HV30 hdvsplit Problem - Help Please!

[jackfalbey]

I've been creating slide shows in PSE4.0 then outputting them first as .wmv files (1024x768) for viewing on my widescreen monitor. Then, if I intend to burn a DVD, I use Windows Moviemaker to convert the .wmv file to DV AVI prior to burning (thank you very much for that invaluable suggestion). I wish I did not need to create 2 different formats, but the fact is that the DV AVI movies look markedly inferior to the .wmv versions on my monitor when viewed full screen

That's because WMV 1024x768 is a format for viewing on a computer monitor while DV AVI is set up for NTSC television standards which are 720x480. When you view the AVI full-screen on a computer monitor, it gets "blown up" to fill the screen and looks blocky, especially if your monitor is set to a high resolution like 1280x1024 or higher. If you play one of your AVIs in Windows Media Player and right-click the video to select "Video Size" and set it to 100% you will see it in its optimal native resolution. It will look tiny on your monitor, but played on a television it will appear normal. If you intend to burn a DVD, you should skip the WMV stage and just export as AVI from the start to avoid needless re-encoding which may actually degrade your video.

[George Tyndall]

HDVSplit splits the clips by timecode, then I add them to Premiere Elements using Add Media/From Files and Folders.

Once you have created those Files and Folders, then backed them up, do you erase the tapes for reuse?

Or do you instead discard the Files and Folders once your project is completed and outputted (to save HD space) but keep the original tapes for archiving purposes?

Thanks again for your assistance to a newbie who needs an overview prior to beginning the process of creating.

[Chuck Engels]

Hi George,
That's what we are here for

I keep everything on tape and my finished projects on a backup drive for a few months, just to be sure I might not want to make changes.
I also save each project as an AVI file and put that on one of my backup drives. I put many hours into the videos and wouldn't want to start from scratch if I had to make changes or reproduce the DVD.

I keep all of my raw footage on tape and never reuse them, tapes are pretty cheap, my time is not

And you do not convert HDV MPEG files with mpegstreamclip, there is no need to do that.
Premiere Elements handles the HDV files just fine, unless you are talking about AVCHD, that is a different story.

[George Tyndall]

Thanks for your reply.

[George Tyndall]

Using HDVSplit I can see the capture window on my screen and watch as the video is being captured, it also splits the scenes automatically by timecode and names them correctly as I have set up the naming convention in the program.

Now that I've checked Preview, I'm getting the same thing [sheepish grin]. Did I mention I am only 3 days into this?

As you know, I like to create .wmv movies for viewing on my HD computer monitor, but I also sometimes create DVDs. Here's the question: If I convert my .wmv movie to DV AVI before producing the DVD, will the quality be the same as if I do what others are doing, namely, "downconverting" their HDV tapes to DV in camera for output as DV AVI prior to producing their DVDs? If your answer is "no," what would be the quality of a .wmv movie that was created from a DV AVI file using the downconverting method? Will re-encoding diminish quality as others have suggested?

BTW, I can't thank you enough for the help with HDVSplit. In comparison with trying to organize one's clips for a lengthy movie by capturing from one's camera directly into PE3.0, your method of capturing from files and folders that have been created with HDVSplit is ever so much better. (That's exactly what I do when downloading from my still camera.)

Thank you!

[George Tyndall]

...which may actually degrade your video.

That's a significant concern. Problem is, I can't resist viewing my work on an HD computer monitor. It looks so very much better than when I view a DVD on TV.

[jackfalbey]

Any time you encode (compress) video, some data is "thrown away" in the compression process and it can't be recovered. This is what is referred to as "generational loss". If you start with the raw video from your HV30 which is HDV at 1440x1080 (but displays in 1920x1080, a peculiarity of the HDV specification) and then encode to WMV at 1024x768, you are losing the extra pixels. If you then re-encode that WMV to DVD (which is a form of MPEG2 abbreviated as .VOB) you will lose more pixels in the conversion to 720x480. It's kind of like making a Xerox of a Xerox; it ends up fuzzier than the original. If your end goal is DVD, your best quality will come from in-camera downconversion to AVI when capturing into your editing program.

If you want to view your HDV in its full glory, you have a few options:

1) Forget DVDs and get into the Blu-Ray business.
2) Watch your tapes via HDMI cable from your HV30 and then edit them down to DVDs.
3) Create 2 versions of the video... one in WMV and one downconverted in-cam for DVD.
4) Get a Matrox RT.X2 card (http://matrox.com/video/en/products/rtx2/). It's expensive, but allows preview of full 1920x1080 HD video on a computer monitor during editing. It also provides true real-time playback of many common editing effects and transitions, and accelerated rendering and encoding. If you're working with HDV, it's the ultimate add-on to your PC. It is very finicky about its playmates, so check the validated component list before buying.

[George Tyndall]

3) Create 2 versions of the video... one in WMV and one downconverted in-cam for DVD.

Wow! Thank you very much for your detailed explanation, Jack.

Pardon me for being so dense, but I'm still not sure I understand why re-encoding a finished 1024x768 WMV movie to 720x480 DV AVI for production of a DVD would result in a DVD that is of lesser quality than one that is created with the downconversion process? Don't I end up with 720x480 DV AVI either way, so shouldn't the 2 DVDs look similar?

Also, regarding the quoted suggestion, are you suggesting that I would go through the entire capture/editing process twice?

[George Tyndall]

HDVSplit has its own capture window, it does not work with Premiere Elements.

I'm using my fastest machine, with no other windows open, and I keep getting the message "HDVSplit Capture and Split Program has encountered a problem and needs to close," if any size Preview window is open. The problem is solved only by closing the Preview windown and using only my HV30's LCD for the capture.

Help!

[Chuck Engels]

Probably a conflict with other software George, it doesn't happen to me that is all I can tell you.
Does anyone know if they have a forum or any support for HDVSplit?

[Bob]

It looks like http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=104872 is the support forum for hdvsplit. (also http://strony.aster.pl/paviko/ follow the hdsplit link for the link to Sony related discussion group). But, the program author hasnt posted there in about a year. There is still some activity from users though, last entry is May 28, 2008.

The author's homepage is http://strony.aster.pl/paviko/

[Ken Jarstad]

If your end goal is DVD, your best quality will come from in-camera downconversion to AVI when capturing into your editing program.

Actually, there is another way, described here --> http://dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=70792&highlight=tmpgenc
Every once in a while I notice video on my Std-Def satellite system that "looks better than it should" for an SD system. This topic presents the tantalizing prospect of creating Std-Def video that looks better than it should. With the proper tools and work-flow you can get your SD DVDs to look better than just a straight down conversion in the camcorder. I just haven't yet found out how to do it inexpensively.

[Bob]

Interesting thread Ken, thanks for the link.

[Bobby]

Re: Ken's thread on better video...

I wonder where the HV30 would stand on downconvert in the camera? Others tried gave mid-scale (5) efforts at best. Time for some testing, if I get some time!

Bob

[George Tyndall]

3) Create 2 versions of the video... one in WMV and one downconverted in-cam for DVD.

Once I've completed the final edits of my current movies, which are still HDV (I used HDVSplit to record them onto my hard drive then imported them into my editing program from Files and Folders) I am going to output them twice, once as WMV and once as DV AVI. From the latter I will burn a DVD. Then, I am going to "downconvert" a few clips in-camera to DV AVI and use them to burn a second DVD. I'll let you know the results of comparing the two DVDs.

Thanks again for your detailed explanation, in particular the part that explains why my HDV tapes (1440x1080) look so good on my hi-def (1920x1200) monitor.