WinDV - Use Max-AVI size or not?

[Neale]

WinDV allows the use of a Max-AVI size setting to limit the maximum file size of a capture by setting a maximum number of frames.

windv.png

The default creates files of 3,433,638,912 bytes maximum and a new file is started when that maximum is reached.

Is this preferable to storing the whole video into a single file or not?

[Steve Grisetti]

I think it kind of depends on your preferred workflow, Neale.

I prefer to work with smaller files (i.e., individual scenes). Some people might prefer to have just one big chunk they can whittle down to size.

It shouldn't make much difference in terms of your system's performance.

[Chuck Engels]

If you are capturing from a MiniDV camcorder it will split the scenes by timecode anyway. For times when the video is longer than 22500 frames (12.5 minutes I believe) then you can create smaller files or change the setting to allow larger files.

I have mine set to 108000, or 60 minutes. that is about the longest wedding ceremony I have worked on. I don't want that file split into many clips as I have three of them (from 3 different camera angles) and need to sync them all up. Many files would be a nightmare !!

[Paul LS]

I use this feature for archiving DV-AVI files captured from VHS tapes. So i use WinDV to split after 20min, this fits exactly on a DVD. So three DVDs for an hour of DV-AVI.

[Neale]

If you are capturing from a MiniDV camcorder it will split the scenes by timecode anyway. For times when the video is longer than 22500 frames (12.5 minutes I believe)

15 minutes in PAL land (25fps v 30fps).

The maximum frames one can enter is 1,000,000. At 25fps this is 666.66666666... minutes. Devilishly scary eh?

[Ken Jarstad]

I set WinDV to 1,000,000 frames unless I need to split after a specific time. Most of the time I capture in 'takes' so I don't want any surprises. Here are the only two tutorials I have found on the web, saved in my bookmarks:

http://www.dvd-guides.com/content/view/33/59/
http://www.windowsmoviemakers.net/PapaJohn/61/WinDV.aspx

[rusty]

by Paul LS » Sat Mar 20, 2010 1:14 pm

I use this feature for archiving DV-AVI files captured from VHS tapes.

That's exactly what I used it for recently too (because it is not DV, WinDV won't split it based on timecodes). I set it at 9000 frames (= 5 minutes) and I ended up with a dozen five minute clips from a 60 minute VHS. I found it much easier to manage the smaller files. The only difficulty is that scenes can (usually) end up being on two or more different clips so you have to bring all relevant clips into your video editor and chop out what you don't want, but I found that preferable to bringing in a 23 gig file and chopping out 80 or 90% of it.