Got me a new camcorder...any more videographers in here?

[MaliCali]

Originally Posted by d_boy

ok so do you know of a good vendor that carries it.Also im hoping its more user friendly than premiere where you have to know what an effect will do. You really have to be taught how to do special text / effects etc. From what I've seen there appears to be a lot of presets with AVID which saves time. I do like Vegas as it shows you what the effect will do,which I'm hoping AVID does. Would you happen to know of any sites that can show AVID at work or do you have any of your work on the net.I'd really like to see what the program can do...thanks btw

well if you want to see what it can do, just watch a movie really....like i said before almost all large budget films these days are cut with avid+after effects..

im not sure what you are saying with the effects and texts and such, what you are describing is how it goes with pretty much all editing softwares. without a decent 'bible guide' everyone will have a hard time grasping the system. the bibles for all softwares can be found many places online...

to find a place to buy avid ... http://www.avid.com/products/howtobuy/Index.aspx

i should say also there is the option of going with media composer which isnt quite as in depth, or nitris which is the all out big budget software...learning on either is going to have the same learning curve for the most part if you understand editing before making the plunge, you just pay a lot more for nitris...but you also get your monies worth...

[MaliCali]

i take that last part back about nitris...

apparently its not available for consumer use yet(we have it at school so i figured it would be)...but that shouldnt make any difference as i said before, media composer is PLENTY of sofware for anyone not cutting a multi million dollar film..

[Mattixxg]

Hmm...guess ill be dating for a while till i marry that....
But anyone here ever use Sony Vegas Pro 8?

[d_boy]

Originally Posted by Mattixxg

Hmm...guess ill be dating for a while till i marry that....
But anyone here ever use Sony Vegas Pro 8?

Vegas is a good program and very user friendly.

I personally can't see myself spending $1400 bucks on up for a program when honestly I'll never get the use out of it. Looks like a great program, however it's not for a regular guy like me. No AVID for me. I'll stick to Premiere.

[Qb2productions]

Originally Posted by Mattixxg

Hmm...guess ill be dating for a while till i marry that....
But anyone here ever use Sony Vegas Pro 8?

I use 8.0b Pro, i REALLY like it...I just dont know what I'm missing out on as far as Avid and Final cut (the only 2 programs I would consider upgrading to).

I hear AVID makes its own copy of the project media and stores it, or something like that. Maybe one of these guys in the thread can better explain it or correct me. But I know in vegas it doesnt do that.

I've used Pennacle a handful of times and didnt like it, doesnt seem very capable and didnt have NEAR the amount of file type outputs that Vegas does.

[Mattixxg]

Is there a thumbnail mode, similar to Sonys Picture motion browser (in vegas pro8)?

Basically id like to see all of my AVHCD files thumbnailed.

[Qb2productions]

Originally Posted by Mattixxg

Is there a thumbnail mode, similar to Sonys Picture motion browser (in vegas pro8)?

Basically id like to see all of my AVHCD files thumbnailed.

What I'm talking about, is instead of Sony referencing a specific file that is media inside of a project on a hard drive somewhere, AVID copies that file and places it inside of its own folder, and possibly encrypting it at the same time? or making it proprietary?

Picture Motion browser sucks! I hate that program, I'd rather try to find the peice of footage by importing it one by one

[tt300zx]

Cool thread didn't realize was this many on here. I mess around from time to time Mostly using final cut pro and AE. I'm trying to get a reel together here soon for a possible video job. Think main thing holding me back is my camera.

[MaliCali]

Originally Posted by Qb2productions

I hear AVID makes its own copy of the project media and stores it, or something like that. Maybe one of these guys in the thread can better explain it or correct me. But I know in vegas it doesnt do that.

yes.

and another GREAT thing that avid does that is incredibly convenient for those cutting true HD footage. Sort of strange to explain but when cutting the offline footage together avid downgrades the footage you are seeing during all of work, so that you can see what you are doing without overloading your computer, then when you are done with it you can take it over to a stronger more capable computer to ready the media... basically giving those of us who would like to cut things together using our laptops much easier...of course if you are cutting on a strong enough computer you can turn that option off to be working in total HD as well..

its not for everyone obviously, but when it gets there i definitely recommend FCP over all of the others...

[TexasPancake]

here's a video a friend and I worked on... i did some filming and he also filmed and edited... we used two cameras. i was using a sony cam and he was using some pro panasonic cam. my friend used final cut pro to edit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kCIbfBdsV4

[Qb2productions]

Originally Posted by MaliCali

yes.

and another GREAT thing that avid does that is incredibly convenient for those cutting true HD footage. Sort of strange to explain but when cutting the offline footage together avid downgrades the footage you are seeing during all of work, so that you can see what you are doing without overloading your computer, then when you are done with it you can take it over to a stronger more capable computer to ready the media... basically giving those of us who would like to cut things together using our laptops much easier...of course if you are cutting on a strong enough computer you can turn that option off to be working in total HD as well..

its not for everyone obviously, but when it gets there i definitely recommend FCP over all of the others...

Vegas has a similar feature & I'd like* to think my computer is pretty stout, but its at least capable of handling the footage format that i mainly deal with.

Wish i had the time + budget to try out AVID & FCP, but neither are there...

[MadMonkey]

Originally Posted by Qb2productions

I've used Pennacle a handful of times and didnt like it, doesnt seem very capable and didnt have NEAR the amount of file type outputs that Vegas does.

