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Friday, May 25, 2007
Digital Video Editing Book Reviews
Digital Video Editing Book Reviews
Technique of Film Editingby Karel Reisz, Gavin Millar
It's still the bible of film AND video editing although it has not been revised since 1968. Highly recommend.
Read review here.
Technique of Film and Video Editing: History, Theory, and Practiceby Ken Dancyger
A guide for serious film and video makers conveying the artistic and aesthetic principles and practices of editing. Highly recommend. Read review here.
Nonlinear - A Field Guide to Digital Video and Film Editingby Michael Rubin
A complete reference book about the technical side of digital video and film editing. Highly recommend. Read review here.
Digital Video for Dummiesby Martin Doucette
A good starting point with simple, clear explanations on almost everything about digital video. Read review here.
The Digital Filmmaking Handbookby Ben Long, Sonja Schenk
A general overview of video/film production and editing. Read review here.
Digital Non-linear Desktop Editingby Sonja Schenk
Current technology and desktop editing tools, and how to integrate them into your own editing projects. Read review here.
Nonlinear Editing: Storytelling, Aesthetics, & Craftby Bryce Button
Adobe Premiere Classroom In A Bookby Adobe Creative Team
Step-by-step instructions, guiding you through most of the main features of Premiere and get familiar with them. Highly recommend. Read review here.
Editing Techniques with Final Cut Proby Michael Wohl
Covering the basics of video production and the use of Final Cut Pro itself. Highly recommend. Read review here.
CD and DVD Recording for Dummiesby Mark L. Chambers
The title says all. Read review here.
Creating Your Own Great DVDs and CDs: The Official HP Guideby Mark L. Chambers
Create every type of DVD, CD and VCD, and record whatever you want - video, photographs, music or data. Read review here.
Click Here For More Video Editing Books At Amazon
source: http://www.aboutvideoediting.com/books/index.shtml
Technique of Film Editingby Karel Reisz, Gavin Millar
It's still the bible of film AND video editing although it has not been revised since 1968. Highly recommend.
Read review here.
Technique of Film and Video Editing: History, Theory, and Practiceby Ken Dancyger
A guide for serious film and video makers conveying the artistic and aesthetic principles and practices of editing. Highly recommend. Read review here.
Nonlinear - A Field Guide to Digital Video and Film Editingby Michael Rubin
A complete reference book about the technical side of digital video and film editing. Highly recommend. Read review here.
Digital Video for Dummiesby Martin Doucette
A good starting point with simple, clear explanations on almost everything about digital video. Read review here.
The Digital Filmmaking Handbookby Ben Long, Sonja Schenk
A general overview of video/film production and editing. Read review here.
Digital Non-linear Desktop Editingby Sonja Schenk
Current technology and desktop editing tools, and how to integrate them into your own editing projects. Read review here.
Nonlinear Editing: Storytelling, Aesthetics, & Craftby Bryce Button
Adobe Premiere Classroom In A Bookby Adobe Creative Team
Step-by-step instructions, guiding you through most of the main features of Premiere and get familiar with them. Highly recommend. Read review here.
Editing Techniques with Final Cut Proby Michael Wohl
Covering the basics of video production and the use of Final Cut Pro itself. Highly recommend. Read review here.
CD and DVD Recording for Dummiesby Mark L. Chambers
The title says all. Read review here.
Creating Your Own Great DVDs and CDs: The Official HP Guideby Mark L. Chambers
Create every type of DVD, CD and VCD, and record whatever you want - video, photographs, music or data. Read review here.
Click Here For More Video Editing Books At Amazon
source: http://www.aboutvideoediting.com/books/index.shtml
DVD Tips
DVD Tips
How to take care of DVD discs?
Since DVDs are read by a laser, they are resistant - to a point - to fingerprints, dust, smudges, and scratches. However, surface contaminants and scratches can cause data errors. So it's a good idea to take care of your discs.
In general, treat them the same way as you would a CD.
Keep your discs clean, which will also keep the inside of your player clean.
Never attempt to play a cracked disc, as it could shatter and damage the player.
Using cleaning disc specially designed for DVD players if you really want to clean the laser lens.
Handle only at the hub or outer edge. Don't touch the shiny surface with your popcorn-greasy fingers.
Store in a protective case when not in use. Do not bend the disc when taking it out of the case, and be careful not to scratch the disc when placing it in the case or in the player tray.
Make certain the disc is properly seated in the player tray before you close it.
Keep away from hot equipment surfaces, direct sunlight, pets, small children, and other destructive forces. Magnetic fields have no effect on DVDs.
Coloring the outside edge of a DVD with a marker makes no difference in video or audio quality.
Your first try? Here are some advices:
Fully utilize preview or test function. Some DVD authoring software allow you to create the DVD content in a folder on your hard drive. This is an exact copy of the DVD, but not on DVD media. Play and test your DVD from the hard drive on your computer screen. If you see any artifacts, tears or other signs of poor video quality, go back and transcode videos into MPEG2 again.
Buy some rewritable (DVD-RW or DVD+RW) discs so that you don't have to worry about spending a fortune on blank media while you learn how to master this new technology.
Once you are sure that your DVD is the way you like it, burn it onto a rewritable disc. Test your project directly from disc, either in your computer or your set top player. If you run into any problems with the video quality the first thing you may want to do is try a different burning software to take the data from the folder to the DVD media. Your DVD burner most likely came with this software. If that doesn't get the job done you may want to try transcoding those segments again, possibly using different settings.
When you can burn a rewritable DVD that works 100% you can then go on and produce your single use DVDs. If I am going to be making more than a few copies, I like to do it directly from the folder, using the DVD burning software.
Once you have become more experienced you will know all the right settings for your particular system. At that point you'll be able to skip these extra steps and just burn directly from the authoring software.
Want to know more about DVD?
If you are really interested in more details of DVD, click here for the official online DVD FAQ. It is the most complete source of DVD information. Get yourself ready to read lots of technical stuff, though.
source: http://www.aboutvideoediting.com/articles/DVD-tips.shtml
How to take care of DVD discs?
Since DVDs are read by a laser, they are resistant - to a point - to fingerprints, dust, smudges, and scratches. However, surface contaminants and scratches can cause data errors. So it's a good idea to take care of your discs.
In general, treat them the same way as you would a CD.
Keep your discs clean, which will also keep the inside of your player clean.
Never attempt to play a cracked disc, as it could shatter and damage the player.
Using cleaning disc specially designed for DVD players if you really want to clean the laser lens.
Handle only at the hub or outer edge. Don't touch the shiny surface with your popcorn-greasy fingers.
Store in a protective case when not in use. Do not bend the disc when taking it out of the case, and be careful not to scratch the disc when placing it in the case or in the player tray.
Make certain the disc is properly seated in the player tray before you close it.
Keep away from hot equipment surfaces, direct sunlight, pets, small children, and other destructive forces. Magnetic fields have no effect on DVDs.
Coloring the outside edge of a DVD with a marker makes no difference in video or audio quality.
Your first try? Here are some advices:
Fully utilize preview or test function. Some DVD authoring software allow you to create the DVD content in a folder on your hard drive. This is an exact copy of the DVD, but not on DVD media. Play and test your DVD from the hard drive on your computer screen. If you see any artifacts, tears or other signs of poor video quality, go back and transcode videos into MPEG2 again.
Buy some rewritable (DVD-RW or DVD+RW) discs so that you don't have to worry about spending a fortune on blank media while you learn how to master this new technology.
Once you are sure that your DVD is the way you like it, burn it onto a rewritable disc. Test your project directly from disc, either in your computer or your set top player. If you run into any problems with the video quality the first thing you may want to do is try a different burning software to take the data from the folder to the DVD media. Your DVD burner most likely came with this software. If that doesn't get the job done you may want to try transcoding those segments again, possibly using different settings.
When you can burn a rewritable DVD that works 100% you can then go on and produce your single use DVDs. If I am going to be making more than a few copies, I like to do it directly from the folder, using the DVD burning software.
Once you have become more experienced you will know all the right settings for your particular system. At that point you'll be able to skip these extra steps and just burn directly from the authoring software.
Want to know more about DVD?
If you are really interested in more details of DVD, click here for the official online DVD FAQ. It is the most complete source of DVD information. Get yourself ready to read lots of technical stuff, though.
source: http://www.aboutvideoediting.com/articles/DVD-tips.shtml
DVD FAQ
DVD FAQ
First of all, what is DVD?
DVD stands for "digital video disc". Some people argue that DVD stands for "digital versatile disc". It doesn't matter at all actually. What matters is to remember: DVD is the latest generation of optical disc storage technology.
We can regard DVD as a much better version of CD - much bigger and faster. DVD can hold cinema-like video, better-than-CD audio, and computer data. DVD has widespread support from all major electronics companies, computer hardware companies, and movie and music studios. Eventually, it seems that DVD has been replacing videotape, LD, CD-ROM, very quickly recently.
DVD uses MPEG-2 compression to store videos.
What's so good about DVD?
DVD has become the most popular format for video makers. There must a reason, right?
A single-side, single-layer DVD can hold 4.7GB data which means over 2 hours of high-quality digital video.
Support for wide-screen movies on standard(4:3) or wide-screen(16:9) TVs .
Up to 8 tracks of digital audio (for multiple languages, DVS, etc.), each with as many as 8 channels.
Up to 32 subtitle/karaoke tracks.
Up to 9 camera angles (different viewpoints can be selected during playback).
Menus and simple interactive features (for games, quizzes, etc.).
Compact size (easy to handle, store, ship and duplicate).
Parental lock (for denying playback of discs or scenes with objectionable material).
Copyright protection (stopping duplication) and regional lockout (preventing playback of certain discs in certain region/country).
Yet, most discs do not contain all features (multiple audio/subtitle tracks, parental control, etc.), as each feature must be specially authored.
Most DVD players only support certain set of features as well.
What's the capacity of DVD?
There are two physical sizes: 12 cm (4.7 inches) and 8 cm (3.1 inches), both 1.2 mm thick. A DVD disc can be single-sided or double-sided. Each side can have one or two layers of data. A single-sided, single layer DVD disc can hold 4.7GB data or more than 2 hours of video. A double-sided, double layer DVD can hold 17GB.
You will use 12 cm, single-sided, single layer disc to burn your DVD videos.
How's the quality of DVD video?
The simple answer is, DVD video is amazingly great. It's capable of producing near-studio-quality, better-than-LD videos.
The not-so-simple answer is, it depends on many factors. Poor video source, bad cables, improper color correction, electrical interference, compression rate...all these will affect your final result.
From my own experience, on a properly configured system, the difference between end DVD video and its source is not noticeable to not-so-experienced-eyes. If you find something strange, it's not because of the DVD burning in 99% of cases.
Confused by all the various DVD recording formats?
Currently, there are 7 DVD formats:
DVD VideoFor viewing movies and other visual entertainment. This is the format used by Hollywood.
DVD-ROMIts basic technology is the same as DVD Video, but it also includes computer-friendly file formats. It is used to store data.
DVD-RAMThis makes DVD a virtual hard disk, with a random read-write access. Originally a 2.6GB drive, its capacity has increased to 4.7GB-per-side. Double sided DVD-RAM media is now available with a 9.4GB capacity. It can be re-written more than 100,000 times. DVD-RAM disks can NOT be played back in set top or computer DVD players. You must have a DVD-RAM drive to playback DVD-RAMs.
DVD-RIts capacity is 4.7GB. As with CD-R, users can write only once to this disk. DVD-R disks can be played back in most set top & computer based DVD players.
DVD-RWIts read-write capacity is 4.7GB per side. It can be re-written up to about 1,000 times. DVD-RW is an extension of the DVD-R format and forum. Like DVD-R, DVD-RW disks can be played back in most set top DVD and computer based DVD players.
DVD+RWIts read-write capacity is 4.7GB per side. It can be re-written up to about 1,000 times. DVD+RW disks can be played on most set top DVD and computer based DVD players.
DVD+RA single write version of DVD+RW.
DVD-R/RW is mainly supported by Pioneer, Yamaha, Ricoh, and Panasonic.
DVD+R/RW is supported by Philips, Sony, HP, Mitsubishi Chemical, Thompson, Dell.
The companies in each camp (dash and plus) are fighting hard to become the worldwide standard. The dominant format will then generate billions of dollars in licensing & royalties to the companies behind it. The market will determine which of them succeeds, or if they end up coexisting or merging.
Are these DVD formats compatible with each other?
Unfortunately, no.
DVD-R/RW disks may or may not be read by DVD+R/RW hardware and vice versa. But both the dash and plus camp claim to have the better compatibility with set top DVD players.
All of the various competing camps are fighting to become the new industry standard. The way they will accomplish this is by making sure the disks you make using their burners play in as many DVD players as possible. I would say, with a high degree of certainty, that any DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW disks you make will work in just about every DVD player currently on the market.
Yet, the DVD specification is complex and open to interpretation. DVD authoring is also very complex. As with any new technology, there are compatibility problems here and there. Check Film Vault for reported compatibility problems before buying.
source: http://www.aboutvideoediting.com/articles/DVD-faq.shtml
First of all, what is DVD?
DVD stands for "digital video disc". Some people argue that DVD stands for "digital versatile disc". It doesn't matter at all actually. What matters is to remember: DVD is the latest generation of optical disc storage technology.
We can regard DVD as a much better version of CD - much bigger and faster. DVD can hold cinema-like video, better-than-CD audio, and computer data. DVD has widespread support from all major electronics companies, computer hardware companies, and movie and music studios. Eventually, it seems that DVD has been replacing videotape, LD, CD-ROM, very quickly recently.
DVD uses MPEG-2 compression to store videos.
What's so good about DVD?
DVD has become the most popular format for video makers. There must a reason, right?
A single-side, single-layer DVD can hold 4.7GB data which means over 2 hours of high-quality digital video.
Support for wide-screen movies on standard(4:3) or wide-screen(16:9) TVs .
Up to 8 tracks of digital audio (for multiple languages, DVS, etc.), each with as many as 8 channels.
Up to 32 subtitle/karaoke tracks.
Up to 9 camera angles (different viewpoints can be selected during playback).
Menus and simple interactive features (for games, quizzes, etc.).
Compact size (easy to handle, store, ship and duplicate).
Parental lock (for denying playback of discs or scenes with objectionable material).
Copyright protection (stopping duplication) and regional lockout (preventing playback of certain discs in certain region/country).
Yet, most discs do not contain all features (multiple audio/subtitle tracks, parental control, etc.), as each feature must be specially authored.
Most DVD players only support certain set of features as well.
What's the capacity of DVD?
There are two physical sizes: 12 cm (4.7 inches) and 8 cm (3.1 inches), both 1.2 mm thick. A DVD disc can be single-sided or double-sided. Each side can have one or two layers of data. A single-sided, single layer DVD disc can hold 4.7GB data or more than 2 hours of video. A double-sided, double layer DVD can hold 17GB.
You will use 12 cm, single-sided, single layer disc to burn your DVD videos.
How's the quality of DVD video?
The simple answer is, DVD video is amazingly great. It's capable of producing near-studio-quality, better-than-LD videos.
The not-so-simple answer is, it depends on many factors. Poor video source, bad cables, improper color correction, electrical interference, compression rate...all these will affect your final result.
From my own experience, on a properly configured system, the difference between end DVD video and its source is not noticeable to not-so-experienced-eyes. If you find something strange, it's not because of the DVD burning in 99% of cases.
Confused by all the various DVD recording formats?
Currently, there are 7 DVD formats:
DVD VideoFor viewing movies and other visual entertainment. This is the format used by Hollywood.
DVD-ROMIts basic technology is the same as DVD Video, but it also includes computer-friendly file formats. It is used to store data.
DVD-RAMThis makes DVD a virtual hard disk, with a random read-write access. Originally a 2.6GB drive, its capacity has increased to 4.7GB-per-side. Double sided DVD-RAM media is now available with a 9.4GB capacity. It can be re-written more than 100,000 times. DVD-RAM disks can NOT be played back in set top or computer DVD players. You must have a DVD-RAM drive to playback DVD-RAMs.
DVD-RIts capacity is 4.7GB. As with CD-R, users can write only once to this disk. DVD-R disks can be played back in most set top & computer based DVD players.
DVD-RWIts read-write capacity is 4.7GB per side. It can be re-written up to about 1,000 times. DVD-RW is an extension of the DVD-R format and forum. Like DVD-R, DVD-RW disks can be played back in most set top DVD and computer based DVD players.
DVD+RWIts read-write capacity is 4.7GB per side. It can be re-written up to about 1,000 times. DVD+RW disks can be played on most set top DVD and computer based DVD players.
DVD+RA single write version of DVD+RW.
DVD-R/RW is mainly supported by Pioneer, Yamaha, Ricoh, and Panasonic.
DVD+R/RW is supported by Philips, Sony, HP, Mitsubishi Chemical, Thompson, Dell.
The companies in each camp (dash and plus) are fighting hard to become the worldwide standard. The dominant format will then generate billions of dollars in licensing & royalties to the companies behind it. The market will determine which of them succeeds, or if they end up coexisting or merging.
Are these DVD formats compatible with each other?
Unfortunately, no.
DVD-R/RW disks may or may not be read by DVD+R/RW hardware and vice versa. But both the dash and plus camp claim to have the better compatibility with set top DVD players.
All of the various competing camps are fighting to become the new industry standard. The way they will accomplish this is by making sure the disks you make using their burners play in as many DVD players as possible. I would say, with a high degree of certainty, that any DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW disks you make will work in just about every DVD player currently on the market.
Yet, the DVD specification is complex and open to interpretation. DVD authoring is also very complex. As with any new technology, there are compatibility problems here and there. Check Film Vault for reported compatibility problems before buying.
source: http://www.aboutvideoediting.com/articles/DVD-faq.shtml
DVD Burner Writer Recorder Reviews
DVD Burner Writer Recorder Reviews
The HP DVD Movie Writer dc3000 is the first DVD ReWritable Drive with built-in analog video capture lets you quickly and easily transfer home video directly from tape (via camcorder or VCR) to DVD. It provides a full suite of software to enable video editing along with photo, music and data applications, and it lets you write and read CD-R and CD-RW discs as well as DVD+R/+RW.
Connected to a desktop or notebook PC through either the USB 1.1 or USB 2.0 port, the HP DVD Movie Writer transfers VHS or other analog tapes and creates digital negatives on long-lasting DVD+R/+RW discs.
The DVD Movie Writer also functions as a standard DVD/CD writer to burn music, photos and data to CD and
DVD backup program files.
The HP DVD Movie Writer also comes with software to help save data, video or music on DVDs and CDs, including Veritas RecordNow and Simple Backup. SimpleBackup reliably backs up, protects and restores individual files or folders or helps restore an entire PC hard drive. Additionally, Cyberlink PowerDVD software makes it easy to play DVD movies on a PC.
Got 15 minutes? Write a DVD in a flash with the HP DVD writer dvd300i. Its storage capacity is impressive, too: preserve up to 4.7 GB worth of photos, video, and graphics.
Write DVDs twice as fast as with earlier technology
Edit, share, and preserve video and digital photos
Back up information on DVDs and CDs
Use one convenient software program, ArcSoft ShowBiz DVD, to capture, author, and edit material
Edit a DVD without rewriting the entire disk
Download video to portable devices for transporting and giving presentations
Reliably back up, protect, and restore files or your entire hard drive
Watch DVD movies from the convenience of your own computer
Create a photo slide show or album to view on your PC or TV with HP memories disc creator
Drag and drop files to CD or DVD from Windows Explorer, or save directly from any application
Preserve material longer: 50–100 years instead of the 7–10 years provided by VHS tapes store up to 133 minutes of high-quality video and up to three hours of VHS-quality video on each high-capacity (4.7 GB) DVD+RW media disc
Panasonic DMR-E80HS is the first DVD player with a built-in hard drive recorder, allowing you to record all your favorite shows onto digital disk as well as watch DVDs.
Talk about "all in one" - the Panasonic DMR-E80HS not only records DVDs and stores more than 100 hours of audio/video programming on its built-in memory; it's also a progressive-scan DVD player that also handles your DVDs, CDs, and MP3 recordable discs. With the DMR-E80HS's 80 GB hard drive, it provides up to 104 hours of recording time, plus up to 6 hours on a removable 4.7 GB DVD-RAM disc (in Extended Play mode in each case).
The DMR-E80HS offers the flexibility of recording on both DVD-RAM - perfect for instant chapter access and for multiple rerecordings - as well as DVD-R, widely regarded as the most widely compatible of the many DVD formats (great for sharing camcorder footage with loved ones).
Panasonic's Time Slip feature lets you use your DVD recorder like a personal video recorder, or PVR. Because of DVD-RAM's extremely fast transfer rate, you can view the recorded portion of an ongoing program from the beginning, while still recording the program in progress. In addition to recording new video content, the DMR-E80HS lets you transfer your favorite VHS recordings to durable, space-saving discs. Personal movie libraries and family videos can be archived, preserved, and easily cataloged and accessed. Picture-enhancing technologies include 3D noise reduction, block noise reduction, and mosquito noise reduction.
With the Direct Navigator you can instantly access recorded material from an onscreen menu that lists recording dates, times, channels, and titles. Finding and viewing recorded material is simple because there's no need to search, fast-forward, or rewind. You can even perform simple non-linear video editing, such as rearranging the order of scenes, skipping over unwanted scenes, and creating custom playlists of favorite scenes on a disc.
Capture, edit, and preserve precious memories with the Philips DVDR75 DVD player/recorder. Using the model's extensive inputs - including an i.Link digital video jack - you can transfer and assemble your most treasured camcorder footage, archive old video tapes, or burn video from a PC straight to high-capacity DVD (up to 6 hours per disc side using either DVD+R or DVD+RW).
You can also use the DVDR75 like a VCR, burning televised programs directly to disc using helpful VCR Plus+ programming data. Recording functions include safe record, one-touch record (OTR), track append, track divide, track erase, automatic/manual chapter marker insertion, disc write protection, favorite scene selection, index picture screen for instant content overview, and Selectable Index Pictures.
The DVDR75 is also a first-rate DVD player, featuring progressive-scan video outputs, Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1-channel surround sound passthrough, MP3 CD playback (CD-R/CD-RW), and compatibility with most DVD media (including video-mode DVD-R and DVD-RW).
