Eye tv Users - best format to export to to keep best quality and re edit later in FCP

[GORE]

Hey everyone,

I got the Eyetv HD recorder a few months ago and was having a great time recording programs on it. The only downside is now my hard drive is full, and I'm wondering what the best format is to export the clips to archive them.

Basically what I want to do is retain as much of the quality as possible, and still have the option to go back and edit those clips later, in something like Final Cut pro.

I have tried a few different methods, and read a lot of other sites and I am hoping someone here who uses Eyetv and also uses Final Cut could offer some help.

So far I have found exporting programs into Quicktime files has yielded the best color results. (For some reason when I export from Eyetv to DV the colors are much lighter...they also appear this way with mpg files) and I believe Final Cut is more compatible with these .MOV files compared to others?
Also when I export as a quicktime should I change the dimensions so the video itself is a larger picture?
Some of my files are from old VHS tapes and other recordings I only have on EYETV and would like to delete them, but I don't want to be saving a bad copy of them, or a smaller version of the video which couldn't be played back on my computer or tv later because it has been downsized.


I have also heard you can go into the archive folder and copy the original mpeg file package contents instead of going through the whole export thing but that file type doesn't seem to be recognized by most programs (Quicktime or mpeg streamclip) so I'm hesitant about relying on it as my archive copy.

I really want to keep the files at their original quality, and still have the option to go back later and edit clips, but I don't know what format to use. (I have heard Mp4 is a finalized format and is not reccomended, and DV doesn't look the same once exported so what should i do?).

Can anyone help point me in the right direction, it's very confusing with so many formats to export to.

 

[MightyGem]

The quality is going to be related to the size of the finished file. I use EyeTV and have only exported occasionally. If you don't intend to edit then h.264 or MPRG is probably best giving about 240/630 meg/hour of video. If you want to edit then DV or Quicktime(Apple Intermediate Codec setting) will be best for quality, but at about 12Gb/hour of video.

If I wanted to save stuff, I'd just save the EyeTV files somewhere and then export if I need to edit. I take it you're aware that you can edit within EyeTV?

 

[GORE]

Thanks for your reply.
How do you back up your recordings, or keep the EyeTV files in the same format so they can be read later by the same program? Should I be copying the package contents found in the eyetv archive folder or something else?

I have done some editing within the EyeTV program, although I want to make a kind of demo or highlight reel from a number of different recordings later but it just isn't possible within the program because you cannot join clips.
A number of the clips are very short, some are 30-seconds to a minute, while others I have yet to trim down. The problem is I now have over 300 recordings and am not sure how to back them up off of my computer so I can access them later and I would like them to be as close to the original recordings as possible.

I would be very interested in hearing how you store your files if you don't have them on your computer all the time. (And what folder/file you copy over and how you access them later)
I may plan on burning these to disc eventually, and so I would like to have them in a good quality format, but at the moment my key concern is backing them up off of my main computer but I'm just not sure what is the best way to do that.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[MightyGem]

I don't generally keep my recordings, as I usually use EyeTV as a video recorder and trash the programmes after I've watched them.

I only have 3 that I have kept and those are in their original EyeTV format. All you need to copy over is the programme file that is in the EyeTV Recordings window. Just drag and drop it to wherever you want to keep it. You will of course need EyeTV to watch it. If it's on an external drive, just double click on it to watch.

If you want to keep them for burning to disc later, then I would recommend keeping them in the EyeTV format which is only about 2Gb/hour, and it will retain the original quality.