Recommendations for HD camera?

I want to import high definition video into my computer from a camcorder, but I want to do it 'live' without first recording to tape or hard drive. Do all HD camcorders allow this? Does it matter if they have only USB and not firewire, or does either work just as well? I plan to import video using BTVPro, since it allows time-lapse recording. Does anyone know another program for mac that does time-lapse (since BTV has not been updated in years).
I'd like to hear recommendations for which camcorders send excellent high definition video output via firewire or USB. Do any of these camcorders have the feature of digitizing analog video inputs, again without first recording to tape or hard drive? thanks

My post above has a typo and I meant to use the word "can't" (not can).
If you're trying to capture directly from a camera using a "pass though" you'll need Firewire.
iMovie 7 (part of iLife 08) does support some USB cameras but I doubt it could do a real time HD capture and most of them use MPEG-2 compression to store your file.
You'll need at least a dual 2 GHz processor (G5 or Intel) to even view the files and a direct capture would require the fastest Mac made (even it may drop frames).

Similar Messages

Any recommendations for video camera?

Hi all
thought this would be a good place to ask for advice
My church is looking into getting a grant to buy some equipment and one of the pieces that is required is a video camera.
One of the people involved has plans on using it to podcast our coffee house and summer concert series that we host.
As i am the videographer and webcaretaker, i have input, but my experience is limited to a high end Sony videocam used for broadcasting (which I used in a course i taught 10 years ago) ... one extreme ... and the Canon Elura dv video cam that i own (and use when I tape the Christmas lessons service) and, the other extreme: my Panasonic Z28 digital camera that i use to tape clips of concerts to post on our website.
Here are MY requests:
• it must also be able to tape to a card, so that i can easily copy .mov files to my computer for the little mini bits that I put on the website (much more convenient than capturing video for this purpose)
• tape, not dvd or hard drive, unless you can give me a good reason not to
• can plug in cables for sound systems, or at least an external mic
• price around $3000 (Canadian)
• but a 'pre-owned' one might be a good value, too
Any and all recommendations are welcome
Elizabeth

thrillcat editorial wrote:
Um, you are basically saying that it must be Blue, but it can't be blue unless you give me a good reason.
Well, that's just being silly and unhelpful:
• some video cameras tape to a hard drive only .... i find that useless: it limits you in size and or quality of what you can tape.
• Others use dvd: from what i understand this compresses the data, affecting quality ...
However, tapes contain raw and uncompressed footage.
That's my understanding of these media.
Now, if you can give me a reason to use dvd or hard drive video cameras that corrects a misunderstanding that I possibly have, then please do so.
Besides, what 'blue' are you referring to: cerulean? azure? prussian? cobalt? ultramarine? As you can see, limiting oneself to 'blue' is not really a limitation.
Elizabeth

Logging takes in the field for multi-camera set-up with OL

Is there any way to designate separate cameras or link shots (to be labeled as CamA or CamB) to advance takes and make notes simultaneously?
OL doesn't really seem set up to use with documentary style shooting with multiple cameras, but maybe there is some way around this?
I just want to be able to add takes in OL to multiple cameras without a lot of typing between each take...and add notes that are applicable to multiple cameras within one shot and one take.
Any ideas?