Two sets of left/right analog-audio outputs channel audio to Dolby Pro Logic receivers and stereo televisions. Both Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1-channel surround-sound signals can be routed through the player's digital-audio outputs (one each of RCA coaxial and Toslink optical) for direct connection to a full-featured audio/video receiver. If you don't have a surround receiver or six-channel speaker setup, you can still make every movie night the ultimate experience: 3D Surround simulates surround sound through two speakers (even the stereo speakers on a TV).
Panasonic DMR-E100HS features the industry's largest included hard drive - 120 GB.
The Panasonic DMR-E100HS not only records DVDs and holds more than 100 hours of audio/video programming in its built-in memory, it also boasts a built-in SD card slot for reading and writing MPEG2 and MPEG4 video. Now you can copy TV shows or archived video footage to portable media that will play in a laptop, camera, or other device. And guess what? This technological wonder is also a progressive-scan DVD player that's equipped to handle DVDs, CDs, and MP3-encoded discs.
The DMR-E100HS's 120 GB hard drive (HDD) provides up to 150 hours of recording time, plus you can write up to 6 hours of programming to removable 4.7 GB DVD-RAM discs (in Extended Play mode in each case), thanks to Panasonic's original Hybrid VBR (variable bit rate) technology. You get high-speed transfers (22 Mbps) to and from HDD to DVD-RAM, and a quick-record function that rapidly locates a blank section of disc to begin writing to.
Inputs consist of one DV, three composite-video, three S-video, one RF input, and the SD card slot. The IEEE 1394 DV input lets you connect a compatible digital camcorder (via IEEE 1394 cable) and transfer home movies onto either the hard disk or to a DVD-RAM/DVD-R.
source: http://www.aboutvideoediting.com/articles/DVD-burner.shtml
The HP DVD Movie Writer dc3000 is the first DVD ReWritable Drive with built-in analog video capture lets you quickly and easily transfer home video directly from tape (via camcorder or VCR) to DVD. It provides a full suite of software to enable video editing along with photo, music and data applications, and it lets you write and read CD-R and CD-RW discs as well as DVD+R/+RW.
Connected to a desktop or notebook PC through either the USB 1.1 or USB 2.0 port, the HP DVD Movie Writer transfers VHS or other analog tapes and creates digital negatives on long-lasting DVD+R/+RW discs.
The DVD Movie Writer also functions as a standard DVD/CD writer to burn music, photos and data to CD and
DVD backup program files.
The HP DVD Movie Writer also comes with software to help save data, video or music on DVDs and CDs, including Veritas RecordNow and Simple Backup. SimpleBackup reliably backs up, protects and restores individual files or folders or helps restore an entire PC hard drive. Additionally, Cyberlink PowerDVD software makes it easy to play DVD movies on a PC.
Got 15 minutes? Write a DVD in a flash with the HP DVD writer dvd300i. Its storage capacity is impressive, too: preserve up to 4.7 GB worth of photos, video, and graphics.
Write DVDs twice as fast as with earlier technology
Edit, share, and preserve video and digital photos
Back up information on DVDs and CDs
Use one convenient software program, ArcSoft ShowBiz DVD, to capture, author, and edit material
Edit a DVD without rewriting the entire disk
Download video to portable devices for transporting and giving presentations
Reliably back up, protect, and restore files or your entire hard drive
Watch DVD movies from the convenience of your own computer
Create a photo slide show or album to view on your PC or TV with HP memories disc creator
Drag and drop files to CD or DVD from Windows Explorer, or save directly from any application
Preserve material longer: 50–100 years instead of the 7–10 years provided by VHS tapes store up to 133 minutes of high-quality video and up to three hours of VHS-quality video on each high-capacity (4.7 GB) DVD+RW media disc
Panasonic DMR-E80HS is the first DVD player with a built-in hard drive recorder, allowing you to record all your favorite shows onto digital disk as well as watch DVDs.
Talk about "all in one" - the Panasonic DMR-E80HS not only records DVDs and stores more than 100 hours of audio/video programming on its built-in memory; it's also a progressive-scan DVD player that also handles your DVDs, CDs, and MP3 recordable discs. With the DMR-E80HS's 80 GB hard drive, it provides up to 104 hours of recording time, plus up to 6 hours on a removable 4.7 GB DVD-RAM disc (in Extended Play mode in each case).
The DMR-E80HS offers the flexibility of recording on both DVD-RAM - perfect for instant chapter access and for multiple rerecordings - as well as DVD-R, widely regarded as the most widely compatible of the many DVD formats (great for sharing camcorder footage with loved ones).
Panasonic's Time Slip feature lets you use your DVD recorder like a personal video recorder, or PVR. Because of DVD-RAM's extremely fast transfer rate, you can view the recorded portion of an ongoing program from the beginning, while still recording the program in progress. In addition to recording new video content, the DMR-E80HS lets you transfer your favorite VHS recordings to durable, space-saving discs. Personal movie libraries and family videos can be archived, preserved, and easily cataloged and accessed. Picture-enhancing technologies include 3D noise reduction, block noise reduction, and mosquito noise reduction.
With the Direct Navigator you can instantly access recorded material from an onscreen menu that lists recording dates, times, channels, and titles. Finding and viewing recorded material is simple because there's no need to search, fast-forward, or rewind. You can even perform simple non-linear video editing, such as rearranging the order of scenes, skipping over unwanted scenes, and creating custom playlists of favorite scenes on a disc.
Capture, edit, and preserve precious memories with the Philips DVDR75 DVD player/recorder. Using the model's extensive inputs - including an i.Link digital video jack - you can transfer and assemble your most treasured camcorder footage, archive old video tapes, or burn video from a PC straight to high-capacity DVD (up to 6 hours per disc side using either DVD+R or DVD+RW).
You can also use the DVDR75 like a VCR, burning televised programs directly to disc using helpful VCR Plus+ programming data. Recording functions include safe record, one-touch record (OTR), track append, track divide, track erase, automatic/manual chapter marker insertion, disc write protection, favorite scene selection, index picture screen for instant content overview, and Selectable Index Pictures.
The DVDR75 is also a first-rate DVD player, featuring progressive-scan video outputs, Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1-channel surround sound passthrough, MP3 CD playback (CD-R/CD-RW), and compatibility with most DVD media (including video-mode DVD-R and DVD-RW).
Two sets of left/right analog-audio outputs channel audio to Dolby Pro Logic receivers and stereo televisions. Both Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1-channel surround-sound signals can be routed through the player's digital-audio outputs (one each of RCA coaxial and Toslink optical) for direct connection to a full-featured audio/video receiver. If you don't have a surround receiver or six-channel speaker setup, you can still make every movie night the ultimate experience: 3D Surround simulates surround sound through two speakers (even the stereo speakers on a TV).
Panasonic DMR-E100HS features the industry's largest included hard drive - 120 GB.
The Panasonic DMR-E100HS not only records DVDs and holds more than 100 hours of audio/video programming in its built-in memory, it also boasts a built-in SD card slot for reading and writing MPEG2 and MPEG4 video. Now you can copy TV shows or archived video footage to portable media that will play in a laptop, camera, or other device. And guess what? This technological wonder is also a progressive-scan DVD player that's equipped to handle DVDs, CDs, and MP3-encoded discs.
The DMR-E100HS's 120 GB hard drive (HDD) provides up to 150 hours of recording time, plus you can write up to 6 hours of programming to removable 4.7 GB DVD-RAM discs (in Extended Play mode in each case), thanks to Panasonic's original Hybrid VBR (variable bit rate) technology. You get high-speed transfers (22 Mbps) to and from HDD to DVD-RAM, and a quick-record function that rapidly locates a blank section of disc to begin writing to.
Inputs consist of one DV, three composite-video, three S-video, one RF input, and the SD card slot. The IEEE 1394 DV input lets you connect a compatible digital camcorder (via IEEE 1394 cable) and transfer home movies onto either the hard disk or to a DVD-RAM/DVD-R.
source: http://www.aboutvideoediting.com/articles/DVD-burner.shtml
DVD Authoring
DVD Authoring
How to produce Hollywood standard DVDs?
Most probably, you can't.
Many of the advanced DVD features (such as multiple languages, multiple subtitles, camera angles, multiple audio formats, etc.) can only be achieved by industry level authoring facilities. But why do you need multiple
subtitles in your wedding video anyway?
Speaking of video quality, Hollywood uses very sophisticated, multi-pass encoders and spends days to tweak their product. How can you beat them? And, let's face it, your video can't beat them either.
On the other hand, with DVD authoring software and burners on consumer market, you are able to produce DVD discs with impressive video quality, enough menu system, and simple interactivity.
What do you need to burn your own DVD?
Besides computer, you need 4 more things:
A video capture card to get the footages into computer.
Video editing software to make your video. Most of the video capture cards are bundled with editing software - at least a basic one.
DVD authoring software to create the menus and interactivity. Some of the video capture cards come with DVD authoring software as well.
A DVD burner to actually make the DVD disk. They are getting cheaper and cheaper everyday.
How do you make your own DVD?
Basically, there are three steps:
Capture videoFirst you need to capture, or digitize, the video into your computer. You should capture the video at full size - 720 x 480 for NTSC, 720 x 576 for PAL - which is the image size used by Native DV / FireWire capture cards.
Edit videoThen you need to use your editing software to edit and compress it into a format suitable for DVD. Personally, I don't see much points to put raw footages into DVD.
Burn DVDThe last step is to import your videos into the authoring software and create the necessary menus. Then you can use the authoring software and burner to actually write the data onto a blank DVD.
What features should I look for when choosing DVD authoring software?
It really depends on your needs. Here are some features you should consider:
File formats it supports, make sure it can import files that your editing software exports
Interactivity such as multiple menus, title and chapter marks, etc.
Import graphics as background
Preview or test function before burning
For detailed information, check DVD authoring software page.
Which DVD burner to buy?
Again, it depends on:
Dash or plus camp you want to go for. If your girlfriend has a DVD+R drive, why not just follow her?
Your budget
Which features you want
Go to DVD Burner page for detailed comparisons.
Is standalone DVD recorder available?
Yes, there are several models available. They function just like traditional VCR. Really cool. And also affordable.
Check out DVD Burner page for more info.
How to produce Hollywood standard DVDs?
Most probably, you can't.
Many of the advanced DVD features (such as multiple languages, multiple subtitles, camera angles, multiple audio formats, etc.) can only be achieved by industry level authoring facilities. But why do you need multiple
subtitles in your wedding video anyway?
Speaking of video quality, Hollywood uses very sophisticated, multi-pass encoders and spends days to tweak their product. How can you beat them? And, let's face it, your video can't beat them either.
On the other hand, with DVD authoring software and burners on consumer market, you are able to produce DVD discs with impressive video quality, enough menu system, and simple interactivity.
What do you need to burn your own DVD?
Besides computer, you need 4 more things:
A video capture card to get the footages into computer.
Video editing software to make your video. Most of the video capture cards are bundled with editing software - at least a basic one.
DVD authoring software to create the menus and interactivity. Some of the video capture cards come with DVD authoring software as well.
A DVD burner to actually make the DVD disk. They are getting cheaper and cheaper everyday.
How do you make your own DVD?
Basically, there are three steps:
Capture videoFirst you need to capture, or digitize, the video into your computer. You should capture the video at full size - 720 x 480 for NTSC, 720 x 576 for PAL - which is the image size used by Native DV / FireWire capture cards.
Edit videoThen you need to use your editing software to edit and compress it into a format suitable for DVD. Personally, I don't see much points to put raw footages into DVD.
Burn DVDThe last step is to import your videos into the authoring software and create the necessary menus. Then you can use the authoring software and burner to actually write the data onto a blank DVD.
What features should I look for when choosing DVD authoring software?
It really depends on your needs. Here are some features you should consider:
File formats it supports, make sure it can import files that your editing software exports
Interactivity such as multiple menus, title and chapter marks, etc.
Import graphics as background
Preview or test function before burning
For detailed information, check DVD authoring software page.
Which DVD burner to buy?
Again, it depends on:
Dash or plus camp you want to go for. If your girlfriend has a DVD+R drive, why not just follow her?
Your budget
Which features you want
Go to DVD Burner page for detailed comparisons.
Is standalone DVD recorder available?
Yes, there are several models available. They function just like traditional VCR. Really cool. And also affordable.
Check out DVD Burner page for more info.
source: http://www.aboutvideoediting.com/articles/DVD-authoring.shtml
DVD Quality Videos Over The Internet?
DVD Quality Videos Over The Internet?
Think of the possibilities: a DVD can be compressed to a file size that fits on a CD-ROM. DVD quality videos can be downloaded via the Internet. This is what DivX is trying to achieve. We can see DivX as parallel to MP3. The latest version is DivX5.0.
Like MP3, DivX could revolutionize the market for digital video. Notebook owners can take more than 10 times the video material with them, with the same data capacity. DivX videos allow us to make less demand on Internet data networks, making more efficient use of valuable bandwidth. This format is also superbly suited as a transfer medium. Even the download times for videos on demand can be effectively reduced.
DivX has developed a codec that compresses the data volume of DVDs to an eleventh of their original size, with almost the same quality. This makes DivX ideal for transmitting audio and video data over the Internet. It also makes it possible for a Hollywood classic to be burned onto a CD-ROM.
There're also DivX-compatible consumer electronics on the market, including DVD players and handheld devices. The code is compatible with MPEG-4, an emerging standard for multimedia delivery on applications ranging from downloadable Internet video to satellite radio.
Not only does DivX make one of the most popular codecs for video compression on the Web, but its technology is catching on with chip manufacturers and device makers. The company's newest software is aimed at consumers who want to port video off the PC without having to encode it multiple times.
Video compression technology is taking a page from the MP3 revolution, in which support for the music file standard gathered in peer-to-peer communities and electronics manufacturers later built compatible devices. Already about 3 million U.S. households swap files of movies and TV shows in file-sharing communities online such as Kazaa, according to research from The Yankee Group, which notes that a large amount of those files are encoded in DivX technology. About a third of those people downloading video files burn them onto a CD or DVD.
Far and away DivX is the No. 1 format for file-swapping of video on the Internet. That's why DivX is striving to make their format as consumer electronics-friendly as possible, because there's this trend toward moving MPEG-4 off the PC and into the home theater and onto portable devices.
The DivX video technology touts DVD-quality compression that is 10 times more compact than MPEG-2 files. MPEG-2 is the standard for DVDs.
source: http://www.aboutvideoediting.com/articles/DivX.shtml
Think of the possibilities: a DVD can be compressed to a file size that fits on a CD-ROM. DVD quality videos can be downloaded via the Internet. This is what DivX is trying to achieve. We can see DivX as parallel to MP3. The latest version is DivX5.0.
Like MP3, DivX could revolutionize the market for digital video. Notebook owners can take more than 10 times the video material with them, with the same data capacity. DivX videos allow us to make less demand on Internet data networks, making more efficient use of valuable bandwidth. This format is also superbly suited as a transfer medium. Even the download times for videos on demand can be effectively reduced.
DivX has developed a codec that compresses the data volume of DVDs to an eleventh of their original size, with almost the same quality. This makes DivX ideal for transmitting audio and video data over the Internet. It also makes it possible for a Hollywood classic to be burned onto a CD-ROM.
There're also DivX-compatible consumer electronics on the market, including DVD players and handheld devices. The code is compatible with MPEG-4, an emerging standard for multimedia delivery on applications ranging from downloadable Internet video to satellite radio.
Not only does DivX make one of the most popular codecs for video compression on the Web, but its technology is catching on with chip manufacturers and device makers. The company's newest software is aimed at consumers who want to port video off the PC without having to encode it multiple times.
Video compression technology is taking a page from the MP3 revolution, in which support for the music file standard gathered in peer-to-peer communities and electronics manufacturers later built compatible devices. Already about 3 million U.S. households swap files of movies and TV shows in file-sharing communities online such as Kazaa, according to research from The Yankee Group, which notes that a large amount of those files are encoded in DivX technology. About a third of those people downloading video files burn them onto a CD or DVD.
Far and away DivX is the No. 1 format for file-swapping of video on the Internet. That's why DivX is striving to make their format as consumer electronics-friendly as possible, because there's this trend toward moving MPEG-4 off the PC and into the home theater and onto portable devices.
The DivX video technology touts DVD-quality compression that is 10 times more compact than MPEG-2 files. MPEG-2 is the standard for DVDs.
source: http://www.aboutvideoediting.com/articles/DivX.shtml
Streaming Video Over The Web
Streaming Video Over The Web
Until recently, digital video files needed to be downloaded in their entirety, after considerable delay, before playback. With web streaming, videos can be played almost immediately as it is transferred from the server to your computer.
Streaming video is just in its infant stages, yet it has a potential limited only by the network bandwidth it requires to send high quality video. However, the bandwidth is expanding exponentially. For the web surfer, this could eventually mean 200 million channels of TV. For video makers, this could be an unprecedented broadcasting opportunity.
What is streaming video?
Streaming video is a term applied to compression and buffering techniques that allow you to transmit and view video in real-time via the Internet.
Instead of having to wait until it is downloaded completely, streaming video starts playing back shortly after beginning its download, as it is still being downloaded from server.
What are the benefits of streaming media?
Before the advent of streaming media technology, multimedia video and audio clips were downloaded as files (usually .AVI or .MPG) to your hard disk before you could view them. Then the file had to be opened using separate software applications like Apple's Quicktime or Microsoft's Windows Media Player.With streaming technology, you are able to view the media clip as it is downloaded, thus there is no waiting for an entire file to download. After a few seconds of buffering the media clip begins playing. In addition, there is no hard disk space required.
Any disadvantages to using streaming media?
Yes, in most cases, video picture quality is compromised, since a viewer's Internet connection speed determines what picture quality they will see. Using downloadable formats such as MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 will yield a better-looking video picture in most cases.
How does this streaming thing work?
To stream media via the Internet you first need the video/audio in digital format - this is where video capture cards play their role. Next you must compress that media with an encoder so it can travel efficiently over the Internet. And lastly you need a server to send the media to a player/browser upon request.
The first part of this magic formula is video compression. To compress video, a complex mathematical formula breaks the individual frames into moving and static components. Then it takes each moving object, and guesses where it will be for the next frame. By refreshing only the moving components, and recycling the static images, compression reduces the size and speed of the video file. There is a downside to compression.
If the camera is panning, zooming, or moving in any way, the whole image is in motion, leaving nothing to recycle. This leads to poor compression, and a slower transmission. Click here for more techniques of shooting videos for streaming.
The second part of the streaming combination is buffering the file. By giving the file a few seconds to load before starting the image, a reserve of video is available in the memory of the client's computer in case the transmission slows for a moment. When the transmission slows, the client computer uses part of the reserve of video.
All of the packages work similarly. To view video, the surfer needs only to download the viewer or browser plugin, most of which are free, and install it on his computer.
To actually netcast videos, you would need to purchase software to encode your digital video into the streamed format. Then, you would need to get a streaming server. Some programs use a standard web server, while others need special streaming only server.
How do I view streaming media on my computer?
You have to download and install a streaming media "player" that decompresses the files when they get to your computer. These players can be downloaded for free onto your hard drive from a few different vendors.
What are the most common streaming video players?
RealNetwork's RealPlayer - basic version is free.
Microsoft's Windows Media Player - free download, plays streaming and downloadable media files.
Apple's QuickTime - free download, plays streaming and downloadable media files.
All three players are viable options for viewing streaming media, but RealPlayer has begun to dominate the industry as it is the most widely used player on the market.
What are the differences between different companies' streaming media formats?
RealNetworks, Apple and Microsoft's competing formats have much in common. They all use specialized, proprietary codecs (compression / decompression algorithms) to encode and playback their streaming media.
They all release occasional updates in the form of advanced codecs (which usually produce better-looking video at lower bandwidths). Many critics may tell you that Windows Media is "jerkier" but "crisper" and that RealVideo is "smoother" but "blurrier" or even vice versa. Tthe point is, they're all very similar and all currently enjoy widespread worldwide distribution and recognizance.
Perhaps the biggest differences are their costs: Windows Media is "free" to encode and serve (but you must use Windows OS, of course); QuickTime server support is strongest on a Macintosh platform and may involve a cost to encode (using QuickTime Pro); RealNetworks has sometimes hefty costs associated with large servers.
How to choose the best streaming format?
For your videos to be viewable by the widest audience possible, you may have to offer it in at least two of the three major formats and at 3 different bandwidths - 56k and higher. It is a waste of your audiences time to create streams based on anything lower then 56k. If they can't get on the web at 56k, then your audience is not ready for streaming video.
If you want your video to look good over a 56k modem, you have to pick what you are willing to sacrifice and how much of it. The first thing is that you reduce the frame rate to 15 fps. The next thing you'll need to do is shrink the overall image size. The thing you want to maintain as best as possible is the overall image quality. At 56k your audience expects the video to be less smooth. But if it is jerky, tiny and blurry, they will not be coming back for more.
More details on the threemost common video streaming formats
RealPlayer
Most popular streaming standard on the PC market, but MAC support is limited.
Realplayer is very popular, but the server is expensive. You can create RealVideo files that you can embed into HTML without a special server, but the playback of the stream is not as good.
Streaming performance depends on both the speed of the user connection and speed of your web server and the line it is connected to.
While the picture quality is great at high speed, the frame rate is not exactly that great. Your video can become so jumpy that watching the movie is frustrating and the storytelling essence is gone.
QuickTime
By far the most portable video standard that's been around for a long time.
QuickTime streaming requires a special server, but any Mac running the latest OS and Quicktime Pro can be configured as a Quicktime server, all you need is the high speed connection.
QuickTime allows you to configure the video into streams that actually download and play simultaneously without any jerks. Performance varies due to web server performance.
Popular because it allows both MAC and PC users share data.
Windows Media Player
Streamable version of the popular AVI extension.
Player is free and integrated into the Windows Media Player. The video window can be resized by viewer.
Streams extremely well off the net at full screen resolution.
ASF format breaks up the AVI file into bits of streamable data paks to be able to be transmitted over the net, depending on the targeted audience's connection speed.
