http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ Videomaker Forums » Tag: camcorder - Recent Posts en Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:47:42 +0000 http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/looking-for-advice-on-a-couple-different-camcorders#post-52470 Mon, 23 Nov 2009 04:06:36 +0000 Derek_Sine 52470@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>DVX100's.  </p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/looking-for-advice-on-a-couple-different-camcorders#post-52468 Mon, 23 Nov 2009 03:36:36 +0000 geraldprost 52468@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>I have used a VX2000 for many years. It is a great camera. I have two new FX1000 cameras and yes they are better, but if your final product is DVD it is hard to beat the VX2000. Some things I love about the VX2000, excellent auto focus even on moving subjects and low light. Line in/ Mic in switch. Excellent auto control of audio levels. Great battery life. Great iris/gain control operation. Easy to find buttons (in the dark). I did seriously think of buying up a couple more new ones before they disappeared, but I decided to go with the FX1000 to kind of "future proof" my business. Gerry in Calgary.</p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/looking-for-advice-on-a-couple-different-camcorders#post-52459 Sun, 22 Nov 2009 16:59:36 +0000 hmueller 52459@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Hi Borak<br />You don't mention what you want to use the camera for. An entry-level prosumer camcorder (Canon XHA1 as an example) will cost you closer to $3000. </p> <p>I also own a Canon HV40. It is a very good camcorder and will hapily shoot both high definition and standard definition. I can recommend it. It will allow you to gain experience while shooting great video.</p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/looking-for-advice-on-a-couple-different-camcorders#post-52445 Sat, 21 Nov 2009 21:56:14 +0000 Borak 52445@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p> I am looking to purchase a new camcorder that is semi prosumer level. Right now im seriously considering the Sony VX2000 or VX2100. However i feel like these cameras are outdated but i'm probably completely wrong. I was also looking at the Canon HV30 and HV40 but being that these are HD cameras that might cause problems when it comes to the editing. So pretty much it's down to whether or not HD or 3CCD is what i should be looking at. Any advice will help, Thank you so much!</p> <p>ps. my budget is around $1000 give or take</p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/live-webcastingkinda-new-to-this#post-52407 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:45:04 +0000 EarlC 52407@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>You COULD throw money at NetTek's Tri-caster. If I had it to spare I'd have one in my backpack and use it until it fell apart literally.</p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/live-webcastingkinda-new-to-this#post-52390 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:26:38 +0000 addison 52390@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p> </p> <p>Hi,</p> <p>If you want to get into live webcasting then the services provided at<br /> TalkPointCommunications.com will help you out. The programs offered here are<br /> extremely user-friendly and also don't require any special software<br /> downloads.</p> <p> </p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/looking-for-new-camcorder-intermediate-use-with-fce#post-51614 Sat, 24 Oct 2009 00:42:42 +0000 XTR-91 51614@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Unfortunately, you are demanding quite a bit out of a good camcorder for you budget, and it comes hard as a research for one that suits your needs. I thought of including your specs listed above and performing a Google search, but frankly, I just don't know how to say it.</p> <p>The best I could find was the Canon HV20 (MiniDV cam). I'm not entirely sure if it has Firewire input - one of the most highly overlooked features (from both review articles and camera manufacturers). It doesn't have A/V input either. And for all of this, I'd certainly recommend purchasing a second camcorder (such as a cheap JVC Everio - most of them have A/V Input). If you can bare the fact of a used camcorder, I would certainly go for it. There are currently several HV30s selling on eBay in the $400 - $600 price range. An Everio is defintely a lot cheaper. You may also need to do a little research to make sure it has A/V input.</p> <p><a href="http://photography.shop.ebay.com/Camcorders-/11724/i.html?_nkw=Canon+HV20&amp;_catref=1&amp;_fln=1&amp;_trksid=p3286.c0.m282">http://photography.shop.ebay.com/Camcorders-/11724/i.html?