[klimekt]

Just got the my new toy - Sony DCR-IP5 camcorder. For those who haven't seen'em , these are the new MV camcorders, very light and compact. They record in MPEG2 format instead of the usual DV format on a cassette the size of audio micro tapes.

So imagine my surprise when I installed the included MovieShaker 3.1 software and found out that there is no MPEG2 export capability, only Sony proprietary MMV format, which as far as I can tell can only be played in either MovieShaker or Quicktime player.

My goal was to export MPEG2 from the camera to put onto DVDs.

Doing a search on the MMV format I found out it was actually an MPG2 transport stream. So I thought, if it is indeed just a transport stream then Elecard (aka Moonlight Cordless) XMuxer software should be able to understand it.

I am happy to report that XMuxer indeed reads the MMV file format without a hitch and is able to quickly remux it into a standard MPEG2 file, which in turn can be used in your video editing or DVD authoring software.

My dream come true has been realized - video directly from the camcorder to DVD without any re-compression or trans-coding.

Tomasz

 

[GaryHDTV]

Tomasz,

Did you try it with Ben Cooley's HDTV2MPEG2 utility? If Xmuxer can handle it, I'll bet it will too.

Gary

 

[klimekt]

Nope, the HDTV2MPG utility did not work for me. It might have to do with the fact that these are not broadcast streams and probably do not contain subchannel information as such.

 

[jamoka]

Transport stream to MPEG2 has been done. Will it do the opposite?


Joe

 

[klimekt]

Quote:

Transport stream to MPEG2 has been done.

I realize that regular transport stream to MPG conversions have been done before, however this is a new application for such conversion. I've done an extensive search on the net regarding using the MMV files to author DVDs and the only suggestion I found was to use Quicktime Pro to save the MMV as a MOV file and then transcode the MOV file into an MPG file.

Using Xmuxer is a much faster and simpler solution and I'm posting it here in hope that it will save other Sony MV users (and future users) a lot of headaches.

Tomasz

 

[Esben]

Quote:

Originally posted by klimekt My dream come true has been realized - video directly from the camcorder to DVD without any re-compression or trans-coding. Tomasz

I tried the new Sony MV camcorder as well. Being used to DV quality I'd never use an MV device again after having tried the MV-camcorder.


Quality iis very very low, with very visible MPEG-artifacting. The mini JVC DV-camera is something I would very much prefer if size was a limitation.


Anyway, congratulations with your new camcorder

 

[klimekt]

This is getting a little OT, but since we are on the subject...

I can only compare this device to my previous Hi8 camcorder.

The video quality is quite good IMHO.

The only area where these camcorders come up short is when shooting in low lighting conditions. If left in the auto mode there is quite a bit of noise that translates into pixelation when compressed into MPEG2. I've seen the noise problem with the Hi8 camera as well. However if you set the camera into a "nighttime" mode, here called "Sunset & Moon" the picture is much better if somewhat darker. I use the nighttime mode for all low lux and interior shot, and if necessary correct the brightness later before burning the video to DVD.

One area where this camera excels comparing to the Hi8 model in the audio quality. Because of the camera design the microphone is located on top the the camera instead of on the front and I was affraid the sound quality might suffer, however I have to say the quality is excellent. I was also happy to see that the audio is recorded at 48khz, not 44.1, making it compatible with most DVD authoring software.

Just my $0.02...

Tomasz


One more note - do not use the included MovieShaker software to judge the quality of the video. It's full screen video mode is very bad. The same clip remuxed to MPEG2 and played with PowerDVD looks way better.

 

[artur]

Hi Tomasz, the MPEG2 stream is at 12Mb/s and maybe to fast for DVD. I have camera at work and can't do any testing with it yet. But soon I hope I will try to put it on DVD and see how set top DVD players will respond to it.

Artur.

 

[klimekt]

Yes, appears I have spoken too fast - the bitrate of the mpg2 file from the camera is indeed 12mbps. The files will have to be transcoded down to a manageable bandwidth. So there is a need for an extra step after all, the good news is that it is an mpg->mpg conversion and should result in less quality loss then a dv->mpg recompression.

Tomasz

 

[kromkamp]

I dont know about that - I know of no way to reduce the bitrate of an MPG stream without full decode and re-encode.


Given this, plus the fact that the 'real-time' MPEG encoding in the camera is probably not as good as DV encoding (or even a non-real time MPEG encoder like Tsunami), I would have to say the overall quality is going to be worse. Plus you get editability if you start with DV.


Andy K.