Best Format to Archive?

Consider the following situation, likely fairly common. A 12 hour video is produced on a set of six DVDs, two hours on each, using the Premiere/Encore combination, and individual menus for each disk. It is believed that in some x years time density will have greatly improved (of course) and all twelve hours could fit on one disk or other storage medium as one continuous showing, with a menu or series of menus leading the user directly throughout with no disk swapping. The question is what is the most efficient way to store the original content of the six DVDs so that the combining of the six into one can be done in the future without visible loss of quality. Certainly one could save the AVI files that came out of Premiere, but they are huge. One could rip the DVDs back to an editable format, but that would hurt quality. Should we create m2v files from Premiere and save them, along with Encore control (menu) files? Looking for that happy balance (space versus quality) that saves the info for probable and even unknown future uses. Open to all suggestions. Thanks.

Why not simply store the DVDs as they already have the audio and video on them and can be extracted into elementary streams at a future date. What I would store on a separate external hard drive would be a folder for each DVD project containing all menus, text files of chapter points (although you could use ChapterXtracter in the future also), subtitle files, and a flowchart of all connections, end actions, overrides, etc.
This would allow you to reassemble everything on a single disc in the future with simply adding a main menu that links to all the previous main menus, along with a play all button.
Peace, BJ

Similar Messages

  • Best Format for Archiving Video Files

    I am importing old VHS and 8mm family videos for my cousin, to both burn them to DVD, and to archive the movies in case he wants to edit them later.
    I am planning on purchasing for him, a "write once," external HDD, probably firewire, (though I am open to suggestions), to put both the backup Video TS folders on, as well as the Quicktime movies themselves.
    My guess is, the best format for the QT movies would be their original DV-NTSC, but at around 13GB an hour, this can add up pretty fast.
    The h264 .mov codec looks great, takes forever to render, and it seems the file size difference to DV-NTSC is nominal at best.
    Obviously the future is some kind of HD, so these movies will never look great years from now, but I want them to be preserved for him at the best quality possible, at the smallest file size, if it will not compromise the quality too much.
    I know I can render them significantly smaller as h264 .mp4 files, or as DIVX, (which also takes a long time), but I imagine they are of significantly reduced quality that would be visible in future video editing he might do.
    If DV-NTSC is the only way to go, so be it. But if not, then any suggestions for what other format I could use to save these QT files, without visible loss of quality is greatly appreciated.

    Thanks for all the advice. And I mean everyone.
    Here is my latest dilemma.
    Though 15 years old, the original Vhs's play beautifully. Aside from some (expected) glitches in the beginning or end of some of the shots, the video has not degraded appreciably. This is great news, as my cousin wanted to make back ups before degradation begins.
    First, I captured the Vhs movies and corrected some bad color, mostly due to poor white balancing, and on the computer, they looked great in comparison. I burned DVD's and they looked terrible in comparison with the originals. Now I know I am going to lose some resolution when going to DVD, but it seemed harsh, so I ran some tests.
    I burned a DVD of the original capture, with no color correction, just the raw footage and the DVD did not look much better, so it wasn't the color correction.
    Not satisfied, I made a copy from the FCP timeline straight to Vhs, (I should note, through the ADVC-110.) This looked significantly degraded as well.
    Finally, I made a straight dub from Vhs to DVCam, figuring that had to look good, and that also looked significantly degraded, compared to the, (now looking pristine), Vhs original.
    As the original Vhs looks so good, what good would a TBC do? Or a proc amp?
    Is there some secret to capturing and exporting Vhs that I am missing? Or, will it always look significantly degraded, even straight to DVCam?
    +David Murray wrote: There is an industrial way to get good VhS copies but it is extremely expensive+
    I don't know what this is, but I am sure it is clearly out of our league, but David M., if you are still following this thread, I'm curious, would this ultra expensive method actually result in a dub that looks like the original? I am actually really shocked at how bad the straight DVCam dub looks. It really does not look much better than the color corrected, computer exported version.
    The Vhs tapes of my cousins daughter are as precious to him as anything he has.
    As they date back 15 years, he is concerned about the longevity of the tapes.
    As there are over forty hours of them, he wants them to be in an editable format, so later he or his daughter can make a highlight reel, or whatever. So thus the QT movie archive/backup on HD.
    Whether as Finalcutter said, that this drive, even if unused, and put in a cool dry safe, might not function years down the line, makes it iffy, but what other choice is there for editable versions, unless I break the QT movies up into 20 minute chunks and archive them to over a hundred DVD's instead. Perhaps that is the safest solution, though certainly time consuming.
    As failure of the HDD somewhere in the future is likely, though not certain, I am still not sure that the HDD holding all his QT movies for future editing is the wrong way to go.
    As it is a digital version, and not an analog copy, I get that a DVCam backup of the originals is the best option. I will suggest to him that we do this as well, even though he does not have DVCam himself. But again, is there something I am missing here? Why does the Vhs to DVCam copy look so degraded? Is there anything I can do to keep the original quality, or will it die with his original Vhs as it slowly degrades over time?