_nkw=Canon+HV20&amp;_catref=1&amp;_fln=1&amp;_trksid=p3286.c0.m282</a></p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/looking-for-new-camcorder-intermediate-use-with-fce#post-51305 Sat, 10 Oct 2009 14:32:48 +0000 bythecshore 51305@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>I am looking for a new camcorder and would appreciate people's short recommended lists, according to these requirements:</p> <p>1. Video must be editable in FCE (Final Cut Express)<br /> 2. Video must be editable on my iMac 2.46 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo<br /> 3. Cost less than $750<br /> 4. Jacks; Ext. mike input, Firewire input, headphone jack<br /> 5. AV input so I can input from old 8mm camcorders</p> <p>I loved my now-broken Canon Optura 20 and would like something in that<br /> range, but capable of 16:9 output to fit today's screens. However, it<br /> doesn't have to shoot super HD or anything; most of my videos are<br /> posted to MobileMe these days. The Canon's quality was fine for what I<br /> need to shoot, which is mainly family videos. I like DV tapes for<br /> storage but would consider SD cards or other removable media.</p> <p>Thanks in advance for your ideas, lists!</p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/premiere-interpreting-problem-with-mp4s#post-50786 Sun, 13 Sep 2009 00:37:12 +0000 Abdo 50786@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Hi,</p> <p>I'm using Samsung SC-MX20 to capture videos for the web, that specific Camcorder does have a known problem with 16:9 videos, you can check the reviews @ amazon.com for details</p> <p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-SC-MX20-Memory-Camcorder-Optical/dp/B001FA1OHW/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&#38;s=electronics&#38;qid=1252801263&#38;sr=8-2" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-SC-MX20-Memory-Camcorder-Optical/dp/B001FA1OHW/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&#38;s=electronics&#38;qid=1252801263&#38;sr=8-2</a></p> <p>The problem that the videos that's supposed to be taken @ 16:9 is being read as 4:3 by every software and had to modify the aspect ratio to get it right.</p> <p>So practically speaking when I import the video I've shot @ 16:9 (better for YouTube .etc) using the camcorder to Premiere it shows as 4:3, to fix that using Premiere I right click and chose interpret footage &gt; modify aspect ratio to 1.2 and the video shows as 16:9 &gt;&gt; Great!</p> <p>Screen Shot: <a href="http://abdo.me/images/precam01.jpg" rel="nofollow">http://abdo.me/images/precam01.jpg</a></p> <p>The problem is that If I made any editing to the video the display start behaving very strangely and add some green to the track, that mean for me that it's not being interpreted correctly. Check the photo link below</p> <p><a href="http://abdo.me/images/precam02.jpg" rel="nofollow">http://abdo.me/images/precam02.jpg</a></p> <p>Wondering if anyone have some experience with something similar and can help. Video are saved from the cam compressed with H.264 in MP4 format.</p> <p>Thanks in advance.</p> <p>- Abdo </p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/live-webcastingkinda-new-to-this#post-50352 Wed, 26 Aug 2009 02:00:20 +0000 dbakerboy3 50352@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Hey im kinda new to this video production thing, im trying to get into live webcasting and am kinda stuck at the moment... i was wondering is there a way to transmit video and sound from my camcorder to my laptop wirelessly...i need the mobility for the type of production i am doing... all the help is greatly appreciated </p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/need-recommendation-for-best-budget-avchd-corder#post-50282 Fri, 21 Aug 2009 19:51:35 +0000 Evan Patrick 50282@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ </p> <p>Yeah you are going to want to get the Canon Vixia HFS10 or HFS100. Next price range would be the Panasonic HMC150. The budget lapel mic you want is the Azden 105 series. </p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/beginner-needs-advice-on-hardwaresoftware-for-documentary#post-50275 Fri, 21 Aug 2009 15:40:57 +0000 cfox 50275@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>It seems I forgot to mention something huge in my original post that would have helped guide the suggestions thus far. My delivery method for my documentary project will be DVD and web video (smallest file size possible), so if I would have disclosed that in the beginning I'm sure I would have been guided to the point where my research led me today. The camera I was looking at was great, but there's no way for me to burn AVCHD to a regular DVD disc, and the majority of my target audience does not own a Blu-Ray player, nor do I own a BR burner. So, although that camcorder is very nice and I'd love to start with that one, if I can't burn my HD video then I can't justify purchasing an HD camera at the moment.