difference in mini dv file sizes

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Level 1

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difference in mini dv file sizes

Hi,

I am importing some old mini dv tapes via iMovie. I had to import one of the tapes twice: the first time around I was using an earlier version of iMovie and the second time, was after I upgraded to version 10.0.7 and I noticed that the file sizes of each video file has increased a little compared to the first import. There is also a little more info when I 'right' click on on the file's 'get info' and the default file names assigned are now a little different too. I just wanted to make sure that the actual video quality/data information is still the same or whether there is a difference between using iMovie 10 and earlier versions.

If there is, I will have to re-import the previous 40 tapes or so all over again 😟

Does anyone know whether there is a difference in quality? I can't really tell from just watching but perhaps there is a more sophisticated way to find out? The clue is in the increased file size: I can't quite work out why this is the case and what the implications are.

thanks in advance!

MacBook Pro (13-inch Mid 2010), OS X Yosemite (10.10.2), null

Posted on Apr 20, 2015 1:30 PM

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Answer 1

jewingy Author

Level 1

5 points

Apr 26, 2015 4:37 AM in response to jewingy

Replying to myself:

I have downloaded Mediainfo software to check exactly what the video situation is between uploading mini dv tapes using iMovie 10 and earlier versions and the only major difference I can see is:

General:

Overall bit rate: 30.5 Mbps for iMovie 10

vs

Overall bit rate: 28.8 Mbps for earlier iMovie version

However under Streams:

video at 24.4 Mbps is the same for both files.

Does any of this have any effect on quality of video files? Is it ok to archive the files imported with earlier iMovie versions or better to reimport? I don't quite understand the consequences of the difference in 'overall bit rate'.

There is also quite a bit more from files imported with the latest iMovie version (when analysing them using mediainfo software).

Appreciate some help with this.

thanks

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Answer 2

jewingy Author

Level 1

5 points

Apr 26, 2015 4:51 AM in response to jewingy

Oh and the other difference is that one is imported as a .dv file the other is a .mov file. Is there a difference in quality and which is better for archiving?

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