Camcorder: Which Format?

Hi,
I have a new MacBook Pro, and Final Cut Express 4.
I want to buy a camcorder for < about $700, for family video. Looking for an after-Christmas sale. I'd like to move away from tape, to a hard-drive camera, IF I'll be able to store the hours and hours of unedited video safely, with a reasonable amount of hard drive space (I'm thinking in the range of not more than about 10 gigs per hour).
B&H has the Canon HG10 at a great price of $499. But it records in AVCHD, and I think if I import with FCE4, the amount of storage I'll use up in Apple Intermediate format will be too much.
Is there a good hard-drive based camera, preferably high definition, that stores in a format that's compressed, that I'll be able to keep the unedited video in, and also edit it into movies? (I do plan to edit the video into movies, but I'm going to want to store most the raw video as family memories, especially when I don't get around to making edited movies out of everything).
Thanks!

You can archive raw AVCHD files in compressed format. You just have to make sure to copy the entire AVCHD folder to your hard drive, and not just the MTS files. Here's my favorite primer: http://multimedia.journalism.berkeley.edu/tutorials/video/canon-vixa-hf-10/loggi ng-and-transferring-video/
The files expand a lot while editing, so plan on a big hard drive either way. But you can trash the render and capture scratch files once you're done editing and just save the final movies. But plan on buying hard drive space to work with this format comfortably. Otherwise, buy a tape camera and save the tapes.

Similar Messages

Which Format/Camcorder best for PE7

Dear Experts:
I am just starting out making DVD memoirs for hospice patients (mostly interior head shots). I just acquired PE7 am learning and need to buy a camcorder, which with the different formats(mini dv, HDD, SDHC) is very confusing . The Canon HV 40 and HF s100 BOTH LOOK GOOD FOR AROUN $800. BUT I WORRY ABOUT DIFFICULTIES IN EDITING WITH MY 64 BIT DUAL PROCESSOR MACHINE.
Any pointers or relevant experience?
Thanks much in advance you any help.
Tom

The best editing format (least problems) is DV AVI type 2 with 48khz sound... which you get from a miniDV tape camcorder, transferred to your computer via Firewire connection
All DVD and hard drive camcorders give problems of one kind or another, due to the compressed format they use
For a Firewire DV Camera - look at Panasonic PV-GS320 or GS500 (Note that I have not used either, but they have good reviews)
http://reviews.cnet.com/Panasonic_PV_GS320/4505-6500_7-32330317.html
http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-camcorders/panasonic-pv-gs500/4505-6500_7-31660646.html
I have not looked lately to check price/availability, so you will have to Google

Which format camcorder should I buy to import the way I want?

I currently have an old Sony digital8 camcorder which works fine, but I find myself using my regular digital camera (Canon SD100) to shoot video because I don't have to import video in real time. It just pulls the video files right out of iPhoto from when I import my photos off the camera. I'd like to get a new camcorder, but I want the new one to be able to work the same. Maybe not import into iPhoto, but import as a file and not real time. What a hassle when I have to sit there and playback and record a 45 minute movie of my father-in-laws 70th birthday party into iMovie, before I can even work on it. I'm not sure if any of the DVD formats will let me do this or if I have to playback the movie again. Is a hard drive camcorder my only solution? Any info would be great. Thanks.

I like Canon MUCH better than Sony. Sony is a direct competitor of Apple and as such I think they support Apple with reduced enthusiasm.
Canon makes excellent equipment and their technical support people always seem Macintosh savvy (They were very familiar with iMovie).
http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ProductCatIndexAct&fcategoryid= 173
I use my Canon with iMovie 06 and iDVD 08. (and occasionally with iMovie 08)

I have an external drive - WD My Passport FOR MAC. I want to format it to work on both mac and windows. Which format do you think I should use? Will either one cause damage to the files on the hard drive?

I have an external hard drive - WD My Passport FOR MAC. I want to format it to work on both mac and windows. I also want to be able to connect it to my TV and watch movies.
I read up and I think I am supposed to use exFAT or FAT32? I also saw MS-DOS. Which format should I should use? Will any of them cause damage to the files on the hard drive?
My little memory stick uses MS-DOS and it works on both mac and windows.
Please can you just tell me a little about each and suggest which one to use.
I know how to change it once you tell me so don't waste your time writing about changing it.

