Methods for editing on small hard-drives.

Vamp · Post by **Vamp** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 2:03 pm

I have 14 gigs free space on my HDD and 16 Gigs on a external HD.

Let's say I have an hour video file I want to edit, that's already 13 gigs, so I decide to:

1. put only half an hour of it (6 or so gigs) onto my PC.

2. Edit that half an hour to around 10 minutes.

3. Export those edited 10 minutes to a file.

4. Delete the source footage.

5. Repeat 1, 2, 3, and 4, only with the next half an hour.

6. I then have 2 edited files that I just edit together to make one complete movie... That's quite a good idea, but the question is:

What format to do I render the 2 10 minute files to? If I export to uncompressed AVI those 2 files will be like 20 gigs. Is there anyway to export to DVAVI so those 10 minutes will be like a gig each without losing the quality of the source footage?

Sorry for the stupid question, I'm new to DV.

Truggy · Post by **Truggy** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 2:06 pm

i just capture, edit, get rid of origionals, convert to WMV and get rid of the .avi, repeat etc....i loose no space when i edit anything, and i had a 13 min movie the other day...edited it down to 3 tho...alright now off to type in my damn class

Raptor · Post by **Raptor** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 2:57 pm

Vamp wrote:I have 14 gigs free space on my HDD and 16 Gigs on a external HD.

Let's say I have an hour video file I want to edit, that's already 13 gigs, so I decide to:

1. put only half an hour of it (6 or so gigs) onto my PC.

2. Edit that half an hour to around 10 minutes.

3. Export those edited 10 minutes to a file.

4. Delete the source footage.

5. Repeat 1, 2, 3, and 4, only with the next half an hour.

6. I then have 2 edited files that I just edit together to make one complete movie... That's quite a good idea, but the question is:

What format to do I render the 2 10 minute files to? If I export to uncompressed AVI those 2 files will be like 20 gigs. Is there anyway to export to DVAVI so those 10 minutes will be like a gig each without losing the quality of the source footage?

Sorry for the stupid question, I'm new to DV.

Render them to DV-AVI - that's what the source footage was. Why cap the whole hour, When I'm working off a small drive ( 6 GB free on my laptop) I use batch capture and only grab the scenes I want, then it's jsut a question of trimming back little bits...

Vamp · Post by **Vamp** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 3:24 pm

I heard that use "Swappable Drives" what exactly are those? are they external hard-drives?

Just outta interest, is there a difference between the quality of DV tapes or are they all the same quality? Unlike Analogue tapes, also can DV be taped over as many times as needed without loisng quality? or should there only be 1 or 2 passes?

Oh yeah, what exactly is your avatar from, Raptor?

Raptor · Post by **Raptor** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 4:29 pm

OK from the bottom, the avatar is a promo poster for a reality based TV show that we have been pitching to some of the cable networks.. well actually a production house is pitching the show. No full pilot yet, they're using a 5 minute promo, this is the poster they did for it.
The Swappable drives I use are an insert that goes into the drive bay on the PC. There is then a "cartridge" for lack of a better term thet you insert a standard HD into. The data and power for the drice are handled through an plug on the insert and cartridge. and there is a key lock that locks the drive cartridge in place.
So when we want to work on a project, we shut down the machine, plug in the drive for that machine, and boot it... I just keep a drive (or several drives) for each current project.
There is a definite diff between DV tapes, as with any tape however, a couple passes should be max. The data may be written as digital, but the tape surface is still basicall the same thing. Good tapes? Panasonic, Sony, Fuji. DO NOT... I will Repeat this.. DO NOT mix tapes of different manufacturers. For example Panny uses a 'dry' lubricant on the tape surface, while Sony uses a a 'wet' lube. Mixing them can cause issues with gu forming on the heads ( probably won't happen with just a few tapes, but most people recommend cleaning the heads before switching tape brands - and cleaning is an abrasive process which adds wear to the heads.) Personally I like Sony tapes, but they just seem to give me better performance in my cams. I would probably try panny tapes if you get the panny cam, makes sense to tey their tapes first. Also don't go with the cheapest tapes in teh manufacturer's line, better tapes will last better and not break down as quickly and cause less dropouts. I usually use Sony's premium for day to day and news shooting. For production shooting I use Sony excellence. Tape is the cheapest element in the production process.

El Brenty · Post by **El Brenty** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 4:41 pm

Wow, I never knew that stuff about mixing the tapes up! Learn a new thing on this forum every day!

lethelgirth87 · Post by **lethelgirth87** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 7:00 pm

I never did either, is their much of a difference between sony tapes and memorex tapes? because I alternate between them, I use the sony premium tapes for filming movies, and memorex tapes for filming family stuff because they are cheaper.

Raptor · Post by **Raptor** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 9:38 pm

No idea on what the Memorex tapes use for lube, but generally there isn't much more than a buck or two diff between brands of the same quality. I always shoot a high quality tape since minDV is ME ( Metal Evaporated) and there will always be some shedding of magnetic surface elements onto the heads.. keep that to a minimum...

lethelgirth87 · Post by **lethelgirth87** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 2:28 am

ok correction, their not memorex, those were my 8mm tapes, the other miniDV tapes i have are JVC do you know what kind of coating they use for them?

Raptor · Post by **Raptor** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 3:29 am

I beleieve JVC uses a wet lube also, but still should not be mixed with other manufacturers...

lethelgirth87 · Post by **lethelgirth87** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 3:32 am

ok, i think i will stick with sony then, because they seem to deliver superior quality

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Methods for editing on small hard-drives.

Methods for editing on small hard-drives.

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