Recording edited video files

[TJB3]

Because my DirecTIVO lacks a digital output (there's a USB jack, identifed in the manual as "reserved for future use"), I have been using a clunky but previously successful method to archive TV shows to DVD:

1. Record onto DVD-RW on a Panasonic DVD writer via S-video and RCA audio cables.

2. Load the DVD into my iMac G5 using MPEG Streamclip.

3. For each episode, edit out commercials, fix timecode breaks, export as MPEG.

4. After completing several episodes, import MPEG files into Toast to burn a DVD-R.

 

Typically the DVD-RW used to move the content into the Mac is recorded in the 4 hour mode. With Toast 7 I was able to burn nearly 4 hours (e.g., 5 one-hour TV shows minus commercials run about 3:45). I recently upgraded to Toast 8, which gives me the "not enough space on disc" message when I attempt to record that much. Documentation indicates recording is limited to 2 hours.

 

This raises several questions:

1. If the files I started with fit on a 4.7Gb DVD, why won't they fit after going through Toast

(does the conversion to MPEG expand them)?

2. Is there a "better" format to convert to from MPEG Streamclip for burning in Toast?

3. How do I create a new Video_TS folder containing the edited VOB files so that I can use

the "Video from Video_TS" and "Fit to Disc" options in Toast?

4. Any other suggestions for ?

5. Finally I'd welcome any recommendations for on-line or printed materials to help me learn

more about the various file types and working with digital video. Thank you.

[tsantee]

1. In Toast's Custom Encoder window there is an option to never re-encode the MPEG video. This should enable the existing video to fit.

2. There is not a better format for conversion.

3. Choose Save as Disc Image in the Toast File menu instead of clicking the burn button. When that is finished you select the disc image using the Image File setting in the Copy window. If the disc image is too large for a single-layer disc, Toast will ask you if you want to use the Fit-t0-DVD compression.

 

Your method for transferring the recordings to DVD is very good. An alternative is to use an EyeTV 250 instead of the DVD recorder to record MPEG video directly to the computer. It would save you time. EyeTV has its own MPEG editor and it works well with Toast.

[KMJvet]

3. For each episode, edit out commercials, fix timecode breaks, export as MPEG.

Just out of curiosity, how accurately can you actually get the commercials out with Mpeg Streamclip. Is it anywhere close to the exact frame?

[tsantee]

Thanks, you truly are the "guru". Worked like a charm.

 

Thanks also for the suggestion about Eye TV. I was considering a Canopus unit- any thoughts on this?

I used to have a Canopus ADVC 55 and it was wonderful. If you are wanting the best analog to digital transfer in a format that works with most video-editing applications that's a good way to go. Alternatively many use the analog-to-digital passthrough of the DV camcorder to do the same thing.

 

I prefer to capture with a hardware MPEG encoder because I'm not going to be editing it in iMovie. This saves time and hard drive space.

 

So the question of whether to get a Cannopus ADVC or EyeTV 250+ or something else depends on what you are going to do with the video once it is captured.

[TJB3]

Thanks, you truly are the "guru". Worked like a charm.

 

Thanks also for the suggestion about Eye TV. I was considering a Canopus unit- any thoughts on this?

[tsantee]

Just out of curiosity, how accurately can you actually get the commercials out with Mpeg Streamclip. Is it anywhere close to the exact frame?

Streamclip edits on the GOP I frame. It has an keyboard command to Go to Keyframe so you can see where the exact cut will occur. CaptyMPEG Edit EX sold at pixela-1.com has the ability to edit on individual frames. I also use it to convert MPEG audio to AC3 and to join MPEGs.

[KMJvet]

CaptyMPEG Edit EX sold at pixela-1.com has the ability to edit on individual frames. I also use it to convert MPEG audio to AC3 and to join MPEGs.

Interesting...I have CaptyDVD but I struggle mightily to even figure out how to use it, in translation the documentation is close to nonsensical. Is this program that same way?

[tsantee]

Interesting...I have CaptyDVD but I struggle mightily to even figure out how to use it, in translation the documentation is close to nonsensical. Is this program that same way?

It certainly is not as confusing as CaptyDVD. There are two modes in CaptyMPEG Edit EX. One is the editing mode and the other is the MPEG joining mode. In the editing mode it creates a viewer where you mark the start and end points of each of your edits. There is a second viewer where you can see each frame in the GOP. When you have all the edits marked you then can have it export and edited version. However, you need to export as separate video and audio streams for it to be readable in Toast or as the standard MPEG file for it to be readable in CaptyDVD.

