New-B! Which camcorder to buy?

Hello all. Totally new to this forum and to video editing. I have a clean slate and am trying to figure out which camcorder to buy this weekend and was hoping for some help. What I'm looking for is good quality video (doesn't have to be great, but solid) that I can easily import to iMovie 08 and then edit with either of my computers and export the finished product to the Web, or burn to DVD using iDVD. I've been doing a lot of reading and it seems that I could have trouble with some cameras using my G5 as it is not Intel powered, so I would like to stay away from those. I'm not needing to do anything professional with this, just something that is good quality, easy to use, compatible with iMovie 08 and iDVD, and is under $1000. I would consider buying an HD Camcorder while understanding that I have to film/export in a non-HD format until I get FC down the road. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks so much

I did have a problem with Canon repair service during the first year when I bought one of their camcorders several years ago. The on-start-off switch started being intermittent after only 4-5 months and got worse from there. Canon wouldn't do the repair, as their guarantee said, and wanted to charge me a high price to do it. I operated using the remote for a long while. The camera finally wouldn't turn on at all and became totally useless.
Needless to say, I haven't purchased another Canon product since that time. Since then, I went to other makes and have spent quite a bit on both still digital cameras and, very recently now, a camcorder by Sony (HDR-HC9). I stay with the miniDV tapes for both quality and convenience purposes, and also found that I had to revert to iMovie HD (vs 6, rather than iMovie 8) in order to properly edit my videos. So far, I really like my results with the HDR-HC9 - and iMovie 6.
Incidentally, I now only purchase fine camera equipment from very well established local dealers who specialize in camera equipment rather than the big box electronic supply house where I purchased the Canon. The largest camera dealer in Atlanta told me that Canon should certainly have done the repair for me and that Canon would have - if I had purchased it from that dealer. They said that they have such a large volume that they easily pressure such camera makers to uphold their guarantees since Canon wants them to continue selling their product.
I went from a very strong preference for Canon to the opposite. The big box electronic supply house simply said it was between me and Canon and that they wouldn't help at all. So, "good price" is not at all necessarily "good deal". Besides, the good sellers will now generally try to meet the best internet prices.
Good luck.
So time has passed, but these are lessons that, at least, this one person has learned by experience. Hopefully, Canon may have corrected their problems in their service department by this time. But, I don't feel inclined to test them again myself.

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Hi there, just swapped from PC to Apple, and just like a few other posts on here I am having problems in deciding which camcorder to buy to use with FCE4, I am ideally looking for a budget camera prefer SD/HC or HDD with a max price about £300. I have checked the compatibility list but I have one question, When I take the footage from a camera and import it into FCE4 will I have to then render it, as, just to have a play with FCE4 I tried taking some video footage using photobooth, I then imported it into FCE4 placed it in the timeline and it then needed to be rendered, and if I moved it around in the timeline once it had been rendered I then had to render it again, this can't be right as it takes so much time to do anything.I am feeling a little bit disappointed, as at the moment Windows Movie Maker works faster.
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Hello and welcome to the fourm.
Rendering captured or imported footage is only necessary when you're using media which FCE doesn't handle natively. If you work with DV-PAL media (or any of the other several FCE-native formats), you'll only need to render certain effects or transitions. What it VITAL is that your FCE Sequence Settings match the footage you shoot.
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Which camcorder for enterprising teen?

I've spent several weeks researching which camcorder to buy for my teenage son. He has had several years experience making short films at camps and schools, and now wishes to make his own shorts.
On a limited budget, we want the best available option -- which, of course, must work well with FCE (on an iMac).
Here's my short list:
Canon HG 10
Canon HR 10
Canon HV 20
Panasonic PV-GS500
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Yes, yes, yes... HV20? VERY GOOD!!! but it depends on what you are wanting to do with it... if you are going to make a movie like Pirates of the Caribbean then you can almost not spend enough money... but most likely you are not doing that! I own the HV10 the little sister of the HV20... you can actually still get the HV10 on amazon for somewhere around $680.00. It is in the style of a matchbox which is actually the only feature that puts it down on my list... I am EXTREMELY picky about the quality of my video... when I researched it out the HV10 was the only one that lived up to the standard... the HV10 shoots full 1080i High Def. VERY nice! Really rich colors! just always give it plenty of light to ensure the best possible quality! when that is done it is totally amazing! don't get me wrong... the HV10 does extremely well in low light.. its just not quite as good as full light...
I would definitely go with tapes--none of this hard drive business for editing
check out camcorderinfo.com and read reviews
all the best and good luck!
Ubuntu_user