  • Best format for archive?

    I'm using a Canopus AVCD55 to record medical (endoscopic) procedures in DV format. Unfortunately these produce massive file sizes, eg, 5-20GB. If I use Compressor to convert them into another format, what would be the best choice in terms of retaining picture quality whilst reducing file size? It's possible I may in future use 'stills' for publication purposes. I'm not recording audio.

    I'm not sure this will work in your workflow, but have you ever used JES Deinterlacer? It's a free app, but ... it DOES deinterlace, including combining static field regions where possible to maintain source resolution.
    When I use it I usually have it export to Apple Animation and then just re-encode to whatever from there -- often wmv, flv or some other web-based format. This is great for cleaning up DVD (interlaced) source materials for web formats (progressive).
    You can set it to export any QT format - including H.264.
    I assume you have QuickTime Pro. If you are just selecting clips to archive you might be able to trim those in QT pro?
    I believe JES Deinterlacer has a simple project queue, so you might be able to give it a few files and leave it running overnight ...
    Regards - Phillip

  • Best Format To Archive DVCPRO hd footage

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    Thanks

    thanks allot guys. u are really helping me! btw Andy i like your plug ins.
    The Mac is busy rendering the master right now so ill see how it works when its done. Maybe i have some more questions after that.
    Anyway i did some test and got the apple pro res working nice and smooth. It was a stupid mistake from my side.
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    How to store my source clips.
    I came to the conclusion of taking all my source clips and paste all the usable pieces to the timeline and then compress them with QT conversion as DVCPRO HD (which is their native form) and save the 1 big file for later use.
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  • What's the best format for archiving for future hi res?

    Hello,
    I've got FCP 6 running on OS X 10.6.8.
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    In the future I might want to go to Blu Ray or whatever else is current. What's the best file type to save them out as?
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    I know hard drives fail, so what would also be the best way to store them? Thumb drives? Data DVDs?
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    Neal Fox wrote:
    ...  I know hard drives fail, so what would also be the best way to store them? Thumb drives? Data DVDs?
    All media can fail ... my first home-made DVDs were killed just by letting them lay in the bright sunlight for 20 minutes ...
    So, aside 'future-proof codecs', for long-term strorage a smart back-up-strategy is essential.
    And here come hard-drives back again into the game:
    to copy/clone a hard-drive, you simply drag the content from Drive#A to Drive#B - done. (no need to watch the time-bar grow...)
    to copy 'disks' ... that is a more complex procedure... not to mention, a disk doesn't fit as much data as a drive, so you have to repeat that steps multiple times.
    There are no numbers avail about non-mechanical storage media (sticks, SDcrads, SSDs) on the log run...I 'killed' several sticks and SDcards, just by using them.-
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    Finally, 'hardware' - anybody remembering SCSI? 5 1/4" floppies?? MO-drives? ................. (firewire < chuckle> )
    You can actually read a 500y old Gutenberg Bible, but in 50y, most of our 'data' is gone, poof, nirvana....
    (no, I'm not grumpy )

  • Best format/process to archive raw minidv tapes..

