DV file in Prem Pro 1.5, Convert to AVI?

[Craig Stevens]

I'm not sure where to post this, so I will put it here. I have a Firestore FS4 and somehow it got reset so that it was recording in DV format. Now I have a ton of files in DV format that I need for a project (that I have already been working on), and Premiere Pro 1.5 won't recognize them. I know I need to convert them, but I can't find a codex or program that does a good enough job. Can someone please give me some recommendations on a way to convert these so they won't loose quality and I can edit them with Premiere Pro 1.5..? or does anyone know of a Plug in that lets you play DV files in Premiere? THANKS!!

[Graham Hickling]

Premiere doesnt need a plug to play DV files, normally....a DV codec will be present on your system as part of the OS.

Are you on a PC or a Mac?

If the former, is there anything you CAN play the files with (e.g. Mediaplayer)? If not download gspot http://www.headbands.com/gspot/ which may be able to tell you what codec you will need.

[Craig Stevens]

First off, thanks for helping. I am using a PC. Dell. When I go to open the .dv file it says File type not supported..

I guess I need a codec? the right one?

I used that program, but it won't let me open a DV file, it will open AVI files ect..

Thanks.. Any other ideas?

[Chris Barcellos]

If you've captured in DV, there shouldn't be any problems using Premiere Pro 1.5. Thats been a standard for many years. DV is what comes off of virtually every MiniDV camera. So the question is, if you are not able to view and edit files with Premiere Pro 1.5-- what do you really have ? I'd be interested to know what you ultimately come up with.

[Chris Barcellos]

Just saw your next post as I posted my prior one. Have you tried just changing the extension on one of the files ?? Also, if you try to play it on Windows Media Player- what happens ?

[Craig Stevens]

Okay I have the Firestore FS 4. It captures in various formats. Well I normally have it on AVI type 2 format. It somehow went back to Raw DV format. When I capture from a tape, it works fine. It just can't support this RAW DV file format..?..

I can get it to play in Windows media player, it gives me an error message, but then I told it to play anyways, and it will.

I just can't get Premiere Pro to open it.

Craig

[Craig Stevens]

Okay I can't believe this. Chris Barcellos you are a genuis! Not that I couldn't believe that Chris you are a genius, but that I just changed the extention from DV to AVI and they work now!? Why would that matter, and am I changing that video in anyway by doing this? Nuts.. THANKS for all the help! This place rocks.


Craig.

[Chris Barcellos]

Originally Posted by Craig Stevens

Okay I can't believe this. Chris Barcellos you are a genuis! Not that I couldn't believe that Chris you are a genius, but that I just changed the extention from DV to AVI and they work now!? Why would that matter, and am I changing that video in anyway by doing this? Nuts.. THANKS for all the help! This place rocks.


Craig.

I'll tell my wife.. :)

[Ervin Farkas]

DV (DV-AVI to be exact) is the name of the format, .avi is the extension...

It looks like PPRO can accept a variety of formats as long as you rename them to .avi. I tried loading a DVD (a .vob file) just by changing it's extension to .mpg or .mpeg, I don't remember. Then I tried to rename it .avi... both of them loaded fine. I have not actually worked with those files, all I tried was opening them and they opened fine. I am wondering what will Premiere do with them if I try editing... I guess it'll have to convert them to .avi?

What's interesting is that Adobe does not mention mpeg as supported format (see http://www.adobe.com/products/premie...dformats.html).

[Graham Hickling]

Craig: glad that changing the extension worked - I hadnt realized from your original post that they were actually CALLED DV files.

Ervin, PPro2 advertizes its support for HDV, which is an mpeg format ... so it kinda alerts you to it having some mpeg capability

[Chris Barcellos]

Originally Posted by Ervin Farkas

DV (DV-AVI to be exact) is the name of the format, .avi is the extension...

It looks like PPRO can accept a variety of formats as long as you rename them to .avi. I tried loading a DVD (a .vob file) just by changing it's extension to .mpg or .mpeg, I don't remember. Then I tried to rename it .avi... both of them loaded fine. I have not actually worked with those files, all I tried was opening them and they opened fine. I am wondering what will Premiere do with them if I try editing... I guess it'll have to convert them to .avi?

What's interesting is that Adobe does not mention mpeg as supported format (see http://www.adobe.com/products/premie...dformats.html).

I edit with Premiere Pro 2.0 and native HDV (.m2t) files. I have a dual core 3800+ AMD system, so that helps. I can render pretty quickly with Premiere Pro 2.0. The problem with editing in .mpeg or .m2t is the processing power required. Each frame of these types of video files are dependent on prior frames for "interpretation" of some portions of the current frame. Its is also subject to potential for aberation because of that, and that is why the professionals recommend editing in .avi type files, which have all information encoded to each frame. In the HDV world, Cineform is the king of the "intermediate" .avi files used to edit. In fact, in the upgrade to Premiere Pro 1.5, (1.51), the Cineform codec is used to capture and edit HDV material.

As far as editing in .mpeg, I don't see why you would want to, unless all you had was a finished .mpeg file on a DVD that you were forced to work with. Otherwise, on all MiniDv cameras, you capture a DV stream which results in a .avi file. I guess the exception to that is the new consumers version cameras that actually capture to a DVD.