I rarely use any Pinnacle products any more.. They all seem slow, clunky and short on features.

[Mattixxg]

Originally Posted by Qb2productions

What I'm talking about, is instead of Sony referencing a specific file that is media inside of a project on a hard drive somewhere, AVID copies that file and places it inside of its own folder, and possibly encrypting it at the same time? or making it proprietary?

Picture Motion browser sucks! I hate that program, I'd rather try to find the peice of footage by importing it one by one

Well, in my particular situation, ive got alot of video that hasnt been burned or edited on the cameras hdd. so when i go to edit it in SVP, id have to have the actual file name memorized because theres no thumbnail view so i open PMB and have to do a comparison that way. I would rather use just one program, plus it would just be quicker using one program and not two plus, youre using less resources.

[MaliCali]

a good piece of advise i can give anyone..

is when you are actually shooting, use a slate...even if its a really rudimentary one...that way you can have a shot list, with slate numbers written down somewhere, and then name your files accordingly...itll keep you MUCH more orgainzed

[Qb2productions]

Originally Posted by MaliCali

a good piece of advise i can give anyone..

is when you are actually shooting, use a slate...even if its a really rudimentary one...that way you can have a shot list, with slate numbers written down somewhere, and then name your files accordingly...itll keep you MUCH more orgainzed

Because of the footage that I normally shoot, I'm just not able to write down that kind of stuff. However, whenever i upload footage off the camera to my computer, I have a notepad file where i describe what it is that i shot that day, date it, and list it in order of date. Also i upload & organize all the footage by date, new footage gets its own folder & the date it was uploaded on.

This way i dont name EVERY file, but i have a running log of some kind to help me remember what it is I shot that day and where i can find it...

[MaliCali]

Originally Posted by Qb2productions

Because of the footage that I normally shoot, I'm just not able to write down that kind of stuff. However, whenever i upload footage off the camera to my computer, I have a notepad file where i describe what it is that i shot that day, date it, and list it in order of date. Also i upload & organize all the footage by date, new footage gets its own folder & the date it was uploaded on.

This way i dont name EVERY file, but i have a running log of some kind to help me remember what it is I shot that day and where i can find it...

what sort of footage do you shoot exactly that doesnt allow you to take the advantage of slating? you can slate and scene number anything...

[Qb2productions]

Originally Posted by MaliCali

what sort of footage do you shoot exactly that doesnt allow you to take the advantage of slating? you can slate and scene number anything...

http://videos.streetfire.net/video/I...pra_175290.htm


You have a point and I definatly see the benifits, but this is all just a hobby for me, its not something I want to do as a career or even work doing as a real job...so my operation isnt really the most effecient

[Mattixxg]

Ill take that advise until something out there can do what i want in that regard.
Most of the time i record shit and dont work on it until a week or so later.

[MaliCali]

canon just announced a firmware update enabling full manual exposure(iso, aperture, and shutter speed) for the 5D Mark 2...

now i get to wait a couple weeks for something, ive already waited months for...

[JonSardinas]

I'm looking into getting one soon. I've been looking in getting something hd and I'm wondering what I should lean toward. I'm looking to spend no more than 600. Now I see that sony has one that has 16mbps and that's as high as it goes, but is there that much difference in camcorders that are capable of 24mbps and 16mbps? And like a previous poster commented, my netbook can't handle that. Also my desktop that I just purchased somehow got fried by lightning. Anyways, I want something crisp and sharp that I can film my family on and edit into either a dvd(do I have to have a hd burner?) or a vimeo type site. If I have to purchase another computer to support this, which ones? Any info much appreciated, sorry about the run-on.

[Mattixxg]

either way you look at it youll need a pretty good pc to edit HD Video.
Start with a strong CPU...

[MaliCali]

Originally Posted by JonSardinas

I'm looking into getting one soon. I've been looking in getting something hd and I'm wondering what I should lean toward. I'm looking to spend no more than 600. Now I see that sony has one that has 16mbps and that's as high as it goes, but is there that much difference in camcorders that are capable of 24mbps and 16mbps? And like a previous poster commented, my netbook can't handle that. Also my desktop that I just purchased somehow got fried by lightning. Anyways, I want something crisp and sharp that I can film my family on and edit into either a dvd(do I have to have a hd burner?) or a vimeo type site. If I have to purchase another computer to support this, which ones? Any info much appreciated, sorry about the run-on.

if you are only looking to spend 600 on a camera, the computer you have now will probably edit the footage that sort of camera is capable of just fine..

$600 isnt really in the "camcorder" range and more just the consumer handycam range..

EDIT...

to give some clarity, as an example...this..

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1218046368285


..is not something i would consider a camcorder, even though sony calls it one...and the 1920x1080 "HD" resolution it boasts, is sort of bullshit..the image may fill to that, but with a 4MP 1/5th sensor, that is a really stretched image.

not to mention i cant stand this multiplier optical/digital zoom ratio bullshit. its 10x optical zoom of what original focal length?!

its not a bad camera, and if its just something you plan to shoot your family with as you mention, it is definitely plenty of camera for that purpose..good luck

[JonSardinas]

Thanks I'll probably end up going that route. It's decent for what I'll be using it for.

[Mattixxg]

hmm...bump i think...yeah..

[MaliCali]

im in pre production for my thesis now, start casting within a couple weeks, then shoot next month...im getting ancy