What hardware do I need to work with a Digital Video Camera?

[mikewg]

My work wants to buy a digital video camera for the office, and I'll be in charge of pulling the video to the computer, editing it, and storing it on data discs. I've made VCDs for over a year now, so I'm not so much worried about the editing part.

But I've never worked with a Digital Video Camera before. What hardware will my computer need to be able to pull the information off the camera? I've heard something about Firewires and D/V cards and all sorts of stuff, but have no clue what any of it is.

Also, approximately how much storage space am I going to need if I pull, let's say, about 2 hours of video onto the computer. Is it uncompressed AVI, so should I be looking at about 30 Gigs of information, or will it be much less than that? Any and all information would be GREATLY appreciated. My boss put all this onto my shoulders, so I need to sort through this info soon. Thanks!

[kitty]

You didn't say what your budget is but if you want a package that works well get the Pinnacle Studio DV 7 with firewire card. Just hook it up, click capture & you're cooking. http://www.pinnaclesys.com/ProductPage.asp?Product_ID=470&Langue_ID=7

About 18 minutes of DV is 2GB - that's the limit you'll hit if you have Win98se. No limit with WinXP. Some packages like Studio 7 let you capture low res files, edit that, and it will pull only the scenes needed off tape the second time around saving disc space.

Good luck!

[BKL]

I have used Ulead VideoStudio 6 to capture DV as DV and as MPEG-1 or 2 via Firewire without worrying about the 2GB limit. The software will automatically cut the captures into appropriate length segments for later editing. Using MPEG-1 capture, figure on 10Megs per minute of video.

[mikewg]

I suppose my budget is about $800 for everything, will that be good? I can probably go more as long as I can justify it.

And when you say the Pinnacle Studio DV 7 with firewire card, I'm assuming this doesn't come with the camera. Do all digital camcorders work with that, or do I need to look at certain ones?

Also, is the firewire card a PCI card that I need to install into the computer.

Lastly, I'm running Windows 2000. I'm assuming it has the file size limitation on it... is there a spill system like VirtualDub or AVI_IO have that I can capture more than 18 minutes at a time?

[kitty]

You will need a camera with a firewire output - probably want miniDV tape over Digital8. Look at the photo magazines & reviews & get the camera that fits your production specs & budget.

The firewire card is indeed a PCI card to go in the PC - very easy to install - make sure the box or literature says works with Win2000 - same with video editor program Studio 7 says it works with Win2000.

Win2000 is like WinXP - no 2GB file limit.

[BKL]

If you think you might be working with any analog video, look for a camcorder that can take analog in, convert it to DV and pass it through via Firewire to your computer WITHOUT having to record it to tape. My Sony TRV-120 Digital8 does this like a champ. Tried a Canon mini DV camcorder, but it lacked the pass-through feature.
In my earlier post, I was trying to say that VideoStudio 6 will capture DV straight to MPEG-1 or 2, if your system is fast enought. This will minimize the need for disk space.

[Thorn]

Firewire cards are pretty cheep if you just get a 1394 card without all the capture software and such (check pricewatch.com or pricegrabber through vcdhelp). You'll still need software that can capture type-1 (Virtualdub can't capture DV) but I don't know what is chapest (probably what comes with some of the cards).

An hour of DV in the DV codec should be about 12-13GB. You can capture that all in one file if you have NTFS, otherwise you're limited to 4GB segments. Check if you are in NTFS or FAT32 by right clicking the drive in 'my computer' and selecting properties.

I can't tell you what's the best option right now for editing as I'm working on that right now. Too bad I can't just capture in Virtualdub like I do for analog... I'm editing then converting to a huffyuv avi and then filtering in virtualdub like usual.

[mbellot]

For firewire cards, I'd have to agree, cheaper is better. I have a $30 card from CompUSA that is just fine. Totally compatible with Win2K and even came with a stripped down version of Ulead Video Studio!

I'm partial to the Canon miniDV cameras, I think they are a great bang for the buck. A previous poster mentioned that the Canon lacks pass-thru, but that is no longer true. The ZR40/45/50 all have direct A/D pass-thru. Basically this lets you capture from an analog source (VCR, etc) directly to DV format on your hard drive via firewire. I did just that with my daughter's birth video and it worked great.

I would avoid the Digital8 format unless camcorder size is not a big issue (the miniDV cams are much smaller).

Also, plan on gettting at least an extra 60GB for storage/editing if you need to work on 2 hours of video at once.

So if you figure $100 for the hard drive and $30 for the firewire card that still leaves over $600 for the camcorder. The ZR40 is 599 and the ZR45MC is 699, but if still photos are not a major concern (it wasn't for me, I have a 3MP still camera) then save yourself the $100 and get the ZR40. The both have all the same features, the ZR45MC only adds an MMC/SD option for storing still images.