</p> <p>Stepping down to an SD camera just made things much less complicated for me as far as hardware/software, so let me just run one other things past you guys. Instead of the Canon HF S10, would the Canon FS22 be sufficient? I'm having some difficulty finding answers to my questions about the speicific cameras in question, so I hope you guys aren't tired of helping this newb yet. I just need a camera that will be able to shoot some good footage for a documentary. It must have decent sound or ability to connect a mic, must have tripod connection, etc. Please give any advice on the camera side if you can, and I'll promise to stop posting for a while, lol. </p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/beginner-needs-advice-on-hardwaresoftware-for-documentary#post-50271 Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:17:25 +0000 cfox 50271@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Alright, so I'm in the process of purchasing a couple external hard drives to get a head start on this before I bite the larger bullet of ordering the sotware and camera. Here's where I'm at so far...</p> <p>LaCie 1TB external HD, very affordable at $165 each from Dell. Only problem is it doesn't appear my PC has FW 800 connectivity (heard Vista doesn't support that interface yet...?), so I won't be able to daisy chain two of these on the 800Mbps side. So here's the big question, do I get two drives and daisy on FW 400 or just get one drive and connect via eSATA?</p> <p>Thanks again for all the help! </p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/beginner-help-travel-documentary-equipment#post-50251 Thu, 20 Aug 2009 21:01:47 +0000 EarlC 50251@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>I like the solid state memory, primarily. I'm not worried about editing work flow, particularly if I happen to go with the JVC instead, as I have the option to record in native QuickTime should I choose.</p> <p>I am NOT a techno-geek, other than sharing info with a few who might possibly qualify as such, but AM an avid reader and believe in hands-on comparative analysis - something I will do either at the counter or via rental of the units in which I am interested.</p> <p>Also, I have at my disposal a 2008-9 model of Mac Pro 8-core with 3Ts of storage, plus firewire storage, plus 16 gigs RAM and the previous current FCP, upgrading to the just-released version in a couple of weeks. In addition, I have one of the most knowledgeable people of the MAC systems, os &#38; FCP at my disposal as well - two actually.</p> <p>Based on their input, and my future production focus, I believe I will do nicely with the power and storage I have utilizing AVCHD. IMHO, all forms have their warts and bumps. This approach, using AVCHD acquisition and its reduction of moving parts via the SDHC recording, potential for drag and drop eliminating digitizing (the single most time-consuming element of current editing facilitation), and the generally acceptable quality of resulting productions using AVCHD, I do not let the debates pro or con, this or that, HDV, HD, PC, Mac, etc. trouble me in the least.</p> <p>There will ALWAYS be something better, easier, more advanced, blah, blah...but we all have the advantage of research, available information, forum opinion-ation and hands-on reports as well as our own opportunities to test the waters to make decisions that best suit our specific and individual needs.</p> <p>I think a lot of people, new or experienced, get caught up in the debates and never really lock and load on something they can work with NOW. So many I know stumble along on truly outdated technology for two reasons - they're comfortable with what they've used and learned, reluctant to move ahead due to the very real (or not) learning difficulties; or, they use pretty much the same mind-set to hold off, always waiting for "the next best thing."</p> <p>Actually, there are three - many are comfortable, content, knowledgeable and productive using the systems for acquisition and editing they already have and see no realistic or economic need/justification to change formulas or formats. </p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/beginner-help-travel-documentary-equipment#post-50245 Thu, 20 Aug 2009 18:20:45 +0000 davidI 50245@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p> Thanks EarlC - that was a great read. I'd actually looked at doing that same bike tour previously so I'm rather interest how his film turned out!<br /> Out of curiousity, why would you lean toward AVCHD? Just to have solid state memory or is there an advantage in workflow? Most of my research thus far has indicated that HVD is easier / faster for editing? </p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/beginner-help-travel-documentary-equipment#post-50244 Thu, 20 Aug 2009 18:00:57 +0000 EarlC 50244@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Also, check out the advice given this thread with similar information but more based on approach rather than equipment.