[Bertrand]

Hello !

I've been re-editing short fiction movies I and my pals shot several years ago, and I'm considering buying a vidcam of my own, but I don't know where to start with.

So I'm gathering pieces of advice here and there to help me out when reading the descriptions of those expensive items.

I've got a bunch of questions :

Hardrive, mini-cassettes, DVD : which one shall I go for?
When I edited the film, something happened, rather unpleasant, and I don't know if it was because Nero was "exhausted" or if it was because the videos were in the mpeg2 format, but there was, like, see, the images looked folded and unfolded where the cut was made.
So : when it comes to editing, are all three formats the same or do they allow you to choose a format, be it avi, smurfinheaven or whatever they call it, and which are the ones that are the best.
I've got to add that when trying to apply a transition with Nero, the sound got fucked up and slightly delayed; as it occured early on, it was embarrassing, characters spoke after their lines.
So : do I have to look for another movie-editing device, or is performing stuff included in most of the cameras?

I've read that the captor size didn't matter (avoid jokes, please), and that 800 000 pixels would normally be enough.

To focus on something, I set my eyes on the following :
They are Canon HG 10, Canon HR 10, and the much cheaper Sony DCR-HC62.

Any clue, people?

[█████████]

Originally Posted by Bertrand

Any clue, people?

different frame rates?

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by Bertrand

Hello !

I've been re-editing short fiction movies I and my pals shot several years ago, and I'm considering buying a vidcam of my own, but I don't know where to start with.

So I'm gathering pieces of advice here and there to help me out when reading the descriptions of those expensive items.

I've got a bunch of questions :

Hardrive, mini-cassettes, DVD : which one shall I go for?
When I edited the film, something happened, rather unpleasant, and I don't know if it was because Nero was "exhausted" or if it was because the videos were in the mpeg2 format, but there was, like, see, the images looked folded and unfolded where the cut was made.
So : when it comes to editing, are all three formats the same or do they allow you to choose a format, be it avi, smurfinheaven or whatever they call it, and which are the ones that are the best.
I've got to add that when trying to apply a transition with Nero, the sound got fucked up and slightly delayed; as it occured early on, it was embarrassing, characters spoke after their lines.
So : do I have to look for another movie-editing device, or is performing stuff included in most of the cameras?

I've read that the captor size didn't matter (avoid jokes, please), and that 800 000 pixels would normally be enough.

To focus on something, I set my eyes on the following :
They are Canon HG 10, Canon HR 10, and the much cheaper Sony DCR-HC62.

Any clue, people?

for you, for editing, and for the web, i'd pick a mini-dv camera (tapes).

the problem with tapeless media unless you go to P2 cards or sony xdcam or the red camera that can hold uncompressed footage is that it's very compressed and a pain to edit/color corect/composite, etc.

and mpeg cameras are shit-- mpeg should only be used for compression & delivery.

my question is-- what kind of picture size/quality are you looking at, and what is your budget?

[!@#$%!]

ps- here an article about editing AVCHD footage:

http://www.internetvideomag.com/Arti...eo-editing.htm

would take the mini-dv and if you can afford it buy a hd cam, also tapes.
sony produces some ace ones, I am using the Z1 at university and its little sister, the sister rocks almost the Z1, only when it comes to darker spots, the Z1 is better, but 10 times as big

[!@#$%!]

re: Z1

Z1 is DV/HDV. i hate HDV. the color is shit. there are motion shits. the Z1 shoots lovely DV though.

[!@#$%!]

i'm saving $$ for a RED camera!!!

http://www.red.com/

yes I ment hdv...
and yes the DV is awesome of it

[floatingslowly]

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

there are motion shits.

no thanks. the last thing I need is a camera to make my bowels move.

Originally Posted by floatingslowly

no thanks. the last thing I need is a camera to make my bowells move.

could be funny is you got a second camera at hand

[!@#$%!]

i find that well-shot mini-dv with a nice 3-CCD camera and a good lens looks way better than hi def footage with poor lights, bad lenses, single cmos, and bad editing.

especially if you're compressing for the web, where maybe your box is 480px wide, standard def works better than hi def and with less headaches, less rendering time, less artifacts, less trouble all around.

the only thing i dislike about miniDV is the tapes themselves-- they can get dirty, corrupted, break, etc, but with good quality tapes and keeping the heads clean that shouldnt be a problem. however, the hvx200 can shoot miniDV straight to P2 cards. sweet.

consumer hi def is not yet ready for the big time imho.

