Having recently bought a Canon TX1, I'm now in the arena of movie making on the PC. The native HD file sizes are huge, and I've starting using VirtualDub to stitch files and ultimately reduce file size without losing quality. I've followed the instructions found on this site to append files and make the movie with Direct Stream Copy. It's a much faster process than Full Processing Mode, and for that matter Windows Movie Maker as well. Unfortunately, the file sizes I'm left with are three times the size of the original files. Does anyone have suggestions on reducing file size while retaining quality using the Direct Stream Copy function? Thanks. Patrick
Thanks. After working with many video clips today, I think I figured out a reasonable workflow. 1. create video using Direct Stream Copy. 2. compress the full video using wmv9 compression 3. burn DVD HD using Ulead DVD MovieFactory 6 Not sure this is the most efficient, but it's the best I've come up with. By the way, the final file size after using this process is roughly 1/3 the size of the original video clips. Any other suggestions on workflow are welcome. Patrick
I may have to give Super another try. It was a little overwhelming the first couple of times I tried it. What software do you use to burn an HD DVD? Thanks.
How does Ulead handle the large uncompressed AVI? Why first convert/re-encode (losing quality at the same time) at all? You should also be able to add all the clips into Ulead, without the Vdub first step. It should be able to do any combining/merging/editing you need. The original, untouched AVIs should provide the best end result.
I haven't tried Ulead yet with the full uncompressed clips. My only reason for using VD is to compress the file size, maintaining as much quality as possible. I'm doing this for a couple of reasons - DVD limitation of 4.7 gb (don't have an HD DVD burner), and file storage size on my main hard drive. I'm not sure if Ulead has a compression utility, but I can certainly give it a try. Thanks for the feedback.
Keep in mind that the size of the original AVI is not relevant when converting to DVD compliant files, i.e. getting it to fit on a DVD-5. It's all about the running time. But the size does usually tell you much about the quality. I can convert a 2 hour movie/clip to an Xvid and depending on the settings I use the resultant file can be 700MB to 1.4GB (actually it can be almost any size). When converting to DVD either one will fill a DVD-5 based on a video bitrate of about 4800 kb/s (which is what 2 hours needs). But in this case converting the 1.4 GB file will produce superior results.