Will any of them cause damage to the files on the hard drive?
WARNING: FORMATTING A DRIVE ERASES IT COMPLETELY !!
If you need to carry large files (e.g., larger than about 4GB) back and forth, you may need ExFAT. Otherwise MS-DOS works for smaller files.
The Mac can Read, but not write Windows New Technology File System (NTFS) without an add-on program such as Paragon NTFS.

My disk drive does not play any original dvd or cd anymore, but the copies work fine, no matter which format. Do I need a new disk drive?

Hello All,
since last week my disk drive does not play any original DVD or CD anymore, but copied ones, no matter which format work fine. I am a bit confused that the copied ones still work.
Anybody experienced the same? Will I have to get a new disk drive? Unfortunately the warranty expired last month
Looking forward to your answers and thanks,
Yvonne

An external DVD drive from http://www.macsales.com/ may solve your problems.

Export to external HD in which format?

Hi
New to i movie '09, and loving it !
I want to store my finished Projects on an external HD (but not the related Event raw material).
Which format will give me the best quality - space not a problem -for future viewing, DVD burning ?
Also how do I then delete projects and events from i movie ?
Thanks

DVD would be the worst option, as it can really downgrade the quality.
Make sure you really want to delete the projects and events, gutsy move as you can never go back and edit your movie again.
but to answer your question, I like the quality of the Quicktime movie that iMovie makes when you "Share to Media Browser" and pick the "HD" setting. It can take hours/movie depending on their length, but they look quite good. It will make a 720p QuickTime .mov movie. This is actually higher than the 540 that your files are most likely in if you imported originally from your camera using the "Large" recommended setting as opposed to the "Full" setting (which is 1080).
Anyway, try making one and see how it looks. Once it is done you can find it inside the iMovie project's file. TO get there, go to Users Folder -> your User name folder -> Movies -> iMovie projects -> and find the project that you made the movie from. Right click on that file (or use the control key as you click on the file) and you will see a menu -> Show Package contents -> Movies and your 720p .mov movie will be in that Movie folder. you can drag it to your desktop and copy it to your external HD. If you really want to trash your events and projects after this is done (Watch the movie first closely to make sure it looks good), you can find them in that original "Movies" folder under iMovie events and iMovie Projects.
roger

How do I move a playlist from an ipod to a memory stick? Which format?

How do I move a playlist from an ipod to a memory stick? Which format?

Hi, Dwayne
This is the 'iTunes U Course Manager' community, which is is a very specific area and not for general iTunes questions.
You need to ask your question or start your discussion in the 'iTunes' community where you should get a better response.
Hope that helps.
Cheers,
Sue

Which format to burn in?

Okay, I have a smallish HD (10gb) and I want to burn some songs from my CDs. Which format should I be burning my songs into? I've tried burning them in both mp3 and AAC format and I DON'T see much of a difference, size wise.

You'll not find a huge size difference between AAC and MP3. However with AAC you should be able to encode at a higher bit rate and get a file of a similar size to an MP3 using a lower bit rate You should make two copies of something you are familiar with in MP3 and AAC and have a listen for yourself to see if there's a difference in sound that you prefer. People will have different preferences and tolerances to compressed music so it's always best to go by your own ears. Another consideration is whether or not you want to use the files on any devices apart from the iPod. Of the compressed formats AAC is less widely used at present, if you have a non Apple music player or a newer in-car CD player then MP3 would be the most compatible compressed format.
You'll get an extensive comparison of the AAC and MP3 formats and bit rates benchmarked against CD format: Planet of Sound - Quality of AAC audio and MP3

Which format is the best for ipods?

I am just curious that which format (ACC,mp3, apple lossless...etc) is the best choice for a general ipod with respect to quality and space wise?

Terence,
As far as AAC vs. mp3 are concerned, have a look at:
Jeff Bryan, "AAC or mp3- better?" #1, 01:36pm Sep 5, 2005 CDT
Apple Lossless is a different kettle of fish. Here's some information courtesy of King Cole that was originally posted by Sparky the wUnderdog:
CDs take approximately 10MB per minute of music; Apple Lossless takes 5MB/minute; LAME insane takes 2.5MB/min; AAC or MP3 at 256kbps take 2MB/min; and iTunes Store files (AAC@128kbps) take 1MB/min. At these rates, a 20GB iPod (really 18.6GB) can hold anywhere from 30 hours to over 300 hours of music. (iPod marketers express this potential playback capacity as "songs," figuring 4 minutes per song--thus 300 hours at 128kbps = 4500 "songs.") You will need to listen to samples ripped with different bitrates and codecs to determine the optimum tradeoff point for you between quality & quantity. It's worth taking some time to do this at the start as it sure beats reripping everything in your collection 2 or 3 times to get it right later.
As I like to say,
i Listen to your ears
!