 

The MPEG joining mode is where I learned I could export with a changed audio format even if I'm not joining any MPEGs.

[TJB3]

I used to have a Canopus ADVC 55 and it was wonderful. If you are wanting the best analog to digital transfer in a format that works with most video-editing applications that's a good way to go. Alternatively many use the analog-to-digital passthrough of the DV camcorder to do the same thing.

 

I prefer to capture with a hardware MPEG encoder because I'm not going to be editing it in iMovie. This saves time and hard drive space.

 

So the question of whether to get a Cannopus ADVC or EyeTV 250+ or something else depends on what you are going to do with the video once it is captured.

 

Hi Tsantee- A year later, I finally got the Canopus ADVC, and also upgraded to MPEG Streamclip 1.9.1 and the latest updates to Toast 8. So far I can use the Canopus to import from my DVR into either Toast or iMovie. I can then open the resulting dv file in Streamclip and edit it. Selecting "fix timecode breaks" does not seem to do anything anymore. When I'm done editing, the "Convert to MPEG" option I used to use is grayed out. I tried exporting as MPEG 4, but Toast wouldn't accept the resulting file. Exporting DV has worked, but it takes a very long time in Streamclip, and then Toast insists on re-encoding even with "never re-encode" selected. The resulting DVD works fine, it's just that the whole reason for buying the ADVC was to save time and effort, and it seems the whole process takes a lot longer now. What can I do better? Thanks.

[tsantee]

Hi Tsantee- A year later, I finally got the Canopus ADVC, and also upgraded to MPEG Streamclip 1.9.1 and the latest updates to Toast 8. So far I can use the Canopus to import from my DVR into either Toast or iMovie. I can then open the resulting dv file in Streamclip and edit it. Selecting "fix timecode breaks" does not seem to do anything anymore. When I'm done editing, the "Convert to MPEG" option I used to use is grayed out. I tried exporting as MPEG 4, but Toast wouldn't accept the resulting file. Exporting DV has worked, but it takes a very long time in Streamclip, and then Toast insists on re-encoding even with "never re-encode" selected. The resulting DVD works fine, it's just that the whole reason for buying the ADVC was to save time and effort, and it seems the whole process takes a lot longer now. What can I do better? Thanks.

The Canopus unit captures in DV mode which is lightly compressed video ideal for editing and for converting to other formats at high quality. It is not MPEG 2 which is much more highly compressed and difficult to edit except for cutting and trimming. However, MPEG 2 is the format used for video DVDs.

 

When the video is not in MPEG 2 format Toast must encode it to make it work with video DVDs. This is not re-encoding because that only refers to starting with an MPEG 2 video file and ending with a revised MPEG 2 video file.

 

MPEG Streamclip does not have an MPEG encoder. So it cannot "convert to MPEG" a file that isn't that format already. The reason MPEG Streamclip calls it Convert to MPEG is it presumes you are starting with VOBs contained within a VIDEO_TS folder from a DVD and want them to be MPEG 2 files instead of VOBs. There is no re-encoding that takes place in that situation. Likewise the fix timecode breaks only applies to video that is MPEG encoded (if such breaks are present). There are no timecode breaks in DV video.

 

If you want to edit your video in iMovie or other movie-editing application your current process is the best way to go. iMovie can capture the video straight from the Canopus. You then add your edited movie to Toast and it encodes the video and authors and burns the video DVD. This is a lot faster than starting with an MPEG 2 file and having to first convert it to a format that iMovie can accept and then import it to iMovie and then edit it and then send it back to Toast where it now needs to be encoded back to MPEG 2. The picture quality of your current process should also be higher.

 

If you aren't going to be using iMovie or other editing application – for example, you just are going to use MPEG Streamclip to cut out some pieces – then it is much faster to keep an existing MPEG 2 video source in that format. This means not using the Canopus to capture the video.

 

Your frustration right now is how long it takes Toast to do the MPEG encoding of the video. This can be sped up with a faster Mac and lots of RAM. Alternatively you can connect your Mac via Firewire to a hardware MPEG 2 encoder such as a standalone DVD recorder that has a Firewire input. In this case the video is encoded in real time as it plays from your Mac to the recorder. I've done this straight from iMovie. You then will get the menus that are designed by the DVD recorder.

 

The bottom line is that making good-looking movies requires editing in a format that isn't compatible with video DVD. There's no way to avoid this.