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    Hi
    There are no good economically reasonable way to do that.
    • One tape needs 13-14Gb space to be stored.
    • Even if possibly - external hard disks are fragile - tapes 1000 times (or more) less so
    A drop -> dead
    They get mechanically old - and stops to spinn especially if not used from time to time
    To keep movie material up to date on hard disk storage - means a maintenance scheme and DISIPLINE.
    If this is a must then the Hard Disk HAS TO BE - *Mac OS EXtended formatted*.
    UNIX/DOS/FAT32/Mac OS Exchange has a 4Gb limit resulting in corrupted movie files.
    AND miniDV tapes are interlaced material - not optimal for iM'08 & 09 - they discard every second line.
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    to do Your safety QuickTime (full quality) .mov files.
    My strategy is
    • Tapes are easy to store and get a cheap miniDV Camera to use as Playback/Capture tool. (about 300 up till today)
    Yours Bengt W

  • What is the best way to archive old e mail folders without buying software. I tried to drag them into a folder on the hard drive but they get saved in a strange format

    What is the best way to archive old e mail folders without buying software. I tried to drag them into a folder on the hard drive but they get saved in a strange format.

    This is on sale for US $12:
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  • What is the best way to archive old footage (DVD, VHS, Super 8 etc.)

    Hello,
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    What sort of file should be saved?
    Im a complete starter at this.
    Thank you!

    One strategy is to purchase a Canopus ADVC300 analog/dv converter. It has a TBC incorporated.
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    Play the tape through the canopus and record to your hard drive.
    Take good notes for each tape. Create a logging sheet and make notes as the system captures.
    Once you have the tapes in the computer, break them into 1 hr or less segments by some reasonable system - chronologically, by personalities, locations or whatever makes sense to you.
    Then write out each 1 hour segment back to a DV recorder. Give each tape a unique reel number - and make the reel number part of the file name on the computer.
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    x

  • RE: CS4 Premiere Pro - what is best to backup/archive video to minimize size

    RE: CS4 Premiere Pro -> what is best to backup/archive video to minimize size?
    I use export>media to adobe media encoder. I am using the avi. the avi file generated seems large. i.e. for 27 minutes the file is 6 gb.
    what is the best format to use to minimize file size?????
    any help will be appreciated and thks in advance.

    >what is best to backup/archive video to minimize size?
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  • Best way to archive a finished movie?  Take 2

    Hi, I need to clear off the captured video for several projects off my hard drive, and close out those FCE projects. What is the best way to archive my finished movie? I thought it would be to create a 'self-contained' Quicktime file, but learned that if I want to import such a file into DVD Studio Pro, it won't work. Should I save the movie as a 'self-contained' Final Cut Express Movie file (which will import into DVDSP) or is such a file inferior to a Quicktime .mov file? Or is there some other option?
    Thanks, Bob

    Thanks for your reply. I've been experimenting and here is what I found.
    Yes, iDVD does import a Quicktime file, but DVD Studio Pro doesn't. Go Figure. DVDSP gives an Alert Box that says, "Incompatible Format". (FCE will import either a Quicktime file or a FCE Movie File.)
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  • I have a external Hard drive of 1TB. I want to transfer HD movies to it from my MAC but it can only take 4 gb at a time, now i have to format it which is the best format in this situation NTFS or exFAT, as i use windows part ion as well??

    I have a external Hard drive of 1TB. I want to transfer HD movies to it from my MAC but it can only take 4 gb at a time, now i have to format it which is the best format in this situation NTFS or exFAT, as i use windows part ion as well?? plzz help
    Merry Christmas

    Repartition and format the drive for a Mac:
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    1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
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    5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Security button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
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  • What is the best format to use on an external hard drive so I can both back up my Macbook Pro and also put movies on it from another hard drive (PC)?

    I am looking for a solution to whether if it is best to get two hard drives or one that can do two things that I want.
    I am looking for a hard drive format that can both back up my 500GB Macbook Pro but I was also wondering if I could also put movies on it from another hard drive that is PC based. Would partitioning the hard drive work for this? I don't know what are the best formats to use.
    If this is too hard it might just be easier having a separate 500GB hard drive for back up of my Mac and another bigger hard drive for the movies etc (the files are probably bigger than 4GB). Any help would be greatly appreciated as I need to make a decision soon!

