iMovie live camcorder recording...yes/no? And audio level problem...

[TreborD]

Just borrowed a good-quality Panasonic camcorder to do a few hours' worth of sit-down interviews. Is there any reason why I should record first to MiniDV & then import the clips to iMovie, as opposed to capturing the video straight from the live shot? Since I'm stationary for the interviews, I could easily hook the camcorder straight into the computer...but nowhere have I seen the pros & cons of doing so...though to a newbie it seems like it'd save time & $...

Also, in experimenting with iMovie (both live feeds & MiniDV imports), I've noticed that the sound level seems very muted, as compared to playback on the camcorder. A 30% output volume on the camcorder = nearly a 100% volume via iMovie (same headset, etc) - that is, with my computer at max vol and iMovie output at max (and even with the clip audio boosted), it's still only moderately audible. I've played with all the camcorder settings...nothing seems to work. Anybody had this problem?

Thanks for your ayuda and patience...

[tgpo]

I personally would record to tape then to the computer. If your computer screen saver turns on or the computer hits the HD and pulls just enough resources from the capture to cause a glitch, you've got nothing to fall back on.

Use a good high quality tape, skip the first 30 seconds or so, and don't record all the way to the end of the tape.

[DanSlagle]

Yep even the pros doing a live feed have a tape running... just in case. You should be able to take a live feed (to disk) and record to tape if the camera supports it. It should.

Never tired it in iMovie... and if anyone should I should. Geesh!

[willrob]

Wouldn't a tape in the camera be required in order to hit the "Record" button? Otherwise no image would be sent to the computer. Or does the signal travel to the computer as if from a security camera—by just being turned on? I've never tried it either, although I did try the Apple PhotoBooth software using my video camera. While cute, PhotoBooth isn't by any means a killer app. I once dreamed up a similar application, one that you could use to video yourself sitting in front of a green screen, and then, while you were video conferencing, could substitute another, more exotic, background. The person on the other end of the "line" would see you perhaps on a sunny beach surrounded by bikini clad babes, or at the North Pole, or in the cockpit of the Space Shuttle. And you could change the images—which would be video clips, not stills—on the fly, as in my favorite Buster Keaton Movie "Sherlock Jr."

[tgpo]

You can simply hook up the firewire cable and it should simply passthrough the video feed to the computer and allow you to capture in iMovie. No need for the tape that way, but if something happens and your computer glitches, your SOL

[TreborD]

Thanks for the feedback....Yeah, willrob, if you turn on the camcorder with no tape inside, the feed will just go straight into iMovie...but I'll stick with tape on the basis of this excellent advice.

Has anyone encountered the audio muting issue with iMovie?

[tgpo]

Has anyone encountered the audio muting issue with iMovie?

Plug the audio cable in

[DanSlagle]

Has anyone encountered the audio muting issue with iMovie?

Can't hear audio track

[TreborD]

Thanks, Dan!