Browser downloads the file then opens up the media player and plays the file immediately.
Quality can be as good as MPEG1, significantly higher than real video or QuickTime, if you have the bandwidth.
Where to use video streaming?
Imagine owning your own broadcast network? Now anybody with a couple thousand dollars can get their live broadcast out to the whole Internet, a mass medium for the masses.
The new technology will also provide a medium for anybody who has an idea to share. Soon there will be Webcasts of shows for every possible interest. Anything from home cooking shows, to fly tying, to video editing will have its own dedicated aficionados sharing their knowledge through video.
Businesses can add video to their websites, or they can use the technology to use video over a WAN. Imagine the appeal for a tropical resort owner to show a live video feed of his sunny beach. A brewery could show you their brewhouse, with a Java script giving you a listing of exactly what was happening as the brewer pressed buttons on his control panel.
Live video isn’t the only thing to use streaming. Any industry could use video on demand to showcase their products, events, and news conferences. A video clip could be incorporated as a click through into a banner add on another Web page.
Independent movie makers could use the technology to showcase their films, providing previews, or perhaps even allowing potential investors for a film to watch the dailies, as a bonus, in hopes of attracting many smaller investors.
And much much more...
How to choose the encoding parameters?
While encoding videos into the streamable format, you have to choose exactly how you want it compressed. Normally there are three parameters that make up the streaming quality of a video: frame rate, color depth, and resolution.
Frame rate is the number of still images that make up one second of video. 30 frames per second is considered full motion video for NTSC, 25 for PAL.
When a video is encoded to a frame rate of less than fifteen frames per second, it becomes noticeably jumpy.
Color depth is the number of bits of data the computer assigns to each pixel of the frame. 8-bit, 256-color video is very grainy and unsuitable for video. The 24-bit color is optimal, but because it greatly increases the size of the file to be streamed, you'll want to settle for 16-bit color if you plan on streaming video to viewers connected through the telephone.
Resolution in digital video is measured in number of pixels. For example, if your video is at 640x480, you have 640 pixels across each of the 480 vertical lines of pixels.
Video to be streamed over the Internet ranges from postage stamp video at 49x49 to160x120, all the way up to 640x480 and beyond. The default size (160x120), a larger size for shared broadband (240x180), and a full size picture for high-bandwidth viewers (320x240).
Some of the streaming programs will automatically set the color depth, frame rate, and resolution to match a certain connection speed. If your streaming software supports this, always set your target speed a little bit slower than what the connection is supposed to be at. That way, if there is latency on the Internet, and there will be, your viewers won't have as many pauses as the video is streaming just a little bit faster than the modem can receive the data.
source: http://www.aboutvideoediting.com/articles/web-streaming-video.shtml
Until recently, digital video files needed to be downloaded in their entirety, after considerable delay, before playback. With web streaming, videos can be played almost immediately as it is transferred from the server to your computer.
Streaming video is just in its infant stages, yet it has a potential limited only by the network bandwidth it requires to send high quality video. However, the bandwidth is expanding exponentially. For the web surfer, this could eventually mean 200 million channels of TV. For video makers, this could be an unprecedented broadcasting opportunity.
What is streaming video?
Streaming video is a term applied to compression and buffering techniques that allow you to transmit and view video in real-time via the Internet.
Instead of having to wait until it is downloaded completely, streaming video starts playing back shortly after beginning its download, as it is still being downloaded from server.
What are the benefits of streaming media?
Before the advent of streaming media technology, multimedia video and audio clips were downloaded as files (usually .AVI or .MPG) to your hard disk before you could view them. Then the file had to be opened using separate software applications like Apple's Quicktime or Microsoft's Windows Media Player.With streaming technology, you are able to view the media clip as it is downloaded, thus there is no waiting for an entire file to download. After a few seconds of buffering the media clip begins playing. In addition, there is no hard disk space required.
Any disadvantages to using streaming media?
Yes, in most cases, video picture quality is compromised, since a viewer's Internet connection speed determines what picture quality they will see. Using downloadable formats such as MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 will yield a better-looking video picture in most cases.
How does this streaming thing work?
To stream media via the Internet you first need the video/audio in digital format - this is where video capture cards play their role. Next you must compress that media with an encoder so it can travel efficiently over the Internet. And lastly you need a server to send the media to a player/browser upon request.
The first part of this magic formula is video compression. To compress video, a complex mathematical formula breaks the individual frames into moving and static components. Then it takes each moving object, and guesses where it will be for the next frame. By refreshing only the moving components, and recycling the static images, compression reduces the size and speed of the video file. There is a downside to compression.
If the camera is panning, zooming, or moving in any way, the whole image is in motion, leaving nothing to recycle. This leads to poor compression, and a slower transmission. Click here for more techniques of shooting videos for streaming.
The second part of the streaming combination is buffering the file. By giving the file a few seconds to load before starting the image, a reserve of video is available in the memory of the client's computer in case the transmission slows for a moment. When the transmission slows, the client computer uses part of the reserve of video.
All of the packages work similarly. To view video, the surfer needs only to download the viewer or browser plugin, most of which are free, and install it on his computer.
To actually netcast videos, you would need to purchase software to encode your digital video into the streamed format. Then, you would need to get a streaming server. Some programs use a standard web server, while others need special streaming only server.
How do I view streaming media on my computer?
You have to download and install a streaming media "player" that decompresses the files when they get to your computer. These players can be downloaded for free onto your hard drive from a few different vendors.
What are the most common streaming video players?
RealNetwork's RealPlayer - basic version is free.
Microsoft's Windows Media Player - free download, plays streaming and downloadable media files.
Apple's QuickTime - free download, plays streaming and downloadable media files.
All three players are viable options for viewing streaming media, but RealPlayer has begun to dominate the industry as it is the most widely used player on the market.
What are the differences between different companies' streaming media formats?
RealNetworks, Apple and Microsoft's competing formats have much in common. They all use specialized, proprietary codecs (compression / decompression algorithms) to encode and playback their streaming media.
They all release occasional updates in the form of advanced codecs (which usually produce better-looking video at lower bandwidths). Many critics may tell you that Windows Media is "jerkier" but "crisper" and that RealVideo is "smoother" but "blurrier" or even vice versa. Tthe point is, they're all very similar and all currently enjoy widespread worldwide distribution and recognizance.
Perhaps the biggest differences are their costs: Windows Media is "free" to encode and serve (but you must use Windows OS, of course); QuickTime server support is strongest on a Macintosh platform and may involve a cost to encode (using QuickTime Pro); RealNetworks has sometimes hefty costs associated with large servers.
How to choose the best streaming format?
For your videos to be viewable by the widest audience possible, you may have to offer it in at least two of the three major formats and at 3 different bandwidths - 56k and higher. It is a waste of your audiences time to create streams based on anything lower then 56k. If they can't get on the web at 56k, then your audience is not ready for streaming video.
If you want your video to look good over a 56k modem, you have to pick what you are willing to sacrifice and how much of it. The first thing is that you reduce the frame rate to 15 fps. The next thing you'll need to do is shrink the overall image size. The thing you want to maintain as best as possible is the overall image quality. At 56k your audience expects the video to be less smooth. But if it is jerky, tiny and blurry, they will not be coming back for more.
More details on the threemost common video streaming formats
RealPlayer
Most popular streaming standard on the PC market, but MAC support is limited.
Realplayer is very popular, but the server is expensive. You can create RealVideo files that you can embed into HTML without a special server, but the playback of the stream is not as good.
Streaming performance depends on both the speed of the user connection and speed of your web server and the line it is connected to.
While the picture quality is great at high speed, the frame rate is not exactly that great. Your video can become so jumpy that watching the movie is frustrating and the storytelling essence is gone.
QuickTime
By far the most portable video standard that's been around for a long time.
QuickTime streaming requires a special server, but any Mac running the latest OS and Quicktime Pro can be configured as a Quicktime server, all you need is the high speed connection.
QuickTime allows you to configure the video into streams that actually download and play simultaneously without any jerks. Performance varies due to web server performance.
Popular because it allows both MAC and PC users share data.
Windows Media Player
Streamable version of the popular AVI extension.
Player is free and integrated into the Windows Media Player. The video window can be resized by viewer.
Streams extremely well off the net at full screen resolution.
ASF format breaks up the AVI file into bits of streamable data paks to be able to be transmitted over the net, depending on the targeted audience's connection speed.
Browser downloads the file then opens up the media player and plays the file immediately.
Quality can be as good as MPEG1, significantly higher than real video or QuickTime, if you have the bandwidth.
Where to use video streaming?
Imagine owning your own broadcast network? Now anybody with a couple thousand dollars can get their live broadcast out to the whole Internet, a mass medium for the masses.
The new technology will also provide a medium for anybody who has an idea to share. Soon there will be Webcasts of shows for every possible interest. Anything from home cooking shows, to fly tying, to video editing will have its own dedicated aficionados sharing their knowledge through video.
Businesses can add video to their websites, or they can use the technology to use video over a WAN. Imagine the appeal for a tropical resort owner to show a live video feed of his sunny beach. A brewery could show you their brewhouse, with a Java script giving you a listing of exactly what was happening as the brewer pressed buttons on his control panel.
Live video isn’t the only thing to use streaming. Any industry could use video on demand to showcase their products, events, and news conferences. A video clip could be incorporated as a click through into a banner add on another Web page.
Independent movie makers could use the technology to showcase their films, providing previews, or perhaps even allowing potential investors for a film to watch the dailies, as a bonus, in hopes of attracting many smaller investors.
And much much more...
How to choose the encoding parameters?
While encoding videos into the streamable format, you have to choose exactly how you want it compressed. Normally there are three parameters that make up the streaming quality of a video: frame rate, color depth, and resolution.
Frame rate is the number of still images that make up one second of video. 30 frames per second is considered full motion video for NTSC, 25 for PAL.
When a video is encoded to a frame rate of less than fifteen frames per second, it becomes noticeably jumpy.
Color depth is the number of bits of data the computer assigns to each pixel of the frame. 8-bit, 256-color video is very grainy and unsuitable for video. The 24-bit color is optimal, but because it greatly increases the size of the file to be streamed, you'll want to settle for 16-bit color if you plan on streaming video to viewers connected through the telephone.
Resolution in digital video is measured in number of pixels. For example, if your video is at 640x480, you have 640 pixels across each of the 480 vertical lines of pixels.
Video to be streamed over the Internet ranges from postage stamp video at 49x49 to160x120, all the way up to 640x480 and beyond. The default size (160x120), a larger size for shared broadband (240x180), and a full size picture for high-bandwidth viewers (320x240).
Some of the streaming programs will automatically set the color depth, frame rate, and resolution to match a certain connection speed. If your streaming software supports this, always set your target speed a little bit slower than what the connection is supposed to be at. That way, if there is latency on the Internet, and there will be, your viewers won't have as many pauses as the video is streaming just a little bit faster than the modem can receive the data.
source: http://www.aboutvideoediting.com/articles/web-streaming-video.shtml
How To Shoot Streaming Videos For The Web?
How To Shoot Streaming Videos For The Web?
Streamed video is heavily compressed. The tricks of the compression are what determine what style of shooting streams well and what doesn't stream well.
One type of video compression separates the changing from the static parts of the frames in a particular clip of video. Then it recycles all the parts of the clip that are not sometimes moving, and encodes the moving parts of the images.
When the compressed video is transmitted, parts of the information get lost in the Internet traffic, but the decompression software compensates for this by using its best guess as to where things should be in the frame.
The official term for compression of this sort is Lossy Video Compression.
Lossy compression is needed, because the amount of information that digital video requires is far greater than the amount of information the Internet can transfer to an individual computer over a standard phone line, at least till today.
We measure the amount of information transferred in bits per second, and we call this bandwidth. Bandwidth is important because most connections to the Internet do not have enough bandwidth to send video without compression. For example, uncompressed video digitized to half the frames per second and lines per inch of television would require the bandwidth of 821 standard modems operating at 33.6 kilobits per second.
Because the bandwidth is limited and the compression is lossy, video will be choppy and unclear if there is too much movement. There are, however, some tricks to shooting video to be streamed.
The first trick is when in doubt use talking heads. A talking head is a tight shot of just a person's head.talking. If we were to stream this over the Internet, the quality of the video would still be high. However, if we were to add more moving information to the shot it would become jumpy and hard to watch. The video and the sound get choppy because the compression has to refresh much more information.
You should remember that if the camera is moving, everything in the shot is moving too. To keep your streamed video from slowing down, always try to shoot from a tripod.
The colors you choose can affect how well your video will compress. Bright solid colors are best. Dark colors can confuse the compression software, by blending together with subtle shadows.
The contrast of colors is crucial too. Always try to make sure your subject contrasts distinctly from the background.
Make sure the background is a solid color because the compression will make hash out of patterns.
Patterns, either in the foreground or background, must be constantly refreshed even when there is only the slightest movement. So make sure your subjects get rid of the plaid shirts.
You want to have bright, even lighting. Shadows might make a scene more visually compelling, but if you have shadows in your shot, the compression will have trouble with them. It is a good idea to shoot video to be streamed in the daytime.
Panning and zooming are bad for streaming too. When you are panning or zooming, the whole background is in motion.
You also have to be careful not to have too many rapid-paced MTV-style cuts in your video. Each time you change the scene, the compression has to load a whole new image, and it can lead to choppy video.
It might seem that the tricks you need to use for streaming limit the creativity of the videographer.
But this is far from truth. A true mark of creativity is being able to make a compelling video within the framework and limitations of the bandwidth and compression.
These are temporary limitations anyway. Only the pioneers of video streaming will have to contend with them. When more Internet bandwidth is available, you will be able to shoot video in any style you wish, and still have it look smooth and not be jumpy.
Until that point, you have to work within the framework of what video the software can compress, and what video it can't compress.
source: http://www.aboutvideoediting.com/articles/shooting-streaming-video.shtml
Streamed video is heavily compressed. The tricks of the compression are what determine what style of shooting streams well and what doesn't stream well.
One type of video compression separates the changing from the static parts of the frames in a particular clip of video. Then it recycles all the parts of the clip that are not sometimes moving, and encodes the moving parts of the images.
When the compressed video is transmitted, parts of the information get lost in the Internet traffic, but the decompression software compensates for this by using its best guess as to where things should be in the frame.
The official term for compression of this sort is Lossy Video Compression.
Lossy compression is needed, because the amount of information that digital video requires is far greater than the amount of information the Internet can transfer to an individual computer over a standard phone line, at least till today.
We measure the amount of information transferred in bits per second, and we call this bandwidth. Bandwidth is important because most connections to the Internet do not have enough bandwidth to send video without compression. For example, uncompressed video digitized to half the frames per second and lines per inch of television would require the bandwidth of 821 standard modems operating at 33.6 kilobits per second.
Because the bandwidth is limited and the compression is lossy, video will be choppy and unclear if there is too much movement. There are, however, some tricks to shooting video to be streamed.
The first trick is when in doubt use talking heads. A talking head is a tight shot of just a person's head.talking. If we were to stream this over the Internet, the quality of the video would still be high. However, if we were to add more moving information to the shot it would become jumpy and hard to watch. The video and the sound get choppy because the compression has to refresh much more information.
You should remember that if the camera is moving, everything in the shot is moving too. To keep your streamed video from slowing down, always try to shoot from a tripod.
The colors you choose can affect how well your video will compress. Bright solid colors are best. Dark colors can confuse the compression software, by blending together with subtle shadows.
The contrast of colors is crucial too. Always try to make sure your subject contrasts distinctly from the background.
Make sure the background is a solid color because the compression will make hash out of patterns.
Patterns, either in the foreground or background, must be constantly refreshed even when there is only the slightest movement. So make sure your subjects get rid of the plaid shirts.
You want to have bright, even lighting. Shadows might make a scene more visually compelling, but if you have shadows in your shot, the compression will have trouble with them. It is a good idea to shoot video to be streamed in the daytime.
Panning and zooming are bad for streaming too. When you are panning or zooming, the whole background is in motion.
You also have to be careful not to have too many rapid-paced MTV-style cuts in your video. Each time you change the scene, the compression has to load a whole new image, and it can lead to choppy video.
It might seem that the tricks you need to use for streaming limit the creativity of the videographer.
But this is far from truth. A true mark of creativity is being able to make a compelling video within the framework and limitations of the bandwidth and compression.
These are temporary limitations anyway. Only the pioneers of video streaming will have to contend with them. When more Internet bandwidth is available, you will be able to shoot video in any style you wish, and still have it look smooth and not be jumpy.
Until that point, you have to work within the framework of what video the software can compress, and what video it can't compress.
source: http://www.aboutvideoediting.com/articles/shooting-streaming-video.shtml
Adobe Premiere 6.5
About Video Editing > Software
Adobe Premiere 6.5
Delivering unmatched hardware support and real-time editing capabilities, Adobe Premiere 6.5 software is the essential tool for creating video for DVD, videotape, the Web, and more.
Adobe Premiere has traditionally been a wonderful video editing program. It has an extremely full feature set that will allow you to do almost anything to your video. Also, Premiere has got the best documentation and tutorials I've seen in a video editing software. Version 6.5 of Adobe Premiere introduces some more excellent features to an already powerful software. New features include a real-time preview option, a Title Designer, MPEG-2 export, DVD authoring, powerful audio tools, and more.
Adobe Premiere 6.5 is an excellent video editing package for the serious video editing professionals. If you're just starting out with video editing, you may prefer a more intutive program like Pinnacle Studio 8. However, those beginners looking for a package that will long outlive their video editing needs for many years to come, will find a great product in Adobe Premiere.
If there's only one video editing software I can recommend to home video makers, this is the one.
Produce with efficiency
Use Real-Time Preview to instantly view effects, transitions, titles, motion, and transparency.
Drag and drop clips in the Storyboard to quickly lay out projects and rearrange as necessary.
Use the innovative Automate to Timeline command to simultaneously send a sequence of clips from the Storyboard or Project window to the Timeline, and get started editing immediately.
View all project settings in one convenient location with the Settings Viewer.
Preview clips in the Project window and access detailed information in the same location.
Take advantage of User Defined Workspaces to configure a workspace that best suits your needs; select from presets or create and save your own.
Use the Transitions and Effects palettes to conveniently control all aspects of a clip's effects or transition parameters; the Monitor window provides real-time feedback as you make changes.
Create sophisticated titles
Use the new Adobe Title Designer to create broadcast-quality title sequences.
Precisely refine your titles with professional typographical controls such as leading, kerning, baseline shift, rotation, and slant.
Use the Adobe-standard Pen tool to draw free-form vector shapes that range from simple to complex forms, or use other drawing tools to create simple regular shapes such as circles, polygons, rectangles, and lines.
Work with hundreds of predefined text and object Styles, or create your own custom Styles.
Experiment with more than 100 professional templates, which you can use for still layouts, rolls, and crawls.
Use precise Animation Controls to add motion with roll and crawl options.
Explore creative options
Get real-time feedback when making audio adjustments using the Audio Mixer.
Create custom-length, royalty-free soundtracks using the included SmartSound Quicktracks software.
Use TC Works plug-ins (PC) or the TC Works SparkLE application (Macintosh) to produce high-quality audio.
Choose from more than 100 transitions and effects.
Take advantage of more than 30 included Adobe After Effects® filters.
Include Windows Media files in your production with the Windows Media Importer.
Enjoy extensive hardware support
Enjoy plug-and-play compatibility with the widest variety of digital video hardware.
Enjoy support for a wide range of DV devices, including Sony DVCAM gear and the latest camcorders and decks.
Use DV device controls for pre-editing tasks before bringing clips into Adobe Premiere.
Experience plug-and-play editing through an IEEE 1394 port.
Quickly match project settings to DV footage using DV presets.
Edit DV natively in 4:3 or 16:9 widescreen formats including support for anamorphic pixel aspect ratios.
Enjoy native support for Windows XP and Mac OS X.
Easily move projects between the Windows and Macintosh platforms.
Expand your capabilities with support for dozens of capture cards, including those from Matrox and Canopus.
Work with any FireWire/IEEE 1394 card on the market today.
Work with all Adobe Premiere 6.0 certified hardware.
Experience tight integration with other Adobe tools
Make your video productions richer thanks to integration between Adobe Premiere 6.5 and Adobe Photoshop, After Effects, Illustrator, and GoLive software.
Enjoy support for Photoshop layers, native Photoshop files, and Illustrator artwork.
Use the Edit Original command to edit placed bitmapped image, vector graphics, and motion graphics files in Photoshop, Illustrator, and After Effects.
Import your movie into GoLive and its metadata remain intact, enabling you to view and modify the links to HTML pages within GoLive.
Explore new possibilities with included Adobe software
Enhance your productions with more than 30 included After Effects plug-ins; additional After Effects filters are compatible with Premiere.
Dress up your title sequences with more than 90 included Adobe fonts - a value of US$2,300 - that can be used in other applications as well.
Take advantage of flexible output options
Output your video productions to DVD and other leading video formats.
Export to the latest Windows Media format.
Render projects in multiple formats - including DVD, Super Video CD, and Video CD - directly from the Timeline with the new Adobe MPEG Encoder (Windows only).
Author DVDs with ease using the included Sonic DVDit! LE software (Windows retail product only).
Create DVDs by exporting MPEG-2 files straight from the Timeline thanks to improved integration with Apple DVD Studio Pro* (Macintosh only, sold separately).
Apply streaming video presets for all major streaming formats, including Windows Media, RealMedia, and QuickTime.
Use chapter markers to provide quick access to specific sections of video in your exported movies.
Adobe Premiere is bundled with these video capture cards:
Pinnacle Pro-One
Matrox RT2500
Dazzle DVnow AV
Pinnacle DV-500 plus
PInnacle DV-500 DVD
PInnacle DV-200
ADS Pyro Platinum DV
Or, you can buy Adobe Premiere 6.5 from Amazon seperately.
Click here for a list of all video editing software at Amazon
source: http://www.aboutvideoediting.com/software/Adobe-Premiere.shtml
Adobe Premiere 6.5
Delivering unmatched hardware support and real-time editing capabilities, Adobe Premiere 6.5 software is the essential tool for creating video for DVD, videotape, the Web, and more.
