Most are familiar with the process of exporting captured video archive as an AVI file using the facilities built into DynaView. This process becomes a bit more challanging when dealing with megapixel archives. Often the area on interest is only a small part of the entire image. Converting a large number of complete megapixel or multi–megapixel images can result in unmanageably large AVI files.
A better process can often be used as follows:
- Export the desired time interval from DynaView vPlay as a series of JPGs
- Perform a batch crop operation using a program like XnView to select the desired area
- Convert this cropped sequence to an AVI file using DynaView vMovie
Some further notes:
Try to use a standard crop size like 320 x 240 (CIF) or 640 x 480 (4CIF) to capture the area of interest.
It is possible to “follow the action” by cropping various sections of the exported JPG sequence with the same crop window size postioned differently. This will appear as a jump cut in the final movie.
When converting a small crop area to AVI, try using vMovie to up-sample by 2X (for example, using 640 x 480 as the output size for 320 x 240 cropped JPG’s) during the conversion as this will often produce better results than expanding on playback.
Use the (free) DIVX codec from within vMovie to create smaller high-quality AVI files. DIVX is also an extremely fast compressor in comparison with any standard Windows codecs.
Always keep the original video archive aside as part of the chain of evidence and bear in mind that the basic validation will be human affidavits confirming the continuity of that chain of evidence. Complete the entire process in one session and do not leave a window of time where someone else could make changes. Burn the results including the original archive on a DVD and keep it in a safe, with a lawyer, or on your person.