    Csound1 wrote:
    Microsoft has not released the official exFAT file system specification, and a restrictive license from Microsoft is required in order to make and distribute exFAT implementations. Microsoft also asserts patents on exFAT which make it impossible to re-implement its functionality in a compatible way without violating a large percentage of them.[13] This renders the implementation, distribution, and use of exFAT as a part of free or open-source operating systems or of commercial software, for which the vendors could not obtain a license from Microsoft, not only technically difficult, but legally impossible in countries that recognize United States software patents.
    Can't help with that, if one is using a Windows machine then they are subjected to their rules and control.
    Limited support outside Windows and Mac OS X operating systems as of 2012, when most consumer electronic devices could only handleFAT12/FAT16/FAT32, rendering exFAT (and flash memory formats using it) impractical as a universal exchange format.
    The OP said they plan to store movies on the external drive.
    Many movies today are well over 4GB in size, thus exFAT has to be used and formatted on the PC, which the Mac can then read.
    Older Windows NT versions up to Windows Vista without Service Pack 1 do not support exFAT.
    Irrelevant, Microsoft provides a free download of exFAT for Windows XP, and Vista shouldn't be running on pre SP1 anyway.
    Some distributions of Linux have begun to include support for exFAT. It is however, only available as a file system in user space, as it's not supported by the kernel.
    Irrelevant, OP is using Windows and OS X, not Linux and if they did Linux can read the files at least and transfer, which is all they care about really.
    Windows Vista is unable to use exFAT drives for ReadyBoost. Windows 7 removes this limitation, enabling ReadyBoost caches larger than 4 GiB.[14]
    Irrelevant, the OP's is intending to use it as transfer drive between Mac's and Windows for movies.
    The standard exFAT implementation only uses a single file allocation table and free space map. FAT file systems instead used alternating tables, as this allowed recovery of the file system if the media was ejected during a write (which occurs frequently in practice with removable media). The optional TexFAT component adds support for additional backup tables and maps, but may not be supported.
    Some relevancy, but only exFAT can handle 4GB+ files between Mac's and PC's, so the need outweighs the possible problem.
    The OP needs to follow the standard Windows practice of "safely removing hardware" before physically disconnecting the external drive. If a write is occurring, it won't allow disconnecting until the write is finished.
    Support for up to 2,796,202 files per subdirectory only.[1][nb 3] Microsoft documents a limit of 65,534 files per sub-directory for their FAT32 implementation, but other operating systems have no special limit for the number of files in a FAT32 directory. FAT32 implementations in other operating systems allow an unlimited number of files up to the number of available clusters (that is, up to 268,304,373 files on volumes without long filenames).[nb 4]
    Not a issue, only in extreme cases of a lot of small files. The OP plans to use it for movies which are usually large and take up a lot of space on the drive.
    IMMO It looks like you just ran off and copied something to argue your point when all the points are basically irrelevant.
    There is only one format that can easily share 4GB sized files between Mac's and PC's without further complications.
    It's ALSO possible to install MacDrive on the PC and format the drive on the Mac HFS+, but I didn't recommend that because I know it's a hassle just like third party NTFS writing software is a hassle on Mac's.
    If you so anti-Microsoft format, then you must know Paragon has to pay a license fee to Microsoft for using the NTFS format.
    At least with exFAT there is no fee to Redmond, at least not yet.

  • What's the best format to import in to iMovie?

    Okay, here is the situation, I have a lengthy Keynote presentation which I plan to export via QuickTime so it can be imported in to iMovie in order to do voice-overs. The question I have is what the best format is to use to export from Keynote in order to import in to iMovie. I am obviously looking for the format which is the smoothest, doesn't lose any quality, and will look clear once imported in to iMovie. Also, there is no reason to use H.264 since size during the transfer doesn't really matter to me, besides, H.264 seems to be somewhat jerky with Keynote exports (or maybe it's just my computer) as I am using some of the graphics intensive transitions and effects.
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    I know that I said that file size didn't matter, but I decided using uncompressed video was just too large, I think the file size was like 25-50GB or something like that. I took forever to import in to iMovie, so I quit with that route.
    I really appreciate the Garageband suggestion, that was by far the best way to go. I never really tried using the new GarageBand in iLife '06 so I didn't even realize that it had movie scoring—what a GREAT feature! I definitely should have recorded directly in to GarageBand rather than in iMovie, something is just not right with iMovie's audio handling. Anyway, thanks for the help!

  • Best format for viewing movie on Windows ?

    Hi,
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    Thanks....

    mpeg1

  • Best format for end product

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    Did this answer your question? Please click the Accept as Solution button so that others may find the answer as well.

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