Adobe Premiere has traditionally been a wonderful video editing program. It has an extremely full feature set that will allow you to do almost anything to your video. Also, Premiere has got the best documentation and tutorials I've seen in a video editing software. Version 6.5 of Adobe Premiere introduces some more excellent features to an already powerful software. New features include a real-time preview option, a Title Designer, MPEG-2 export, DVD authoring, powerful audio tools, and more.
Adobe Premiere 6.5 is an excellent video editing package for the serious video editing professionals. If you're just starting out with video editing, you may prefer a more intutive program like Pinnacle Studio 8. However, those beginners looking for a package that will long outlive their video editing needs for many years to come, will find a great product in Adobe Premiere.
If there's only one video editing software I can recommend to home video makers, this is the one.
Produce with efficiency
Use Real-Time Preview to instantly view effects, transitions, titles, motion, and transparency.
Drag and drop clips in the Storyboard to quickly lay out projects and rearrange as necessary.
Use the innovative Automate to Timeline command to simultaneously send a sequence of clips from the Storyboard or Project window to the Timeline, and get started editing immediately.
View all project settings in one convenient location with the Settings Viewer.
Preview clips in the Project window and access detailed information in the same location.
Take advantage of User Defined Workspaces to configure a workspace that best suits your needs; select from presets or create and save your own.
Use the Transitions and Effects palettes to conveniently control all aspects of a clip's effects or transition parameters; the Monitor window provides real-time feedback as you make changes.
Create sophisticated titles
Use the new Adobe Title Designer to create broadcast-quality title sequences.
Precisely refine your titles with professional typographical controls such as leading, kerning, baseline shift, rotation, and slant.
Use the Adobe-standard Pen tool to draw free-form vector shapes that range from simple to complex forms, or use other drawing tools to create simple regular shapes such as circles, polygons, rectangles, and lines.
Work with hundreds of predefined text and object Styles, or create your own custom Styles.
Experiment with more than 100 professional templates, which you can use for still layouts, rolls, and crawls.
Use precise Animation Controls to add motion with roll and crawl options.
Explore creative options
Get real-time feedback when making audio adjustments using the Audio Mixer.
Create custom-length, royalty-free soundtracks using the included SmartSound Quicktracks software.
Use TC Works plug-ins (PC) or the TC Works SparkLE application (Macintosh) to produce high-quality audio.
Choose from more than 100 transitions and effects.
Take advantage of more than 30 included Adobe After Effects® filters.
Include Windows Media files in your production with the Windows Media Importer.
Enjoy extensive hardware support
Enjoy plug-and-play compatibility with the widest variety of digital video hardware.
Enjoy support for a wide range of DV devices, including Sony DVCAM gear and the latest camcorders and decks.
Use DV device controls for pre-editing tasks before bringing clips into Adobe Premiere.
Experience plug-and-play editing through an IEEE 1394 port.
Quickly match project settings to DV footage using DV presets.
Edit DV natively in 4:3 or 16:9 widescreen formats including support for anamorphic pixel aspect ratios.
Enjoy native support for Windows XP and Mac OS X.
Easily move projects between the Windows and Macintosh platforms.
Expand your capabilities with support for dozens of capture cards, including those from Matrox and Canopus.
Work with any FireWire/IEEE 1394 card on the market today.
Work with all Adobe Premiere 6.0 certified hardware.
Experience tight integration with other Adobe tools
Make your video productions richer thanks to integration between Adobe Premiere 6.5 and Adobe Photoshop, After Effects, Illustrator, and GoLive software.
Enjoy support for Photoshop layers, native Photoshop files, and Illustrator artwork.
Use the Edit Original command to edit placed bitmapped image, vector graphics, and motion graphics files in Photoshop, Illustrator, and After Effects.
Import your movie into GoLive and its metadata remain intact, enabling you to view and modify the links to HTML pages within GoLive.
Explore new possibilities with included Adobe software
Enhance your productions with more than 30 included After Effects plug-ins; additional After Effects filters are compatible with Premiere.
Dress up your title sequences with more than 90 included Adobe fonts - a value of US$2,300 - that can be used in other applications as well.
Take advantage of flexible output options
Output your video productions to DVD and other leading video formats.
Export to the latest Windows Media format.
Render projects in multiple formats - including DVD, Super Video CD, and Video CD - directly from the Timeline with the new Adobe MPEG Encoder (Windows only).
Author DVDs with ease using the included Sonic DVDit! LE software (Windows retail product only).
Create DVDs by exporting MPEG-2 files straight from the Timeline thanks to improved integration with Apple DVD Studio Pro* (Macintosh only, sold separately).
Apply streaming video presets for all major streaming formats, including Windows Media, RealMedia, and QuickTime.
Use chapter markers to provide quick access to specific sections of video in your exported movies.
Adobe Premiere is bundled with these video capture cards:
Pinnacle Pro-One
Matrox RT2500
Dazzle DVnow AV
Pinnacle DV-500 plus
PInnacle DV-500 DVD
PInnacle DV-200
ADS Pyro Platinum DV
Or, you can buy Adobe Premiere 6.5 from Amazon seperately.
Click here for a list of all video editing software at Amazon
source: http://www.aboutvideoediting.com/software/Adobe-Premiere.shtml
DV, FireWire (or iLink, IEEE1394) Are The Hottest
DV, FireWire (or iLink, IEEE1394) Are The Hottest
The latest technology in digital video editing is DV and FireWire.
If you are setting up a new system, go digital right from start. That means, buy a DV camcorder and video capture card with FireWire port.
What is DV?
As you can guess, DV stands for "Digital Video". It is the new high resolution digital video standard.
DV is compressed at the camera, on the tape itself. The camcorder has the DV "codec" built in.
The DV spec is a 720x480 image size with a 5:1 compression. DV video information is carried in a nominal 25 megabit per second data stream. The color information is sampled at 4:1:1 for NTSC, and 4:2:0 for PAL.
Unlike MJPEG compressed video, DV video can't be scaled. You can't lower the screen size, change the screen size or data rate.
DV format is typically reckoned to be equal to or slightly better than Betacam SP or MII in terms of picture quality. Two types of DV camcorders, DVCAM and DVCPRO, are widely used in TV industry today.
However, for most of us, DV often refers to MiniDV actually. MiniDV is just the home level DV format. It is compressed to a constant throughput of 3,600 kilobytes per second. The video quality is not as good as Betacam, but much better than S-video.
What is FireWire?
Technically, it is the high speed, short distance data transfer protocol IEEE1394. Apple didn’t like the numbers and so called it "FireWire". Sony didn’t like it either, and so they called it "iLink". And they are all the same thing.
When the FireWire concept was first announced a few years ago, it was envisioned that it would become a new standard that would replace SCSI and link all our consumer electronics equipment and computers together. Now, the dust has settled and the hype has died down. The only application for FireWire that has actually come to fruition is for transferring digital video (DV) information directly from a camcorder (or VCR) to your hard drive.
What's the difference between DV and FireWire?
DV is the actual format of the video.
FireWire is the port and protocol that lets you transfer the DV data to your computer. The full FireWire spec includes frame accurate device control and the ability to read and write the digital video.
When the video goes through the 1394 cable, into the capture card, and onto the hard drive, nothing is done to the video. It is a digital copy. It's identical to the original. And this is really nice.
How's the quality of DV?
The DV (MiniDV) spec is a 720x480 image size, at roughly a 5:1 compression. More accurately, it is compressed at a constant throughput of 3600 kilobytes per second which averages out to 5:1 compression.
The images are crisp, bright and have excellent depth and contrast. In general, it's acceptable even in TV stations.
Best of all, the information is stored on the video tape in digital form, so it can be copied over and over without any loss.
DV in = DV out
This is what makes DV so great. When you capture DV footage to your hard drive via FireWire, the DV video on your hard drive is an exact digital copy of the original footage. There is no loss. When choosing a FireWire card, there is no video quality debate regardless of what codec is used.
What are the different DV CODECs?
Don't know what is codec? Check out Getting Started FAQ.
Basically, the DV codecs can be split into 2 groups. Hardware and Software. But remember, the final video quality is not an issue. DV in = DV out.
Software codecsSoftware FireWire cards are really just an interface for bringing the DV video in and out of your computer. They rely on software compression and the speed and power of your computer to digitize and edit the footage. The biggest advantage of software based FireWire cards are how affordable they are. Another advantage is that with computers getting more and more powerful every day, software based systems become faster and faster.
OHCI cardsOHCI cards, or "Open Host Controller Interface", use the drivers found in the Windows 98SE, ME & Win2000 operating systems. Since the manufacturers do not have to engineer any software drivers, they are very inexpensive, usually around $100. With these cards you can capture and edit your video, but this can be limited. The only features you get are those that the NLE supports. One of the advantages of the OHCI spec is that it also allows you to attach other cool FireWire devices like hard drives, WebCams, scanners and more.
Hardware codecsThese cards use the same DV chips used in your DV cam to handle the DV data. They have both analog and DV inputs and outputs. Your analog footage is captured and compressed directly into DV in real-time. You can create a timeline that includes both analog and DV footage. Because these cards have analog output (usually through a break out box) you can view your video on a video monitor while you edit. This makes the actual editing process much easier and faster.
Which is better, hardware or software codec?
One thing to keep in mind is that "hard" vs. "soft" doesn't matter when it comes to video quality, both give excellent result when working properly.
Speaking of speed, in early 1998, various vendors claimed a 25% or 30% speed advantage of hard codecs over soft codecs. Too much depends on other factors, like the speed of the computer's CPU, bus and bus interface chipset, to decisively say that one codec will be faster than the other in effects rendering. As CPUs and buses speed up over time, the soft codecs have taken the lead in speed for rendering operations.
However, hardware codes do have some advantages sometimes depending on your requirements. Hardware codec systems usually come with breakout boxes that include analog (composite, Y/C, or even component) connections as well as 1394 connections. You can connect up any VTR format with analog I/O to the box and capture it in real-time or output to it in real-time.
One of the very cool features that many hardware based DV cards now have is real-time features such as transitions, FX, filters, titling and more. Real-Time means you do not have to render, these effects play directly from the timeline. Not everything is in real-time with these cards. Each real-time card comes with its own special selection of real-time features.
Most of the hardware based DV cards also support MPEG2. MPEG2, like DV, is 720 x 480 for NTSC, 720 x 576 for PAL. The big advantage of MPEG2 is that you can lower the data rate and still maintain close to DV quality. MPEG2 compression is what is used by DVD. So these cards usually include DVD authoring software.
What about Digital 8?
Sony's Digital 8 uses DV compression atop the existing Video8/Hi8 technological base and records on Video8 or Hi8 tapes. Both Digital 8 and DV camcorders allow you to transfer video directly to your computer via FireWire, using a DV capture card. The biggest advantage of digital 8, besides the cost, is that you can put an older analog Hi8 tape in the cam, and transfer the video via FireWire.
The only disadvantage is that the video from these cams is simply not as good as what you get with DV. Digital 8 camcorders are aimed at the price sensitive buyers. So they don't get the same quality optics, features and CCDs as DV cams.
Simply put, get a DV camcorder if you can afford. If you can't, a Digital 8 will also do the job.
So, which FireWire card is for me?
To get the best answer, you need to decide what is most important to you.
The flexibility and combination of analog and DV video source?
Are you going to use it in your existing computer, or get a new one?
Do you have adequate storage?
Do you need the NLE software bundled with the card?
Real-Time features?
What is your budget?
Once you have figured this out, it really comes down to the feature combination. That's what separates one FireWire card from another. DV in = DV out, so no matter which card you buy, the final video will look the same.
With our Video Capture Card Features Chart, the task will be much easier!
Or check out our Top 10 Recommendations.
source: http://www.aboutvideoediting.com/hardware/DV-FireWire.shtml
The latest technology in digital video editing is DV and FireWire.
If you are setting up a new system, go digital right from start. That means, buy a DV camcorder and video capture card with FireWire port.
What is DV?
As you can guess, DV stands for "Digital Video". It is the new high resolution digital video standard.
DV is compressed at the camera, on the tape itself. The camcorder has the DV "codec" built in.
The DV spec is a 720x480 image size with a 5:1 compression. DV video information is carried in a nominal 25 megabit per second data stream. The color information is sampled at 4:1:1 for NTSC, and 4:2:0 for PAL.
Unlike MJPEG compressed video, DV video can't be scaled. You can't lower the screen size, change the screen size or data rate.
DV format is typically reckoned to be equal to or slightly better than Betacam SP or MII in terms of picture quality. Two types of DV camcorders, DVCAM and DVCPRO, are widely used in TV industry today.
However, for most of us, DV often refers to MiniDV actually. MiniDV is just the home level DV format. It is compressed to a constant throughput of 3,600 kilobytes per second. The video quality is not as good as Betacam, but much better than S-video.
What is FireWire?
Technically, it is the high speed, short distance data transfer protocol IEEE1394. Apple didn’t like the numbers and so called it "FireWire". Sony didn’t like it either, and so they called it "iLink". And they are all the same thing.
When the FireWire concept was first announced a few years ago, it was envisioned that it would become a new standard that would replace SCSI and link all our consumer electronics equipment and computers together. Now, the dust has settled and the hype has died down. The only application for FireWire that has actually come to fruition is for transferring digital video (DV) information directly from a camcorder (or VCR) to your hard drive.
What's the difference between DV and FireWire?
DV is the actual format of the video.
FireWire is the port and protocol that lets you transfer the DV data to your computer. The full FireWire spec includes frame accurate device control and the ability to read and write the digital video.
When the video goes through the 1394 cable, into the capture card, and onto the hard drive, nothing is done to the video. It is a digital copy. It's identical to the original. And this is really nice.
How's the quality of DV?
The DV (MiniDV) spec is a 720x480 image size, at roughly a 5:1 compression. More accurately, it is compressed at a constant throughput of 3600 kilobytes per second which averages out to 5:1 compression.
The images are crisp, bright and have excellent depth and contrast. In general, it's acceptable even in TV stations.
Best of all, the information is stored on the video tape in digital form, so it can be copied over and over without any loss.
DV in = DV out
This is what makes DV so great. When you capture DV footage to your hard drive via FireWire, the DV video on your hard drive is an exact digital copy of the original footage. There is no loss. When choosing a FireWire card, there is no video quality debate regardless of what codec is used.
What are the different DV CODECs?
Don't know what is codec? Check out Getting Started FAQ.
Basically, the DV codecs can be split into 2 groups. Hardware and Software. But remember, the final video quality is not an issue. DV in = DV out.
Software codecsSoftware FireWire cards are really just an interface for bringing the DV video in and out of your computer. They rely on software compression and the speed and power of your computer to digitize and edit the footage. The biggest advantage of software based FireWire cards are how affordable they are. Another advantage is that with computers getting more and more powerful every day, software based systems become faster and faster.
OHCI cardsOHCI cards, or "Open Host Controller Interface", use the drivers found in the Windows 98SE, ME & Win2000 operating systems. Since the manufacturers do not have to engineer any software drivers, they are very inexpensive, usually around $100. With these cards you can capture and edit your video, but this can be limited. The only features you get are those that the NLE supports. One of the advantages of the OHCI spec is that it also allows you to attach other cool FireWire devices like hard drives, WebCams, scanners and more.
Hardware codecsThese cards use the same DV chips used in your DV cam to handle the DV data. They have both analog and DV inputs and outputs. Your analog footage is captured and compressed directly into DV in real-time. You can create a timeline that includes both analog and DV footage. Because these cards have analog output (usually through a break out box) you can view your video on a video monitor while you edit. This makes the actual editing process much easier and faster.
Which is better, hardware or software codec?
One thing to keep in mind is that "hard" vs. "soft" doesn't matter when it comes to video quality, both give excellent result when working properly.
Speaking of speed, in early 1998, various vendors claimed a 25% or 30% speed advantage of hard codecs over soft codecs. Too much depends on other factors, like the speed of the computer's CPU, bus and bus interface chipset, to decisively say that one codec will be faster than the other in effects rendering. As CPUs and buses speed up over time, the soft codecs have taken the lead in speed for rendering operations.
However, hardware codes do have some advantages sometimes depending on your requirements. Hardware codec systems usually come with breakout boxes that include analog (composite, Y/C, or even component) connections as well as 1394 connections. You can connect up any VTR format with analog I/O to the box and capture it in real-time or output to it in real-time.
One of the very cool features that many hardware based DV cards now have is real-time features such as transitions, FX, filters, titling and more. Real-Time means you do not have to render, these effects play directly from the timeline. Not everything is in real-time with these cards. Each real-time card comes with its own special selection of real-time features.
Most of the hardware based DV cards also support MPEG2. MPEG2, like DV, is 720 x 480 for NTSC, 720 x 576 for PAL. The big advantage of MPEG2 is that you can lower the data rate and still maintain close to DV quality. MPEG2 compression is what is used by DVD. So these cards usually include DVD authoring software.
What about Digital 8?
Sony's Digital 8 uses DV compression atop the existing Video8/Hi8 technological base and records on Video8 or Hi8 tapes. Both Digital 8 and DV camcorders allow you to transfer video directly to your computer via FireWire, using a DV capture card. The biggest advantage of digital 8, besides the cost, is that you can put an older analog Hi8 tape in the cam, and transfer the video via FireWire.
The only disadvantage is that the video from these cams is simply not as good as what you get with DV. Digital 8 camcorders are aimed at the price sensitive buyers. So they don't get the same quality optics, features and CCDs as DV cams.
Simply put, get a DV camcorder if you can afford. If you can't, a Digital 8 will also do the job.
So, which FireWire card is for me?
To get the best answer, you need to decide what is most important to you.
The flexibility and combination of analog and DV video source?
Are you going to use it in your existing computer, or get a new one?
Do you have adequate storage?
Do you need the NLE software bundled with the card?
Real-Time features?
What is your budget?
Once you have figured this out, it really comes down to the feature combination. That's what separates one FireWire card from another. DV in = DV out, so no matter which card you buy, the final video will look the same.
With our Video Capture Card Features Chart, the task will be much easier!
Or check out our Top 10 Recommendations.
source: http://www.aboutvideoediting.com/hardware/DV-FireWire.shtml
Professional Digital Video Editing Systems
Professional Digital Video Editing Systems
Although this web site is mainly for home video makers rather than professional video editors, I'll list the most popular professional video editing systems here for completeness anyway.
You may want to upgrade to professional solutions someday. Yes, video editing is an addiction. Or maybe you want to start your own production house and make your living on it.
For now, you don't have to worry about the price. They range from 20k to half million. Just make yourself informed on what the professionals are using.
Avid has a lot going for it, not the least of which is a user interface that's been around so long it's emerged as the de facto industry standard. Powered by Avid's Meridien Video subsystem, another great benefit of Avid's vast stable of editing choices is the ease with which all Avid products work with all their brothers and sisters around a production facility. With an industry full of trained editors and freelancers who would not consider working on anything less, Avid has become what IBM was a decade or two ago: Nobody ever got fired for buying Avid. That is, unless you can't afford it.
Avid Media Composer delivers dual-stream compressed and uncompressed 601 images, real time 3D effects plus real time 9-stream hardware multicam and 24P Universal offline editing.
Avid Symphony, capable of real time, multilayer, uncompressed editing and special effects, including color correction, keying, compositing, paint, character generation, 3D effects and audio editing and mixing. Symphony includes the full Media Composer feature set and adds the conforming, real-time finishing and multi-format mastering tools required for high-end film and television editorial work.
Avid Film Composer is the system of choice of editors of virtually every major motion picture today. Providing 23.976P, 24P and 25P Universal offline editing, real-time 3D-FX and precise matchback to every major film format; if you're editing film and not working with an Avid Film Composer, your clients will probably wonder why not.
Discreet, a division of Autodesk, was established in 1999 after Autodesk acquired Discreet Logic Inc. and merged its operations with Kinetix®. Discreet develops systems & software for visual effects, 3D animation, editing and production - crucial to the creation of digital moving pictures in feature films, video, HDTV, broadcast graphics, interactive games and the web. Discreet products are used extensively in film and video post-production, games, animation and multimedia, television programming, and news & event coverage.
Discreet Fire, a Unix-based nonlinear editing, conforming and finishing system for digital cinema and HD production.
Discreet Inferno, most commonly used for high resolution commercials and sophisticated film compositing, this Unix-based software runs on SGI's Onyx 3000.
Discreet Flame, positioned as a compositor for smaller boutiques, independent post houses and network/cable broadcasters creating effects for commercials, music videos and promos, offers a slightly reduced feature set compared with Inferno.
Discreet Smoke, Fire's little brother, runs on the SGI Octane2 platform, and works in 2K, HD or traditional standard definition formats on a single unified system. Smoke offers 24p 2K playback and an expanded 3D DVE module with real time interactivity at full RGB 4:4:4 resolution.
Matrox DigiSuite MAX, designed for broadcast and post-production facilities, delivers maximum editing power and creative freedom with more real time features than any other platform in its class. The complete spectrum of analog and digital inputs and outputs is supported to enable professional editors to work in their formats of choice.
Media 100 844/X, a full-featured editing system integrated with fast unlimited-layer compositing, 844/X packs some serious effects processing power. 844/X delivers real time image processing on up to four concurrent 10-bit uncompressed video stream and key pairs, along with 31-bit internal precision to support the arrangement and editing of complex and numerous layers.
Pinnacle Liquid Blue is Pinnacle Systems' multi-format broadcast editing system. Pinnacle Liquid blue offers end-to-end native digital production in all formats, supporting DV, DVCAM, DVCPRO 25/50, MPEG-2, MPEG IMX, and uncompressed, all with faster than realtime SDTI transfer, both 2x and 4x.
Pinnacle Liquid Chrome is designed for effects-intensive post settings where time and quality are at a premium. Liquid Chrome brings together three of Pinnacle's components into one editing and compositing system -- Pinnacle's Liquid editing application, the TARGA 3000 compositing engine and Pinnacle's K2 single-chip 3D DVE
Pinnacle Liquid Silver is an MPEG-2 post editing solution aimed at long form or corporate editing. Liquid Silver uses MPEG-2 4:2:2 and uncompressed formats, offering the same quality as traditional MJPEG systems for 40% less disk usage.