</p> <p><a href="http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/solo-euroasia-bicycle-tour-how-to-film-it" rel="nofollow">http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/solo-euroasia-bicycle-tour-how-to-film-it</a></p> <p>Although my target camera will be the AVCHD cameras by either JVC or Panasonic's HMC150 using SDHC card for content recording, I lean toward, and will likely acquire as a backup, the Canon HV 40, or even the HV 30 if any remain available. Although tape is going to eventually become more difficult to obtain, like VHS and S-VHS, you can still find it, buy it and use it. MiniDV will be available for some time to come IMHO. </p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/beginner-help-travel-documentary-equipment#post-50243 Thu, 20 Aug 2009 17:52:16 +0000 davidI 50243@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p> ^ Thanks, I had read that thread previous to posting this. As that fellow is working with PC his requirements seem a little different than mine. Is the HF S10 a better camera than the HV40 for my needs? I've read so many recommendations to use tape that I'm not sure if SD is a good way to go? I've also read that HVD is easier to edit in FCP than AVCHD due to the compression issues? </p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/beginner-help-travel-documentary-equipment#post-50241 Thu, 20 Aug 2009 17:42:28 +0000 EarlC 50241@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Check out this link, posted a week ago and virtually identical to your post.<br /> <a href="http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/beginner-needs-advice-on-hardwaresoftware-for-documentary" rel="nofollow">http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/beginner-needs-advice-on-hardwaresoftware-for-documentary</a> </p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/need-recommendation-for-best-budget-avchd-corder#post-50236 Thu, 20 Aug 2009 15:59:01 +0000 NormanWillis 50236@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>I need a recommendation for the best budget AVCHD camcorder, both in SD and in HD.</p> <p>My friends are going to film a bunch of speakers, and then send me the raw data on DVD's. They just plan to put a camcorder on a tripod, attach a simple clip-on lav mic, and then shoot. Then they plan to dump the data to a DVD, and then do that again for eight days. Then I will pick up the pieces from here.</p> <p>My friends are clueless about three-point lighting and all that, and I don't want to overload them. I just need to give them a simple recommendation about which AVCHD camcorder and clip-on lav mic they can get, on a budget.</p> <p>Thanks very much for your help.</p> <p>Norman </p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/beginner-help-travel-documentary-equipment#post-50234 Thu, 20 Aug 2009 15:16:24 +0000 davidI 50234@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>I spent 2.5 years traveling the world and am off on another 6 - 18 month adventure shortly. This round, I've considered filming a travel documentary based on my overseas experiences. I've been into photography for ~15 years and have spent plenty of time in the darkroom and more recently transitioned to digital. I'd like to try my hand at film now but am having a hard time figuring out what I'll need to film a decent documentary. I've spent countless hours researching already, but need to start buying equipment soon as I head out in less than a month. If possible I'd like to keep my spend &lt;$4k CDN, but do have some flexibility.</p> <p>#1 Camcorder - I looked at prosumer cameras like the HVRA1U &#38; HD1000U but decided they're too big and bulky for travel. Plus, there is the potential for issues at immigration as I'd rather not be seen as a journalist. I've read that it may be best to stick to HDV / Mini-DV format - what's a good camera that will give me the manual flexibility to begin learning proper videographer skills? I read great things about the Canon HV20 when it came out as a camcorder that would fit my needs - is the HV40 the best current iteration for my needs or is there a comparable Sony / Panasonic worth looking at?</p> <p>#2 Laptop - Looks like Mac is the way to go with Final Cut Pro. I've read all sorts of conflicting information with respect to which model of Macbook Pro I should get though. I figure when it comes down to editing I can get an external monitor, so screen size isn't necessarily a deciding factor, and smaller is better when it comes to travel. The 17" is also plenty expensive. I've read that the 13" can't run all the features in FCP because it doesn't have a dedicated video card - which would guide me towards the 15". Will the 15" do for me? I've read some stuff about the firewire port being an issue - presumably because people want 2 FW ports so they can import video from their camera directly to an external HD?