back in "the day", I thought I was doing good by upgrading to Hi8 video and MediaStudio Pro 7. As you can tell I've been out of the video world quite some time.
But, now I have been asked to do a video. So, I bought a HD video camera ('bout all you can buy nowdays). The program lasted about 1 hr, so now I have 3 different videos on my SD card ??????
I used to capture Hi8 video that was over an hour long, from the camera to the PC, all in one file that I could then edit. And I could produced videos from MSPro that were over 1 hr long. All in one file. Why can't they make a camera that will do this now???
So, now I have to find a way to "join" these 3 videos. Hopefully I didn't loose any footage between the clips.
Is there a way to capture a full hour of video in one file anymore?
I don't know if I like this new digital format . . . .
Three separate files is not a problem. When you put them on the timeline of your editing program there will be no gaps. No only that, but the transfer from SD card to hard disk (drag and drop) will be much quicker than the real-time transfer needed for Hi8.
Have you got a suitable editing program yet?
Ray
I eventually worked out what you mean. The cameras that automatically spilt your recording into multiple files do it for good reason. It's safer, as a battery going flat can only lose you the current clip, the older ones are safe, and transferring files between computers can be quicker. An umpteen gigabyte file takes a while to transfer, and many people don't need to transfer everything, just the ones they need, leaving the out-takes on the card. Most editors will allow you to grab say ten files, with sequential names, and drag the whole lot into the timeline, and have them in the right order. I've never thought of it as a problem, more an extra convenience?
However, if you have recorded i.e. for more than approx. 20 min you will find that if you have not ingested the clips using the software provided with the camera, you will have a few frames of video/audio missing between the clips! The reason being is the format used by the camera manufacturers, something like FAT32 which unlike NTFS does not support files over approx. 4GB. If the clips you recorded are of a smaller duration there will be no problem. Hope that helps. When I used to shoot on a tape format it would take "Real Time" to ingest, now with card based USB3 the time taken is substantially less. When we cover i.e. a 2 hr show on 4 cameras we can be editing in around 2-3 hrs whereas before that would be 8+ hrs.
Well, that does make sense. However, now you HAVE to do some sort of editing. Can't just shoot something and burn it to DVD.
I don't understand why the time on the display shows 0:00:00, when it will only do 0:20:00.
So, besides this, now I have to buy a new software package that will edit HD video . . . . crap. There was a MPEG4 plug-in for MSPro for HD, but I can't find a download anywhere.
Thanks for the replies!
Sleep well, be good, and have fun!
Things move on I guess. If your old software can't cope with butting 4 files together without faffing about, then I guess you need the new software to make best use of your new camera. You've invested in the capture end, so at some point you will need to edit, and not just dump stuff to DVD all in one go.
The other bad news of course is that DVD is gradually dying. I pay Adobe each month and they don't even support burning to DVD any more - you have to use one of their older products. The latest does not have a DVD authoring programme at all!
Video is moving VERY quickly!
So what's taking over from DVD ?
I now seem to spend a lot of time arguing with inanimate objects
So what's taking over from DVD ?
Streaming, Video on Demand, downloads, internet rentals. Not Blu-ray or any other physical media.
My studio is around the corner from KVJ Fairdeal, AKA Total Blank Media, who are a reseller and wholesaler of blank media. The place used to be rammed with people buying stacks of blank DVDs, blank CDs etc. Now it's pretty quiet, even at lunchtimes. They tell me that they're doing a third of the business they did two years ago. I was in this week buying some memory sticks, and I asked if they thought they'd still be in business this time next year, and the guy just laughed...
it does present a problem for those of us who sell 'events" to the "public' as opposed to the wedding single client guys.
Things like Graduation DVDs, Dance shows, or concert footage where the clients buy direct from us, by post, with maybe 50-200 copies of each event.
some kind of iTunes style store would be good. I honestly don't know much about duplicating USB sticks for TV sets. Lots of people don't even use USB now, they use the cloud/dropbox.
A common format with rules would help future proof things
I produced a range of "special interest" videos - no, not that kind of special interest!! - which initially sold on VHS, then on DVD, and now they're sold via Vimeo on Demand. Apparently the process is simple and reliable. You can set it up to sell or rent out your videos. Works well for my client, and I imagine, Dave, that you could use it as a direct replacement for Graduation DVDs, Dance shows, or concert footage.
Hi drgerry.
If your PC is up to it, look at Sony Movie Studio Platinum.
Version 10 will do what you want, and is very stable. Version 12 is 64 bit and I can`t tell the difference in speed, but the video stabilizer does crash occasionally. There is a bit of a steep learning curve, but they are fast to use, and wont break the bank.
My Camera (Sony PMW200) records MP4 files, approx. 14mts long, and 3.60 GB, split into separate folders. If you bring in the files separately to Premiere, you will have to join them manually.
However, if you copy over the complete folder including meta data, and import to Premiere, the software joins all the files for you.
