How does WMF compare with .avi files?



Les Bowker
07-09-2005, 10:37 PM
About 5 years ago, when I was first into video editing, my captured files
were all .avi files (from s-video source). After editing in something like
Adobe Premier, I still had an avi file which I then wrote to S-VHS tape. All
pretty good quality - roughly 7:1 compression occured in the capture process .

Trying a newer system with MM, I see the captured files are WMF files. Is
the quality of these likely to be as good as the 7:1 compressed avi files I
was getting?

Also, now, I'll be writing my output files to DVD. Is there much further
quality loss as (I assume) the WMF files go through some other data
compression algorithms to produce whatever DVDs need to handle?

Basically, will my edited DVD be roughly
-"almost as good" as my S-VHS source,
- "not S-video quality but still better than a VHS original"
- "poorer than a VHS original"?


Thanks,

Les

Cari \(MS-MVP\)
07-09-2005, 10:37 PM
They are WMV files or DV-AVI files. DV-AVI files will be better resolution.
--
Cari (MS-MVP)
Printing & Imaging



"Les Bowker" <LesBowker@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:DA248577-4CFC-4A5F-A02A-CCEAA62D8147@microsoft.com...
> About 5 years ago, when I was first into video editing, my captured files
> were all .avi files (from s-video source). After editing in something
> like
> Adobe Premier, I still had an avi file which I then wrote to S-VHS tape.
> All
> pretty good quality - roughly 7:1 compression occured in the capture
> process .
>
> Trying a newer system with MM, I see the captured files are WMF files. Is
> the quality of these likely to be as good as the 7:1 compressed avi files
> I
> was getting?
>
> Also, now, I'll be writing my output files to DVD. Is there much further
> quality loss as (I assume) the WMF files go through some other data
> compression algorithms to produce whatever DVDs need to handle?
>
> Basically, will my edited DVD be roughly
> -"almost as good" as my S-VHS source,
> - "not S-video quality but still better than a VHS original"
> - "poorer than a VHS original"?
>
>
> Thanks,
>
> Les
>

PapaJohn \(MVP\)
07-09-2005, 10:37 PM
Your capture equipment and the profile you choose will determine if your
quality will be equal to or lower than your source material.

--
PapaJohn

Movie Maker 2 and Photo Story 3 - www.papajohn.org
Photo Story 2 - www.photostory.papajohn.org
..
"Les Bowker" <LesBowker@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:DA248577-4CFC-4A5F-A02A-CCEAA62D8147@microsoft.com...
> About 5 years ago, when I was first into video editing, my captured files
> were all .avi files (from s-video source). After editing in something
> like
> Adobe Premier, I still had an avi file which I then wrote to S-VHS tape.
> All
> pretty good quality - roughly 7:1 compression occured in the capture
> process .
>
> Trying a newer system with MM, I see the captured files are WMF files. Is
> the quality of these likely to be as good as the 7:1 compressed avi files
> I
> was getting?
>
> Also, now, I'll be writing my output files to DVD. Is there much further
> quality loss as (I assume) the WMF files go through some other data
> compression algorithms to produce whatever DVDs need to handle?
>
> Basically, will my edited DVD be roughly
> -"almost as good" as my S-VHS source,
> - "not S-video quality but still better than a VHS original"
> - "poorer than a VHS original"?
>
>
> Thanks,
>
> Les

Graham Hughes
07-09-2005, 10:37 PM
and if you use MM to capture you can choose dv-avi, wmv is just the default
setting.

--
Graham Hughes
MVP Digital Media
www.myvideoproblems.co.uk
www.dvds2treasure.com
www.simplydv.com


"PapaJohn (MVP)" <PapaJohn@CharterMI.net> wrote in message
news:unwLaoUdFHA.412@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
> Your capture equipment and the profile you choose will determine if your
> quality will be equal to or lower than your source material.
>
> --
> PapaJohn
>
> Movie Maker 2 and Photo Story 3 - www.papajohn.org
> Photo Story 2 - www.photostory.papajohn.org
> .
> "Les Bowker" <LesBowker@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:DA248577-4CFC-4A5F-A02A-CCEAA62D8147@microsoft.com...
>> About 5 years ago, when I was first into video editing, my captured files
>> were all .avi files (from s-video source). After editing in something
>> like
>> Adobe Premier, I still had an avi file which I then wrote to S-VHS tape.
>> All
>> pretty good quality - roughly 7:1 compression occured in the capture
>> process .
>>
>> Trying a newer system with MM, I see the captured files are WMF files.
>> Is
>> the quality of these likely to be as good as the 7:1 compressed avi files
>> I
>> was getting?
>>
>> Also, now, I'll be writing my output files to DVD. Is there much further
>> quality loss as (I assume) the WMF files go through some other data
>> compression algorithms to produce whatever DVDs need to handle?
>>
>> Basically, will my edited DVD be roughly
>> -"almost as good" as my S-VHS source,
>> - "not S-video quality but still better than a VHS original"
>> - "poorer than a VHS original"?
>>
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Les
>
>


How does WMF compare with .avi files?