any thoughts on handling DV camera input ?

[hydra3333]

Hi, I have a Canon DV camera which gets captured as a DV AVI.

I don't suppose you've any plans to add support for inputting that at some time in the future ? Just a vague sort of hope.

I'd initially guess not, since newer cameras seem to be mpeg2 or mpeg4/avc nowadays :) Guess I'd need to go down the Avisynth/HCenc route ... unless you plan on also supporting Avisynth as input - what a range of possibilities that could open up, for denoising/agc/stabilising etc !

[DanR]

No plans for DV camera input. As you said, do an MPEG2 or H.264 encode and then we can help you out :)

[zaphod7501]

My advice for my customers has been to use a DVD Recorder to create a copy and then VRD to import, edit, and Author further. The recorder does the conversion from 720x576 to 720x480 in hardware and in "real time". VRD can perform any further customization without recoding (no change in original quality).

[phd]

My advice for my customers has been to use a DVD Recorder to create a copy and then VRD to import, edit, and Author further.
I agree.

I also use the same procedure to convert VHS tapes, etc. to DVD.

Much easier method than configuring capture cards on a computer.

[zaphod7501]

"hydra3333" in re-reading your post I see you mentioned all of the things that Avisynth can do. The hardware encoding chips in a DVD Recorder do all of those things automatically. While not often advertised, they are built into the chipsets and used automatically.

[hydra3333]

Wow ! I didn't know they did tunable ACG and image movement stabilization and tunable denoising whilst recording. It's a marvelous world we live in. Now I just need to save for a few months to afford one :)

Pointers (in this thread or another) on which brands/models have those features would be appreciated if you have the time and inclination (Aus, pal country).

[zaphod7501]

Finding specific information can be very difficult. First you have to select a product and research which chips are inside. Then you have to find chip manufacturer's product descriptions and data sheets. Then you have to make educated guesses as to what features are engaged by default and which are controlled by firmware.

I had the training materials from Sony on their first DVD recorders which used more discrete chipsets, (now integrated into fewer integrated circuits in modern products) and could determine functions.

I use Hauppauge capture cards where the chips could be physically examined to determine numbers and my third party software had individual settings (viewable in an .ini file) for a lot of esoteric functions. (not that I could understand what most of them did)

I also followed a lot of chip development on the Sigma Designs website and forum, where company employees were active. The information dried up when Sigma decided that they would never supply their parts for any PC add-in cards again.

Since new designs seem to have more features, I have "assumed" that they still have at least the same functions and probably more. Here, a basic DVD recorder without a tuner runs about $100 US$.

Frankly, in my opinion, the most difficult and important function that a DVD recorder can provide is the conversion from the raw avi to mpeg2. That is the most time consuming part of the process on a PC.