[m01ety]

Hey all,

My family's early video archives (ca. '91 onwards) are in analog PAL format on 8 Millimeter tapes and they're starting to degrade in quality (some of them already have, unfortunately ). We're trying to archive them to DVD before they're all gone.

(This doesn't reflect very well on modern media's data retention. *sigh* )

Anyways, I of course decided to use my new PowerBook G4 for this noble project! The machine is the latest and greatest (15" with 1.5 Ghz, 512 MB RAM) and handles video stuff well. The problem is with iMovie, which I have never used before (and yes, I looked through the manual and help files).

Since we're from Europe, all our videos are in analog PAL on 8mm tapes.

Here's the deal: When I try to import from an 8mm PAL tape in a DV Camcorder (that also speaks PAL and analog since it's multifunction) via FireWire in iMovie, the machine imports about 9 minutes / 1.9 GB of video, and then stops. It doesn't continue importing but always stops ater 9 minutes (this is reproducible). Also, during import processor usage is at 100%, there is no sound pass-through from the video to the PowerBook's speakers, and iMovie says "Record from camcorder...", not "Import...", on the import button.

When I try to import video from an 8mm tape that has digital content on it (in other words, content from an 8mm analog PAL tape that we transcoded onto another 8mm tape in digital format), the import works all the way until the end of the tape (in other words, hours can pass by and it continues importing and doesn't stop), processor usage is at around 25%-33%, and there is audio passthrough to the PowerBook's speakers.

I don't understand why this is happening. I'm saving all the video on a fast external 160GB FireWire drive, so that's not an issue. The problem seems to be between importing analog and digital content from a DV camcorder.

Also, 20 minutes of the DV imported from the analog tape takes up as much space as more than an entire hour of DV imported from the digital tape.

Question 1: How can I (if at all) make import from the analog tape as smooth and reliable as from the digital tape?

And now on to iDVD. I've read through the help file, but I can't figure this out.

Question 2: What is the difference between the "Best Quality" and "Best Performance" setting?

When Best Quality is chosen, a little over an hour of DV fills up half of the DVD on the space meter. When Best Performance is chosen, the same amount of DV fills the entire disk and I get a "no place left" error.

One would think that Best Quality does indeed get the Best Quality, but why then is the entire disk not filled? I simply don't understand, and since I'm trying to archive aleady degraded content here, I don't want to compromise on quality at all.

Any helps, tips appreciated.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally posted by m01ety:
My family's early video archives (ca. '91 onwards) are in analog PAL format on 8 Millimeter tapes and they're starting to degrade in quality (some of them already have, unfortunately ). We're trying to archive them to DVD before they're all gone.

(This doesn't reflect very well on modern media's data retention. *sigh* )

I'm sorry that I can't help you with your other questions, but:

If you think analog PAL tape's data retention time is bad, and you're archiving to DVD-R...

I've only had the Superdrive for a year and a half, now, and I've already had more than one DVD-R fail on me (though I'd never touched it after having burned and verified it).

DVD-R is NOT a long-term archiving solution.

[JKT]

I don't know if this is still the case, but I believe iMovie has a 2GB limit on the size of the files it can import which would explain why it is stopping once it reaches that limit. The solution would be to simply restart the import at (or a little before and trim it afterwards) the point it ceases the import as a second clip.

Wrt to analogue versus DV - the difference in size could well come from the need to convert the analogue footage into a digital format, which will not be necessary for the DV footage. The 100% processor usage is most likely due to the extra demand of doing that conversion.

My understanding of the best quality v. best performance setting in iDVD is that it refers to the quality of the rendering of the transitions in the menus etc and not of the quality of the film footage, which is untouched. However, I could be very wrong That doesn't explain why your disk is getting full with one versus the other though!

Edit: This Apple web page explains the difference - the Best Quality setting should be the one that always fills your DVD as iDVD will render it to do so. Best performance will just use whatever space was needed to get the footage onto the disk.

[m01ety]

Originally posted by Spheric Harlot:
I'm sorry that I can't help you with your other questions, but:

If you think analog PAL tape's data retention time is bad, and you're archiving to DVD-R...