CinéWave is software and hardware working together to deliver more speed and flexibility on the Mac G4. CinéWave, the first uncompressed editor for Final Cut Pro, provides non-linear editing, unlimited layering, uncompressed real-time effects, motion tracker, paint, and compositing tools. CinéWave is designed to work in DV, DigiBeta, uncompressed 601, PAL, NTSC, 1080i, 1080p, 4:3, 16:9, DVD, and the Web.
Quantel has been at the forefront of the use of digital technology as a creative tool for the last 25 years and it is now using its vast experience to create tools for the new digital age - covering everything from terrestrial and multi-channel television, to broadband internet, DVD and e-cinema.
Quantel iQ sits at the head of the class of the generationQ line of products. An entirely new technology, iQ provides a completely integrated working environment where Quantel's unique hardware meets the openness of a standard PC.
Quantel eQ, Quantel's new HD nonlinear editing and effects system offers interactivity and performance that might be expected from SD nonlinear systems.
Quantel QEdit Pro, next generation multi-format editing and effects system delivers real 10 bit non-compressed quality AAF-compliant SD/HD PC-based NLE with a high-end creative toolset for the mainstream finishing market.
source: http://www.aboutvideoediting.com/hardware/pro.shtml
Although this web site is mainly for home video makers rather than professional video editors, I'll list the most popular professional video editing systems here for completeness anyway.
You may want to upgrade to professional solutions someday. Yes, video editing is an addiction. Or maybe you want to start your own production house and make your living on it.
For now, you don't have to worry about the price. They range from 20k to half million. Just make yourself informed on what the professionals are using.
Avid has a lot going for it, not the least of which is a user interface that's been around so long it's emerged as the de facto industry standard. Powered by Avid's Meridien Video subsystem, another great benefit of Avid's vast stable of editing choices is the ease with which all Avid products work with all their brothers and sisters around a production facility. With an industry full of trained editors and freelancers who would not consider working on anything less, Avid has become what IBM was a decade or two ago: Nobody ever got fired for buying Avid. That is, unless you can't afford it.
Avid Media Composer delivers dual-stream compressed and uncompressed 601 images, real time 3D effects plus real time 9-stream hardware multicam and 24P Universal offline editing.
Avid Symphony, capable of real time, multilayer, uncompressed editing and special effects, including color correction, keying, compositing, paint, character generation, 3D effects and audio editing and mixing. Symphony includes the full Media Composer feature set and adds the conforming, real-time finishing and multi-format mastering tools required for high-end film and television editorial work.
Avid Film Composer is the system of choice of editors of virtually every major motion picture today. Providing 23.976P, 24P and 25P Universal offline editing, real-time 3D-FX and precise matchback to every major film format; if you're editing film and not working with an Avid Film Composer, your clients will probably wonder why not.
Discreet, a division of Autodesk, was established in 1999 after Autodesk acquired Discreet Logic Inc. and merged its operations with Kinetix®. Discreet develops systems & software for visual effects, 3D animation, editing and production - crucial to the creation of digital moving pictures in feature films, video, HDTV, broadcast graphics, interactive games and the web. Discreet products are used extensively in film and video post-production, games, animation and multimedia, television programming, and news & event coverage.
Discreet Fire, a Unix-based nonlinear editing, conforming and finishing system for digital cinema and HD production.
Discreet Inferno, most commonly used for high resolution commercials and sophisticated film compositing, this Unix-based software runs on SGI's Onyx 3000.
Discreet Flame, positioned as a compositor for smaller boutiques, independent post houses and network/cable broadcasters creating effects for commercials, music videos and promos, offers a slightly reduced feature set compared with Inferno.
Discreet Smoke, Fire's little brother, runs on the SGI Octane2 platform, and works in 2K, HD or traditional standard definition formats on a single unified system. Smoke offers 24p 2K playback and an expanded 3D DVE module with real time interactivity at full RGB 4:4:4 resolution.
Matrox DigiSuite MAX, designed for broadcast and post-production facilities, delivers maximum editing power and creative freedom with more real time features than any other platform in its class. The complete spectrum of analog and digital inputs and outputs is supported to enable professional editors to work in their formats of choice.
Media 100 844/X, a full-featured editing system integrated with fast unlimited-layer compositing, 844/X packs some serious effects processing power. 844/X delivers real time image processing on up to four concurrent 10-bit uncompressed video stream and key pairs, along with 31-bit internal precision to support the arrangement and editing of complex and numerous layers.
Pinnacle Liquid Blue is Pinnacle Systems' multi-format broadcast editing system. Pinnacle Liquid blue offers end-to-end native digital production in all formats, supporting DV, DVCAM, DVCPRO 25/50, MPEG-2, MPEG IMX, and uncompressed, all with faster than realtime SDTI transfer, both 2x and 4x.
Pinnacle Liquid Chrome is designed for effects-intensive post settings where time and quality are at a premium. Liquid Chrome brings together three of Pinnacle's components into one editing and compositing system -- Pinnacle's Liquid editing application, the TARGA 3000 compositing engine and Pinnacle's K2 single-chip 3D DVE
Pinnacle Liquid Silver is an MPEG-2 post editing solution aimed at long form or corporate editing. Liquid Silver uses MPEG-2 4:2:2 and uncompressed formats, offering the same quality as traditional MJPEG systems for 40% less disk usage.
CinéWave is software and hardware working together to deliver more speed and flexibility on the Mac G4. CinéWave, the first uncompressed editor for Final Cut Pro, provides non-linear editing, unlimited layering, uncompressed real-time effects, motion tracker, paint, and compositing tools. CinéWave is designed to work in DV, DigiBeta, uncompressed 601, PAL, NTSC, 1080i, 1080p, 4:3, 16:9, DVD, and the Web.
Quantel has been at the forefront of the use of digital technology as a creative tool for the last 25 years and it is now using its vast experience to create tools for the new digital age - covering everything from terrestrial and multi-channel television, to broadband internet, DVD and e-cinema.
Quantel iQ sits at the head of the class of the generationQ line of products. An entirely new technology, iQ provides a completely integrated working environment where Quantel's unique hardware meets the openness of a standard PC.
Quantel eQ, Quantel's new HD nonlinear editing and effects system offers interactivity and performance that might be expected from SD nonlinear systems.
Quantel QEdit Pro, next generation multi-format editing and effects system delivers real 10 bit non-compressed quality AAF-compliant SD/HD PC-based NLE with a high-end creative toolset for the mainstream finishing market.
source: http://www.aboutvideoediting.com/hardware/pro.shtml
Digital Video Editing System DIY Guide
Digital Video Editing System DIY Guide
If you've clicked on the link to this page, you probably already have the most important thing you need to get started, a computer. That means all you need is a device to get the video in & out of your computer (called a video capture card) and the software to edit it.
Besides a normal computer, you will need lots of hard drive space for video editing. I really mean, a lot. So storage should be concerned when you set up your digital video editing system.
Of course, you will need a device to play and record your videos most of the time, be it a camcorder or VCR. Nowaday, DV camcorder is cheap and popular, I guess you've already had one? If you don't have yet, a VCR can do the job as well, I haven't touched my VCR for a couple of years though:-).
However, a camcorder or VCR is not a must-have. You can play around with still pictures and view your videos on computer screen.
source: http://www.aboutvideoediting.com/hardware/guide.shtml
If you've clicked on the link to this page, you probably already have the most important thing you need to get started, a computer. That means all you need is a device to get the video in & out of your computer (called a video capture card) and the software to edit it.
Besides a normal computer, you will need lots of hard drive space for video editing. I really mean, a lot. So storage should be concerned when you set up your digital video editing system.
Of course, you will need a device to play and record your videos most of the time, be it a camcorder or VCR. Nowaday, DV camcorder is cheap and popular, I guess you've already had one? If you don't have yet, a VCR can do the job as well, I haven't touched my VCR for a couple of years though:-).
However, a camcorder or VCR is not a must-have. You can play around with still pictures and view your videos on computer screen.
source: http://www.aboutvideoediting.com/hardware/guide.shtml
Digital Video Editing Getting Started FAQ
It's not that difficult to set up a digital video editing system and start editing within 1 hour if you are familiar with computers. But you WILL encounter problems sooner or later. You'd better know the basics of digital video editing to make your editing life easier.
This page features straight-forward, easy-to-understand information about getting started in the world of digital / desktop video editing. I have put all the info in a FAQ format. Hopefully, you will find this page helpful.
What is Digital or Desktop Video Editing?
Digital Video Editing, or Desktop Video (DTV) Editing, is using your computer to edit videos.
Today, computers are so fast and storage is so cheap that you can capture your video directly from your camcorder to your computer, edit it, add all kinds of cool titles, filters, transitions and FX. Then you can output back to tape, onto the web or even onto a CD or DVD.
Although different technically, Digital/Desktop Video Editing is the same as Non-Linear Editing (NLE) for most practical purposes.
What is Non Linear Editing?
Non Linear Editing (NLE) is editing using random-access video storage. It means you can get access to your footages from hard drive randomly and instantly. The video files on your hard drive are just like normal Word documents, you can load, watch, manipulate, any part of the file in a non-linear mode.
Instead of using jog shuttles and special video decks, you simply capture the video to your hard drive. You can then edit and rearrange the shots much like moving paragraphs around in your word processing program. Since the video is digitized, you can instantly get to any exact point in the video.
Non Linear Editing software is timeline based. Each shot is placed on the timeline. You can lay down more than one track of video and audio onto the timeline.
The best part about NLE is the effects. It's only limited by your own imagination and the software you choose. You can add special filters to clean up and restore picture quality, or to place ripples or swirls in the video. You can also create awesome transitions between shots.
Then comes titling and graphics. You can use any Windows true type font, so foreign languages are no problem at all. You can add a logo or computer graphic or even animation. In fact, you can make it fly, bounce, or spin onto the video.
You can also add cool plug-ins to your NLE software to create awesome 3D transitions and effects.
The power of NLE is truly incredible. Now every video makers can create videos that look and feel like network productions.
What is Linear Editing?
In the past you had to edit linear.
The simplest form of linear editing is called assemble editing or deck to deck. This is when you copy the "good" parts of a tape over to a new tape and repeat the same process until the whole program is finished.
A/B roll editing is when you edit from two or more video sources. An A/B roll system often includes a digital mixer, to let you cut, fade, dissolve and wipe from source A to source B.
Non-Linear is definitely the way to go. Anything you could do on an old fashioned linear system can be done better and cooler with NLE. The only instance you may have to use linear system is probably producing news programs where you have to finish it really fast and don't need any effects.
Here is the only place I mention linear editing in this site :).
What is a video capture card?
Video capture cards let you record video from camcorder or VCR onto your computer's hard drive. These cards use hardware and/or software compression (codec) to digitize the video onto your hard drive.
While it is the video editing software that lets you actually create and edit the video, it is the video capture card that determines the quality of your video.
Check out this comprehensive video capture card features chart to see which card is best for you.
What is a CODEC?
CODEC stands for Compression/Decompression. It is the compression algorithm used by your video capture card to digitize and store the video on your hard drive.
Codecs exist for all kinds of compressed video, including DV, MJPEG, MPEG, Indeo, Cinepak, Sorensen, wavelet, fractal, RealVideo, vXtreme, and many others. The three most popular video codecs used today are MJPEG, DV and MPEG.
Besides capturing video, the codecs also come into play when you need to render transitions, titles, and effects. The system has to take the source frames, decompress them, perform the effects, and recompress the resulting frames.
What are "hard" and "soft" codecs?
Hard codecs are hardware codecs, normally a computer chip. You supply power and raw video at one end, and get compressed video out the other end in real time. Flip a switch and pump in compressed video, and raw, uncompressed video comes out.
Soft codecs are software modules that do the same thing, such as the DV codecs supplied by QuickTime or Microsoft. Modern computers are fast enough that soft codecs can compress or decompress in real time or even faster.
Which is better, hard or soft codec?
One thing to keep in mind is that "hard" vs. "soft" doesn't matter when it comes to video quality, both give excellent result when working properly.
Speaking of speed, in early 1998, various vendors claimed a 25% or 30% speed advantage of hard codecs over soft codecs. Too much depends on other factors, like the speed of the computer's CPU, bus and bus interface chipset, to decisively say that one codec will be faster than the other in effects rendering. As CPUs and buses speed up over time, the soft codecs have taken the lead in speed for rendering operations.
However, hard codes do have some advantages sometimes depending on your requirements. Hard codec systems usually come with breakout boxes that include analog (composite, Y/C, or even component) connections as well as 1394 connections. You can connect up any VTR format with analog I/O to the box and capture it in real-time or output to it in real-time.
Another very cool feature that many hardware based capture cards now have is real-time features such as transitions, FX, filters, titling and more. You do not have to render, these effects play directly from the timeline. Not everything is in real-time with these cards. Each real-time card comes with its own special selection of real-time features.
What is FireWire?
Also known as IEEE1394 or iLink, FireWire is a new interface standard that allows super high speed data transfer. It is the hottest new technology in digital video.
When you use a DV camcorder/VCR and FireWire card, the video is passed directly from your camcorder to your hard drive. Because the signal stays digital through the entire process, you get zero loss and a final video with identical video quality to the original footages.
For more information about FireWire and DV, see DV & FireWire FAQ.
What is Rendering?
Normally, before your edited video can be played back to tape, the computer have to "render" or "make" the finished movie as a single separate video file. Once this new file is created, you can play it back anytime you like.
The rendering process takes up a lot of computer power and time. The more titles, effects and filters you add, the more processing power, speed and time will be needed to create the finished video. This is the area where more RAM and a faster processor can really make a difference.
Rendering can take 10 to 20 times as long as the total time of the finished movie. Rendering times of several hours are not uncommon. Until rendering becomes faster, long videos (over 1/2 hour) with effects are not very practical even for professional editors.
What is full speed, full screen video?
A standard NTSC video signal consists of 30 frames (actually 29.97) per second, and two fields per frame. This is considered to be full speed or full motion video. PAL uses 25 frames per second.
With digital video, full screen is considered 720x480 for NTSC, 720x576 for PAL. If you capture at a smaller size, your computer will have to interpolate the missing information when it plays back the video full screen to your VCR or TV. The larger the capture size, the higher the resolution, and the greater size of the file created.
What additional equipment do you need for NLE?
Besides computer, you will need:
A video capture card to digitize and output videos
Editing software to create all the amazing effects
Lots of extra storage space for video clips
Most capture cards can be purchased as bundles with NLE software included.
How much hard drive space do you need?
Simply put, you will need a lot. The higher the resolution you need, the more space the video will require. Fortunately, hard drives are getting faster and cheaper.
For DV footages, you'll need 13GB per hour of raw video. If you plan on doing DVD authoring, you'll need the same amount of space for that.
For the best results and highest video quality, you need a dedicated video storage. This can be a big, fast EIDE ATA66/100 drive for basic DV editing, or a Medea VideoRAID, SCSI drive or Promise FastTrack RAID for long format real-time productions.
See Hardware Guide for more information.
What is the 2GB limit?
When the video subsystem's of today's operating systems were designed a few years ago, they had in them a basic design flaw: they have maximum sizes they allow for a "logical drive".
For example, Windows 95 running the FAT16 file system can't access any more than 2 GB on a drive. If you have Windows95 or 98, you can format the drive with a FAT32 file system and store files up to 4 GB in size. Mac OS Systems 7.5 and higher also have much larger maximum partition sizes than 2 Gigs: 4 GB starting with OS 7.5, and 2 Terabytes starting with OS 7.5.2.
The file format used for videos can also have the file size limit, hence you can't export videos larger than this size limit. At the time this didn't seem like such a big deal, but today it is one of the biggest issues with digital video.
Timeline Playback is introduced to solve this problem.
What is Timeline Playback?
Timeline Playback technology has been implemented by most of the leading hardware/software vendors. This new technology allows you to play video directly from the timeline. All transitions and effects are rendered into temp files and then the entire video is played out without rendering a new, second video file. This also decreases the time required to render the new video file dramatically if you really need to create a separate file.
INSTANT video, Power Play and Cut List, as different vendors call it, are all basically the same thing, timeline playback.
What is Real-Time NLE?
Real-time NLE means that you can play video directly from the timeline and that the transitions, filters and effects do not have to be rendered. Since you do not have to render, these systems save you both time and disk space.
Real-time technology is a combination of hardware, software, special drivers and the speed and power of your computer. The most important factor is the capture card.
Not everything in real-time cards is real-time. Each real-time card comes with its own special selection of real-time transitions and effects. Some of the newer, less expensive cards offer real-time output for analog, but require rendering for DV/FireWire output. The effects and transitions you get that are real-time will vary from product to product, depending on how the engineers have implemented their real-time technology.
These cards do have specific hardware requirements. If you add enough layers, filters, effects, and titles, you'll exceed the system's capacity for real-time performance. But don't worry, there won't be anything funny. The system will just have to render some parts of the video before playing it back.
What are plug-ins?
Plug-ins are additional software programs that add extra features and effects to your NLE system. They are called Plug-ins because they "Plug In" to your NLE software and operated as if they were a part of it.
Typically, a plug-in will appear and function just as other original features of the NLE software. For example, a 3D transition plug-in would appear as one of the listed transitions in the transition library.
How do I put my video clips on the web?
That depends on how you plan on delivering the clips to your audience.
If you want your visitors to download the clips before viewing, you can export the clips using any codecs and put it on the web just as normal downloadable files. This way, you can provide high quality videos to your audience.
Choosing the proper codecs is the most critical task for this method. Also you need to test and set the resolution, frame rate and compression rate carefully to limit the file size and download time. In addition, you have to make sure that your audience have the same codecs to decompress the video.
If you want to stream video on the web, you've got to compress it into one of 3 formats:
RealPlayer
Microsoft MediaPlayer
Apple QuickTime
All three of these formats have strengths and weaknesses.
Streaming video technologies like RealPlayer require special servers and software. Also special HTML coding is often needed.
Either way, the key to good web video is to start with high quality video. Although the video will be squeezed down to fit over the nets limited bandwidth, the more data you give the compressor to work with, the higher quality the finished product will be.
See Web Streaming Section for more information.
Can I install the capture cards myself?
Yes, if you don't mind opening the computer case. Installing capture cards, as well as other boards, in your PC is really very easy. You may not even need a screwdriver! Once the card is installed, you will need to install the special driver that comes with it.
Having said that, it's still often not a trivial task for some people. If you have ever installed any other boards before, it will be quite easy to install a video capture card. If you've never thought of opening the computer case, then you can't open the case in the first place.
Digital video editing is far more complicated than using word processing programs. You have to know the technical stuff. You are going nowhere if you don't even bother installing the cards by yourself.
What is MPEG-2?
MPEG2 compression is what Hollywood uses when they make a DVD. MPEG2 video quality is scalable, and it can be just as good or better than DV. It is a much more efficient compression than DV or MJPEG, so you can maintain video quality at 1/2 the data rate!!
We are on the brink of a video revolution that is going to make digital video production easier, faster and less expensive. MPEG2 is the first video compression that supports non-linear editing for all formats of video. VHS, 8mm, Hi8, SVHS, DV, DVC Pro on up to broadcast quality. The only drawback to MPEG2 is that its file structure makes it much more difficult (and therefore expensive) to edit. That is why so many of our DV NLE systems now allow you to export MPEG2 files for DVD authoring, but very few will let you edit MPEG2. Once you have MPEG2 video files, they can be put on CD-ROM, Video CD, and DVD or you can stream it over the Internet. It looks like it's going to be the Holy Grail of digital videography. All that's been missing is an affordable way to burn DVDs.
What is MJPEG?
Back in the 90s, if you wanted to edit video, your best choice was an MJPEG based video capture card. The lower the compression, the larger the file size, and the higher the video quality.
The big decision you have to make with MJPEG is the size/compression/quality trade off. We consider SVHS quality to be full screen capture, 30 frames per second, both fields at compression ratios lower than 6:1. At this rate you will get a little over 5 minutes of video (with stereo audio) per gig. Video at this quality requires hard drives that can sustain data throughput over 3.5 megs per second.
MJPEG cards often support 1/2 or 1/4 screen capture as well. These formats are good for multimedia or VHS editing because you get more video per gig. The downside of these smaller capture sizes is that the card ends up having to recreate the missing info so you can end up with artifacts and blurred colors.
What is MPEG-1?
MPEG-1 has been a good choice for creating multimedia or web based video. Unlike MJPEG, MPEG-1 is designed to pack a large amount of good quality video into a small file. Current versions of Win95 include an MPEG-1 player, so any one can take your MPEG-1 files and play them on their computer. This makes MPEG-1 ideal for creating video CD ROMs and multimedia.
Which is better for NLE, PC or Mac?
This is a difficult question. Remember, it is the video capture card that determines the quality of your video.
The real difference comes down to the NLE and special effect software, plug-ins, and the hardware options.
Currently, all Macs come with built-in FireWire port. You can edit video with your G4 from day one, using either Final Cot Pro or Adobe Premiere. But the options to expand your video editing system is limited compared to PC. Many 3rd party software and plug-ins are available only for PC.
With a PC based system you have a wider choice of low cost software you can add. Even more important, if you become more serious you can pop in a Real-Time card, Adobe Premiere RT and a ton of additional cool software down the road.
On the other hand, most Mac guys insist that Mac is more stable and user-friendly. From my personal experience, it seems true to some degree. PC crashes more often. But PC is catching up fast. It doesn't make much difference nowadays.
So, I would say, if you are a Mac guy, go Mac, if you are a PC guy, stay with it.
Whatever you buy, the odds are very strong that in a couple of years, you will be drooling over the latest technology. If you really get into digital video editing, you are going to be upgrading more often than before :).
source: http://www.aboutvideoediting.com/hardware/start.shtml
It's not that difficult to set up a digital video editing system and start editing within 1 hour if you are familiar with computers. But you WILL encounter problems sooner or later. You'd better know the basics of digital video editing to make your editing life easier.
This page features straight-forward, easy-to-understand information about getting started in the world of digital / desktop video editing. I have put all the info in a FAQ format. Hopefully, you will find this page helpful.
What is Digital or Desktop Video Editing?
Digital Video Editing, or Desktop Video (DTV) Editing, is using your computer to edit videos.
