Mainconcept DV codec

L

lmerino

Active member
So I was looking into the Mainconcept DV codec. Let's just say that this codec is better than MicrosoftDV. (if otherwise, let me know)

If I wanted to edit using MainconceptDV in PPro, how would I digitize my footage directly from tape to this codec?

If I set up the correct session settings in Ppro to use this codec rather than MicrosoftDV, what would be the disadvantages?

Would I still be able to preview out on a monitor via firewire?

Would I have less real-time ability? (although I read that the Mainconcept codec is faster for rendering)

thanks,
lucas
 
Re: Mainconcept DV codec

Well,

It seems that although PPro says it captures "Microsoft DV" files, it is actually the mainconcept DV codec... or at least a version of it.
 
Re: Mainconcept DV codec

is it supposed to be better quality? I thought the compression of the DV was done by the hardware on the camera?
 
Re: Mainconcept DV codec

Thats a good question. I still ride on some assumptions about dv... I am going to assume that, yes, the camera does use its own particular kind of compression and then when transferred via firewire it goes through a lossless conversion to another kind.

No, it does not make much sense does it. hmmm... anyone?
 
Re: Mainconcept DV codec

There are a great number of dv codecs for use on a great number of NLE's - to be honest though, in my experence, they're all more or less the same. The generic codec that comes with Windows works pretty well, I have heard that the generic codec that comes with Apple's FCP degrades quality slightly more significantly over about 5-7 transcodes that others, but really it's not anything that the average joe would notice.

I think that if you've got a codec that works (Mainconcept, Microsoft Video 1, DVsoft etc.), then stick with it. If it ain't broke... ;)
 
Re: Mainconcept DV codec

how about the transfer of files from tape to HDD? Do you happen to know how it changes the dv codec the content is compressed in?
 
Re: Mainconcept DV codec

[quote author=lmerino link=board=Premier;num=1098824062;start=0#3 date=12/06/04 at 08:24:35]I am going to assume that, yes, the camera does use its own particular kind of compression and then when transferred via firewire it goes through a lossless conversion to another kind.[/quote]
The camera compresses the video as a 25 Mbps DV stream.

The capture process does not (or *should not*) recompress -- it only wraps the stream in an AVI wrapper and writes it to disk. Other than the AVI wrapper, the frames on your disk should be bit-for-bit identical to the frames on your tape.

When you edit your video in Premiere and export a DV AVI, Premiere should not be recompressing the original frames, unless you have modified them in some way -- for example, add titles, add an effect, or during a transition. In this case, Premiere is using (whichever) DV codec to decode the frame, modifying the frame, then recompressing it with the DV codec.
So, any unmodified frames should still be bit-for-bit identical to what's on your tape.

But, when you do any kind of transcode -- for example, exporting a WMV, or an MPEG2 for DVD -- the DV codec is decoding every frame, which is re-encoded by the downstream codec into the new format. Unlike exporting a DV AVI, this will affect all frames, regardless of whether or not you've applied titles, effects, transitions, etc.

Finally, everything you see on your computer monitor has been decompressed by the DV codec.

I did a comparison test of the Main Concept vs. the Microsoft DV Codecs a year or so ago, and I remember preferring the Microsoft. However, I no longer have the example frames to show. I can redo that test, but I'm about to leave town for more than a week, so don't look for it soon.
 
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