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by floatingslowly

no thanks. the last thing I need is a camera to make my bowels move.

you love getting colonoscopies. confess!

[!@#$%!]

Bertrand-- if you can afford it, get a canon gl-2. it's a nice little camera! a bit passe perhaps in these times of changing formats, but good value for the money. think of it as the current equivalent of good super8.

[Bertrand]

Thanks for your contributions !
It clears things a bit, HD and DVD are ruled out.
As for my budget, I'd gasp if I was over €1000, but I accept donations.
Bedtime now.
I'll come back to the links later, struggle with technical English, may ask more questions during the week-end, til I get a firm idea of what would be the ideal machine.
Again, thanks !

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by Bertrand

Thanks for your contributions !
It clears things a bit, HD and DVD are ruled out.
As for my budget, I'd gasp if I was over €1000, but I accept donations.
Bedtime now.
I'll come back to the links later, struggle with technical English, may ask more questions during the week-end, til I get a firm idea of what would be the ideal machine.
Again, thanks !

a gl2 is selling here in the u.s. for about $1200 which is 800 euros? but there with tax & all they will fuck you up

in your case make sure to buy the PAL version of the camera, as ntsc wont play on european tv! but wait, in france you have still SECAM or what? oh, the complications.

but start here:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...L_Mini_DV.html

what about editing?
what programs will you use? final cut? after effects? etc.

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by Bertrand

Thanks for your contributions !
It clears things a bit, HD and DVD are ruled out.
As for my budget, I'd gasp if I was over €1000, but I accept donations.
Bedtime now.
I'll come back to the links later, struggle with technical English, may ask more questions during the week-end, til I get a firm idea of what would be the ideal machine.
Again, thanks !

yeah, HD is only good in high level cameras like the RED, DVD is shit cos DVD is compressed yuck yuck.

and you dont want a consumer type camera because the controls are ASS, i mean ASS.

it's better to have a more professional camera with pro-style controls for focus, f-stop, zoom & iris aperture than the crummy-ass consumer controls.

perhaps you can find a USED Canon GL1 (the previous model), or better yet a Panasonic DVX-100 or a canon XL-1, which are sweet prosumer cameras and probably only will require you to replace the heads for them to work like new.

--
so let me know where/how you plan to show your movies & we go from there!

--

as for programs, you can pretty much do anything in SD with intro programs like final cut express or adobe premiere elements. i am not sure if there is an intro version ($100) to sony vegas. moving up the chain then there is sony vegas, avid liquid, adobe premiere, and above is final cut pro, and better than fucking final cut is avid media composer which rules the fucking universe but costs $2500.

[Bertrand]

My intentions are to shoot short fiction movies (previous ones lasted around 10-15 minutes).
It's intended to be edited and burned on DVD for friends.
Nothing towards the internet.

The editing program is a question, yes, as I'm quite dissatisfied with the mpeg2-Nero combination. I haven't sorted that out now.

Looks like I'd have to spend twice as much as I can afford. Well well.
Plus if I do I'll feel embarrassed if I don't use the thing twice a year. It's gonna ruin the fun. Gotta think.

[Tokolosh]

I gather that you're looking for a camera to film your own vids, so I would recommend getting a 3CCD camera with an interchangeable lens system (preferably). The Canon XL H1 is a bit expensive, but performs well. It films in full HD and SD on MiniDV tapes.
(Let's not forget that HD works way better than SD, in low light situations).
Another important feature to look out for, is a camera that has a DV terminal with in/out.
Handy for when you finish rendering your film and want to make multiple backups on tape, alongside the harddrive master.
I wouldn't count on any software you get with the camera. Most are too simple and unstable. Go for the real deal.

As for the Red, !@#$%!? Looks like a very nice Hi-end camera, but I can't find all the specifications on it to decide if it's worth the $$.
Besides, rendering anything above 3k is out of the question if you don't have the right hardware to handle the terabits of footage.
I can understand getting one of these if you're Bill Viola or someone working for a studio that uses the IMAX format.
Not your average consumer product.

Oh, and Final Cut rules above all. If you don't believe me, got take a look at what they're using in most professional film studios.

mpeg2 is standard dvd format. if you wanna do mpeg you hve to go with it. but there are differences when converting. good and bad. I use final cut (but only to make rough cuts), and then the major editing work with after effectts, including cutting again, fx of course and putting sound together.
dvd studio pro is a god one for macs to make a dvd out of it, you can do anything with the menu more then with premiere (somebody told me).