Which format is faster to import from Canon XA25?

I have a Canon XA25 camcoder. It can record in several formats below. Which format is better/faster to import and edit in FCPX?
AVCHD: 28 Mbps, 24 Mbps, 17 Mbps, 5 Mbps (1080: 59.94P/59.94i/PF29.97/23.98p)
MP4: 35 Mbps, 24 Mbps, 17 Mbps, 4 Mbps, 3 Mbps (1080: 59.94p/29.97p/23.98p; 720 and 360: 29.97p/23.98p)
Video Recording System: MPEG4-AVC/H.264

Lesson 1: Always keep your original tapes safe, never fall into the habit of using a tape for a second or third time.
I would try to convert your files outside of PR, because it carries such an overhead on an underpowered system. Google for a converter and you will find many links. Here is an example: http://www.ojosoft.com/video-converters/index.html

HT4059 Which format does ibooks use?

Which format does ibooks use?

if you follow iLife's intended workflow, I don't see any of the huzzle you mention (?)....:
a) iM is for miniDV.. it copies (=lossless transfer) from miniDV... there's no conversion, as long as you use SD, not HiDef.. and it is NOT intended to import 'foreign' containers as avi...
b) as long as the iM project is located in the 'Movies' folder, there's no export/conversion/whatever... needed. iDVD detects any content there automatically, with a snap of a click ...
c) to create a standard videoDVD, there HAS to be a time consuming encoding process, 'cause these standards asks for muxxed mpeg2.. = computation... and, with your help (=maintain system, keep min. 20GB free on system disk, size of your wallet for purchasing überMac etc), this process is fast. plus, using the themes, or using a self-created theme gives your DVDs a professional touch ...
Plan B)
get any HDD/DVD standalone corder (I'm using one...); import from camera, the encoding & burning process is on such machines hardware accelerated.. it creates a DVD of a 90min movie in less than 5min .. (import, for sure, in realtime...); plus those devices offers rural editing options.. the DVD menus are ugly..

Converting DV to ???. Which format? Aspect ratio problems.

I'm trying to digitize some old VHS videos for archival and I need some guidance. My goal is to keep a digital copy on disk and toss out the tapes with the player. Most of the videos will just be for future viewing, not further editing. I tossed out the TV a few years ago and I hope to never go back, so my primary viewing will likely be on a computer screen. If I do get another TV someday I imagine that I would play these videos with some sort of media center type device rather than a DVD so I may need to keep that in mind when deciding upon the final format.
I'm using a Canopus ADVC-300 to convert the videos to DV streams. I use iMovie HD 6 to capture the DV input. A few months ago I converted a few tapes with iMovie 08 and learned the hard way about the DV quality problems designed into that product. Anyway, the Canopus feeds my Mac a standard 720x480 DV stream. In iMovie I start a new project and tell it the video format is DV, as opposed to DV Widescreen.
Up to this point everything is working great.
My dilemma is how to save the video. I want a format that has good quality and will not likely need any future transcoding to stay usable. Thus far from iMovie HD I've been sharing to Quicktime, selecting Expert Settings, and then playing around with the various options within "Movie to Quicktime Movie".
On the video settings panel I'm going under the assumption that H.264 is the preferred choice. I set the compressor quality to high, the encoding to multi-pass, and the data rate to automatic.
The video filter panel has nothing selected for now.
The video size panel is where I start having questions. Obviously the original video sources have a 4:3 aspect ratio. If I leave the dimensions as "current" (720x480) I get a video that plays at 3:2 in every player I've tried. I guess that seems obvious even though I told iMovie I was working with a 4:3 project. My player of choice is VLC and I can tell it to show the video at 4:3 but it's a pain to do that every time. Quicktime can do that too, and in fact you can save the aspect ratio with the video so that it will display that way each time, but I never really use QT unless I have to.
Looking at the list of available choices in the dimension drop down box, it looks like there are a couple possible solutions...
The most obvious choice is "NTSC 720x480 4:3". When this option is used the video is 4:3 by default when played by QT. However, it still shows up as 3:2 in VLC, mplayer, and also when played via Frontrow. I downloaded mplayer just for this comparison and I never watch videos using Frontrow but I suppose I might someday if that media center thing comes into play. Once again I can tell VLC to show it as 4:3 but doing so every time is annoying. There doesn't seem to be any way to adjust the aspect ratio from within Frontrow so that's a non-starter. I'm thinking this might technically be the correct format to use but none of the players other than QT recognize the anamorphic setting (is that right?). When I look at the video properties in QT it shows 720x480(640x480) but the other tools show just 720x480.
The next obvious choice in the list of dimensions is "640x480 VGA". When I use this option I do in fact get a video that displays correctly in every player. However, I can't help but wonder if I'm losing resolution this way. I think it's just converting the rectangular pixels to square pixels but with the drop in horizontal pixels there must be less information there? Is this a viable format for playing on various devices in the future?
Should I be experimenting with something other an "Movie to Quicktime Movie" and H.264?
In all cases I've selected to deinterlace the video. Some might say that VHS is of such poor quality to begin with that using such high settings is a waste. I say that the source video is bad enough that there's no room to add even more degradation. I'm willing to live with data rates that will push 1-2 GB per hour of video. I think that's probably plenty to keep the video quality as good as can be considering the source. I'm just not sure which format is best for this purpose. It's a one-shot deal, once the conversion is done the tapes get thrown away so I'm a little anxious about making the right choice.

