Which is a better video codec for lossless avi. I have an AVI in 720x480 and i am cropping it to 720x404.(16:9) so i need this codec to be able to handle it. Basically is MSU or Huffyuv a better lossless codec. I am not trying to compress more then my original AVI. Equal or even twice the size is ok. Huffuv makes it really big. Also do you guys know any other codec that might work for my application that is better then the two i mentioned?? thanks
What is your original material? If it is miniDV it is already compressed with a DV codec which is not lossless. In this case it does not make any sense to decompress and then use a lossless codec.
My original is mini dv. You are right. DV codec is lossy. Is there another codec i can use to caputre that does not lose? But still. Even once i have a file since i am cropping, i need a codec that will take a resolution of 720x404. I am thinking of just cropping from AVI to TS in one shot but the problem i hear it looks a little weird. let me know. thanks
Well capturing miniDV video to a lossless codec does not bring you closer to what you want. Just do a normal Firewire transfer to get a DV-AVI. DV also allows widescreen by changing the pixel aspect ratio from 0.9 to 1.2 (NTSC) or 1.067 to 1.422 (PAL). With a program like Adobe Premiere you can do it it without any problem. Define the project in Widescreen format and import the 4:3 format video. Use the crop filter and crop top and/or bottom to correct the image and export.
I can set the setting to capture in 16:9 but it looks streched out. Not in proportion. I never captured in 16:9 but i assume its just like when i exported a video from Adobe Encore in 16:9. Unless you crop it looks wrong. And when i crop dv codec won't work anymore. SO then i have to use a codec which i have been having no luck. The lossless codecs are HORRIBLE and get very bad quality. The lossy codec is worse quality too. I have a cheap camera and is bad under low light. So sacrifising more quality is not really an option. I tried using Tmpgenc to crop from AVI to DVD but it also streched out the video. Is capturing in 16:9 going to give me that weird streched out look??? How do the pros do it? i don't get it. Unless their cameras only do 16:9. Any info is appreciated.
This is how you do it in Premiere: Don't capture in 16:9, but in 4:3. When opening a new project, choose for widescreen. Place the clips on the timeline. In the preview window you will now see the image being stretched horizontally. Apply the crop tool an crop from top and/or bottom until it look right. Save it as new AVI. Check that the pixel aspect ratio is according to the 16:9 value. An isue is that not all player software does not recognize the different pixel aspect ratio. PowerDVD for example does not show the picture correct, Windows Media Player does.
