Quote Video I am editing is "ages" old. Originally done in 1989. Don't recall the format. Analog? In 2010 I had the video converted to digital avi.

QUESTION # 1. Under "Select a file format" there are two choices which are applicable. H.264 AVC and H.265 HEVC. Both of them provide an MP4 file extension which I want instead of the older AVI. Considering the age of the video Which one is better?

QUESTION # 2. Under Profile name/Quality there are two choices applicable. MPEG-4 640 x 480/24p (5 Mbps) and MPEG-4 640 x 480/30p (5Mbps). Is one of them better for video this old?

QUESTION # 3. Under the first frame in Preview there are two time-lengths displayed: 00|00|00|00| and 00|35|55|23.

What does second one represent? An estimate of 35 minutes for finished video length?

Hi,

As a general principle of editing, you should aim to produce as close as possible to the original source footage. So in your case you have a 2010 digitised version of a 1989 video in .avi format.
Ideally, you need to ascertain the parameters of this 2010 .avi file to make a judgement on your final production parameters.
A simple way to do this is to bring the .avi file into the media library, rt click on it, go to Properties, and note down the Video and Audio values. There are more comprehensive 3rd party file analysers such as MediaInfo if much more detail is required. For your case they are probably unnecessary.
Alternatively, PDR does have an automatic suggestion of the best production profile on the Produce page. The Profile Analyser button is above the main File Format set of buttons. That will give you a best suggestion for your timeline content.

So, as a broad brush, I would expect :

Q1 - go with H264. Both 264 and 265 are in .mp4 containers, 265 tends to produce smaller file sizes but may be less widely compatible with some hardware players like TVs.
Q2 - Resolution is the same, go for the same frame rate as the .avi file, unless you really want an old cine film feel at 24fps.
Q3 - you are correct , it is the start and finish times of the produced file.

Cheers
PowerDirector Moderator

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Quote

Thank you for the answers!

8GeneL


Hi,

As a general principle of editing, you should aim to produce as close as possible to the original source footage. So in your case you have a 2010 digitised version of a 1989 video in .avi format.
Ideally, you need to ascertain the parameters of this 2010 .avi file to make a judgement on your final production parameters.
A simple way to do this is to bring the .avi file into the media library, rt click on it, go to Properties, and note down the Video and Audio values. There are more comprehensive 3rd party file analysers such as MediaInfo if much more detail is required. For your case they are probably unnecessary.
Alternatively, PDR does have an automatic suggestion of the best production profile on the Produce page. The Profile Analyser button is above the main File Format set of buttons. That will give you a best suggestion for your timeline content.

So, as a broad brush, I would expect :

Q1 - go with H264. Both 264 and 265 are in .mp4 containers, 265 tends to produce smaller file sizes but may be less widely compatible with some hardware players like TVs.
Q2 - Resolution is the same, go for the same frame rate as the .avi file, unless you really want an old cine film feel at 24fps.
Q3 - you are correct , it is the start and finish times of the produced file.

Cheers
PowerDirector Moderator

Quote

Thank you for the answers!

8GeneL