More confused than ever which HDV camcorder to buy

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from a movie-makers point of view I'm more on tilmans side... (sorry, Kirk )
sure, Kirk's recommendation, DVDcorders, produce fast instant-dvds.. but including all errors while recording... no extras, no 'good lookin' '
I would:
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* for superb quality, get a 3ccd with a large ccd ...
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a nice intro, a standard message 'hi, I'm scc, and THIS is your ride of a lifetime..', add some 'stock' footage (=best scenes), perpare an iPhoto album of stock-pics (map of your canyon etc), an iTunes playlist (your Garageband projects )...
after recording, double-click on that 'frame project', and first step, save it under a unique name ('tour 12may07') ... that keeps your 'frame' intact for future use...
import your few minutes of fame, use the crop feature (oops, you're using v5? upgrade to v6... ), add the few scenes, save project. launch iDVD, add your ready-made backgrounds and DVD-intro animation, etc. and select iM project under media... burn disk.
to multiply that disks, use a copier as tilman recommend it, use Toast's copy feature, or use a HDD/DVD standalone (I'm owning a Pioneer DVR520), which also allows a very fast copying of DVDs...

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I am looking to buy a new camcorder for HD recording. I see that Sony has new hard disk camcorder which is attractive (I have an old 8mm HI8 that has worked well for me), but I am looking for the best camcorder that currently works with FCE HD (tape or tapeless). I don't have an HD DVD burner yet, but would like some suggestions on the best HD camcorder for general use (family, around the house, and travel type applications).
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XL H1 is nice, but for the price tag booo. I say the only real nice option is the interchangable lens. I'd maybe go with the Sony HVR-Z1U. I just got one and so far i like it. Anything that is 1/3 CCD or better is a great camera.
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Which HD Camcorder to buy to use w/ iMovie 11?

I have done hours of research to figure out what type of HD Camcorder to buy to work with iMovie (without using a conversion software utility). The world of HD video is VERY confusing to me. The best summary of all this I've seen is at Camcorderinfo.com.
http://www.camcorderinfo.com/d/Reviews&level_b=Camcorder&level_c=HD.htm#
However I am still confused with all this. Seems like there are several key things to factor:
I Type of HD:
     1. Resolution
     a. "Full" HD
     b. HD
     c. HD "Light"
     d. SD
     2. Scan rate:
     a. i (interlaced)
     b. p (progressive)
    3. Frame rate:
     a. 24
     b. 30
     c. 60
     x. native or not
II. Compression (Codec):
     a. ACVHD
     b. mpeg4
     c. mpeg2
     d. HDV (old, so probably not recommended)
So the question are:
A. which of the above combination of types works well with iMovie 11?
B. which camcorder meets these types the best (preferably a newer model, and preferably a Sony, Canon, or Panasonic)
Any help would be EXTREMELY APPRECIATED
Thanks!

