD


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