converting avi

[Jayell]

I’m trying to remember everything you’ve taught me, but some of it is starting to slip away.
I’ve downloaded a youtube video into windows avi format. I recall that I really want it in DV-AVI. So I took it into Moviemaker, but as soon as I drag it onto the timeline, I lose the sound (the sound plays fine before dragging to the timeline). I converted it anyway, but no sound.
So if I take it into PrEl2, the sound is fine. If I save to an avi in there, have I accomplished anything at that point? And if I leave it in it's present format, what do I lose?

[hpharley90]

So if I take it into PrEl2, the sound is fine. If I save to an avi in there, have I accomplished anything at that point?

If you export your youtube movie from the PE2.0 time line you will get an DV-AVI file. You accomplish that.

And if I leave it in it's present format, what do I lose?

When you bring it onto your time line, do you get the red line? If you do then then its not a DV-AVI.

[Jayell]

And if I leave it in it's present format, what do I lose?

When you bring it onto your time line, do you get the red line? If you do then then its not a DV-AVI.[/quote]
I'm aware it is NOT a dv-avi .. that's the point of my questions . But what I'm wondering is if the quality is poorer .. or just that the file has to be rendered and may be more cumbersome to work with.

[hpharley90]

But what I'm wondering is if the quality is poorer .. or just that the file has to be rendered and may be more cumbersome to work with.

If you can edit youtube video as is with no problems in PE2.0 go right ahead.
Converting it to DV-AVI with out re compressing and then editing will not give it much of a degradation but only your eyes can tell.

I hope I understood you correctly.

[Jayell]

Thanks, Richard. Yes, you appear to understand the question I had.
By the way, when I converted from a wmv to dv-avi in Movie Maker, it still comes in with the red line. When I do the conversion to avi in PE2, it does NOT. Interesting. It's just that I'm working with some poor quality videos and am trying to remember if one method or another creates better quality .. until I have some time to experiment.

[Bill Hunt]

One thing to consider is that WMM only will Export as a DV-AVI Type I, and not a Type II. Why MS insists on this is anybody's guess, but I would venture that it has to do with some confab with the RIAA and not wanting one to have longer Duration Videos - however, I believe in a lot of conspiricies...

Now, I use DigitalMedia Converter, http://www.deskshare.com, to do all of my conversions. It does convert to DV-AVI Type II files with 48KHz 16-bit PCM/WAV Audio. These files Import with green lines, and edit beautifully.

Good luck,

Hunt

[Paul LS]

Or for a free DV-AVI convertor try Prism. You can also buy an upgrade to give you more features if you feel you need them. But for basic conversion it works great.
http://www.nchsoftware.com/prism/index.html

[Jayell]

Bill, Paul - thanks! I'll look at both programs (I do like free). I've used vixy.net in the past, but after several attempts yesterday it converted to avi without any sound .. so I ended up using an online service I found in a rush which had lots of pop-ups and other bad looking things.

[Bill Hunt]

The program that Paul_LS mentioned, Prism, gets a ton of good reviews on the Adobe PrE forum. I've not tried it, but if my choice goes south, or starts mucking up conversions, I certainly will.

Hunt

[Jayell]

Several reviews suggested it contained viruses .. but I virus checked it before and after and haven't seen any problems. It does convert wmvs and flvs to avi .. I've done several already .. but it still has to be rendered (has the red line, not the green)

[Paul LS]

It shouldn't have any line above it when imported as it is a DV-AVI. Did you select the correct video compressor? For Output Format select .avi and then for Encoder Options, in Video Compressor select DV Encoder NTSC (DirectShow).

[Jayell]

It shouldn't have any line above it when imported as it is a DV-AVI. Did you select the correct video compressor? For Output Format select .avi and then for Encoder Options, in Video Compressor select DV Encoder NTSC (DirectShow).

I was wondering if I hadn't missed something. Just tried it 'your' way. Wow .. isn't it amazing how much better stuff works when you do it right?
Thanks, Paul