Dealing with old AVI files - what is best format for 'master' storage.

I kept a lot of original AVI footage from the original DV Tapes. I see these as the MASTER material.
I also have the same footage on MPG.
My new Smart TV will link to ny network and can see the AVI files but not play them.
It seems i need to convert them to a Divx format of AVI in order to play these files...
Question is therefore 2 fold.
1 - I want store/keep and have as 'masters' the highest quality of the orginal recordings. So is the best 'original', the orignal DV Tape AVI files or would editing these via CS6 and outputing an MPG or MP4 format be as good as the 'original'.
Despite 15 years messing about with digital editing, i remain baffled by what constitutes 'ORIGINAL FORMAT'.
2 - How can I convert the AVI files from current set up to a Divx Codec that my SMART TV will recognise and play. WIll CS6 do this or Encoder ? I cant see an option.
I've tried all AVI outputs and the SmartTV cannot read any of them.
Regards
Kev.

About 4 years ago I transferred all my old 8/Hi8/DV tapes onto my PC exactly the same as you have done.
The AVI is a standard introduced by Microsoft http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_Video_Interleave gives the detail and history
Smart TV's in 2012 could play AVI's or at least the youtube demo I just watched did so you may want to check the manual to find out precisely what your TV will play
Keep the originals as they are, do nothing to them.
Editing and output to whatever the TV can play, MPG and MP4 should be OK and as future proof as possible.
Try exporting a short say 1 minute of mixed footage to MPG and MP4 and view these, I did just this with my network and Sony TV and they streamed great, then I edited all that old footage to MPG and MP4 (I saved the same movie to both formats just in case).
Do remember that your AVI's will be SD and these will be upscaled by your TV to fill the HD screen
Divx is great but quite lossy and there has been a myrad of types over the years so future proofing may be an issue.
I cannot advise on CS6 as I use CS5.5.
Finally before you ask.......edit SD AVI's export movies to DVD's and playing back via a good quality upscaling Bluray player will probably give the best HD results, far better than thinking about software upscaling your AVI's to HD
Col

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I will send you virtual Karma points if you can help me.
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Hi again
Thanks for the Karma thought!
As an aside, I try to do all my banking at the First Universal Bank of Karma! W00T!
On the TTS bit I'd be totally shocked to discover it were a factor. This is because the only thing that happens with it (as near as I can tell) is that the text is converted to a WAV/MP3 file same as would occur by virtue of recording one using a microphone. So I figure a WAV is a WAV is a WAV.
Then again, I never claim to know it all about anything. Then again, I also think anyone that DOES claim to know all there is to know is either foolhardy or a pompous donkey.
Cheers and good luck! Rick
Click here for Adobe Authorized Captivate and RoboHelp HTML Training
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Click here for RoboHelp and Captivate eBooks

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MUYconfundido wrote:
I am in the process of embedding 3 mp3's into a PDF to submit as a portfolio. The PDF also has text, and two scores included, and with the 3 embedded mp3's it can't be more than 10mb.
So my question is: When bouncing a project out of Logic, what is the best method for getting the smallest file size, but retaining the best audio quality?
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So if you know the length of your tracks you can calculate what bitrate you need to keep it within 10 MB total.
I consider 128 kbps the lowest bearable bitrate for popsongs and other modern drumkit based music. Deterioration of sound quality is often directly related to the quality of the initial mix and the type of instruments used in it. Piano(-like) tones tend to sound watery pretty quickly at lower bitrates, as do crash and ride cymbals. But don't take my word for it, try it out.
And once it's out of Logic and it is an mp3 or other type of audio file, is there a best format for compressing it further, and still maintaining the relative quality?
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I bounced out the three projects into wav's. Now I am using Switch for Mac to compress them down to smaller Mp3's.
That is silly, you could have done that in Logic, which has one of the best MP3 encoders built in. And how good encoders are will especially come out at bitrates around or below 128, which you might be looking at.
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So, one more scrap of info we need here: how long are those three pieces, exactly? I'll calculate the bitrate for you - but please bounce 'm directly out of Logic as MP3's. They will very probably sound better than your WAV-conversions made with Switch.
!http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4084/4996323899_071398b89a.jpg!
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Length of the piece? And does the .Wav bounce you have sound OK?

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Message was edited by: the_wine_snob - [Edit]

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Dealing with old AVI files - what is best format for 'master' storage.

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