Today, computers are so fast and storage is so cheap that you can capture your video directly from your camcorder to your computer, edit it, add all kinds of cool titles, filters, transitions and FX. Then you can output back to tape, onto the web or even onto a CD or DVD.
Although different technically, Digital/Desktop Video Editing is the same as Non-Linear Editing (NLE) for most practical purposes.
What is Non Linear Editing?
Non Linear Editing (NLE) is editing using random-access video storage. It means you can get access to your footages from hard drive randomly and instantly. The video files on your hard drive are just like normal Word documents, you can load, watch, manipulate, any part of the file in a non-linear mode.
Instead of using jog shuttles and special video decks, you simply capture the video to your hard drive. You can then edit and rearrange the shots much like moving paragraphs around in your word processing program. Since the video is digitized, you can instantly get to any exact point in the video.
Non Linear Editing software is timeline based. Each shot is placed on the timeline. You can lay down more than one track of video and audio onto the timeline.
The best part about NLE is the effects. It's only limited by your own imagination and the software you choose. You can add special filters to clean up and restore picture quality, or to place ripples or swirls in the video. You can also create awesome transitions between shots.
Then comes titling and graphics. You can use any Windows true type font, so foreign languages are no problem at all. You can add a logo or computer graphic or even animation. In fact, you can make it fly, bounce, or spin onto the video.
You can also add cool plug-ins to your NLE software to create awesome 3D transitions and effects.
The power of NLE is truly incredible. Now every video makers can create videos that look and feel like network productions.
What is Linear Editing?
In the past you had to edit linear.
The simplest form of linear editing is called assemble editing or deck to deck. This is when you copy the "good" parts of a tape over to a new tape and repeat the same process until the whole program is finished.
A/B roll editing is when you edit from two or more video sources. An A/B roll system often includes a digital mixer, to let you cut, fade, dissolve and wipe from source A to source B.
Non-Linear is definitely the way to go. Anything you could do on an old fashioned linear system can be done better and cooler with NLE. The only instance you may have to use linear system is probably producing news programs where you have to finish it really fast and don't need any effects.
Here is the only place I mention linear editing in this site :).
What is a video capture card?
Video capture cards let you record video from camcorder or VCR onto your computer's hard drive. These cards use hardware and/or software compression (codec) to digitize the video onto your hard drive.
While it is the video editing software that lets you actually create and edit the video, it is the video capture card that determines the quality of your video.
Check out this comprehensive video capture card features chart to see which card is best for you.
What is a CODEC?
CODEC stands for Compression/Decompression. It is the compression algorithm used by your video capture card to digitize and store the video on your hard drive.
Codecs exist for all kinds of compressed video, including DV, MJPEG, MPEG, Indeo, Cinepak, Sorensen, wavelet, fractal, RealVideo, vXtreme, and many others. The three most popular video codecs used today are MJPEG, DV and MPEG.
Besides capturing video, the codecs also come into play when you need to render transitions, titles, and effects. The system has to take the source frames, decompress them, perform the effects, and recompress the resulting frames.
What are "hard" and "soft" codecs?
Hard codecs are hardware codecs, normally a computer chip. You supply power and raw video at one end, and get compressed video out the other end in real time. Flip a switch and pump in compressed video, and raw, uncompressed video comes out.
Soft codecs are software modules that do the same thing, such as the DV codecs supplied by QuickTime or Microsoft. Modern computers are fast enough that soft codecs can compress or decompress in real time or even faster.
Which is better, hard or soft codec?
One thing to keep in mind is that "hard" vs. "soft" doesn't matter when it comes to video quality, both give excellent result when working properly.
Speaking of speed, in early 1998, various vendors claimed a 25% or 30% speed advantage of hard codecs over soft codecs. Too much depends on other factors, like the speed of the computer's CPU, bus and bus interface chipset, to decisively say that one codec will be faster than the other in effects rendering. As CPUs and buses speed up over time, the soft codecs have taken the lead in speed for rendering operations.
However, hard codes do have some advantages sometimes depending on your requirements. Hard codec systems usually come with breakout boxes that include analog (composite, Y/C, or even component) connections as well as 1394 connections. You can connect up any VTR format with analog I/O to the box and capture it in real-time or output to it in real-time.
Another very cool feature that many hardware based capture cards now have is real-time features such as transitions, FX, filters, titling and more. You do not have to render, these effects play directly from the timeline. Not everything is in real-time with these cards. Each real-time card comes with its own special selection of real-time features.
What is FireWire?
Also known as IEEE1394 or iLink, FireWire is a new interface standard that allows super high speed data transfer. It is the hottest new technology in digital video.
When you use a DV camcorder/VCR and FireWire card, the video is passed directly from your camcorder to your hard drive. Because the signal stays digital through the entire process, you get zero loss and a final video with identical video quality to the original footages.
For more information about FireWire and DV, see DV & FireWire FAQ.
What is Rendering?
Normally, before your edited video can be played back to tape, the computer have to "render" or "make" the finished movie as a single separate video file. Once this new file is created, you can play it back anytime you like.
The rendering process takes up a lot of computer power and time. The more titles, effects and filters you add, the more processing power, speed and time will be needed to create the finished video. This is the area where more RAM and a faster processor can really make a difference.
Rendering can take 10 to 20 times as long as the total time of the finished movie. Rendering times of several hours are not uncommon. Until rendering becomes faster, long videos (over 1/2 hour) with effects are not very practical even for professional editors.
What is full speed, full screen video?
A standard NTSC video signal consists of 30 frames (actually 29.97) per second, and two fields per frame. This is considered to be full speed or full motion video. PAL uses 25 frames per second.
With digital video, full screen is considered 720x480 for NTSC, 720x576 for PAL. If you capture at a smaller size, your computer will have to interpolate the missing information when it plays back the video full screen to your VCR or TV. The larger the capture size, the higher the resolution, and the greater size of the file created.
What additional equipment do you need for NLE?
Besides computer, you will need:
A video capture card to digitize and output videos
Editing software to create all the amazing effects
Lots of extra storage space for video clips
Most capture cards can be purchased as bundles with NLE software included.
How much hard drive space do you need?
Simply put, you will need a lot. The higher the resolution you need, the more space the video will require. Fortunately, hard drives are getting faster and cheaper.
For DV footages, you'll need 13GB per hour of raw video. If you plan on doing DVD authoring, you'll need the same amount of space for that.
For the best results and highest video quality, you need a dedicated video storage. This can be a big, fast EIDE ATA66/100 drive for basic DV editing, or a Medea VideoRAID, SCSI drive or Promise FastTrack RAID for long format real-time productions.
See Hardware Guide for more information.
What is the 2GB limit?
When the video subsystem's of today's operating systems were designed a few years ago, they had in them a basic design flaw: they have maximum sizes they allow for a "logical drive".
For example, Windows 95 running the FAT16 file system can't access any more than 2 GB on a drive. If you have Windows95 or 98, you can format the drive with a FAT32 file system and store files up to 4 GB in size. Mac OS Systems 7.5 and higher also have much larger maximum partition sizes than 2 Gigs: 4 GB starting with OS 7.5, and 2 Terabytes starting with OS 7.5.2.
The file format used for videos can also have the file size limit, hence you can't export videos larger than this size limit. At the time this didn't seem like such a big deal, but today it is one of the biggest issues with digital video.
Timeline Playback is introduced to solve this problem.
What is Timeline Playback?
Timeline Playback technology has been implemented by most of the leading hardware/software vendors. This new technology allows you to play video directly from the timeline. All transitions and effects are rendered into temp files and then the entire video is played out without rendering a new, second video file. This also decreases the time required to render the new video file dramatically if you really need to create a separate file.
INSTANT video, Power Play and Cut List, as different vendors call it, are all basically the same thing, timeline playback.
What is Real-Time NLE?
Real-time NLE means that you can play video directly from the timeline and that the transitions, filters and effects do not have to be rendered. Since you do not have to render, these systems save you both time and disk space.
Real-time technology is a combination of hardware, software, special drivers and the speed and power of your computer. The most important factor is the capture card.
Not everything in real-time cards is real-time. Each real-time card comes with its own special selection of real-time transitions and effects. Some of the newer, less expensive cards offer real-time output for analog, but require rendering for DV/FireWire output. The effects and transitions you get that are real-time will vary from product to product, depending on how the engineers have implemented their real-time technology.
These cards do have specific hardware requirements. If you add enough layers, filters, effects, and titles, you'll exceed the system's capacity for real-time performance. But don't worry, there won't be anything funny. The system will just have to render some parts of the video before playing it back.
What are plug-ins?
Plug-ins are additional software programs that add extra features and effects to your NLE system. They are called Plug-ins because they "Plug In" to your NLE software and operated as if they were a part of it.
Typically, a plug-in will appear and function just as other original features of the NLE software. For example, a 3D transition plug-in would appear as one of the listed transitions in the transition library.
How do I put my video clips on the web?
That depends on how you plan on delivering the clips to your audience.
If you want your visitors to download the clips before viewing, you can export the clips using any codecs and put it on the web just as normal downloadable files. This way, you can provide high quality videos to your audience.
Choosing the proper codecs is the most critical task for this method. Also you need to test and set the resolution, frame rate and compression rate carefully to limit the file size and download time. In addition, you have to make sure that your audience have the same codecs to decompress the video.
If you want to stream video on the web, you've got to compress it into one of 3 formats:
RealPlayer
Microsoft MediaPlayer
Apple QuickTime
All three of these formats have strengths and weaknesses.
Streaming video technologies like RealPlayer require special servers and software. Also special HTML coding is often needed.
Either way, the key to good web video is to start with high quality video. Although the video will be squeezed down to fit over the nets limited bandwidth, the more data you give the compressor to work with, the higher quality the finished product will be.
See Web Streaming Section for more information.
Can I install the capture cards myself?
Yes, if you don't mind opening the computer case. Installing capture cards, as well as other boards, in your PC is really very easy. You may not even need a screwdriver! Once the card is installed, you will need to install the special driver that comes with it.
Having said that, it's still often not a trivial task for some people. If you have ever installed any other boards before, it will be quite easy to install a video capture card. If you've never thought of opening the computer case, then you can't open the case in the first place.
Digital video editing is far more complicated than using word processing programs. You have to know the technical stuff. You are going nowhere if you don't even bother installing the cards by yourself.
What is MPEG-2?
MPEG2 compression is what Hollywood uses when they make a DVD. MPEG2 video quality is scalable, and it can be just as good or better than DV. It is a much more efficient compression than DV or MJPEG, so you can maintain video quality at 1/2 the data rate!!
We are on the brink of a video revolution that is going to make digital video production easier, faster and less expensive. MPEG2 is the first video compression that supports non-linear editing for all formats of video. VHS, 8mm, Hi8, SVHS, DV, DVC Pro on up to broadcast quality. The only drawback to MPEG2 is that its file structure makes it much more difficult (and therefore expensive) to edit. That is why so many of our DV NLE systems now allow you to export MPEG2 files for DVD authoring, but very few will let you edit MPEG2. Once you have MPEG2 video files, they can be put on CD-ROM, Video CD, and DVD or you can stream it over the Internet. It looks like it's going to be the Holy Grail of digital videography. All that's been missing is an affordable way to burn DVDs.
What is MJPEG?
Back in the 90s, if you wanted to edit video, your best choice was an MJPEG based video capture card. The lower the compression, the larger the file size, and the higher the video quality.
The big decision you have to make with MJPEG is the size/compression/quality trade off. We consider SVHS quality to be full screen capture, 30 frames per second, both fields at compression ratios lower than 6:1. At this rate you will get a little over 5 minutes of video (with stereo audio) per gig. Video at this quality requires hard drives that can sustain data throughput over 3.5 megs per second.
MJPEG cards often support 1/2 or 1/4 screen capture as well. These formats are good for multimedia or VHS editing because you get more video per gig. The downside of these smaller capture sizes is that the card ends up having to recreate the missing info so you can end up with artifacts and blurred colors.
What is MPEG-1?
MPEG-1 has been a good choice for creating multimedia or web based video. Unlike MJPEG, MPEG-1 is designed to pack a large amount of good quality video into a small file. Current versions of Win95 include an MPEG-1 player, so any one can take your MPEG-1 files and play them on their computer. This makes MPEG-1 ideal for creating video CD ROMs and multimedia.
Which is better for NLE, PC or Mac?
This is a difficult question. Remember, it is the video capture card that determines the quality of your video.
The real difference comes down to the NLE and special effect software, plug-ins, and the hardware options.
Currently, all Macs come with built-in FireWire port. You can edit video with your G4 from day one, using either Final Cot Pro or Adobe Premiere. But the options to expand your video editing system is limited compared to PC. Many 3rd party software and plug-ins are available only for PC.
With a PC based system you have a wider choice of low cost software you can add. Even more important, if you become more serious you can pop in a Real-Time card, Adobe Premiere RT and a ton of additional cool software down the road.
On the other hand, most Mac guys insist that Mac is more stable and user-friendly. From my personal experience, it seems true to some degree. PC crashes more often. But PC is catching up fast. It doesn't make much difference nowadays.
So, I would say, if you are a Mac guy, go Mac, if you are a PC guy, stay with it.
Whatever you buy, the odds are very strong that in a couple of years, you will be drooling over the latest technology. If you really get into digital video editing, you are going to be upgrading more often than before :).
source: http://www.aboutvideoediting.com/hardware/start.shtml
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Video editing equipment, hardware, software reviews.
Video editing equipment, hardware, software reviews.
Digital video editing techniques & articles.
Video capture cards, desktop video editing book reviews.
About Video Editing
Hardware Guide
Software Reviews
Free Downloads
Book Reviews
Video Editing Articles
Forum
Resources
Web Design By1st Singapore Web Hosting
Digital Video Editing Is Cool...
Wondering what to do with those video tapes shot during your honeymoon trip, on Christmas Days, at your son's birthday party... but now sitting on the shelf only collecting dust?
You're not alone.
Digital video camcorders are getting cheaper and cheaper while the video quality is getting better and better. Almost everyone I know has piles and piles of video tapes at home. Actually, it's hard to see any travellers that do not carry a video camcorder nowadays.
Yet, very, very few people make full use of their hours and hours of videos they shoot over the years!
With today's affordable video capture cards, easy-to-use digital video editing softwareand equipment , cheap and fast computer hardware, there's no reason one cannot edit his own hollywood-like videos at home and show off to friends!
Thinking of digital video editing (or call it desktop video editing or computer video editing if you like)? You've landed at the right place! This site is all about digital video editing.
HardwareGuide
SoftwareReviews
FreeDownloads
Techniques& Articles
Video EditingBook Reviews
We, at About Video Editing.com, do not sell anything. We only provide free digital video editing information. You can find video capture card reviews, digital video editing equipment and hardware guide, desktop video editing techniques and articles, video editing book reviews, video editing software reviews...
As a professional video editor that have been working in this industry for 8 years, I'd like to share my experience with anyone who want to edit his own videos. Trust me, digital video editing is dorable, affordable, and best of all, enjoyable!
The feeling of viewing your own professionally edited videos is simply fantastic!
source: http://www.aboutvideoediting.com/
Digital video editing techniques & articles.
Video capture cards, desktop video editing book reviews.
About Video Editing
Hardware Guide
Software Reviews
Free Downloads
Book Reviews
Video Editing Articles
Forum
Resources
Web Design By1st Singapore Web Hosting
Digital Video Editing Is Cool...
Wondering what to do with those video tapes shot during your honeymoon trip, on Christmas Days, at your son's birthday party... but now sitting on the shelf only collecting dust?
You're not alone.
Digital video camcorders are getting cheaper and cheaper while the video quality is getting better and better. Almost everyone I know has piles and piles of video tapes at home. Actually, it's hard to see any travellers that do not carry a video camcorder nowadays.
Yet, very, very few people make full use of their hours and hours of videos they shoot over the years!
With today's affordable video capture cards, easy-to-use digital video editing softwareand equipment , cheap and fast computer hardware, there's no reason one cannot edit his own hollywood-like videos at home and show off to friends!
Thinking of digital video editing (or call it desktop video editing or computer video editing if you like)? You've landed at the right place! This site is all about digital video editing.
HardwareGuide
SoftwareReviews
FreeDownloads
Techniques& Articles
Video EditingBook Reviews
We, at About Video Editing.com, do not sell anything. We only provide free digital video editing information. You can find video capture card reviews, digital video editing equipment and hardware guide, desktop video editing techniques and articles, video editing book reviews, video editing software reviews...
As a professional video editor that have been working in this industry for 8 years, I'd like to share my experience with anyone who want to edit his own videos. Trust me, digital video editing is dorable, affordable, and best of all, enjoyable!
The feeling of viewing your own professionally edited videos is simply fantastic!
source: http://www.aboutvideoediting.com/
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Sony DCR-SR300 Camcorder Review
Sony DCR-SR300 Camcorder Review by Michael Perlman Published on May 16, 2007 3:28 PM -->
Sony Handycam DCR-SR300 Hard Drive Digital Camcorder
Intro
Auto / Manual Controls
Other Features
Performance
Still Features
Comparisons / Conclusion
Format
Handling and Use
Specs and Ratings
Tour
Audio / Playback / Connectivity
Sony’s DCR-SR100 was one of the best camcorders of 2006, and it was an auspicious sign of things to come at Sony। Until that camcorder, JVC’s Everio line monopolized the consumer HDD space. The SR100 changed all that, combining image quality and ease-of-use in what was perhaps the best HDD model to date. Sony followed up in mid-2006 with several new entry-level HDD cams, and the first ever HDD-based AVCHD camcorder, the excellent HDR-SR1. Now at long last, a follow up to the SR100 has arrived in the form of the $999 (MSRP) DCR-SR300. It is certainly a likeable camcorder – just like its predecessor – and brings a larger imager, OIS, and Sony’s oh-so-cool Smooth Slow Record feature. Yet, we couldn’t help but notice that another Sony HDD camcorder, the HDR-SR5, sells for only $100 more and records AVCHD high-definition video. Perhaps Sony has finally saturated the market a drop too far.
Video Performance (6।0)The DCR-SR300 comes equipped with the best imaging feature set that Sony offers this year: a 1/2.9 ClearVID CMOS sensor, which has a gross pixel count of 3,200,000 (effective pixel count 2,280,000 in 16:9; and 1,710,000 pixels in 4:3). The ClearVID CMOS has been Sony’s chip design of choice for the last few years on their top camcorders. This particular chip is the largest yet, and we hope it produces the best image.
At 3000 lux, the image looks surprisingly similar to its predecessor, the DCR-SR100, which had a 1/3” CCD। At a broad glance, most picture elements are identical: color, sharpness, exposure, and tonality. The new DCR-SR300 has stronger greens – more saturated and better differentiated from the yellows. A closer inspection shows that the DCR-SR300 has more dynamic range, with whiter whites and blacker blacks, without any obvious failings of being too bright or too dark.
Upper-end Sonys generally produce good video। As expected, the colors are oversaturated, but they still look healthy. Last year, we praised the DCR-SR100 (retailing for $1100) for having great performance in bright light. Each year brings new stresses to the market, however. The SR300, retailing for practically the same price ($1000 MSRP), is now flanked by HD camcorders, offering far better image quality – namely the Sony HDR-HC5 and Canon HV20. And just recently, Sony seemed to almost willfully knock the SR300 out of the running by releasing the HDR-SR5 – another HDD camcorder that records in AVCHD. Though AVCHD certainly has editing prohibitions – even with software now emerging – why on earth would anyone buy standard definition when they could have HD? We’re sure someone, somewhere has a reason (feel free to comment below), but we can’t find one. Sorry, Sony, you’re pushing out camcorders so quickly you’re burying your own product.
Low Light Performance (7।19)The Sony DCR-SR300 has a very large imager, so we’re expecting great low light performance. Considering what else is available in this price range, the DCR-SR300 has no excuse to do poorly.
At 60 lux, the DCR-SR300 maintained a good deal of color information as well as an overall exposure। It would have been great, save for one big problem – noise. The picture was rife with noise, a fuzzy, white and blue noise. Last year’s DCR-SR100, with the CCD, had far less noise. For the longest time, CMOS chips had the stigma of producing more noise than traditional CCDs, but it seemed as though that era was behind us – apparently not. Something has gone awry here, either in the chip or the processor, and we’re quite disappointed. Also, Sony consumer camcorders do not offer manual gain, which might have given the opportunity to lower the noise.
At 15 lux, the image is pretty much shot। Noise has increased a great deal and most of the color has been lost. This is not too much of a surprise, as most camcorders conk out at such a low light. However, we were hoping for a slightly better showing from such a large imager.
The DCR-SR300 managed to produce 50IRE at 9 lux। The light was then raised to 60 lux to measure color accuracy, noise, and saturation. At best, the camcorder produced a mean color error of 6.3, with 1.7475% noise and a saturation of 105.0%.
Stabilization (7।78)The Sony DCR-SR300 utilizes Super Steady Shot, an optical image stabilization (OIS) system, to reduce the effects of camcorder shake on the image. OIS systems achieve this through an optical process that does not impact video resolution, often in the form of a gyroscopes built around the lens element. This contrasts with EIS (electronic image stabilization) systems that reduce shake through digital processing. The digital processing found in EIS systems does result in a slight loss of image resolution, and are inferior to OIS.
We found the OIS system on the SR300 to be very effective। With our shake emulator device set to speed 1, roughly equivalent to the motion produced while hand-holding a camcorder and standing still, the SR300 reduced movement by about 75%. At speed 2, the more aggressive and high-speed setting, the SR300 actually reduced motion by a greater degree – over 86%. The SR300 is the first camcorder we’ve tested that reduced motion more at speed 2 than speed 1.
Wide Angle (10।0)We tested the Sony DCR-SR300 in16:9 recording mode to determine its maximum field of view. To run this test, pulled the zoom all the way back, disabled OIS, and manually focused the camcorder to ensure a stable shot. This SR300 produced a maximum field of view of 50 degrees putting it right in the average range for comparable consumer camcorders.
