Better dv solution? Need advice!

Question

Hello Wise Group!
I have a question about dv recording, editing, and storing. I have two G4 PowerBooks that I use for my business. I meet with customers in 60 to 90 minute blocks of time and videotape (dv camera) each of the sessions for later editing and playback. I often need to access the footage I’ve recorded months later for presentations and/or additional video editing. I record up to 4 hours of video each day, I am currently using iMovie HD to record directly to my hard drive from my dv camera. I then send the footage to iDVD and burn to disc. This is quite time consuming and does not provide an easy solution for accessing my footage once I’ve burned it to DVD via iDVD. (I have tried using mini-dv tapes for long term storage but the import-export-re-export cycle takes forever.)
I’m hoping that someone with far more knowledge than I, can offer some suggestions for making this process more efficient (less time consuming and less expensive.) I am open to all suggestions including changing software (final cut, iDVD Pro, etc) or even purchasing additional equipment if necessary (additional external hard drives, server, etc.) I’m also open to posting my question to other message boards if you can direct me. Thanks in advance for your help!
g4fan
G4 Powerbook   Mac OS X (10.4.4)  

Answer 1

A crucial factor is the space requirements of all that video. The success of any solution depends almost entirely on how you plan to use the video, and how often you need to access it.
If you plan to use it to create high-quality iMovie projects, then preserving the pristine DV quality is important. The video should be stored in its native DV format, not the MPEG-2 format delivered by iDVD. (iDVD compresses the video, which loses quality when brought back into iMovie.)
Unfortunately, saving all that video as DV clips on DVDs is a huge task which will consume multiple DVDs each day. (A single-sided DVD can hold just one 20-minute DV clip.) We're talking here about saving QuickTime movies as data files on the DVD, not using iDVD to create a DVD for playback on a TV.
You don't say how often you will need to access the stored video. If it's not often -- only several times a month? -- I'd consider not importing it to iMovie at all. Rather, I'd just save the tapes (or create them). Then when I needed a portion of an interview, I'd import that segment of tape to iMovie. In other words, I'd consider not bothering to import the video until it was actually needed.
If you don't use tape, a 500 GB disk will store only 38 hours of DV video. (13GB per hour.) That's an option too if you need to be able to access the video quickly.
Another is to import the video to the Mac, then compress it with the H.264 codec, which delivers fantastic quality for its size. I assume the video is mostly talking heads, which compresses nicely.
Many times more H.264 can be stored on a disk than DV. To make the video even smaller, you might consider storing it in 320x240 format with a low data rate, say 300 kbits per second. It could be stored on disks or on DVDs.
The H.264 quality won't be perfect, but that may not matter. If the small-size H.264 video is used only to locate snippets of video you want to import from tape, it doesn't have to be perfect. The H.264 movie will let you quickly scan through a movie looking for the snippets you need, then import those scenes from the tape.
So, here's a possible strategy: Use QuickTime Pro or the third-party software BTVPro to import your live video to a QuickTime DV movie. If you consider the session worth saving, export it back to a tape in the camcorder. Store the tape in a safe location. (Do not record at LP speed, for that can mess up the audio. Use SP.)
Then use QT Pro or BTVPro to export the DV movie to an H.264 MPEG-4 movie at whatever quality you need. The smaller the better. Or use a high data rate -- 2000 kbps? -- at 640x480 and save it as your primary source video instead of using tape.
Save the H.264 movie to disk. (As needed, make a backup of those movies onto CDs or DVDs.)
If there is a scene today you think you'll want to reference later, you could do this: Open the H.264 movie, find the scene, Copy that snippet, Paste it into a new movie, and save it as a reference movie. (Which relies on the Copied movie to play.) Give it meaningful name. Store this (tiny) reference movie in the same folder as the H.264 movie.
To catalog in several categories, create as many aliases as you want to that reference movie, saving the aliases in folders that you assign meaningful names. You'll be able to use Sherlock later to find each scene, searching for the snippet's name or the alias name.
All the grunt work of importing the video, then exporting the DV to the camera and exporting the DV to an H.264 movie can be done with AppleScripts. Both QT Pro and BTVPro are highly scriptable.
For the computer, the hardest part is compressing all that video to H.264. You may need a fast computer. It depends on how much video there is. You may need to devote a Mac to that task only.
But all that may be unnecessary. When H.264 came out I tried exporting DV containing talking heads to H.264 using 640x480 at a fairly high data rate, (3000 kbps?) then imported THAT movie back into iMovie HD. There was NO loss of quality from the source DV. H.264 is that good. So you might want to try that on your video. It could save a lot of effort, for if it comes out well enough, you could skip messing with the tape. Import to DV, export to H.264 and toss the DV.
Karl