peterac

Questions from someone entering into DV

Hi all,

I am new to the digital video world and I wanted to get some good feedback on where I am and where I should go from here.

So here’s my background:

I have about 9 years of Hi8/Digital 8 tapes which I have done no editing on whatsoever. My son is now 9 and we now have an 8 month old baby girl. So, I am in the market for an HD Camcorder. I want to convert all of my tapes to digital so that I can edit them as well as my new digital video taken from my new camcorder. I have a copy of Sony Vegas Movie Studio & DVD Platinum which I received as a gift.

Here is what I'd like to know:

I’d like to know the best and most efficient way to convert my tapes to digital.

One of the main reasons I want to go digital is because I want to edit and create DVDs for family and friends. If I purchase an HD camera am I going to need an expensive burner that can rip high def disks? I have no clue about this. Also, if I burn a high def disk will it have to be Blue Ray or HD DVD? Will the people I give these to be able to watch them on a standard DVD player? How do I deal with the fact that not everyone has an HDTV or HD DVD player? I have an HDTV but not a high def player (we might get a Sony PS3).

I am in the market for a camera like the HV20 or HC7. I think I am leaning to a Sony. I have had good luck with their camcorders in the past. Unless there are benfits to getting a Canon because I am used to their D-SLR user interface.

Essentially, this will be a major change for me from simply popping in a tape and archiving the tapes into a box. I am computer literate so learning software will not be a problem.

Can I get some advice on workflow, compression, quality, etc?

Lastly, is there a place on the web I can go to learn the basics?

The more I know upfront the better off I will be.

Thanks!
Pete R.

Thomas Newton

Re: Questions from someone entering into DV

The choices come down to (1) finding a Digital8 camcorder that can play back 8mm/Hi8 tapes, (2) finding a MiniDV (or HD ???) camcorder that accepts analog input (play-through is nice, but even record / rewind / play back will get the job done), or (3) finding a conversion box (a camcorder without the camera or the ability to record).


Unless you're going to burn DVD-ROMs to be played back only on computers, creating "HD" discs (with full resolution) for your family/friends will require the entire chain ("filming/recording", "editing", "burning", "playback") to be HD.

I would presume that for people who do not have HD disc playback systems, you will need to burn either standard DVD-Video discs, or DVD-ROM discs with "HD" content that computers with DVD drives can play back. If you are starting with a recording from a HD camcorder, you'll need to "downconvert" the resolution. I would think that some software or hardware packages could do this for you, although I don't know specific ones.