OnLocation CS5 has an entirely new feature set known as the File-Based Workflow that may be just what you are looking for. The basic steps are as follows:
PRE-PRODUCTION (IDEALLY)
1) Create a placeholder for one camera angle of a given scene/shot. (Consider using Adobe Story to prepare your script. Then you can hand the script off to OL and have it automatically broken down into scene-level placeholders. You will then still need to break those placeholders down to the shot level)
2) Use the Camera Name property to designate the camera for that shot. If you use the "auto-matching" process, which you will likely want to do if you're entering notes per take, then this data point will be used to automatically mate a set of clips from, say Camera A to the correct set of placeholders.
3) Fill in any other metadata that is common to other camera angles.
4) Duplicate the placeholder for other camera angles & shots of the scene. To do this, you can use either the Duplicate Placeholder command or, to create multiple duplcates, the Break Out Scene command, both of which are available in the context menu when you right-click a row in the shot list. Note that both commands work with multiple rows selected.
5) Customize each duplicate as appropriate.
6) Repeat for your other shots.
DURING THE SHOOT
1) [Strongly recommended] For multi-cam shoots, synchronize the date/time on all the cameras. Ideally, synch them all to the date/time on the computer running OnLocation. This greatly simplifies the auto-matching process by saving you the hassle of repeatedly changing the camera date/time in OnLocation.
2) Select placeholder(s) or clip(s) for the next shot.
3) At any time between starting and stopping recording of the take, click the Timestamp button (upper left corner of the Project/Shot List panel). This step applies a timestamp to the placeholder, which makes it possible for the auto-matching mechanism to determine which clip belongs with which placeholder.
4) Optional: Add temporal comment markers to timestamped placeholders, which will be aligned to the clip when you auto-match. (Note that PPRO does not recognize comment markers added in OnLocation.)
5) Repeat steps 1-3 for subsequent shots
AFTER TRANFERRING CLIPS TO THE COMPUTER
1) In the Media Browser panel, navigate to the folder where you copied the content.
2) Select the clips.
3) Click the Auto-Match button at the top of the panel. This opens the Auto-Match dialog.
4) if this is a multi-camera shoot, check the appropriate box and select the name of the camera that this content came from. The list for the Camera Name setting is populated from what you entered in the Camera Name field for all timestamped placeholders. [Be alert for unintended variants. For example, if you entered "Camera A" for some shots and "Cam A" for others, you'll see both versions in the list. Before proceeding, you should standardize the entries.]
5) Set the Camera Date/Time. If you synched the cameras' date & time to the computer's, then this step is not necessary (unless you previously set a Camera Date/Time offset in OL, in which case you will need to reset the Date/Time to match the computer's.)
6) Click OK to proceed with auto-matching. OnLocation will proceed to find the placeholder whose timestamp fits within the Start and Stop Recording times of one of the clips and, if relevant, whose Camera Name matches your selection. All metadata from that placeholder will be merged into the clip.
[Please note that all of the foregoing is from memory--I don't have OL CS5 installed on this home computer--so I may have gotten the names of some of the controls wrong. I'm pretty confident that the basic workflow is sound, however.]
Here's the help page for this feature. I'm afraid it's does not really cover the particulars for a multi-camera workflow. http://help.adobe.com/en_US/onlocation/cs/using/WS89e4fde9608114f41e5eb2de124b454ea2b-8000 .html
As for entering the same string in the Comment field (or any other metadata property) for multiple placeholders or clips simultaneously, simply select whichever rows in the Shot List that you want to edit, then in the Metadata panel edit whichever properties you choose to. Your changes will be applied to all selected rows (assuming they're editable--i.e., not read-only or offline, both of which apply only to clips, not to placeholders)

Camera recommendations for a FCS2 user.

I'm working with FCS2, and using a 15' MacB Pro. I'm curious what camera you all would recommend for shooting professional quality video, whilst being a little on the cheap side. (I'm a student)
A 1000 Internets to you.

There are many forums devoted to cameras. Decide which format you want to shoot then wander over to the creative cow or 2pop and start reading through the cinematography threads.
Just stay away from AVCHD.
x

Any recommendation for a rooftop video cam?

Hello!
I'm wondering if anyone here could recommend a video cam to install on a 10 to 15 foot pole on top of my roof. I'm trying to have a view of the beach and ocean across my house. I've done a "quick and dirty" Google search and so far, none look that good. The one's I've seen from a Google search are wireless, which is good, but the image quality may be mediocre. I don't necessarily need to record the images, but would like to be able to scan and zoom if possible. An interface to my computer or to one of the inputs available from a high-definition television monitor are hopefully available options.
Thanks.
~Raymon

Hi, Raymon.
Take a look at Ben Bird's Security Spy. This seems to be what you want w.r.t. an computer interface for the camera. Ben may also be able to recommend some cameras to you. He has a little "generic" info about using cameras outdoors here, but I'd suspect he could give you some good camera advice since it could also lead to your buying the software.
Good luck!
Dr. Smoke
Author: Troubleshooting Mac® OS X

Recommendations for Semi-Pro or Pro HD Video camera to use with fcp and Mac

Recommendations for Semi-Pro or Pro HD Video camera to use with fcpX and Mac with auto settings and ability to override, need to add external mic or 2. Am one person crew so needs to be easy to use.

