[MrForgetable]

My friend uploaded a 35 min film for school and it is a 9GB file. It's around 640x480... probably around 25-30fps. 9GB? Maybe I am spoiled by measly 13.5MB RAW files from my camera, but 9GB seems unreal. She says it is avi, but then she says it is Windows Media. Maybe on her computer avi is played by Windows Media? She's not sure.

Anyway, it doesn't really make sense to me, but maybe it's just because I only have 6GB left on my harddrive. For some reason, I was picturing more around 5GB for a 60 min video.

So according to this, you would need at least ~20GB FREE to edit a 60 minute home video? Jeez. I would hope not.

[k_munic]

1 h miniDV (compressor is called "dv") = ~13GB of data...

using other compressors, you can downsize to an hour of video <200MB....

video needs LOTS of harddrive space... for editing, the file has to contain EVERY frame (30fps)... mpegs for example DON'T store every frame, a major reason, why mpegs are so small.. (and mostly they have a lower res then TV, lower frame rate then 30fps, etc)

and don't forget: your OS needs ~5Gb of free disk space; iDVD needs additonal 10 - 15GB for some temp files while creating a videoDVD.........

6GB? - clean up your room!! ;-)

[sonicularulus]

mini dv is compressed @ 25megabytes (megabits..not sure) per second so it will be very huge files to work with....
dont freak out...its normal...
heck, i work with a 320gb hard drive and i can easily fill that up while editing video...
and its a dedicated drive...

[MrForgetable]

Originally Posted by k_munic

1 h miniDV (compressor is called "dv") = ~13GB of data...

using other compressors, you can downsize to an hour of video <200MB....

video needs LOTS of harddrive space... for editing, the file has to contain EVERY frame (30fps)... mpegs for example DON'T store every frame, a major reason, why mpegs are so small.. (and mostly they have a lower res then TV, lower frame rate then 30fps, etc)

and don't forget: your OS needs ~5Gb of free disk space; iDVD needs additonal 10 - 15GB for some temp files while creating a videoDVD.........

6GB? - clean up your room!! ;-)

thanks for the information! learn something new everyday.

and for the 6GB... i have 1000s of 13.5MB raw files that i keep on my measly 60GB harddrive. time to get an external harddrive? DIY or pre-made! i am a little short on time. should i just go pre-made?

and what is a good video compressor? or will imovie/final cut pro do it for me at the end?

again, thanks for the newbie help!

[k_munic]

only with a DIY (case+drive) you're sure, WHICH drive is in the case, e.g. LaCie use different brands inside their cases.... contsructing a drive isn't complicated, just a few screws and two large "plugs".. (<< be carefull with the bigger one! 64 pins); LaCies have a good reputation...

be sure, for video on a Mac:
* firewire (NOT usb2!)
* "MacOsX" formatted - most ready mades are "PC" formatted (=FAT32)... a Mac can easiely work with such a drive, but NOT the video apps...! use your Disk Utility to re-format drive
* use 3.5" for video, the smaller ones 2"/firewire powered get too much "work" with video...
* if you don't want to loose any pic quality go straight to "dv"... any "chain" as, e.g. mpeg4>>h264>>dv will drop quality (dramatically); iMovie works ONLY with "dv", any other formats gets converted >> pic quality loss
* if you just want to store, the latest of Apple, h264 is perfect - but needs a BEAST of a machine to encode... and, again, it is as any mpeg a playback format, any conversion will result in loss of... aah, I did say that... ;-)

so, you have to decide: store for playback/safe disk space = h264; store for later processing = dv/13Gigs/h......