a. "Full" HD
This is a marketing term. It usually means 1920x1080, but there is nothing inherently better in 1920x1080 or 1440x1080 or 1280x720. The sensor makes the difference not the format. Cheap little sensor that gives Full HD is worse than large sensor that shoots 720.
b. HD
Anything that isn't standard definition. In the US technically anything larger than 720x486 is HD.
c. HD "Light"
Another meaningless marketing term. I guess it means 1280x720. In the US CBS and NBC shoot in 1080i, while ABC and Fox shoot in 720p60, progressive frame, high frame rate, which is great for sports.
     d. SD
In the US that's 720x480 for DV and 720x486 for uncompressed.
a. i (interlaced)
Media in the US is recorded and broadcast at 29.97fps, basically one frame every 30th of a second. In an interlaced recording half of the resolution is recorded in 1/60th of a second. During this recording the image is written as a series of lines from top to bottom, the first set of lines in the first field in the first 60th of a second might be the even lines, line 0 (actually half a line), line 2, line 4, line 6, and so on. In the second 60th of a second the other half of the image resolution, the odd lines are written, line 1, line 3, line 5, and so on. If there's motion in the image the two halves of the image, the two interlaced fields, are not identical.
b. p (progressive)
This can be even more confusing. Theoretically it means that one complete image is taken 29.97 times a second. In most cameras this is not the case. What they actually shoot is called PsF or progressive segmented frames. This lets a camera shoot both interlaced or progressive. It shoots half the resolution, the single field of interlaced video, and then the second field. The difference here is that each field is the same. As there is no difference in the fields no interlacing appears on the motion.
a. 24
Only film cameras and very few video cameras shoot true 24fps. Video cameras shoot 23.976fps, sometimes referred to 23.98 and sometimes simply called 24, which it isn't. To confuse things further many cameras claim to shoot 24fps but don't. They capture 23.976fps but record at 29.97 with what is called pulldown added to make up the difference of frames between 23.976 and 29.97. It uses a complicated method alternating interlaced and progressive frames in a 2:3:2:3 cadence. (There is also an advanced pulldown cadence that's 2:3:3:2, which can have the pulldown removed and be restored to 23.976 for editing.) Pulldown is the way movies are shown on television. The 24fps film is played back at 23.976, pulldown is added, and the result is broadcast at the standard 29.97 frame rate. This adds flickering to the image which we're used to watching. Those who come from Europe and watch US television often find the pulldown flicker quite noticeable. When an iMovie project refers to 24, it means something shot at true 23.976, not something shot 24 with pulldown added and recorded at 29.97.
b. 30
No such thing, except maybe in computer animation. The correct frame rate is 29.97. iMovie calls it 30. It's not. An iMovie project is 30 when it's shot at the standard North American (and Japanese and Korean) frame rate of 29.97.
c. 60
Again, no such thing. The frame rate is 59.94. Some cameras shoot this, quite a few professional cameras do. iMovie does not support it.
x. native or not
No idea what that is, unless it's the frame rate they use in Borneo.
a. ACVHD
Codec stands for compression-decompression algorithm. It's the mathematical formula that's used to calculate how the video is compressed. AVCHD (Advanced Video Compressor HD) is a format based on the H.264 codec using MPEG-4, which is another format.
b. mpeg4
This is a format that can be used for acquisition or delivery. It's not a codec. MPEG-4 is used in AVCHD. It can also use other codecs.
c. mpeg2
This is another, older format. It can be either HD or SD. It's most common usages are as the format for DVD disc encoding, and as the basis for HDV.
All of these formats, MPEG-2, MEPG-4, AVCHD, use what are called GOP structures or interframe compression. What that means is that a single frame is encoded, the I-frame, and the next (usually 15 frames) are made up of comparing the previous frames and also the next frame, the B and P frames. These long GOP structures are great for encoding, easy to compress, and widely used for acquisition in cameras, and delivery on the web and disc; they're horrible for production, because there are no individual frames. When you specify a frame you want to edit on, the computer has to do a whole lot of work to calculate and generate a complete actual frame where none really exists in the GOP structure, unless it happens to be that one in 15 frames at the start of the GOP. This is why most professional systems, especially high end systems, convert these interframe compression formats to intraframe compression formats. Here each frame is individually encoded and compressed. The files are larger but it's much easier for the computer and the application to calculate what you want to do.
d. HDV (old, so probably not recommended)
An MPEG-2 based HD format that's 1440x1080 or 1280x720. It's never 1920x1080.
A. which of the above combination of types works well with iMovie 11?
B. which camcorder meets these types the best (preferably a newer model, and preferably a Sony, Canon, or Panasonic)
No good answers to these. HDV tape and AVCHD work well with iMovie. All three manufacturers make cameras of these types. Though you can throw pretty much anything you want into iMovie (it's remarkably resilient), it prefers, like most editing systems, to work with I-frame based media. Both HDV and AVCHD get transcoded on ingest to the Apple Intermediate Codec. This is a high data rate codec used by QuickTime. It's pretty good quality by prosumer standards and easy for the computer to work with, but these are much larger files than the original media.
Check here
http://help.apple.com/imovie/cameras/en/index.html?lang=en_US
to see if the camera you're interested in works with iMovie.
I hope I have you thoroughly confused by now. Oh and by the way, it's changing every day. This answer will be obsolete probably by the time I finish writing it.