And check out the Panasonic AG-AC90. Very good specs for a prosumer unit. Everything in the semi-pro area will involve trade offs for sure. Key thing is to study up enough to know what your needs are vs what trade off are involved in the various models. The ag-ac90 trade off (one of them) is diffraction limited sharpness.

Camera Brand Recommendations for Ease with iPhoto

Hi
I'm seeking recommendations for mid-level digital camera brands that have images that are highly compatible with iPhoto.
I'm not a professional photographer. Just a proud father.
I never felt that my Sony cameras image files were as easy to upload and work with in iPhoto. I like the look of Samsung cameras, but they state their cameras are designed for being very compatible with Android. So that seems like it will be tedious to use their images in iPhoto.
Anyhow, I'd like to hear good and bad experiences with various camera brands.

I'm seeking recommendations for mid-level digital camera brands that have images that are highly compatible with iPhoto.
I never felt that my Sony cameras image files were as easy to upload and work with in iPhoto.
Uploading the images from the camera should be the easy part. When picking a camera to catch the important moments in life of your kids, pick a camera that takes great photos, but has a "point and shoot" feeling. You will want a camera that is ready, when you need it, and not have to look for the manual or changing lenses, when your kid makes the first walking step.
I'd go for a camera with a wide range zoom, auto focus plus manual focus, built-in flash, and menus and controls that are easy to understand and to find. And I would never buy a camera without a view finder, because the displays are hard to use in bright sunlight in the garden.

Recommendations for compact Camcorder / Digital Camera combo?

Now that I'm 2 years into fatherhood, I'm finding that I have specific digital habits for which I'm hoping to get some recommendations for a product. Basically, I use a decent Sony camcorder to shoot DV, which I edit in iMovie into little videos. I also have a few digital cameras (point-and-shoot and SLR) to take a big range of still photographs. But I'm getting tired of carrying them all around with me.
What I'm hoping to get is a new product that's small, has good video capture, and still takes good still photos. And most importantly, I need it to work seamlessly with iMovie and iPhoto. Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm really just looking for something that I can put in my pocket and shoot video or stills of my son when he does something cute!
Thanks!

You might want to check out Sony's latest Cyber-shot Digital Camera, the DSC-W300.
It's a point and shoot with video in HD. If you have a nice HDTV, you'll be able to playback the footage easily. I don't know the size of the file for importing into iMovie but your memories will look great.

Which jre & tomcat version do you recommend for this hardware setup?

I have to install a SINGLE JSP application onto an Intel pentium3 windows XP box with 128Mb of RAM clocked at 733Mhz
1. Is this setup sufficient for running tomcat?
2. Which version of tomcat and which JRE do you recommend for this setup?
3. Would I get better performance running Jetty, and if so which version?

The issue of changing native folder hierarchy and/or naming conventions has little to do with solid state media and everything to do with the container and header data that links the audio/video streams with the metadata and thus allows the content or "media essence" to be properly decoded and played. This is the very reason to use a tool like Prelude or Premiere's Media Browser or even Bridge or Lightroom or a third party logging tool like metafuze or shotputpro, or dedicated camera format software such as sony xdcam clipbrowser or panasonic p2 browser, redcine x, ect, as these tools all are designed to parse the captured A/V data and make properly syntaxed edits to the metadata either embedded directly into the media container or in Prelude and Premiere's case can also be written back to a sidecar or associated XMP file, which is a flavor of XML that contains all the original captured metadata plus any changes and/or additions made via these tools.
The dangers come into play when changes to the native file naming convention or folder hierarchy are done directly to the media content via finder on mac or explorer on windows, as changing at that level can break the relationship between the metadata stream and the media essence since the changes are not being written to the metadata or content headers or being handled in a manner referred to as transmuxing..
Prelude & Premiere's Media Browser both allow for looking into the native files non-destructively and safely modifying either the metadata linked to the native media or also allows for a transcode to be done which will then copy or recreate a new media file in whatever format selected along with a new metadata stream.
Prelude is a nice utility and Premiere's Media Browser an amazing tool for organizing, modifying and selectively ingesting media and or making quick selects and assemblies.