How odd, I just open the files and when they are in the file box, just drag them onto the timeline, where premiere stitches them together. I do NOT import anything other than the MP4 files. It is also recommended to bring in entire AVCHD files, in their disc structure, but I don't do this either. Premiere doesn't object on my system here? I usually look at the folder with the mp4's in, select those with the right date stamp, and bring the lot in in one go. This has never been an issue for me?
There's some Euro rule on classing things as cameras, camcorders and as video recorders. They attract different import duties. One deciding factor is if they allow video-in connections and another is how long they can record for
The great debates of old, about the nEUtered firewire ports etc.
This may be about to change soon.
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-15-5440_en.htm?locale=en
Although the sceptic in me says don't hold your breath waiting for prices to drop.
Thinking back about this topic, I've decided I actually prefer lots of small files. My small POV cameras do this automatically, and it's quite convenient - especially if you change filenames to reflect each clip. Going back to an old project as I did last night was quicker as a result.
I'm having a difficulty here . . . Where I stand there is a constant demand for DVD; people haven't even got BD. Also, I have a number of people who want transfers from either cine' or SVHS and VHS tapes. Am I just lucky or what . . . ?
Ron
I have never done a BD
I have a blueray/5.1 audio system at home and don't own a BD disc, it's just that it came with a built in BD player
a mate who's entire income is concert/events that are sold through as DVD has only ever had one enquiry about one BD.
BD ( and DVD) is a redundant format and sooner rather than later distribution will become an issue
a mate who's entire income is concert/events that are sold through as DVD has only ever had one enquiry about one BD.
BD came too late. The manufacturers shot themselves in the foot with that stupid battle between Blu-ray and HD-DVD that went on and on. Then when Blu-ray 'won', there was another long wait before recordable Blu-ray became available. The videographer trade said "Why bother?".
Another reason is that people will pay for convenience (which is why DVD very quickly replaced VHS in 2004 when the price-point for DVD players reached £99.99), but they wont pay for quality (which is why DVD hangs on) (and also why people listen to their music on mp3)
My current editor has a Blue Ray burner. Not a single one has been put through it in two years. People (as in ordinary consumers) have a quality threshold. In the VHS days, they were used to tracking errors, drop out, and copy loss errors, but had no idea what they were - they just got in the way of the enjoyment. The pictures were also visibly poorer than off air broadcasts. Then DVDs came, and the tape artefacts vanished, and quality looked very similar to off air broadcast. The only real faults were understood as customer errors when they scratched them, and they understood.
Look at the history of HD TVs - most consumers saw increased contrast and colour saturation as 'HD'. Blacks were blacker. So loads of people immediately happy by better pictures - in SD! My wife watches our HD TV in the bedroom on the SD channels. If I switch to BBC HD from normal BBC, she can't see the difference. Now we have scrapped the line based resolution devices in favour of pixels, increased pixels are frequently not even noticed!
We only need to go HD, then ultra-HD when the screen size warrants it, but we're now decreasing screen size. Google tell me that my website is not mobile friendly, and I should be concerned because over 50% of internet users are now watching on mobile devices. HD is probably pointless, and 4K is really just a way to pan and scan afterwards.
We can produce HD images as resolutions the viewer doesn't need. Adobe tell me DVD is dead, while my customers say it isn't!
Music is probably 40% of my income, and the debate between uncompressed high bit rate audio and MP3s goes along very similar lines. If you have a good trained ear, and understand the physics, you can hear why a .wav vs .mp3 test says loudly MP3 is horrible. However, consumers do not have trained ears and have no understanding of the physics. They have a listen, and frequently pick MP3 as sound better. Of course, it isn't but the differences actually please the listeners. Clearly everyone thinks they sound different, but some appreciate these differences in a strange way. They cannot even describe them, but they like the sound of MP3s.
We assume too often the audience appreciate what we do - I really don't think they do at all!
Agree paul,
I was chatting to someone about the same thing the other day,
When I was a teenager, my mates and I saved up first for a Garrard SP Mk3 and amp/speakers and 5 LPs.
As money allowed, we got better gear and more vinyl , we had early CD players at work that were the price of a second hand car.
Like everybody else I moved to CD. Owning a few hundred LPs/ CD's was a benchmark
"Kids today" have free music, or bought MP3 and most don't seem to have the ability to hear the difference.
They value the number of songs on their device as more important than quality and owning the entire contents of HMV at dial-a disc quality is seen as "better"
they are quite happy to watch youtube.
The best thing that happened for small video production was DVD. I used to use linear editing, then VHS duplication, all done properly, at vast set up costs and luckily when I needed to buy another duplication system, plumped for a DVD duplicator form Ian @ Lynx and hit the market very early.
I made enough in one week to justify the DVD duplicator.
Customers are happy with DVD and personally I have never used a netflix style service.
It will come, and I'll have to use it but that makes life hard for a company that does graduation/concerts etc.