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Posted by Bill Lee on 10/06/78 11:39
In article <J_GdnYe-H_UCAkDenZ2dnUVZ_tWdnZ2d@giganews.com>,
"Ken Maltby" <kmaltby@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>
> The factors that effect MPEG encoding are the same for Mac
> users as they are for PC users.
Yep, I even know of people who encode on one platform and author on the
other. Well formed MPEG is platform/application independent.
> Most Encoders offer to limit the video peak bit rate at 8000kbps
> to avoid one of the problems you site, though.
True, but since Mr. Turner specifically wanted to maintain the quality
of the video, I had to point out that turning up the bitrate to its
maximum can have problems with the final playback on some DVD players.
This is often not seen until the DVD is made, usually when you send it
to the client for him to preview it and it drops frames on his DVD
player. Generally you should be do most things with 6-6.5Mb/sec for
video, especially if you are using a VBR codec.
> The way I read the OP, Mr. Turner has perhaps two storage
> issues to address. One may be how to preserve the source
> "footage" in an easily and fully editable format, for future use/
> project modifications. The other is concerning his options for
> the DVD he intends making.
> I feel that Digital Tape provides the best long term A/V storage
> option for the consumer and professional on a limited budget.
> If you can send a digital format back out your Firewire port and
> have your DV camcorder create an edited tape; that would be
> somewhat cheaper than most DLT options. A Mini-DV tape
> deck would be an excellent solution, but usually an expensive one.
I think that the best way (in general) is a copy of the
project/ancillary files on CD-R stored away with the original Mini-DV
tapes is usually the best way of dealing with changes to the project in
the future. This assumes that you have unbroken timecode on the tapes,
otherwise it can be hell to re-dig your clips (and thus another method
should be used or a work-around applied).
If you have a good camera, are shooting a lot of tape, or are part of a
production team, then you would probably buy something like a Sony
DSR-11 tape deck to reduce wear on your camera heads, and so you can
edit when your cameras are out in the field. Shooting or archiving in
DVCAM format will extend the life of your tapes before you experience
tape dropouts - all other things being equal.
> Another (and I think better) solution to both long term storage
> and more practical project development (without tape transport
> issues); is to use an attached hard drive. A Firewire or SATA
> External Drive, can be setup to hold all your project support
> files as well as the source footage. A single large drive could
> hold a number of projects and all associated files, and/or you
> could get a few smaller drives, each with their own type of
> project. With drives going for close to $0.50 a GB, this
> approach is much more practical than in the past. With this
> method of working there is no need to transfer your files to
> storage, as they would already be on the drive that would
> eventually become the storage media.
This is an option if you are likely to be working on your project in the
near future. I know of one company who budgets in the cost of a ATA
drive when they bid for a job. Once the job is done, the drive gets
boxed back up in its anti-static bag and put on the shelf. If work needs
to be done on that project in the near future, the drive gets put back
into service. Of course, they still have the master tapes and a CD-R
copy done, since all electromechanical devices will fail....one day. It
can all depend on what 'near-future' is and how likely you are going to
need to re-edit a project.
The other problem with storing DV25 on hard disk is that you always seem
to run out of disk space. If you are not the only one who is using that
NLE system, you run the risk of them deciding that your project and
captured video is not as important as someone else's. When you come back
to it months later, it may not be there. Thus a multiple copy strategy
is good - one copy on the disks, project copy on CDR/DVDR disk and
master tapes kept in safe place.
Most professional production quality NLEs should allow you to recapture
easily from the original tapes without you having to do much more than
feed the deck with the appropriate tape at the right time.
Bill Lee
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