Recommendations for Analog to Digital conversion

I am seeking the help of all the Pros out there. I am moving my extensive analog music collection (LP/Cassette) to the digital world. Are there any recommendations for creating a CD-quality sound/volume level. I am currently using the standards (click/pop/hiss reduction, compressor and/or hard limiting). I am recording at 44.1/16 Bit and saving files in mp3 PRO-320 kbps for sake of storage. I welcome any assistance in regard to Plug-ins, equalization or other suggestions.
Thank you in advance
Paddy 41
Pentium 4/3.2 GHz, 2.0 MB Ram, Soundblaster X-Fi Elite Pro, Windows XP PRO SP3, Adobe Audition 3.0, Sony PS-LX250H Turntable, Denon DRM-600 Cassette.

>I am recording at 44.1/16 Bit and saving files in mp3 PRO-320 kbps for sake of storage. I welcome any assistance in regard to Plug-ins, equalization or other suggestions.
You shouldn't save files as MP3s until all the processing you want to do has been done - this is a lossy format, and every time you open a file saved like this it gets re-decoded, and then re-encoded when you do a save. And the quality degeneration is progressive. And unfortunately, recording your files as 16-bit is also not going to be quite the thing to do if you are going to do any sort of amplitude processing at all, either, especially if you are recording at a lower-than-optimum amplitude, which is usually the case. 44.1k is fine, though!
So, to get over the potential problems, the thing to do is to digitise your files as 44.1k 32-bit floating point, and until all processing is done, store them as Windows PCM wav files in this format, because that is uncompressed, which is what you need.
If you want to reduce noise on cassette recordings, it's worth using a fairly high FFT setting, even though it takes longer to do the processing. Since most of the noise is not LF, this tends to work better, although there is also a case for doing the NR twice, once with a lower FFT setting and once with a higher one, but not trying to take out too much in one go.
As for click reduction - well, you have to experiment. But letting the software determine all of the levels tends to give you a pretty good starting point. Another trick that's sometimes worth it is to transform your files temporarily to M-S stereo instead of L-R, and treat each channel separately - you generally get different levels of clicks in each, usually more in the S signal, whilst the M cancels out quite a few. And in general, the less clicks you can get away with processing, the better.
Hard limiting? Never used it on a conversion like that at all, and wouldn't even consider it - transients are already likely to be distorted, and hard limiting them further seems like a
very strange thing to do...
Other tools that are useful, especially on cassettes are iZotope's Ozone (some of which is already in Audition) and HarBal. You can restore usually distorted frequency responses with the latter, and get a good average value automatically and easily. And judicious use of Ozone's enhancer can make them seem a lot less like the results came from a cassette...
One of the useful things you can do with Ozone is to selectively widen parts of the spectrum. Since most records of music tend (for reasons of tracking) to have had the bass forced to be virtually mono, with subsequent similar consequences for other instruments with substantial LF content, it's worth expanding just about everything under about 250Hz, possibly by more than you might think.
Generally, 'normal' EQ doesn't have a lot of use when processing vinyl, if it's relatively recent. And that generally means anything from the 60's onwards. If you think things are seriously wrong, the chances are that it's your monitors and environment that are misleading you. Just bear in mind that when this stuff was produced, it was all monitored in a professional environment - more so than it might be today, even.
No doubt there will be a few other responses - I don't think that the foregoing is anything like complete, but is at least a start.