Compression (4।0)The SR300 follows in the footsteps of Sony’s first HDD-based camcorder, the SD100 and records MPEG-2 video at three quality settings: HQ, SP, and LP. These quality settings (found under the heading REC MODE in both the Home and Option menus) correspond to the degree to which the footage is compressed, with less compression resulting in higher bit rates and better video than more compression. HQ records at a maximum rate of 9Mbps, with the lowest level of compression; SP increases compression and records at a max rate of 6Mbps; and LP has the highest compression level at 3Mbps, but produces files 1/3 the size of HQ and ½ the size of SP.
Like most camcorders that use MPEG-2 compression, the DCR-SR300 employs variable bit rate (VBR) processing। VBR encoding allows the camcorder to ratchet down the bit rate when the recorded image is less complex (as in a static seated interview), and up when it is more complex (a soccer game shot from the sidelines hand-held). In theory, this allows the camcorder to use lower levels of compression that require more disk space only when necessary, and saves disk space when the scene is less demanding.
MPEG-2 is readily compatible with most home DVD players, and has become one of the most common compression methods on today’s consumer camcorders। The DV compression used on standard definition camcorders that record to MiniDV tape can produce better quality video than MPEG-2, and DV is widely supported by higher-end NLEs (non-linear editors) like Final Cut Pro and Premiere. The quality of MPEG-2 footage has made great strides in recent years, however. By 2006, the best Sony and Panasonic MPEG-2 camcorders, including the DCR-SR100, boasted performance that approached the best DV camcorders on the market.
Media (6।0)Hard disk drive (HDD) media is becoming increasingly popular with consumers and prosumers alike – and for good reason. When it comes to field media management, nothing is simpler than HDD recording because it literally negates the need to swap out discs, tapes, or flash cards when they fill up. The DCR-SR300 sports a 40GB non-removable (HDD) protected by a few standard safety features, including Drop Sensor which automatically freezes the drive mechanism in the event of a drop, or as the manual euphemistically says, a “non-gravity condition.” In addition, the HDD is protected by physical shock absorbers to reduce jarring during normal use. More than any other media, HDDs require safety features like these because they rely on moving parts that cannot be easily replaced.
The capacity of the 40GB HDD is dependent on the recording mode। In the lowest compression HQ mode, the HDD can hold 570 minutes (9.5 hours); in SP mode, 870 minutes (14.5 hours); and in LP mode, 1680 minutes (28 hours).
The user’s guide notes that this camcorder should not be powered up at altitudes above 3000 meters (about 9,800 feet)। This is a warning we have seen on Sony’s other HDD camcorders. If you want to record footage of your next boarding trip to the Rockies (or you happen to live in Leadville, CO) this is definitely not the camcorder for you. Another factor to take note of is that formatting the disc may not delete all footage from the HDD. Sony recommends using the Empty option to ensure that nothing can be recovered, for example if you elect to eBay your SR300 after a few months of use.
Editing (6।0)The DCR-SR300 ships Picture Motion Browser Ver.2.0.06, a basic suite of editing software designed to work with Sony’s HDD camcorders. If you only plan on doing rudimentary editing – i.e. putting together a selection of clips without complex effects or transitions – the bundled software will satisfy your needs. If you are an experienced editor, and already have an NLE (non-linear editor) of choice, you may need to convert the SR300’s MPEG-2 footage into a format compatible with your program.
So-called consumer NLEs are more likely to support standard definition MPEG-2 video because it is considered a consumer format। Ironically, camcorders like the SR300 produce very nice looking video that is better than what some DV camcorders can muster – even though DV is considered a superior professional format. The bottom line is DV has been around for a long time, and is very well-supported by full-featured NLEs like Apple Final Cut Pro, Avid DV Xpress, and Adobe Premiere while
The Front (6.25)Up front, the DCR-SR300’s asymmetrical frame is accented by a Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* lens protruding from the center. The 10x optical zoom lens has a filter diameter of 37mm and is capable of the following Focal lengths: 5.4mm-54mm, 40-400mm (16:9, 35mm equivalent), 49-490 (4:3, 35mm equivalent), 37-370mm (4:3, still images), 40-400mm (16:9, still images). To the left of the lens lies a side-mounted digital still image flash. Though the placement of the flash shaves additional plastic off the top of the SR300, we prefer the embedded top-mounted flash found on Sony’s HDR-UX1 for its even distribution of light and space-saving design. Directly below the lens is the remote sensor, and that just about wraps it up here.
The Right Side (4।0)Sony’s DCR-SR300 design team must have collaborated in a sterile, windowless room, and the right side of the SR300 proves it. With only a hand strap and set of ports to speak of, the SR300 is not an electrically aesthetic camcorder, though it appears to be reasonably idiot proof. The plastic oval port cover located on the far left is home to the A/V out terminal and remote jack. The port cover itself is rugged, despite its thin plastic strips anchoring it to the SR300’s body—just don’t perform any reckless torque tests on the strips. The SR300’s hand strap falls within the middle ground of consumer camcorder comfort. It’s thicker and stronger than the Canon HV20’s, yet fails to deliver the cushy goodness of the Sony HDR-HC7’s breathable, padded design. The right side of the SR300 is significantly rounded to fit the natural arc of the shooter’s hand, and features a 2” smooth groove on the top for fingers to latch on to. However, on a camcorder this compact, we would have preferred a boxier shape to give us more to grasp. The groove on top is essentially useless because sleek plastic and sweaty fingers are the equivalent to oil and water. The SR300 was designed for two-handed shooters.
The Back (4।25)Take a gander at the DCR-SR300’s big bad battery. Sony can afford to equip the camcorder with such a large pack because there is no viewfinder to fiddle with. In that case, the option to upgrade to a larger battery is highly attainable. The battery release switch is located under the camcorder, along with the docking station port. Directly above the battery pack is the horseshoe-shaped mode dial that features diamond-shaped grooves and packs dangerous style. Here you can shift between video mode, camera mode, and off. Below the mode dial, to the right, is the flash button, which is hard to access via thumb due to its close proximity to the edge of the battery. However, it’s nice to be able to toggle between flash settings from the back of the SR300. The long oval record start/stop button sits to the right of the battery and rests just beneath the thumb for easy access. At the base of the SR300, to the right of the battery is the DC input, housed by a small rectangular hinged plastic cover.
The Left Side (5।5)This profile highlights the DCR-SR300’s junk in the trunk, or sizable battery. The thing juts out like nobody’s business. With the LCD closed, the SR300 will steep you in mystery, as there are no discernible features present—until you open the 2.7” wide LCD screen. Within the LCD cavity, you’ll find a bounty of buttons spread horizontally along the top: backlight, wide select, disp/battery info, Easy, and playback. Since the SR300’s shooting experience is fueled by LCD-based monitoring, it would make sense to embed these controls within the LCD cavity. Below the panel of convenience rests the NightShot switch, MemoryStick PRO Duo slot, and square playback speaker. A mic and headphone jack would have fared well within the LCD cavity, but alas, there are none to speak of.
The LCD screen features a vertical row of flattened plastic buttons—home, zoom in/out, and record start, stop। This is super dandy for point-and-shooters who like to get freaky with the LCD. Now about the LCD: it has a touch screen menu. We know what you’re going to say. You’ve read our reviews of Sony’s touch screen menus and will probably be able to sum it up to the T—smudgy fingerprints + small buttons + spot meter = ladles of frustration. Just give us a bigger LCD screen like the one found on the UX1, Sony, and we’ll reduce our grievances significantly.
The Top (5.25)The top of the SR300 reveals how fat this little HDD machine is. At the head sits the 5.1 channel surround sound built-in microphone which falls right under the pinky and ring fingers, enabling you to muffle and distort your audio with the greatest of ease. The SR300 is not big enough for a top-mounted mic, Sony. Right under the microphone is the Sony brand-exclusive hot shoe, or “Active Interface Shoe,” compatible with no other brand add-ons aside from Sony’s. Its rigid plastic cover was yanked out within the first 5 seconds of handling, but it’s better than the Canon HV20’s detached accessory shoe cover. Toward the back is the HC7-like zoom toggle, which is smooth and responsive. The wide photo button sits behind the zoom, easily accessible for a quick snap.
Picture & Manual ControlAutomatic Control (7।0)Sony makes camcorders that are hard not to like – they look good, handle well, and in auto mode, they make smooth adjustments that instill confidence. The SR300 is a good example of the state of Sony camcorder design, beginning with the ubiquitous Easy Mode button above the LCD cavity along the lens barrel. Easy Mode is Sony’s branded idiot-proof version of auto mode that literally locks you out of making any changes to settings that could get you into trouble. Everything shifts into full auto, including exposure, white balance, and shutter speed. The menu list is also shortened, leaving only language, camcorder sounds, clock settings, and HDD formatting operations active. In other words, only those options that have nothing to do with control over the quality of your image. For novices, Easy Mode is a nice feature that guarantees that no errant setting is engaged while shooting.
The most notable characteristic about the DCR-SR300’s automatic adjustments is that they work quickly, smoothly, and with adequate accuracy। Exposure works well, though in very bright conditions, it tended towards slight over-exposure. Focal adjustments also work well in bright light, but in lower contrast and darker settings, it struggled, often requiring several seconds to lock in a crisp focus. This was especially apparent at the telephoto end of the zoom range. Another control that was notably spotty in terms of accuracy was white balance, with the image tending to appear more washed out than with manual white balancing. This is an effect we noticed recently on the HDR-HC7, the only other Sony we’ve yet reviewed this year.
The weaknesses noted above are shared by any camcorder in auto mode। Any situation with high- or low-contrast, varied lighting sources, or complex information is difficult for a camcorder’s processor to gauge. To assist with situations like these, the DCR-SR300 includes a number of automatic assists including a generous sampling of Program AE modes. Program AE (the AE stands for auto exposure) tailor the camcorder’s automatic adjustments for specific shooting situations that are known to create problems for Easy Mode. They include Spotlight (for any scene where the subject appears against a much darker background), Portrait (optimized for a single nearby subject in the center of the frame), Sports (for fast motion), Beach & Ski (for darker subjects appearing against a much brighter background), Sunset & Moon (for dark environments), and Landscape (for shooting distant subjects).
Spot Meter and Spot Focus offer a way of defining what part of the screen the SR300 uses to meter exposure and set focus respectively। The spot controls are set by touching the part of the screen you want to meter or focus on, but they must be set one at a time. While they can yield much better results than auto exposure and auto focus in many situations, they still may not produce optimal results – in which case you are better off adjusting the image manually.
Overall Manual Control (4।0)The DCR-SR300 offers a respectable suite of manual controls and assists, all of which are accessed via the touch screen. Overall, however, Sony camcorders almost always lack the finer manual controls that power-users want, like shutter speed and gain. The touch screen interface has a few advantages but many disadvantages as well. On the plus side, touch screens require virtually no ramp-up time for novice users as they are entirely text-based. If you can read the screen and touch the corresponding buttons, you can find your way to every option and manual control offered by this camcorder. As an interface for making manual control adjustments, touch screens are generally inferior to other physical controllers, like joysticks or rings.
The interface buttons for making white balance, focus, and exposure adjustments, for example, are overlaid on top of the image. As you can imagine, buttons and indicators in front of the picture hinders your ability to assess the live view while making adjustments. In addition, touch screens are less precise than physical controls, and pick up finger grease that reduces the clarity of the screen. In other words, while touch screens are extremely user-friendly and accessible, they are poor interfaces for making precision adjustments.
Most manual controls are found in the Option Menu, accessed via a button at the lower right corner of the LCD. The option menu is divided into five pages accessed by tabs along base of the LCD, the first three of which are identified by camcorder icons. These tabs contain basic manual image controls, including Focus, Exposure (in EV steps), and White Balance. The fourth tab contains fader and effects, and the fifth tab includes recording setup options such as video quality (labeled Rec Mode). The Option Menu keeps most shooting options very close at hand, which at least gives you ready access to the key manual controls.
This camcorder does include zebras, a feature that makes manual exposure much more practical on the SR300 than on touch screen Sonys without zebras। Zebras are in the Home Menu under Movie Settings, and allow you to monitor a fixed IRE level onscreen. With zebras enabled, the liability of an interface that blocks much of the image is reduced, because they allow you to monitor brightness against an absolute measure. This addition helps the SR300’s lot considerably for making exposure adjustments – but manual focus in particular remains frustratingly tough.
Zoom (5.0)Sony zoom controllers generally feel pretty good. The one on the SR300 has the same smooth responsive feel found on other Sonys, though in this case the placement is slightly awkward. We found that the most comfortable grip left the zoom toggle right between the index and middle fingers. It took only a slight modification to operate the zoom control with either finger. The raised toggle design is the best one commonly found on consumer camcorders because they respond well to even subtle pressure. Like most other camcorder zooms, this one is pressure-sensitive, and zoom speed changes with finger pressure.
The W and T buttons on the outside edge of the LCD frame offer a second fixed-speed zoom option। A few camcorders, notably from Canon, allow you to set a fixed zoom speed.
Zoom Power Ratio (10।0)The Sony DCR-SR300 has a 10x optical zoom lens, and a digital zoom that maxes out at 20x. The optical zoom power of this Sony is much lower than many available on lower-priced consumer camcorders because optical zoom power is a function of the length of the lens element relative to the size of the imager. With a very large 1/2.9” CMOS sensor, the SR300’s compact body can only accommodate a modest optical zoom. A camcorder with a smaller 1/6” inch sensor in a similarly sized body can support much higher optical zoom power – but record a lower quality image.
In addition to the 10x optical zoom, the SR300 has a digital zoom that can be turned on or disabled। We think it is generally a good policy to eschew digital zooms because of the dramatic drop in image quality that results when they are used. However, this digital zoom maxes out at only twice the optical zoom max and the camcorder has a very high effective pixel count. At 20x, the pixels recorded by this camcorder are only twice the size of those available at the optical max of 10x (digital zooms magnify pixels to give the illusion of greater magnification). Furthermore, there is no hyper zoom option on the SR300, so you won’t run the risk of zooming all the way to an absurd 500 or 1000x digital zoom level. Check out the image quality recorded by this camcorder when the digital zoom is engaged and you may find that it’s acceptable to you.
Focus (3।5)Touch screen interfaces have their strengths (simple interface and no ramp-up time) and weaknesses (pretty much everything else). For some manual control adjustments, touch screens are a fine control, but they are poor focus controllers. Unlike some of Sony’s higher-end HD camcorders, which have a multifunction Cam Control dial, the SR300 does not include any physical controllers. Focus and other image adjustments are all made via the touch screen, accessed via the Option Menu where there are Auto and Manual focus buttons.
Upon selecting Manual focus, a horizontal bar appears on the screen above the Auto and Manual buttons। On the left side of the bar is a person icon, and at the right side is a mountain icon. Pressing the person icon moves the focal plane closer, and pressing the mountain icon moves it further away. During manual focus, a numerical display at the center of the screen shows the approximate distance of the focal plane from the lens. While this display is a great addition to the camcorder, allowing for accurate rack focus moves, the interface itself is wanting.
The most obvious issue with touch screen manual control interfaces like this one is that the buttons and focus bar obscure much of the image you are recording। This makes it unnecessarily difficult to assess focus accurately. The other issue is that you cannot speed up or slow down the rate at which the camcorder moves through the focal plane, as you can with a physical controller like a dial (found on the Sony HDR-HC7 and Canon HV20) or ring (JVC GZ-HD7). This makes it difficult to make fine adjustments. Add in the fact that the LCD screen is bound to pick up finger prints, and you’ve got one frustrating zoom control.
Also available is Spot Focus, found on page 2 of the Option Menu, and works in the same way as Spot Meter। After selecting the Spot Focus option, a frame appears around the image, and touching a point within the frame will force the camcorder to adjust focus automatically to bring that point into focus. As with Spot Meter, this is a time-saving but inexact tool.
Exposure & Aperture (5।5)On the one hand, manual exposure on the DCR-SR300 suffers from the usual issues that plague touch screen interfaces. On the other hand, unlike manual focus, this control benefits from the addition of an extremely useful assist that makes up for some of the touch screen’s drawbacks. Like Sony’s HD camcorders, the SR300 includes a Zebra option, located in the Home > Movie Settings submenu. With Zebras enabled, it is much easier to assess your subject’s exposure despite the fact the exposure interface obscures a good portion of the screen. This is a critical difference when focusing manually, because zebras offer a way to check key areas of the frame against a fixed brightness setting, represented by zebras at 70 or 100 IRE.
Without zebras enabled, exposure is just as difficult to get right as focus, and the manual interface is identical to the manual focus interface। After entering the Option menu and selecting the Exposure option, Auto and Manual buttons appear. Pressing the Manual focus button brings up a horizontal focus bar, this time with a minus icon on the left, and a plus icon on the right. Pressing the minus icon lowers the exposure, and pressing the plus icon raises the exposure. After you are happy with your exposure setting, pressing the exit arrow at the top left corner of the screen returns to Record Pause mode.
Also available is Spot Meter, found on page 2 of the Option Menu। When the Spot Meter option is selected, a wire frame is superimposed on the image. By touching the “spot” on the image you want the camcorder to expose properly, you are able to lock in a custom automatic exposure level. Spot metering can speed up the process of adjusting your image, but we found it to produce mixed results – and that touching a millimeter in any direction would drastically change the brightness of the image.
Shutter Speed (0।0)The Sony DCR-SR300 does not include a manual shutter speed control option, and only the high-end HD camcorders in Sony’s 2007 lineup do. There is an Auto Slow Shutter option that can be enabled or disabled, in the Home > Movie Settings submenu. When Auto Slow Shutter is enabled, the floor of the camcorder’s auto shutter speed range (set by default at 1/60) drops out, allowing the shutter speed to go as low as ¼ second based on available light.
White Balance (5।5)The DCR-SR300 features the standard Sony white balance presets, for Auto, Indoor, Outdoor, and One Push – or manual. The white balance presets are located on Option Menu page 3. The manual control is very easy to use. After selecting the One Push option, the button immediately below, marked with a white balance icon, becomes active. Pressing the highlighted button sets the white balance, and it works faster than most camcorders, often within a fraction of a second. To assess whether your manual white balance setting was successful, however, you will need to exit the Option Menu and return to Record Pause mode. The reason is that the five white balance preset buttons obscure most of the screen, making it impossible to assess color. This can be time-consuming, and is another case where the touch screen interface impacts an otherwise good control negatively.
Gain (0.0)The SR300 offers no manual control over image gain, but that is not surprising given that Panasonic is the only consumer camcorder maker to offer independent gain control as a standard feature.
Other Manual Controls (2।0)Zebra Pattern – The Zebra option appears in the Home > Movie Settings submenu. Like other Sonys with this feature, the SR300 includes Off (the default setting), 70 IRE, and 100 IRE. On a camcorder that relies on a touch screen interface for making exposure adjustments, zebras are a welcome addition, making it easy to accurately assess exposure based on an absolute IRE - even when the interface clutters the screen.
Guide Frame – Guide Frame is found in the Movie Settings submenu of the Home Menu। When this option is selected, a nine-box grid is overlaid on the screen. Guide frame serves as a useful assist for shot framing or maintaining a horizontal shot.
Picture & Manual ControlAutomatic Control (7।0)Sony makes camcorders that are hard not to like – they look good, handle well, and in auto mode, they make smooth adjustments that instill confidence. The SR300 is a good example of the state of Sony camcorder design, beginning with the ubiquitous Easy Mode button above the LCD cavity along the lens barrel. Easy Mode is Sony’s branded idiot-proof version of auto mode that literally locks you out of making any changes to settings that could get you into trouble. Everything shifts into full auto, including exposure, white balance, and shutter speed. The menu list is also shortened, leaving only language, camcorder sounds, clock settings, and HDD formatting operations active. In other words, only those options that have nothing to do with control over the quality of your image. For novices, Easy Mode is a nice feature that guarantees that no errant setting is engaged while shooting.
The most notable characteristic about the DCR-SR300’s automatic adjustments is that they work quickly, smoothly, and with adequate accuracy। Exposure works well, though in very bright conditions, it tended towards slight over-exposure. Focal adjustments also work well in bright light, but in lower contrast and darker settings, it struggled, often requiring several seconds to lock in a crisp focus. This was especially apparent at the telephoto end of the zoom range. Another control that was notably spotty in terms of accuracy was white balance, with the image tending to appear more washed out than with manual white balancing. This is an effect we noticed recently on the HDR-HC7, the only other Sony we’ve yet reviewed this year.
The weaknesses noted above are shared by any camcorder in auto mode। Any situation with high- or low-contrast, varied lighting sources, or complex information is difficult for a camcorder’s processor to gauge. To assist with situations like these, the DCR-SR300 includes a number of automatic assists including a generous sampling of Program AE modes. Program AE (the AE stands for auto exposure) tailor the camcorder’s automatic adjustments for specific shooting situations that are known to create problems for Easy Mode. They include Spotlight (for any scene where the subject appears against a much darker background), Portrait (optimized for a single nearby subject in the center of the frame), Sports (for fast motion), Beach & Ski (for darker subjects appearing against a much brighter background), Sunset & Moon (for dark environments), and Landscape (for shooting distant subjects).
Spot Meter and Spot Focus offer a way of defining what part of the screen the SR300 uses to meter exposure and set focus respectively। The spot controls are set by touching the part of the screen you want to meter or focus on, but they must be set one at a time. While they can yield much better results than auto exposure and auto focus in many situations, they still may not produce optimal results – in which case you are better off adjusting the image manually.
Overall Manual Control (4।0)The DCR-SR300 offers a respectable suite of manual controls and assists, all of which are accessed via the touch screen. Overall, however, Sony camcorders almost always lack the finer manual controls that power-users want, like shutter speed and gain. The touch screen interface has a few advantages but many disadvantages as well. On the plus side, touch screens require virtually no ramp-up time for novice users as they are entirely text-based. If you can read the screen and touch the corresponding buttons, you can find your way to every option and manual control offered by this camcorder. As an interface for making manual control adjustments, touch screens are generally inferior to other physical controllers, like joysticks or rings.
The interface buttons for making white balance, focus, and exposure adjustments, for example, are overlaid on top of the image. As you can imagine, buttons and indicators in front of the picture hinders your ability to assess the live view while making adjustments. In addition, touch screens are less precise than physical controls, and pick up finger grease that reduces the clarity of the screen. In other words, while touch screens are extremely user-friendly and accessible, they are poor interfaces for making precision adjustments.