I've only had the Superdrive for a year and a half, now, and I've already had more than one DVD-R fail on me (though I'd never touched it after having burned and verified it).

DVD-R is NOT a long-term archiving solution.

That's very unfortunate. However, Blue-Ray is just around the corner, and I may just end up buying another large external HD to dump the ISOs of the DVDs on just to be on the safe side.

[m01ety]

Thanks for all the tips, everyone. After combing through the dandruff on MacNN, AppleInsider, and Apple's cavernous Support Discussion fora, I have solved my problems. Here's an explanation of what I learned for future reference if anyone has these problems/questions:

Answer 1: "Record with Camera" vs. "Import" in iMovie 4

Appearantly, digital cameras that can play back analog content *and* output it as digital via FireWire are a rarity, and thus iMovie gets confused.

When iMovie detects a digital device attached, it presents the "Import" option, which will digitally import the content until you tell it to stop. Thus, while it will happily go on importing for hours, internally, it segments files into chunks no larger than 9 minutes/ 2 GB. (This is in the background and hidden from the user.)

When iMovie detects an analog device attached (such as an iSight or another webcam or VHS), it presents the "Record with Camera" option. Using the "Record with" option stops after 9 minutes/2GB, but not because of the file chunk limit (which is handled transparently and internally), but because importing from an analog device yields analog data, and iMovie works with DV, so the analog data needs to be converted to DV. So after reaching a 9min/2GB limit, iMovie stops and converts the analog data to DV. Then you can resume and continue with the next 9 minutes manually.

What was happening to me was that I had analog media in a digital device, and while my camcorder was reading the analog data and automatically converting it to digital when sending it to iMovie, the program thought that the camcorder was analog, and this imported 9 minutes of the video, and then went on to convert what was already DV, to, well DV. o_0 Hence the horrifyingly large file sizes.

Appearantly there's an internal mechanism in each DV camcorder with analog support that sets the mode the camera is in (analog or digital), and there is a time delay when this is set, so what happens is probably something like this:

1. Plug in camera into FireWire port.
2. Camera to iMovie: Hi, I'm a DV cam!
3. iMovie: Welcome! Setting mode to DV, showing "Import" option.
4. Camera: Hmmmm, I have an analog tape in. Sorry, I'm an analog device!
5. iMovie: Setting mode to analog, showing "Record with" option.
6. *iMovie stops listening*
7. Camera: Wait, wait, wait! I may have an analog tape in, but I can output it as DV on the fly! Change to DV mode, please!
8. *crickets chirp*, nothing happens as iMovie is no longer listening



To remedy this various people at the Apple Support fora have recommended various "plug FireWire in, plug it out, insert tape, remove tape, turn off camera, plug in FireWire, turn on Camera, add tape, remove Firewire" rituals that are sheer madness. None of them worked for me. I think the "trick" that does make it work properly is different for each camera, but this is the one that ended up working for me:

1. Plug in camera.
2. Turn on camera.
3. Open iMovie.
4. Switch to the camera window in iMovie.
5. Insert analog tape.
6. Wait until the "Record with..." appears.
7. Eject analog tape.
8. Insert digital tape.
9. Wait until the "Import" button appears.
10. Eject digital tape.
11. Insert analog tape.
12. Click "Import" before it disappears.

Worked everytime so far.

Answer 2: Best Quality vs. Best Performance in iDVD 4

Basically, Best Performance is if you want a DVD "now", and Best Quality is if you want a DVD "right". Best Performance is much faster but lower quality, and uses CBR (constant bitrate) encoding. Best Performance also employs iDVD 3's compressing technology and is for about 60 minutes of content only.

Best Quality, on the other hand, uses Apple's professional Compressor application's technology, and uses VBR (variable bitrate) encoding. This takes much longer because the compression algorithm is more advanced. You can have just about 120 minutes of content with Best Quality.

Although quality is often in the eye of the beholder, the following seems to hold true:

Best Performance, 60 minutes: Quality around 80% or lower of DV
Best Quality, 60 minutes: Quality around 100% of DV
Best Quality, 120 minutes: Quality around 95%-90% of DV