What file format should I produce in?

Marczkiab

Newbie Location: Cleveland Joined: Feb 15, 2010 00:59 Messages: 21 Offline

Solved by

Jan 18, 2011 01:11

I was wondering what file format I should produce the following footage to get the best quality.

1) First I have hours of captured footage from my old VHS tapes. I have started to use MP4 with good success, but wonder if there is a better option for quality and file size.

2) Next I have current footage taken on my Sony HDRV500 in Full HD. Should I use MP4 or H.264 or AVC?

Also, after producing the files should I keep the original footage? I've already filled a 2GB external hard drive and am wodering if I am doing something wrong using to much hard disk space.

Thank you in advance !

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Jan 18. 2011 08:07

Thanks

Carl312

Senior Contributor Location: Texas, USA Joined: Mar 16, 2010 20:11 Messages: 9090 Offline

Jan 18, 2011 11:31

1) First I have hours of captured footage from my old VHS tapes.

I use MP2 HQ for VHS tape captures.

Nice file size, good quality video.

Also, after producing the files should I keep the original footage? I've already filled a 2GB external hard drive and am wodering if I am doing something wrong using to much hard disk space.

I would never delete original footage, it is not replaceable.

2 GB is an really small hard drive, You should invest in much larger external hard drive. I use 500 GB and I also have a 1TB USB Hard Drive for storage. Carl312: Windows 10 64-bit 8 GB RAM,AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz,ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB,240GB SSD,two 1TB HDs.

pjc3

Senior Member Location: Australia Joined: May 29, 2010 19:33 Messages: 247 Offline

Jan 18, 2011 15:15

Quote: I was wondering what file format I should produce the following footage to get the best quality.

Try and match the file type you are using in your projects. What is the format of the VHS capture files? Mediainfo is a simple free programme which can tell you about your files and help you make a decision.

For the Sony again use the same file type: AVC Panasonic SD9, Panasonic TM700, Panasonic SD600, GoPro HD Hero.

Marczkiab

Newbie Location: Cleveland Joined: Feb 15, 2010 00:59 Messages: 21 Offline

Jan 18, 2011 21:37

I was wrong, I have a 2 TB hard drive that is almost full. What confuses me about production is that PD says that MP4 is the highest quality, unless I'm reading it wrong. So, should I still produce in h.264 for my sony HD footage? Thanks

James Dotson

Senior Contributor Location: Tennessee Joined: Aug 24, 2009 20:40 Messages: 3066 Offline

Jan 18, 2011 22:11

Experiment with short videos to see which one works best for your needs. AVCHD is usually higher quality, but much larger file sizes. You will probably also get more cross compatibility with AVCHD. MP4 is hit or jmiss as to which players will play the file. Either is fine if the videos are to be played on computer. I would start by trying to save it in the same format as the original and see if SVRT works. __________________________________
CORNBLOSSOM

BradyB

Senior Member Location: Springfield, Illinois USA Joined: Feb 24, 2007 07:38 Messages: 153 Offline

Jan 18, 2011 22:37

Hi Marczkiab,

re: your Sony HD video.

I use AVCHD footage also. I produce in mpeg-2, using one of the BD profiles.

I don't know if it has been fixed in version 9 yet, but there was a bug in producing H.264 AVC video in version 8. During the brief time of the transitions, the audio volume would nearly double.

Hope this is helpful.

Brady

Carl312

Senior Contributor Location: Texas, USA Joined: Mar 16, 2010 20:11 Messages: 9090 Offline

Jan 18, 2011 23:01

Marczkiab,

I was wrong, I have a 2 TB hard drive that is almost full.

I would buy more external hard drives to store the files.
Hard Drives are fairly low cost.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Jan 18. 2011 23:02

Carl312: Windows 10 64-bit 8 GB RAM,AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz,ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB,240GB SSD,two 1TB HDs.