Most manual controls are found in the Option Menu, accessed via a button at the lower right corner of the LCD। The option menu is divided into five pages accessed by tabs along base of the LCD, the first three of which are identified by camcorder icons. These tabs contain basic manual image controls, including Focus, Exposure (in EV steps), and White Balance. The fourth tab contains fader and effects, and the fifth tab includes recording setup options such as video quality (labeled Rec Mode). The Option Menu keeps most shooting options very close at hand, which at least gives you ready access to the key manual controls.
This camcorder does include zebras, a feature that makes manual exposure much more practical on the SR300 than on touch screen Sonys without zebras। Zebras are in the Home Menu under Movie Settings, and allow you to monitor a fixed IRE level onscreen. With zebras enabled, the liability of an interface that blocks much of the image is reduced, because they allow you to monitor brightness against an absolute measure. This addition helps the SR300’s lot considerably for making exposure adjustments – but manual focus in particular remains frustratingly tough.
Zoom (5.0)Sony zoom controllers generally feel pretty good. The one on the SR300 has the same smooth responsive feel found on other Sonys, though in this case the placement is slightly awkward. We found that the most comfortable grip left the zoom toggle right between the index and middle fingers. It took only a slight modification to operate the zoom control with either finger. The raised toggle design is the best one commonly found on consumer camcorders because they respond well to even subtle pressure. Like most other camcorder zooms, this one is pressure-sensitive, and zoom speed changes with finger pressure.
The W and T buttons on the outside edge of the LCD frame offer a second fixed-speed zoom option। A few camcorders, notably from Canon, allow you to set a fixed zoom speed.
Zoom Power Ratio (10।0)The Sony DCR-SR300 has a 10x optical zoom lens, and a digital zoom that maxes out at 20x. The optical zoom power of this Sony is much lower than many available on lower-priced consumer camcorders because optical zoom power is a function of the length of the lens element relative to the size of the imager. With a very large 1/2.9” CMOS sensor, the SR300’s compact body can only accommodate a modest optical zoom. A camcorder with a smaller 1/6” inch sensor in a similarly sized body can support much higher optical zoom power – but record a lower quality image.
In addition to the 10x optical zoom, the SR300 has a digital zoom that can be turned on or disabled। We think it is generally a good policy to eschew digital zooms because of the dramatic drop in image quality that results when they are used. However, this digital zoom maxes out at only twice the optical zoom max and the camcorder has a very high effective pixel count. At 20x, the pixels recorded by this camcorder are only twice the size of those available at the optical max of 10x (digital zooms magnify pixels to give the illusion of greater magnification). Furthermore, there is no hyper zoom option on the SR300, so you won’t run the risk of zooming all the way to an absurd 500 or 1000x digital zoom level. Check out the image quality recorded by this camcorder when the digital zoom is engaged and you may find that it’s acceptable to you.
Focus (3।5)Touch screen interfaces have their strengths (simple interface and no ramp-up time) and weaknesses (pretty much everything else). For some manual control adjustments, touch screens are a fine control, but they are poor focus controllers. Unlike some of Sony’s higher-end HD camcorders, which have a multifunction Cam Control dial, the SR300 does not include any physical controllers. Focus and other image adjustments are all made via the touch screen, accessed via the Option Menu where there are Auto and Manual focus buttons.
Upon selecting Manual focus, a horizontal bar appears on the screen above the Auto and Manual buttons। On the left side of the bar is a person icon, and at the right side is a mountain icon. Pressing the person icon moves the focal plane closer, and pressing the mountain icon moves it further away. During manual focus, a numerical display at the center of the screen shows the approximate distance of the focal plane from the lens. While this display is a great addition to the camcorder, allowing for accurate rack focus moves, the interface itself is wanting.
The most obvious issue with touch screen manual control interfaces like this one is that the buttons and focus bar obscure much of the image you are recording। This makes it unnecessarily difficult to assess focus accurately. The other issue is that you cannot speed up or slow down the rate at which the camcorder moves through the focal plane, as you can with a physical controller like a dial (found on the Sony HDR-HC7 and Canon HV20) or ring (JVC GZ-HD7). This makes it difficult to make fine adjustments. Add in the fact that the LCD screen is bound to pick up finger prints, and you’ve got one frustrating zoom control.
Also available is Spot Focus, found on page 2 of the Option Menu, and works in the same way as Spot Meter। After selecting the Spot Focus option, a frame appears around the image, and touching a point within the frame will force the camcorder to adjust focus automatically to bring that point into focus. As with Spot Meter, this is a time-saving but inexact tool.
Exposure & Aperture (5।5)On the one hand, manual exposure on the DCR-SR300 suffers from the usual issues that plague touch screen interfaces. On the other hand, unlike manual focus, this control benefits from the addition of an extremely useful assist that makes up for some of the touch screen’s drawbacks. Like Sony’s HD camcorders, the SR300 includes a Zebra option, located in the Home > Movie Settings submenu. With Zebras enabled, it is much easier to assess your subject’s exposure despite the fact the exposure interface obscures a good portion of the screen. This is a critical difference when focusing manually, because zebras offer a way to check key areas of the frame against a fixed brightness setting, represented by zebras at 70 or 100 IRE.
Without zebras enabled, exposure is just as difficult to get right as focus, and the manual interface is identical to the manual focus interface। After entering the Option menu and selecting the Exposure option, Auto and Manual buttons appear. Pressing the Manual focus button brings up a horizontal focus bar, this time with a minus icon on the left, and a plus icon on the right. Pressing the minus icon lowers the exposure, and pressing the plus icon raises the exposure. After you are happy with your exposure setting, pressing the exit arrow at the top left corner of the screen returns to Record Pause mode.
Also available is Spot Meter, found on page 2 of the Option Menu। When the Spot Meter option is selected, a wire frame is superimposed on the image. By touching the “spot” on the image you want the camcorder to expose properly, you are able to lock in a custom automatic exposure level. Spot metering can speed up the process of adjusting your image, but we found it to produce mixed results – and that touching a millimeter in any direction would drastically change the brightness of the image.
Shutter Speed (0।0)The Sony DCR-SR300 does not include a manual shutter speed control option, and only the high-end HD camcorders in Sony’s 2007 lineup do. There is an Auto Slow Shutter option that can be enabled or disabled, in the Home > Movie Settings submenu. When Auto Slow Shutter is enabled, the floor of the camcorder’s auto shutter speed range (set by default at 1/60) drops out, allowing the shutter speed to go as low as ¼ second based on available light.
White Balance (5।5)The DCR-SR300 features the standard Sony white balance presets, for Auto, Indoor, Outdoor, and One Push – or manual. The white balance presets are located on Option Menu page 3. The manual control is very easy to use. After selecting the One Push option, the button immediately below, marked with a white balance icon, becomes active. Pressing the highlighted button sets the white balance, and it works faster than most camcorders, often within a fraction of a second. To assess whether your manual white balance setting was successful, however, you will need to exit the Option Menu and return to Record Pause mode. The reason is that the five white balance preset buttons obscure most of the screen, making it impossible to assess color. This can be time-consuming, and is another case where the touch screen interface impacts an otherwise good control negatively.
Gain (0.0)The SR300 offers no manual control over image gain, but that is not surprising given that Panasonic is the only consumer camcorder maker to offer independent gain control as a standard feature.
Other Manual Controls (2।0)Zebra Pattern – The Zebra option appears in the Home > Movie Settings submenu. Like other Sonys with this feature, the SR300 includes Off (the default setting), 70 IRE, and 100 IRE. On a camcorder that relies on a touch screen interface for making exposure adjustments, zebras are a welcome addition, making it easy to accurately assess exposure based on an absolute IRE - even when the interface clutters the screen.
Guide Frame – Guide Frame is found in the Movie Settings submenu of the Home Menu। When this option is selected, a nine-box grid is overlaid on the screen. Guide frame serves as a useful assist for shot framing or maintaining a horizontal shot.
Ease of Use(7.5)Sonys are the easiest to use, generally, thanks in large part to the Easy button, located on the inside of the LCD cavity. Big and blue, the Easy button could be spotted by your dog, and shifts the whole camcorder into an idiot-proof mode. The onscreen buttons double in size and manual controls take a hike. This is full auto pilot we’re talking about here, and that’s why Sony camcorders are a hit amongst families and novices.
When you first power on the SR300 and begin wading through the menu, you will be treated to an amalgamation of aural magic—we’re talking about Sony’s soothing camera beeps. While most manufacturers have a tendency to opt for grating, piercing menu sounds, Sony took into account the concept of sound therapy, and your shooting experience will be laced with mysticism and wonder.
In addition, the SR300 is simple. There are minimal ports, buttons, dials, and switches, as the SR300 is extending an arm, or lens, to vacation-prone families across the tourist-ridden US of A. Even the docking station offers only an additional USB port, and that’s about it. The SR300 eliminates the need for an external lens cap with its automatic retractable lens cover and sports a veritable line of function buttons in the LCD cavity (Backlight, Easy, etc.). In this case, the SR300 is hard to screw up, even for Dad. On the other hand, the lack of intermediate features will deter the avid low-budget filmmaker or event documenter. No mic or headphone jack reduces any audio monitoring or recording to the built-in microphone only, which is not the best means for capturing optimal sound.
Now let’s talk menu. Yes, it’s a touch screen. The power lies at your fingertips. The buttons are evenly spread out, and everything is labeled, keeping you out of the dark. If you don’t feel like pressing the onscreen home button, there is one right next to it on the LCD panel. This sounds great, but too bad the buttons are the size of a pen cap’s diameter. Those who don’t have leprechaun hands may experience some difficulty pressing the buttons. The HDR-UX1 has a 3.5” LCD screen (versus 2.7” on the DCR-SR300), which made a huge difference in LCD screen buttons.
Handling (5.5)In the land of consumer camcorders, the size of your hand greatly affects your shooting experience. Vertical models like the Canon HV10 and Panasonic SDR-S150 require the shooter to conform to a condensed layout of controls, while beasts like the JVC GZ-HD7 allow plenty of breathing room. Nevertheless, the Sony DCR-SR300 falls between the extremes and ranks in size amongst the Canon HV20 and Sony HDR-HC7.
The most notable difference, though, is the SR300’s rounded right side and top finger groove. This design will most likely suit those with smaller hands—the thumb will rest above the record start/stop button, the index finger will lay on top of the zoom lever, the middle and ring fingers will fit in the groove, and the pinky will just fall short of the built-in microphone. However, anyone with a glove size larger than a medium will probably find their fingertips flush with the edge of the left side. In this case, the hand must be shifted down on the SR300, offsetting the leveling of the lens. Of course, a great deal of point-and-shooters will not even use the hand strap at all and cup the bottom of the SR300 in their right hand while manning the LCD panel with their left.
The problem with the SR300’s finger grooves is that they’re ineffective. The Panasonic HDC-SD1 has a rubberized strip on the top, catching the fingers comfortably. The SR300’s groove is bare plastic, and that doesn’t mix well with sweaty fingers on a balmy day. In addition, the SR300’s hand strap is not the best. The one found on the HDR-HC7 is far superior, and the JVC GZ-HD7’s is untouchable—fully padded, mesh interior, think, and just plain comfortable. The SR300’s feels like cheap, fake plastic against the back of your hand, but then again it’s not as bad as most Canon hand straps. Once you look beyond the SR300’s flaws and slip it over your hand, you’ll notice that it’s not a bowling ball, yet not a feather. It’s an average weight for a camcorder (1 lb. 3 oz.), and it won’t impede the shooting itinerary.
What will throw a stick in the spokes is navigating through the touch screen menu. Again, those with larger hands will be shafted here. The buttons on the menu are so small that numerous presses are required to select a desired function. In addition, once a manual or automatic control is selected in the function menu, the menu disappears, forcing you to revisit the menu every time an adjustment needs to be made. Using the spot focus is exceedingly frustrating because the 2.7” LCD screen can only show so much. Attempting to focus tiny rectangles on a noisy screen is not our idea of fun. If you’re going to equip a camcorder with a touch screen interface, at least make the LCD a big one, like the Sony HDR-SR1’s 3.5” inch monster. Time and patience suffer here, unless you slip the SR300 into Easy mode where the buttons mutate to double their size and the shooter’s only responsibility is to hit record.
Menu (6.5)The DCR-SR300’s menu uses the blueprints from last year’s HDR-UX1’s. Rather than the single long, scrolling list of option (as in the HDR-HC7), the menu works on a series of tabs. To put it more simply, the HD7-style menu is narrow and deep, the SR300 menu is shallow and wide. The latter approach is a bit better, all told. Sony clearly did their research on this one. The major failing point is the speed at which menus appear. It’s 2007 and you just dropped a grand on a camcorder – there should be no delays from one menu screen to the next.
The menus are broken down into a home screen button, options button, and the accompaniment of magical sounds. The HDR-UX1 from last year had bigger, 3.5 inch LCD screen, which makes it easier to navigate through its menu. The good news about the SR300’s menu is that it’s fairly idiot-proof. Almost every selection or icon is labeled with a brief description of its purpose. The button response time is quick—once you successfully fit your finger within its tiny rectangular frame. Although touch screens tend to smudge up the LCD, consumers adore them for their ease of use and instant power right at their fingertips. While Panasonics and most Canons take the throne with their rear-mounted menu navigation, Sony’s touch screen can be overlooked when compared to Hitachi’s free-for-all menu button cluster.
The Home menu
The function menu
When you fire up the SR300, you’ll notice three distinct rectangular buttons. The home button sits in the top left corner, playback is located in the bottom left corner, and the options, or function menu lives in the bottom right corner. Sony must have kept these buttons smaller to avoid cluttering the LCD screen like Sony’s VPC-HD2 icon explosion, in addition to maintaining proportion. Now let’s begin our menu quest by going home first.
Pressing the home button brings up a screen with a horizontal row of icons spread out in tabs along the bottom: camera, view images, others, manage HDD/memory, and settings. Camera lets you switch between movie and photo mode and also offers the smooth slow record feature. The view images tab lets you view your recorded stills in an index (playback menu) or playlist. In others, you can delete and edit HDD content and playlists, print, and access the computer connection. Others is a bit of a grab bag, and the fact that it’s placed in the middle is odd. You’ll begin to see that Sony’s menu scheme sometimes makes less sense than the way a Canon or Panasonic operates. In the memory tab, you can format the HDD or a MemoryStick PRO Duo, and check up on the HDD’s stats by pressing the info button. Settings is a little more helpful. Here you have your movie, photo, view images, sound/display, output, clock/language, and general settings. You’ll be using movie settings the most while in home, and here you have access to the record mode, NightShot light, digital zoom, SteadyShot, auto slow shutter, guideframe, zebra stripes, remaining time setting, flash level, and red eye reduction.
Now on to the options, or function menu. When you press the minute icon in the bottom right corner, a similar menu screen pops up, but here are all your automatic and manual controls within a series of five tabs: focus, spot focus, tele macro, exposure, spot meter, scene selection (program AEs), white balance, color slow shutter, and Super NightShot. The fourth tab contains the fader, digital effect, and picture effects, and the last tab lets you choose the record quality, still media allocation, and microphone level. A couple grievances we had with Sony’s touch screen menu pertained to adjusting manual controls. Although the accuracy is decent, it is a royal pain to fiddle with tiny buttons, especially on the go. Panasonics will treat you well, and even Sony’s HC7 has a cam control dial. It was not fun bumbling through the exposure and focus. In addition, once a manual control is selected, you go right back to the startup screen, forcing you to revisit the function menu each time you’d like to add another manual control. This menu was designed for Easy mode users, all the way.
Portability (5।5)The DCR-SR300 is a solid brick of vacation-capturing technology, measuring a modest 76mm x 78mm x 149mm (3 in. x 3 1/8 in. x 5 7/8 in.) including all projecting parts, like the SR300’s junk in the trunk battery. Weighing in at 560g (1 lb. 3 oz.), the SR300 is no feathery Sanyo Xacti, yet it won’t conquer the interior of your camera bag to a preposterous extent like the Panasonic HDC-DX1 will. This camcorder is rugged and will withstand a hearty beating—just nothing too abusive. The SR300 sports a 40GB HDD that offers 570 minutes of recording time in the highest quality (HQ) setting, yet it’s coupled with a battery that has a maximum continuous recording time of 95 minutes in HQ. Of course, Sony is stretching that number like taffy, while the typical recording time is a mere 45 minutes with stopping, starting, using the menu, etc. The diagnosis: an additional battery…or three.
The 2.7" (221K) LCD. There is no viewfinder.
LCD and Viewfinder (7।0)The SR300 has a 2.7” wide LCD screen with a 200K pixel resolution. The LCD screen flips out 90 degrees and can be rotated a full 270 degrees. The image displays a balanced color palette, yet is rife with noise. This is too bad, because the SR300 does not have a viewfinder for an alternate view and prolonged battery life. The LCD panel features a vertical row of controls on the left, consisting of the home, zoom in/out, and record start/stop buttons. The LCD hinge is not unlike any other consumer camcorder: flexible, thin, and easily breakable.
Sony LCD screens are a hit amongst the consumer crowd for their easy touch screen navigation, yet to us they remain a bittersweet phenomenon। It’s great to have the power of adjustment beneath your fingertips, but when the buttons are so small in size, using the manual focus slider becomes a foreboding task. In Easy mode the buttons double in size, but manual control fanatics will be out of luck. The Sony HDR-UX1 comes equipped with an LCD screen that measures a whopping 3.5 inches—in this case, the interface is a bit more manageable. The SR300’s LCD screen has the potential to vex and fluster those with hands bigger than a woodland sprite. On another note, the LCD screen has a tendency to smudge up due natural oils produced by skin. Using the spot focus becomes virtually useless when the screen is a cloudy fiasco. We prefer Panasonic’s rear mounted joystick design.
Battery Life (11।4)We tested the Sony DCR-SR300's NP-FH60 rechargeable battery pack by setting it to full manual mode and recording continuously until the battery was cashed. The SR300 had a battery life of 113 minutes and 51 seconds, which is pretty decent. Sony claims the SR300 gets a good 45 minutes of life during typical recording time, so expect a number in between when you take it for long hikes.
Audio (5।0)The SR300 features a 5.1 channel surround sound built-in stereo microphone located on the top to the camcorder, near the front. Those with larger hands will have to be mindful of the microphone’s unfortunate position, resting right beneath the pinky and ring finger for a muffled, cloudy audio experience. The SR300 is just too small for this microphone placement.
It’s slim pickins with the recording options as well। The only control you have over the built-in stereo microphone is a normal and low setting. According to Sony, normal records surrounding audio within a fixed level while low records surrounding audio sounds at their actual level. Our ears couldn’t tell the difference. In addition, without a mic or headphone jack, the SR300 is merely capable of consumer-grade audio. Of course the SR300's hot shoe is compatible with an external microphone, but only a Sony microphone or accessory. No windscreen, no adjustable levels, just a record button, and a prayer.
Playback (6।25)To playback your media on the SR300, open the LCD screen and press the playback button located in the top right corner of the LCD cavity. This cues a comprehensive menu screen with a row of tabs running horizontally along the base: video mode, video clips, digital stills, digital stills recorded to a MemoryStick PRO Duo, and the function menu button (acts an options button for archiving videos and stills. To the left, a set of up and down arrows scrolls through up to six icons per page representing recorded media. When a video clip is pressed, it automatically begins playing in the full LCD screen with a gamut of touch screen options: stop, rewind, play/pause, fast forward, options, previous clip, and next clip. The options button cues a menu screen that allows you to adjust the volume of a clip, fiddle with the data code, or add it to a playlist. You can also delete and divide (split) clips.
Playing back still images is virtually the same menu structure, just with different options: thumbnail view, previous image, slide show start/pause, next image, and options। Digital still options allow you to print (when connected to a PictBridge compatible printer), set slide show settings, turn the data code on or off, and delete images.
Playback is reasonably idiot-proof, and the touch screen menu is simple to navigate with.
The playback menu
Connectivity (5.0)Ports, ports, who’s got the ports? Not the DCR-SR300. You’ll only find an A/V terminal, remote jack, DC in connection, and MemoryStick PRO Duo slot. There’s also a hot shoe, or "Active Interface Shoe," which is compliant with only Sony add-ons. The sharp plastic door housing the hot shoe popped off within minutes of the camcorder’s removal from its box. The plastic oval-shaped A/V/remote jack port cover flew off the SR300 with a medium-sized tug. Cheap, cheap, cheap. The SR300 doesn’t even include a USB terminal, forcing the user to rely on the supplied docking station.
On the supplied docking station, you'll find a USB, DC in and A/V out terminal, and that's about it. There's a Disc Burn button on the front for exporting straight to a DVD. If you forget your docking station on the road, you are up a creek without the ability to transfer your footage until you get home.
What’s in the Box?The Sony DCR-SR300 ships with the following items: -AC adapter -Power cord -Handycam Station -A/V connecting cable -USB cable -Wireless remote commander -NP-FH60 rechargeable battery pack -CD-ROM “Handycam Application Software” -Operating Guide (Manual)
These are pretty standard offerings here। One note on the manual: we could’ve written a more comprehensive guide on a small leaflet of Post-it notes. Really, this was one of the most scant manuals we’ve seen so far. Anyone with real problems would have to go searching user forums for answers.
Other Features (2।0)Smooth Slow Record - Smooth Slow Record allows dads to analyze their golf swings by increasing the frame rate of the SR300 to 240 fps, as opposed to 60fps. In last year's DCR-SR100, the image during Smooth SLow Record got darker (due to shutter speed increase). This year, Sony appears to have compensated for that problem by boosting the auto gain. The graininess increases a good deal compared to the same shot in standard 60i.
NightShot - For creepy dark places, Sony’s NightShot filter allows the SR300 to pick up on objects that hide when the sun goes down।
Fader- When record start/stop is pressed, the picture will fade in and out। You have the choice between black and white fades.
Digital Effect - The only choice Sony gives you is “old movie।” It should just be called the Old Movie effect.
Picture Effects - Sepia, black and white, and pastel are the offered digital effects on the DCR-SR300।
Source: www.camcorderinfo.com
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