</p> <p>#3 External HD - I haven't played around with much video editing software in the past, but I know storage is always a big factor. What should I be looking at for an external HD to pair with the Macbook Pro.</p> <p>#4 Tripod, Lights, Mic (external sound necessary?) - Any budget / compact recommendations for these accessories? Any other must-haves for filming. Content is going to have to play a larger part than quality in my documentary but I'd still like to aim for a reasonable quality!</p> <p>#5 Workflow - Can anyone give me any hints / tips for how I should approach my filming, storage, import, editing and output. I know I have a ton to learn about FCP and I'll make tons of mistakes along the way, but any helpful newbie hints would be appreciated!!!</p> <p>Sorry for the long post - but I'd really appreciate any help you can offer as it's a rather complicated endeavour to jump into with such short lead-time!! </p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/beginner-needs-advice-on-hardwaresoftware-for-documentary#post-50193 Tue, 18 Aug 2009 21:45:47 +0000 cfox 50193@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p> Thanks so much for the helpful advice!  I know I'm bound to hit some snags along the way, as you said, but I wanted to get as many suggestions as possible from people with much more experience.  So, thanks for that!</p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/beginner-needs-advice-on-hardwaresoftware-for-documentary#post-50161 Tue, 18 Aug 2009 01:04:10 +0000 NormanWillis 50161@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>And it sounds like you are doing your research, which is good.  You will hit snags, but persevere.  Your basic plan seems sound.</p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/beginner-needs-advice-on-hardwaresoftware-for-documentary#post-50160 Tue, 18 Aug 2009 01:02:48 +0000 NormanWillis 50160@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>You'll be fine.  You'll have some technical support issues, because that is the nature of the beast.  But your basic plan and strategy is sound.</p> <p>You definitely want a second hard drive for HD: and in fact a RAID 0 setup for the second drive is even better, although not entirely necessary.  </p> <p>AVCHD is a bear, because the files are compressed so much.  The processor has to uncompress them on the fly in order to edit them, which is a big job, so it taxes the processor heavily.  However, you can ease the load on your machine somewhat by transcoding the files with Cineform NeoScene, a $99.00 utility through Videoguys.  I use the Canon HF S10 (which I love) and the AVCHD .mts files make my CoreDuo Quad 3.0GHz run at 95% capacity on all four cores.  However, when I transcode the files first with NeoScene they run at about 57%, and the colorspace is much better.  NeoScene is the cheapest thing you can do to increase your relative processing power/speed.  It makes AVCHD editing so much easier.</p> <p>Internal drives are at least hypothetically better than external drives.  Some guys have problems with external drives, but it all depends on you and your machine.  Most guys use external drives with out problems, but if you have the option, bring the hard drives inside of the box to eliminate problems.  The same goes for DVD or BluRay burners.  Most times you are fine.  But.</p> <p><em>&gt;&gt;Second, am I starting too big?  I don't really want to use Windows Media Player, and I know that Adobe Premeire is very high-end, so if there's something int he middle that will get the job done and make my project look just as nice, please let me know.</em></p> <p>If you want something 'in the middle' try Sony Vegas.  It is a comprehensive all-in-one suite that is very easy to use.  Most of the people on this forum (maybe 2/3rds) use it, because it is so easy to use, and because it delivers excellent bang for the buck.  It does not have the higher-end features of CS4, but lots of guys use Vegas for their primary (because it is so much easier) and then they export whatever needs 'finishing touches' to CS4 with a free utility called DebugMode Frameserver (which I have not used yet, but everyone loves).</p> <p>I hope that helps.</p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/beginner-needs-advice-on-hardwaresoftware-for-documentary#post-50159 Mon, 17 Aug 2009 23:51:05 +0000 cfox 50159@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p> I've been trying to read around about the compatability with the Canon VIXIA HF S10 and Premeire Pro, but I need some confirmation.  I've read there may be difficulties with this model's encoding (AVCHD) and Premier...any idea if this camcorder will cause me any problems if using it with Premiere to edit?