[MacDV] archiving: mini-DV, DVD or hd? The Sequel

[Frank Fitzpatrick]

To Malcolm and all,
My 2 cents worth.

For the highest quality:
Since you have Avid Xpress DV, first of all get a miniDV camcorder that is
Avid DV Express compatible.  [You said you wanted to ger one.]  [If you can
swing it financially, get a 3 CCD camera, the quality is far better for new
recording through the lens.]

Put your analog tape into your Hi8 VCR or your hi8 camera and then capture
to the mini-DV camcorder which should be put in VTR mode. Your miniDV
camcorder needs an analog input for this, for Sony miniDV camcorders it's
one RCA plug with video, left audio and right audio for your  analog side;
and a combined plug for all three on the miniDV side of the cable.  Let your
miniDV camcorder record  at normal speed, not extended time. Record 60
minutes to a 60 minute tape, not 90 minutes, for example.

If the camcorder is compatible with Avid, then it must already include, [but
check anyway] a Firewire connector for recording FROM the computer and
capturing TO the computer. Since mini-DV is already a compressed format,
when you capture clips they are not compressed more or degraded any further
unless you edit AND add some effects.
So, open Avid, and capture to your computer with that software.

Once the files are on your hard disk, copy them via your SuperDrive or other
compatible INTERNAL DVD burner. [I believe Avid when capturing to a Mac MUST
create QuickTime files just as FCP does.]
Archive by creating  a DATA DVD not a DVD movie. In that way [making a data
archive] you are just copying the files from your computer to the DVD disk.
.
Anyone please feel free to chime in if you know is a better way to preserve
quality.

Frank Fitzpatrick
Cranston, RI
NOT the Frank Fitzpatrick of frankfitzpatrick.com,
I'm the OTHER one.
-- 
My amateurish-always-being-revised-but-informative web sites:
http://members.cox.net/franks-brain [about me and the Father Porter case,
about my music, and about almost done book]
http://members.cox.net/musicroom [for my elementary school music students,
fellow teachers, and parents]
http://members.cox.net/survivorconnections  [for survivors of sexual
assault]
http://www.angelfire.com/ri/scleroderma [for those with scleroderma looking
for information and a New England support group]
http://members.cox.net/totellthetruth [for sexual assault survivors wishing
to find or run a local event]

> From: Malcolm Hamilton <malcolm_hamilton at cbc.ca>
> Reply-To: "Macintosh Digital Video List"<MacDV at lists.themacintoshguy.com>
> Date: Fri, 10 Jan 2003 12:38:00 -0500
> To: "Macintosh Digital Video List" <MacDV at lists.themacintoshguy.com>
> Subject: [MacDV] archiving: mini-DV, DVD or hd? The Sequel
> 
> O.K., here's the second part of my missive, starting with a contribution
> from Phil, on the subject of a 'stand-alone' DVD recorder:
> 
>>> From:  Phil A. Lefebvre
> . and stand-alone DVD recorder may be best.  They can be found for under
> $700 in the US, and are getting better every day.  You can hook your Hi-8
> camera and directly dub to DVD disks.  They can hold up to 6 hours of video
> per disk, thought the quality really drops if trying to cram more than 2
> hours per disk.
> 
> This sounds easy to use, but comes back to the question of compression.
> Will these DVD-recorders allow me to record the Hi-8 footage as a DV file???
> As much as I'd love to squeeze more on a DVD than a paltry half-hour, I
> think I now understand that if I want DV quality, a half-hour is all I can
> ask of a DVD-R.  If I go even for one hour's worth (let alone two), quality
> will suffer, right?
> Especially when you consider that when I do want to do, eventually, is
> editing, and that I'll want to edit the stuff as DV... if I've compressed it
> more than that, then maybe it's a big deal to de-compress it back to DV???
> Can anyone advise on this?
> 
> Phil goes on - -
> 
>>> Another option is hard drive archiving.  I figure the cost of a DV tape and
> DVD-R blank are about half the price of hard disk storage, but is much less
> convenient if you plan to edit some day... a HD takes up less space, and is
> arguably more robust than tape, and maybe a DVD-R.
> 
> This may be a good idea, but does anyone know if, in the same way we can be
> pretty sure that hard drives will get bigger and cheaper, there might be
> DVD-Rs, right around the corner, that will hold an hour's worth of DV
> footage, instead of a half-hour?
> 
> And if I wait for something bigger, faster and cheaper, will some of my Hi-8
> tapes, which date back eleven years, have suffered for my delay?
> 
> Thanks again, everyone, for your advice, and apologies for being so
> long-winded!
> Malcolm 
> 
> 
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