i am backing up my home movies and use dvdfab to create video_ts and audio_ts then use handbrake to create m4v file. Do I only need to keep the m4v file? Do I gain anything from keeping the TS files?
Thanks
Thanks
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Which files to keep?
- Thread starter Bumbleberry
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
yes, because the m4v is compressed once again, so it will be less quality than the mpeg-2 (video_ts file). imagine crashing a soda-can, so it get's smaller, and then pulling it apart again -> that's compression. your can will looke even worse, when you do that twice.
are your home movies in sd quality or already in hd? if it's the latter, you lose a lot of resolution by converting it to a sd-resolution dvd. either way, i'd suggest you do it the other way around - first use handbrake and then make the dvd from that file. that way, you can preserve the original hd-resolution (unless the files are already in sd), and trash the mpeg-2 after burning the dvd. or even better - use your original material for creating both versions in the first place.
Last edited:
What you should do in my opinion is use a program called mpeg streamclip. You can go to file>load dvd and export it to any file you wish. Just click the video ts folder and it will load everything into the player for yah. Go ahead and proceed to export to any file compression you wish. Just make sure you slide the quality slider to 100! Its at 50% by default. Use mpeg stream clip though, its the best on the market and its free!
mpeg stream clip doesn't work well for me, it usually does but every once in awhile is just crashes (on a challenging scene or video defect). There are other free converters that work better and faster, paid ones don't seem to crash which saves some time. Handbrake produces better looking video for appleTV that uses less space (i.e. better optimized).
But the OP wants to know if she should retain the original higher quality TS files. The only reason to keep them, I think, is if you want to recode at some time to better quality video or you are not backing up the m4v files. If you are satisfied with how the m4v videos look, there is no need to keep the TS files around. That being said, DVD source video is not HD and the reduction in video quality to m4v may not be noticeable. The need to recode is slim. So think about trashing the TS video and backing up the m4v.
But the OP wants to know if she should retain the original higher quality TS files. The only reason to keep them, I think, is if you want to recode at some time to better quality video or you are not backing up the m4v files. If you are satisfied with how the m4v videos look, there is no need to keep the TS files around. That being said, DVD source video is not HD and the reduction in video quality to m4v may not be noticeable. The need to recode is slim. So think about trashing the TS video and backing up the m4v.
thank you, I'm just backing up so will keep m4v files, can I use m4v file in iMovie to edit it if I need to at a later date?
I wouldn't save them as m4v files cause they are very low resolution and you'll be loosing quality. I would use mpeg stream clip and save them as ntsc dv .mov format. If they're old movies 4:3 720x420 resolution, thats your best bet for quality to edit in the long run. You'll regret saving them as a m4v...
Yes you can nicely with most video. You may want to try importing one of your m4vs into iMovie, edit it, and then save the edited video as a m4v file. Take a look and see if the edited video looks OK to you. A lot depends on the size of screen you are viewing, you may see more artifacts on a large screen.
You should get nearly the same video quality as your current m4vs, so if they look fine to you now, they will look fine after editing. If you were starting from HD or 4K video it may be a different story, as you may want to preserve all the original HD detail. The purist out there will always suggest retaining a copy of the highest quality original to support re-editing. Since you started with standard DVD, it won't make a noticeable difference. If you want to edit your mv4 then save as m4v, then edit the saved mv4 file and save again, you may start to notice some fuzziness or artifacts in the third or fourth generations.
So for practical matter, the TS files are of no use to you. You can always recreate them from the DVD as long as the DVD is in good shape.
Last edited:
I've just downloaded MPEG stream clip to have a look at. You say it's free but I can't use it unless I buy mpeg2 playback componant? Can't see a quality slider. Don't know if I'm downloading the right thing
The only correct answer to a question about what (media) files do I need to keep is ... the ORIGINALS! It doesn't matter if it's still photos in RAW, TIFF, JPEG, or mini-DV tapes from an old camcorder, or M4V files from a new GoPro. You must always keep original media files as your highest quality "archival" format. Nearly every modern media format or encoding process is "lossy" or will in some way degrade the quality of the result so having the originals to go back to is critical.
My goal is to back them up, maybe make another dvd if one stops working or watch them on my computer.
My latest camcorder I do have the originals, the SD memory cards I have kept, but for previous ones that used tapes in the camcorder I don't have, so bit late for those!
My latest camcorder I do have the originals, the SD memory cards I have kept, but for previous ones that used tapes in the camcorder I don't have, so bit late for those!
Do you care about image quality? This is the real question. Some people do and some can't see the difference between a DVD and a Blu-ray disk.
If you care then you want to back up the files that are "closest" to the camera. In other words you have a chain of processing that must have at one time started with a camera. Back up the data that has been processed the least.
If you don't really care much about quality then backup the files that is LAST in the processing chain. That would be the m4v file.
I suspect there were files files you used to create the DVD, those are the best ones to keep.
I'm serious. Profwstions always will keep copies of the files on the memory chips taken from the camera or a copy of the HDMI output they captured. They archive the raw footage. Ot the other end of the spectrum is my daughter who makes youtube videos. She deletes everything and figures she can always just pull the video back off youtube if she wants it. Both are valid and it really depends on you production values
Myself, I slightly compromise. I import my footage and sort and cull it, tossing the real junk then I archive that. I do just the one step then archive it.
[doublepost=1452312771][/doublepost]
Do you care about image quality? This is the real question. Some people do and some can't see the difference between a DVD and a Blu-ray disk.
If you care then you want to back up the files that are "closest" to the camera. In other words you have a chain of processing that must have at one time started with a camera. Back up the data that has been processed the least.
If you don't really care much about quality then backup the files that is LAST in the processing chain. That would be the m4v file.
I suspect there were files files you used to create the DVD, those are the best ones to keep.
I'm serious. Profwstions always will keep copies of the files on the memory chips taken from the camera or a copy of the HDMI output they captured. They archive the raw footage. On the other end of the spectrum is my daughter who makes youtube videos. She deletes everything and figures she can always just pull the video back off youtube if she wants it. Both are valid and it really depends on your production values
Myself, I slightly compromise. I import my footage and sort and cull it, tossing the real junk then I archive that. I do just the one step then archive it.
Today stage hard drives, suitable for backup cost way less than $100 per TB. That works out to something list 30 cents to archive one DVD. Don't worry about how much space it takes.