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  1. Member
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    My goal is to get a camcorder that will allow me to do a live stream and also record to either a flash memory card or a hard drive. I know a lot of camcorders can do this through firewire, but I have also read that if I am trying to encode the stream into flash with FME that I shouldn't use camcorders that record in a compressed format.

    If my thinking is correct above, then ideally I would want a camera that can send out uncompressed footage to my computer while at the same time saving a copy onto the camcorder. And since the uncompressed footage would be a large file, I would want the file that is saved onto the camera to be in a compressed format.

    Most of the filming I do is out in the field where I have to use my laptop and a wireless internet connection. I know I could record to DV tape but I want to be able to have a digital copy at the end of the day that I can archive without much work after a long day. Also not sure how much storage a DV tape could hold. I sometimes have about 15gb of SD footage at the end of the day with my current camera. (Sony Xacti HD1000)

    Make since? Not sure if I explained it the best way. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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  2. Member edDV's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by shane123
    My goal is to get a camcorder that will allow me to do a live stream and also record to either a flash memory card or a hard drive.
    ...

    Most of the filming I do is out in the field where I have to use my laptop and a wireless internet connection.
    I'm not following. How are you streaming when in the field and how is that being encoded? What editing are you doing when you get home? Are you then encoding the edited result to flash?

    Also, describe what you are shooting in the field (camera connected to laptop?) and how many hours does 15GB represent?
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    Thanks for the reply, actually I have not streamed from the field yet, this is something that i am wanting to do. I want to be able to go camcorder --> computer (encoding) -->wireless to Ustream or Mogulus.

    If all goes well, there is no editing when I get home, just grabbing a copy of the files and uploading the different segments to YouTube. We put up the raw footage 95% of the time, so no editing.

    15GB is about 8 hours of footage, its not always that much, just the high end.

    So we have 2 ways that we want to put up footage, 1) Live stream 2) Upload to YouTube after everything is over.
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  4. Member edDV's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by Adobe FME FAQ
    What capture devices are supported by Flash Media Live Encoder?

    All DirectShow supported devices that give data in raw format can be used with Flash Media Live Encoder.
    See the list of capture devices certified for Flash Media Live Encoder.
    http://www.adobe.com/products/flashmediaserver/flashmediaencoder/faq/#section-3

    An uncompressed camera feed is impractical for a laptop especially in the field. You want to avoid GOP based interframe compression for best Flash encoder performance. For that a DV camcorder feeding over Firewire is the next best to uncompressed since each field is intact.

    Real time FME encoding will be limited by the laptop CPU. Non-realtime encoding will get better quality.

    DV format recording consumes (~13GB/hr or ~100GB for 8 hours). This should be done to the laptop internal drive if the CPU is going to be max'd out doing FME.

    A major issue is getting a wireless connection with adequate uplink sustained bit rate.
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    "Non-realtime encoding will get better quality." I don't mind some type of delay even if it is up to 5 minutes. Could you direct me toward some equipment that would do this?

    I know I am limited on equipment based on budget, just trying to get the best thing on the consumer level at this point.

    For the sake of doing a live feed, do you think I should direct the majority of my expenses to equipment for off loading my CPU?

    Is there a DV camcorder that can hold up to 100GB of video or is my only option to save the live feed to the computer hard drive while trying to encode?

    Thanks for your help.
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  6. Member edDV's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by shane123
    "Non-realtime encoding will get better quality." I don't mind some type of delay even if it is up to 5 minutes. Could you direct me toward some equipment that would do this?

    I know I am limited on equipment based on budget, just trying to get the best thing on the consumer level at this point.

    For the sake of doing a live feed, do you think I should direct the majority of my expenses to equipment for off loading my CPU?

    Is there a DV camcorder that can hold up to 100GB of video or is my only option to save the live feed to the computer hard drive while trying to encode?

    Thanks for your help.
    I don't know of any cheap flash hardware encoders.

    MiniDV tape records 62 min. You can buy a Firestore drive in various sizes but the laptop can record while encoding. You still need to be connected to the laptop to stream.
    http://www.videonics.com/solutions/video_production.asp
    http://www.adorama.com/VDFEFS4PH80.html?sid=1240878377202950
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