When choosing Export -> QuickTime Movie, you get a self-contained QuickTime-file of your sequence. The default video format is the same as your current sequence settings, which means you will get the exact same frame size an pixel aspect ratio in your QuickTime-file.
The best thing would be to use Compressor, but first you need to tell us what you are going to do with your QuickTime movie. Is it supposed to be a copy for the web? What video format do you need/want your movie to be exported in?
To letterbox your video in a 4:3 frame size, read about padding in the Compressor User Manual.

Audio files taking up too much room- which format should I use?

I bought a 32GB iphone so that I would be able to put a decent amount of music on it, but it seems to be eating the memory space. Itunes says I have 2GB of audio, but I only have 214 tracks (average 3-4 minute songs). Compared to my Creative Zen player the files are three times the size, and I can't tell much differece in the audio quality, so it seems a bit ridiculous. Is this something to do with Apple plus, and please can anyone recommend which format will give me decent quality music without taking up so much space? I'm guessing I'll have to delete the old files from itunes and copy them again in a different quality?
Message was edited by: Jai.

Go to the Summary Tab with the iPhone connected, and select the 'convert to 128 mbps' option, that will reduce the files size automatically for you when music is loaded on the iPhone. No need to delete the music from the iPhone first.

In which format FM takes date

hi all,
plz guide me that in which format date is taking in FM.
Like in my function module date is datum type and FM is working properly. but when i add that FM in bsp its not working.
i converted my date in datum type but still nut working.
plz suggest me something.
Regards
Puneet

Hi,
if you use the sy-datum attribute to get the date of today,
it will be yyyymmdd, normally your attribute for the inputfield should have format datum or dats
to get the same result
grtz,
Koen

Which format to choose and how to - from .ai/.eps to internet!

Hi everyone, this is my first post here =)
I've got a simple question today, hopefully someone might stop by and answer
I have created many images in Adobe Illustrator and saved them as .ai and .eps files.
Now, i would like to use these images on the web, on my website, and it requires the images to be as sharp as possible (electrocardiographic images, så its mostly lines on a grid). Which format should i convert these images to (since its not possible/good to use .ai/.eps in the browser). JPG? PNG? TIFF? And how should i convert it? So far, I've copied the image inside Illustrator and pasted it into Photoshop and saved the PSD-file as JPG but the quality isn't impressive.
Would very much appriciate some advice.
Thanks in advance.

I think I should explain this remark a bit more:
function(){return A.apply(null,[this].concat($A(arguments)))}
If your images should be as sharp as possible, use PNG.
Actually ... it's the reverse of what one would think.
If you force the number of colors in the image to be very low, the image will be 'sharper', in that each pixel will clearly be visible. However, for curved and slanted lines this is not what you want. If you use PNG (24 bit color, as mentioned above), anti-aliasing (as mentioned above, which can indeed be found in the Image Size tab), and optionally transparency, the image will be blurred. Now that's a good thing, because it will use a similar blurring as when you are viewing it 'on screen' within Illustrator -- curved and slanted lines have gray and/or transparent pixels around them to 'hide' the fact that the resolution of the screen is limited.
Only when you zoom in, you will see the actual "hidden" blurriness -- and, of course, web images are not meant for zooming in.

Camcorder: Which Format?

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for