</p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/beginner-needs-advice-on-hardwaresoftware-for-documentary#post-50021 Wed, 12 Aug 2009 16:35:48 +0000 lmenningen 50021@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>1. I use PremierePro CS4 and use multi-cameras and may have many more than three timelines/sequences, some nested, and all the other stuff you'd do when editing, and PremierePro handles them just fine. There doesn't seem to be a limit to the number of timelines.</p> <p>2. Your computer should be OK, but having three (3) internal or eSata hard drives can help. Premiere lets you allocate drives: say drive C for the system and project files, drive D for your source files and a third drive for the preview files. This allocation provides tremendous speed improvements. Buy tera-byte drives.</p> <p>3. Your processor should be fine - mine is the i7-940 which is only slightly faster than yours, but I do have 12GB memory. Before I went to Vista 64-bit I had a system with only 4GB of memory, and PremierePro CS4 constantly crashed on projects of very minimal size. It was very frustrating, and it crashed on over a dozen projects. The problem was that 4GB in a 32-bit OS is not enough. You have 6GB and a 64-bit OS which is much better, but be alert for crashes - that shouldn't happen unless you have a larger project; most projects should work just fine.</p> <p>4. Editing doesn't make much use of your kind of graphics power, but of course it won't interfere in any way either.</p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/beginner-needs-advice-on-hardwaresoftware-for-documentary#post-49969 Mon, 10 Aug 2009 19:11:34 +0000 BruceMol 49969@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>I capture to an internal hard drive for editing, but I also eSATA drives for backups. My preference is to have 2 copies, one on the data drive of my computer and one on an eSATA drive which I regularly exchange for another drive in my safety deposit box at the bank. Read about the read/write speeds and I'm sure you'll go with eSATA. My new m/b (ASUS P6T) has an eSATA port and I was able to add an eSATA card to my other computer quite easily.</p> <p> </p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/beginner-needs-advice-on-hardwaresoftware-for-documentary#post-49961 Mon, 10 Aug 2009 16:11:17 +0000 TDedmonSBP 49961@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>I do all of my editing from my external. I have a 72000RPM seagate connected with firewire 800 and it runs just fine with Adobe master CS4. If you can find an external with eSata then you will be even better off because of the speed.</p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/beginner-needs-advice-on-hardwaresoftware-for-documentary#post-49959 Mon, 10 Aug 2009 15:46:27 +0000 cfox 49959@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p> Dang, just as I licked Post, one last question, lol....</p> <p>On my secondary hard drive, do I need it to be an internal drive or could I get by with an external?  I'm assuming I could just dump all my footage from the camera on an external and then transfer it over to my internal to edit on it, but Adobe's reccomendations leave my wondering if that will work smoothly.  Any advice?</p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/beginner-needs-advice-on-hardwaresoftware-for-documentary#post-49958 Mon, 10 Aug 2009 15:45:03 +0000 cfox 49958@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p> Thank you so much for all the help!  Now I have a better idea of what the capabilities of my system are as far as editing, so now it just comes down to deciding on the camera model.  I'm looking forward to my first project, so thanks again for the help and suggestions!</p> http://videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/beginner-needs-advice-on-hardwaresoftware-for-documentary#post-49957 Mon, 10 Aug 2009 15:22:41 +0000 BruceMol 49957@http://videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p> According to the HFS10 manual <a href="http://gdlp01.c-wss.com/gds/9/0300001969/02/hfs10-s100-nim01-en.pdf">http://gdlp01.c-wss.com/gds/9/0300001969/02/hfs10-s100-nim01-en.pdf</a> you are always recording in wide screen. There are 5 recording modes 2 of which are full HD abnd the others are less. So, for this camera, it appears that the 4:3 option doesn't really exist (see pages 46 &amp; 46) . Previous cameras (I use an HV20 and XHA1) do have that option. </p> <p>If you really need to produce in 4:3 aspect ratio you'll have to set up your Adobe Project settings to reflect that, capture your recording and if what you want is not in the field then nudge it over.</p> <p>Certainly HD is more demanding on the computer. With my i7 920 based computer I can have 3 HDV video timelines before I see a halt in processing. Sooner if I've color corrected an entire timeline. My previous computer could barely handle 1 line of HD though it had no problem with 3 timelines of SD. </p>