My existing purchases have INSTALL next to them, but when I try click on them it says "There was an error in the App Store. Please try again later. (100)". I've tried restarting, clearing all caches, buying and downloading new apps (which works). Any idea

Hi - in the app store, I've logged in with no problem, but when I go into my existing purchases and have INSTALL next to everything I've bought, and try to click on them it says;
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This procedure is a diagnostic test. It makes no changes to your data.
Please triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:
ls -@Oaen L*/Coo* | pbcopy
Copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C.
Launch the built-in Terminal application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
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Paste into the Terminal window by pressing the key combination command-V. I've tested these instructions only with the Safari web browser. If you use another browser, you may have to press the return key after pasting.
Wait for a new line ending in a dollar sign ($) to appear below what you entered.
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HT2736 i am in new zealand, and want to buy music which is not available in nz.

i am in new zealand, and want to buy music which is not available in nz. When I try to purchase through the us store I am transferred back to NZ as my id is registeered here so I cant get the album anyway...is this common practice?

Yes.
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I used to have a itunes account and made a new one which is this one but i noticed that i have 1.00 on my account now and the one from before. is their a way i can merge both my balances to buy the new angry birds game!??

Hi Jacob...
A $1.00 credit or an authorization hold ...
The $1.00 charge is just an "authorization hold" > iTunes Store & Mac App Store: About credit-card authorization holds that will be credited back to your account usually within 24 to 48 hours.
is their a way i can merge both my balances to buy the new angry birds game!??
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I bought a new desktop, which is running Mountain Lion; do I have to buy it again for my laptop?

I bought a new desktop, which is running Mountain Lion; do I have to buy it again for my laptop?

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Which camcorder works best with iDVD/iMovie?

So I'm buying a new camcorder. Which camcorder is the easiest to use with iDVD and iMovie? For now I just want to view and produce a DVD.
I had a JVC Everio and returned it. Converting MPEG-2 to DV I guess can be done but seems like a lot of work. My first attempt with Streamclip asked me to buy the MPEG-2 module.
I'm now looking at a Sony HDR-SR1. Thought the AVCHD would be MPEG-4 compatible and work with iMovie/iDVD but not sure. It will record in both AVCHD and MPEG-2 though.
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Welcome Michael Snell
I use sony camcorders (minidv plus i.Link) successfully with iLife '06 and FCP HD. The ones to avoid are those that record to DVD directly or to an internal hard drive. Make sure your camera has digital pass thru which will also allow you to connect most analog sources as well should you need to like a VCR or another camera for import into iMovie via firewire.
Canon also works well but represents my second choice of minidv cameras.
JVC is in the same situation and would represent a third choice IMO.
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Which Camcorder with HD?

I want to buy a camcorder '' Any reccomendations for which camcorder with built in HD..I should consider. Obviously must have firewire d/load. L

Hi,
We have the Sony HDR HC3 and are really enjoying it. I'm also pleased to say that it works wonderfully with iMovieHD.
Here's a review. There's a bunch on the net. Not sure what this one says though... just a high hit on Google.
I believe its no longer available on Sony's site as they have replaced it with some newer models - but we are happy.
YMMV.
http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/Sony-HDR-HC3-Camcorder-Review.htm

New-B! Which camcorder to buy?

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