Editing/Combining Movie Clips

[Scottyee]

I'm interested in exploring the idea of creating a 3 to 5 minute 'movie clip' production with my G2 (movie mode).

Is there a Windows PC 'movie clip' editing program available which will allow you to edit and/or combine multiple G2 movie clips into a single LONG one?

Also interested to find out if the existing movie clip audio can be edited, changed, or overdubbed with music? This could be a fun way to make 'mini' movies with our digital cameras, and then share with friends over the internet (posted to a website via streaming video).

Feedback, recommendations, and links to related sites are much appreciated. Thanks.

Scotty

-- http://www.pbase.com/scottyee

 

[Gordon McGregor]

try virtualdub

http://www.virtualdub.org/

It's free and does some of the things you are looking for.

Gordon

 

[Frenchy]

Hi Scottyee,

yes, the idea of movie clips is great and yes, the g2 movie clips can be used/combined/edited/changed. To do movie edition, the very good tool is Adobe Premiere, but it is a bit of an overkill in my opinion (very powerfull, very expensive. A bit to movie edition what Photoshop is to pictures edition, but even worse). An accessible affordable solution is virtualdub. It is a freeware that you can download from (www.virtualdub.com). It allows you to edit, cut, mix, change the sound, recompress and use filter. It is really powerfull and completly free. I would recommend reading some of the documentation on their website if needed.

A very good tool in my opinion.

hope that helps,
Frenchy

I'm interested in exploring the idea of creating a 3 to 5 minute
'movie clip' production with my G2 (movie mode).

Is there a Windows PC 'movie clip' editing program available
which will allow you to edit and/or combine multiple G2 movie clips
into a single LONG one?

Also interested to find out if the existing movie clip audio can be
edited, changed, or overdubbed with music? This could be a fun way
to make 'mini' movies with our digital cameras, and then share with
friends over the internet (posted to a website via streaming video).

Feedback, recommendations, and links to related sites are much
appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Jeroen H29622]

I made a small (and -- still -- unfinished) tutorial on Powershot G1/G2 movie basics. You can find it here: http://puntkomma.dhs.org/tutorial

I once saw a guy, who had shot several movies on some fair with his digicam, and he had edited some short clips to a 5 minute movie, complete with background music and a voice-over. I can't remember where I found it, I searched but i can't find it anymore.

I think there's one tip: keep your clips short. In this day and age of MTV most people are bored with even 20 second shots.

Jeroen
the Netherlands

http://autorai2001.dhs.org
Cool pictures of sports cars, taken with a G1.

I'm interested in exploring the idea of creating a 3 to 5 minute
'movie clip' production with my G2 (movie mode).

Is there a Windows PC 'movie clip' editing program available
which will allow you to edit and/or combine multiple G2 movie clips
into a single LONG one?

Also interested to find out if the existing movie clip audio can be
edited, changed, or overdubbed with music? This could be a fun way
to make 'mini' movies with our digital cameras, and then share with
friends over the internet (posted to a website via streaming video).

Feedback, recommendations, and links to related sites are much
appreciated. Thanks.

Scotty

--
http://www.pbase.com/scottyee

 

[Scottyee]

Gordon, Frenchy:
Thanks for recommending Virtual Dub.

Jeroen:
Thanks for providing me the link to your informative 'movie clip' tutorial.

More 'Movie Clip' Questions:

1) What file format/type does the Canon G2 record Movie Clips in? For some reason I am able to easily play them in Windows Media Player (no conversion needed), when downloaded to my PC with Windows XP .

2) Do I need to convert the G2 format movie clips to another video format before editing them in Virtual Dub?

3) Do I actually need to convert the completed edited Movie Clips into MPEG before posting on the internet or sharing with friends? I had figured since the Canon format Movie Clips already play via Windows Media Player version 8, that I wouldn't need to convert to MPEG. What is the preferred high quality video format for Movie Clips on the internet & for sharing with friends?

Thanks,

Scotty
-- http://www.pbase.com/scottyee

 

[Frenchy]

Gordon, Frenchy:
Thanks for recommending Virtual Dub.

seems everybody agrees on this one

More 'Movie Clip' Questions:

1) What file format/type does the Canon G2 record Movie Clips in?
For some reason I am able to easily play them in Windows Media
Player (no conversion needed), when downloaded to my PC with
Windows XP .

The G2 records its files in AVI (audio Video Interlaced). This is a "container" format. It means that you can choose any combination of compression for audio and video (the available options will depend on what compression/decompression software -- or codec -- are on your computer). The G2 movies are compressed using MJPEG (Moving Jpeg). Basically, each frame/picture is compressed separatly using jpg. The sound is uncompressed. Virtualdub can read Mjpeg natively without problem, however, if you combine several clips together, i would advise to use another compression, like mpeg or divx (which is mpeg4).

2) Do I need to convert the G2 format movie clips to another video
format before editing them in Virtual Dub?

no, as stated virtualdub reads Mjpeg, it can even use its own decompressor.

3) Do I actually need to convert the completed edited Movie Clips
into MPEG before posting on the internet or sharing with friends? I
had figured since the Canon format Movie Clips already play via
Windows Media Player version 8, that I wouldn't need to convert to
MPEG. What is the preferred high quality video format for Movie
Clips on the internet & for sharing with friends?

Changing the compression could be useful, it all depends on what you intend to do. Mpeg is great for compatibility (every one can read out of the box, windows, Mac...), divx(mpeg4) is the best for quality/size in my opinion. Asf/wmv (from microsoft) are another implementation of mpeg4, but as it is proprietary only windows system can read it (latest media player). So it all depends on your tastes. I would advise Mpeg or divx (www.divx.com), but it is juste a question of habit.

Hope that clarifies it a bit. If i have been too obscure, correct/ask me more

Frenchy

 

[Scottyee]

The G2 records its files in AVI (audio Video Interlaced). This is a
"container" format. It means that you can choose any combination of
compression for audio and video (the available options will depend
on what compression/decompression software -- or codec -- are on
your computer). The G2 movies are compressed using MJPEG (Moving
Jpeg).
Basically, each frame/picture is compressed separatly using
jpg. The sound is uncompressed.

So you are saying that the AVI is not actually a file format, but instead, a container which can hold different types of audio/video compressed files together, right? I assume though that a MJPEG file consists of both audio/video.

Does this mean that the G2 automatically compress' the movieclip video (in the camera) into separate JPG images and then stores this together with the audio track as a MJPEG file?

Changing the compression could be useful, it all depends on what
you intend to do. Mpeg is great for compatibility (every one can
read out of the box, windows, Mac...), divx(mpeg4) is the best for
quality/size in my opinion. Asf/wmv (from microsoft) are another
implementation of mpeg4, but as it is proprietary only windows
system can read it (latest media player). So it all depends on your
tastes. I would advise Mpeg or divx (www.divx.com), but it is juste
a question of habit.

Sounds like converting to Mpeg will be the best way to go for universal compatibility. How about real audio (real player) ? How does it compare to divx, mpeg, or windows media files?

The only confusing thing for me now is Mjpeg & Mpeg. They are spelled so similarly but obviously quite different. What is the DIFFERENCE between these two formats?

Thanks ONCE AGAIN,

Scotty-- http://www.pbase.com/scottyee

 

[Gordon McGregor]

The only confusing thing for me now is Mjpeg & Mpeg. They are
spelled so similarly but obviously quite different. What is the
DIFFERENCE between these two formats?

Motion-JPEG is essentially a 'flick book' type animation using JPEG compressed frames.

MPEG is a different standard, for moving images, that compresses images by looking at the difference between the current and next image, and only storing what has changed. This typically makes for more optimal files as it is compressed across 3 dimensions (x,y and time) rather than the MJPEG case which considers each frame independantly.

Cameras tend to MJPEG type video, simply due to the very high computational cost of doing MPEG encoding.

This is a much simplified description of the two approaches, but it is probably enough to be going on with.

Gordon

 

[Scottyee]

Hi Gordon,

Your excellent explanation really cleared up my confusion. THANKS. Now I just have figure out which video/audio compression format to go with when sharing movie clips with friends and posting on the internet.

1) MPEG
2) Real Audio (real player)
3) Windows Media
4) Divx

• Scott

The only confusing thing for me now is Mjpeg & Mpeg. They are
spelled so similarly but obviously quite different. What is the
DIFFERENCE between these two formats?

Motion-JPEG is essentially a 'flick book' type animation using JPEG
compressed frames.

MPEG is a different standard, for moving images, that compresses
images by looking at the difference between the current and next
image, and only storing what has changed. This typically makes for
more optimal files as it is compressed across 3 dimensions (x,y and
time) rather than the MJPEG case which considers each frame
independantly.

Cameras tend to MJPEG type video, simply due to the very high
computational cost of doing MPEG encoding.

This is a much simplified description of the two approaches, but it
is probably enough to be going on with.

Gordon

-- http://www.pbase.com/scottyee

 

[Jeroen H29622]

Hi Scott,

If you want to share your movie clips with friends I'd recommend the MPEG-format. Every Windows machine (and Macs, too, I believe) can play that without the need for additional software to be installed.

Certainly, DivX and Windows Media can produce better quality movies with smaller file-sizes, but the quality of the digicam movies isn't that great to begin with. You should experiment with different data rates to see which quality is acceptable to you. But formats require extra software, which might put off your less computer-savvy friends.

I have no experience with real audio (weird name for a video format?), but I know that extra software has to be installed before you can play it.

Jeroen
the Netherlands

http://autorai2001.dhs.org
Cool pictures of sports cars, taken with a G1.

1) MPEG
2) Real Audio (real player)
3) Windows Media
4) Divx

• Scott

The only confusing thing for me now is Mjpeg & Mpeg. They are
spelled so similarly but obviously quite different. What is the
DIFFERENCE between these two formats?

Motion-JPEG is essentially a 'flick book' type animation using JPEG
compressed frames.

MPEG is a different standard, for moving images, that compresses
images by looking at the difference between the current and next
image, and only storing what has changed. This typically makes for
more optimal files as it is compressed across 3 dimensions (x,y and
time) rather than the MJPEG case which considers each frame
independantly.

Cameras tend to MJPEG type video, simply due to the very high
computational cost of doing MPEG encoding.

This is a much simplified description of the two approaches, but it
is probably enough to be going on with.

Gordon

--
http://www.pbase.com/scottyee