Shortcut buttons for both camera and voice command

Hi
I am having trouble with my blackberry 8900. I was using my phone and i'm not sure what i did. All of the sudden my camera and voice command doesnt work as a shortcut on either the top of the phone for the camera or the side for the voice command. Do you know how to fix the problem. I prefer using the voice command on the side and the camera at the top better than using the home screen.
Thank you

Hi and Welcome to the Forums!
Anytime random strange behavior or sluggishness creeps in, the first thing to do is a battery pop reboot. With power ON, remove the back cover and pull out the battery. Wait about a minute then replace the battery and cover. Power up and wait patiently through the long reboot -- ~5 minutes. See if things have returned to good operation. Like all computing devices, BB's suffer from memory leaks and such...with a hard reboot being the best cure.
Best!
Occam's Razor nearly always applies when troubleshooting technology issues!
If anyone has been helpful to you, please show your appreciation by clicking the button inside of their post. Please click here and read, along with the threads to which it links, for helpful information to guide you as you proceed. I always recommend that you treat your BlackBerry like any other computing device, including using a regular backup schedule...click here for an article with instructions.
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What DVD burner is recommended for burning an iMovie?

I would like a recommendation for a DVD burner app that will burn quality movies. What does everyone use? I downloaded a couple of free ones from the App Store, but I was not satisfied with the quality of the movie that I created in iMovie.
Thanks!

babowaNov 4, 2014 7:32 PM Re: What DVD burner is recommended for burning an iMovie?
Re: What DVD burner is recommended for burning an iMovie?in response to mikmarjas
I use Roxio Toast as well as iDVD. The quality is also dependent on a) the camera/quality used, b) the process used in iMovie (which version?), and c) which method (quality settings) is used to export it from iMovie. Every process/step (including the encoding for burning) will compress the video and may result in a slight loss of quality.
babowa, how do I go about knowing the correct steps that you mentioned to produce a good quality video? My videos look good on my computer, but on the tv the quality is greatly diminished.
Thank you for your response and help!

Seeking Laptop Recommendations For Video Editing On-The-Go (Around $1,000)

Hi there,
I am seeking recommendations for a laptop great for video editing. I am a YouTuber with an on-the-go lifestyle.
Budget is $1,000ish.
I need to be able to physically lock the laptop with one of those holes on the side.
I want to be able to multi-task well by having a variety of programs open at once.
Thanks for the help.

Well that is a tall request Take a look at this factory refurbished starter unit. I acquired a similar refurbished unit just a year ago and upgraded it with more RAM and SSD drives. The upgrade process is extremely simple. You could start with the unmodified unit and as you run into performance problems upgrade gradually. My laptop is now editing three camera timelines of AVCHD 1920 x 1080 with ease. I now have 24 GB of RAM and got rid of the 1 TB 5400 rpm by cloning it to a 128 GB SSD drive and adding a second very good SSD in the available port. Removing one screw gives you full access to do this. Here is a picture of the bottom of my laptop.
Edit, I just checked and it does have a Kensington security slot
You do realize that the only way to do video editing is to have the laptop AC powered.

Olympus SDK for digital cameras

Joey,
Do you have a URL for this?
cheers
ben
On Mon, 28 Jul 2003 10:56:55 -0400, "Joey Oravec"
wrote:
> > Anybody tried to use an USB camera with LabVIEW?
> - Olympus provides an ActiveX based SDK for their cameras. I would highly
> recommend this as an all-around good still-picture solution. The cameras are
> still priced as consumer equipment, the driver development time is shorter
> since ActiveX is easier to work with than DLLs under labview, and the SDK
> support person is very friendly.
>
> -joey

Ning;
http://developer.olympus.com/
Regards;
Enrique
www.visecurity.com
www.vartortech.com

Camcorder recommendations for QTSS

Hey all,
Don't know if this is the place to post this query, but here goes:
My boss has asked me to set up a live streaming setup (with quicktime broadcaster and QTSS). I want to use a DV camcorder for the increased quality, but we're not going to be recording to DV tape (don't need to.)
Problem is, many camcorders have a sleep funcion that kicks in if the camera is not in "record" mode.
Does anyone have any recommendations on how to get around this, or any recommendations for camcorders that don't go to sleep?

Well, mine's a Canon GL1. But the same "trick" worked on older VHS models I have, too. And I've been in situations where DJs and such were perplexed by this, and taking the tape out worked for them, too. Honest. Try it. Report back, please -- I'd be surprised if it DIDN'T work.
17 iMac DV Mac OS X (10.2.x)

Recommendations for HD camera?

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