Can I cut dv files and keep them as dv files?

Hi DH,

>as was not able to capture it through FCP, I had to capture it in one tape at a time as I was digitalising it at the same time

>>Thousands of people do that every day using FCP. Odd that you couldn't. Was there a specific reason you chose that method?

Yes, FCP wouldn't recognise the camera.

>I would like to be able to cut out the rubbish bits, before I bring it into FCP for the serious editing

>>Again, odd that you don't just edit in FCP .... that's what it's made for; editing.

FCP is for non destructive editing, I wanted to destroy and get rid of these excess parts e.g 20 mins of audio of a football match in the middle of a tape with the lens cover on, 7 or 8 mins of video of the footwell of the car when the cam had not been turned off, hours and hours or passing trees in various forests passing by the car, get the idea? This rubbish will never be used and I didn't want to save it anywhere, so I wanted to get rid of it before I imported the good raw material into FCP, the material that was either going to be used in the final cut or worth keeping in its own right. So it wasn't going to be edited it was going to be eliminated.

>All the files have been saved in .dv format

>>And once again, odd that you choose a format that doesn't work natively in FCP. The '.dv' format contains muxed audio and although it does work natively in iMovie, FCP uses the QuickTime DV format. So if you plan to do any editing in FCP, you'll need to convert it to the proper format or face a heck of a lot of rendering.

Now this is very interesting. I was only using .dv files as everywhere I had read it told me that I had to use .dv files for FCP. And also it would keep the files as close to their original resolution.

As I mentioned in my reply to my post I used QuickTime Pro 7 to cut the rybbish bits out of one .dv file and the saved it useing Export: Movie to DV Stream, is this the QuickTime DV format that you are talking about? (This had an Options button which in my Pal Video format, gave me the following options: DV formats: DV or DVCPRO or DVCPRO50, Scan Mode: Interlaced or Progressive and the option of Locking the Audio format Rate.)

If not could you let me know as I had a look at the other save options and none mentioned DV?

This would be a great help, because as you point out, I would ned to have them in the proper format or face a lot of rendering.

Thanks very much for pointing this out to me.

Matt

>You have may misperceptions about what video editing software does. That's not unusual but your misperceptions are still incorrect and they will get in your way of learning how to use FCP. We see the same types of misunderstandings when photographers try to start editing video or video people start trying to use DVDSP and expect it to work like FCP or they open Adobe Illustrator for the first time.

No I don't. You have misinterpreted the question. Go read it again. The title "Can I cut dv files and keep them as dv files?" I am not talking about editing file in FCP, I am talking about permanently removing and throwing away permanently, unwanted rubbish video that was captured in a bulk capture method, I was using. That is hardly editing, it is not in FCP and if you choose to call it editing it is destructive editing something which FCP is not supposed to do.

What you should do is read the question before you start the pontification.

Then once you have chosen to pontificate, why not address the topic of the post and be helpful and try and post a possibly remedy, if your knowledge permits?

It would be much more appreciated than a load of rubbish, which is what I was trying to get rid of in the first place, that had nothing to do with the initial question or the subsequent post concerning the QuickTime DV format.

So if you know about the .dv or DV pro versus the QuickTime DV format, don't just let the world know you know and I don't, let me know that is the point of the forum. Put up or shut up.

Matt

I found the answer. It is in QT Pro 7 and it was on this link https://sites.google.com/a/conncoll.edu/youpub/Home/video-file-formats

Converting video to DV in QuictTime Player Pro. So I was able to cut the video and then Export: Movie to DV Stream, Use: Most Recent Settings (or change them in Options) and Save it.

The one I tested it on was originally 9.63GB and is now 8.32GB and that was only lopping some unrecorded black of the end of the tape.

Hope this helps is anyone else has the same type of problem

Matt

Hi David,

> The QuickTime DV (.mov) format is different from the DV Stream (.dv) format. DV stream files have multiplexed (muxed) audio and do not work natively in FCP. It gets a bit confusing as QuickTime Player will play both types equally well. If you check the FCP user's manual, it will show which formats FCP works with properly.

I have been though the manual and it only seems to say what it works with rather than specifically

what is uses itself.

DV editing: Final Cut Pro supports DV video natively, using your computer’s built-in FireWire port for capture and output. DVCAM, DVCPRO, DVCPRO 50, and DVCPRO HD are also natively supported. Therefore, your system requires no additional hardware to edit DV material on your computer. You can capture, edit, and output exactly the same data that is recorded on tape, resulting in no quality loss

So it says it supports DV video natively but not which type, so I am at a loss to work out, A) what type DV I have; and, B) what type FCP supports? If I can't find it in the FCP manual do you know wehre else it would be? If saving it as a DV Stream (,dv) is the wrong way to go what is the correct one?

(I had a look at the Info for a random Vidi captured unaltered file and it was:

Kind: DV movie, UTI: public.dv-movie, Type" 'dvc!', Device: /dev/disk1s3Size: 720x 576 pixels and Audio: Uncompressed Stereo 48.00 kHz 16 bits. I compared it to the Vidi file that I put through QT and exported as DV stream and the Info on that was the same as the unaltered one, so it is really hard to find the diference, on the files so I have a point of comparison and can search from there.)

>And although I realize that you've already spent countless hours capturing the analog footage using another app because you say that FCP wouldn't recognize the camera, for future reference all you need to do it connect the analog (VHS) tape playback device to a qualified DV device (DV camcorder, VTR or DV converter) then connect the DV device3 to your Mac via Firewire. In FCP, use the "Non-Controllable Device" setting and use capture now. And yes, you can capture an entire tape as one long clip.

I found another 18 or so tapes so I gave the suggestion a go and set up FCP as you had outlined, played the tape and recevied the following notice "This operation could not be completed as there is no video". Changed it from "Non-Controllable Device" and tried the two PAL firewire options and still no luck. From memory I think I tried this all before a few years ago, but it became too hard and I just gave up. Now I am concerned as the tapes being so old, they may start to deteriorate and I don't want to lose them.

But getting back to your point, I would prefer to have the files in a FCP native format, ideally before I start working on them, if we can just find out what it is and how I go about coverting to it.

Thanks very much for your time.

Matt

Hi Nick, thanks very much for that, fantastic! I tried it and unlike my previous attempts it worked!

I captured an entire 45 min tape and it seems to have worked okay. That has solved the problem with importing the few remaining analogue tapes that need to be digitalised and also a load of actual dv tapes that will need to be imported at some future date.

Now I still need to resolve what to do with DV tapes that I have already captured outside of FCP in Vidi as DV files that are DV files but not FCP native DV files.

Do you have any idea what is the native FCP DV format and if you do, how would I go about converting these files about 40x9.1GB files to that DV format so I don't get the "multiplexed [muxed] audio" and it will work natively in FCP?

Once again thank you very much.

Matt

Hi Nick,

>I would recapture them as per the instructions above. It will be a lot easier than rendering every time that you change something.

I thought you may say that and even though it will take ages it is obviously the best solution in the end to avoid the rendering problems.

So I will get on with it.

Thanks very much to Nick and David (DH) for all your help.

Matt