Video Edit Questions

[chaos]

OK, a friend of mine just tasked me with turning his 3 Mini-DV tapes into a DVD. I've done this for several people, but because he needs this done relatively quickly (all the other projects had large time margins), I need to verify a few things.

I am using Premiere Elements (the oldest version IIRC), and getting the files onto the PC using my Camera is no problem. However in the past, I have experienced small issues with random sound chirps in the finished product. I normally fix these using filters etc, but the expected time line of this project is twice as long as ever. Is there anything I can do to help this situation - ie: better F/wire cable, take frequent pauses when loading?

Next, does time effect the # of DVD's used, or Data? Basically, the time line I am looking at will exceed what appears to be the standard for 1 DVD, so is there a chance it will fit, or no?

Finally, he wants good compatibility, so that this will work on his relatives 4 year old player. I was reading DVD-R is better than +R for this, but I am wondering about Premiere's codec's. Would using Premeire Elements for rendering be a good idea, or should I find a third party app (free hopefully) to do the final rendering/burning? I always heard though that you should try to stay in the same program as much as possible for compatibility issues.

Thanks guys!

[Christina]

Not quite familiar with Premiere Elements at all. As for your sound, perhaps it's a sound card or graphics card issue? When transferring dv to your pc though, only capturing the shots you need is best. I suggest watching the recordings and writing the time in the timeline you need to start/stop recording. That's the best way instead of having to try and cut up an extremely large and long video.

Time does effect the number of DVD's to an extent. I believe it's all in the codec though. If you cut out the needless footage and only keep the shots you need, then you should be fine but it's hard to tell.

To be honest, I cut any video in my video editing program of choice. On my PC, I've created DVD's just great with NERO that I got with my litescribe burner. The only part that takes a while is the transcoding process but once that part is done, then NERO is quite fast burning the DVD. It's really hit and miss with consumer software. It boils down to what you're use to and of course how much time you can spend making the dvd. I think I read somewhere that DVD-R is safer for older players as well.

Sorry I cannot be of much help in this area.

[chaos]

The problem is though that in this project, there are no "shots" to worry about. Like I said, I am just turning tapes into DVD. So if the time is over the limit now, I won't be able to cut much out. For Rendering purposes though, I will probably try to start/stop the capture at least every 20 minutes to keep the files from getting too big. Nero is a possibility, as I have the latest version... it's just that in the past I've noticed there were compatibility issues. Because Nero couldn't understand Premiere's filter XML files, I would need to pre-render it from Adobe (to add the effects), and then re-render it in Nero. Because Elements doesn't offer very many encoder choices, I wind up with a very poor quality DVD when it's all said and done. I really would like to get CS3 Production, so that I can get Premiere Pro and After Effects...

[Tyler]

...I really would like to get CS3 Production, so that I can get Premiere Pro and After Effects...

I'm not too sure if you'd be willing to switch editors, but I have personally used Pinnacle (http://www.pinnaclesys.com/PublicSite/us/Products/Consumer+Products/Home+Video/Studio+Family/Studio+11+Documents/Comparision+Chart) before on several occasions, and I love it. There isn't any learning curve unlike Adobe. The price is also very affordable as well. It's done everything that I've ever needed to do.

I'm not too sure what would cause the sound issues. Did it also occur when you played it back on the camera?

[chaos]

I don't really care about learning curve, as I pretty well understand Premiere. I have used Pinnacle before, and while it is good software, I felt it was a little too simplistic in its editing features. That said, Elements lacks many features I enjoyed from Pro, so when the prices come down a little on CS3, I'll get the Procution Kit. I always wanted Photoshop and Premiere, and the others are nice as well.

As for the sound, I honestly never checked. As far as I could tell, the source camera tapes were fine, and any bugs were acquired during the transfer. I was just wondering if there was a known issue.

Right now I am finishing up my XP reinstall so that I'll have more HD space available for editing. Small problem I am having: The partition is named J: instead of C: :oops: . AFAICS it doesn't matter so long as I pay attention during installs. :lol:

[Tyler]

Gotcha. :)

You can try changing (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307844) it, but almost all installers will autodetect it. Very few will automatically try C:

[chaos]

Aw you're right, it's working out fine. Only one installer tried to install to C:, but I caught it and fixed it. I must say, it's nice to be able to render movies without the fear of running out of disk space. Before, I had like 100Mb left on an 80Gb HD, but I swapped out HD's, and after reinstalling XP on a 120Gb HD, I still have 97Gb left. Not bad ;)

[chaos]

Of all things, Premiere Elements burned the DVD fine to a DVD+R which I did for a test, and then crashed when I put a DVD-R in... So I restarted the machine, and loaded the project again only to find out that I now have to re-render it all - another 2 and a half hours. Then if it works, I am going to still have the second half the DVD to render onto another DVD-R. Is it Ok if I use Nero to copy from a DVD+R to a DVD-R, or does this defeat the purpose? I know my drive supports it, and I thought Elements did as well. Video editing, while it has fun rewards, is a real pain when it doesn't want to play ball. :x

[chaos]

Yay!!! Good, Nero can copy a DVD+R onto a DVD-R. The bummer is that this adds a good hour onto the whole process if you are using disc verification (it's important that these disks work perfectly). First DVD is done, and now I am working on the 2.2 hour rendering of the second DVD. Add another hour for making the DVD-R in Nero, and it will be 10:00 Pm when I am finished... considering I started all this at noon :shock: