Sony DCR-SR200 and a Mac...

[carbonem]

Hi Everybody.

I'm sorry if this question is maybe too silly or there is no answer but I'm new to this forum and I've just bought a Sony DCR-SR200.

The question is simple: I have a MacBook (Intel 2.0Ghz) and I want to use it for editing videos captured with my Sony SR-DCR200 camcorder. This Sony gadget records into multiplexed MPEG2 videos (29fps, NTSC). I've just imported some test videos I shot and I cannot see them unless I use VLC. I then bought the Apple software for MPEG2 (15 BPounds or 20$) and now QuickTime is able to play them but with no sound (because they are multiplexed). I noticed that if I demux the videos with MPEG StreamClip then Quick Time is able to also play the sound and video quality seems preserved.

So far so "kind of" good (in other words I can cope with this...)

But then, when I try to import a demuxed video in iMovie HD something strange happens. The import works and also sound works (as it also works in QuickTime) but unfortunately iMovie changes the video size and I get a sort of squized picture.

- What is the problem?
- Is there something wrong I'm doing? Does it have anything to do with PAL vs NTSC? (camcorder was bought in US but my computer was bought in UK)
- Is there any other way I can edit movies with my MAC where I can do nice things like iMovie?
(I tried converting to .dv with StreamClip but it definitely loses video quality)

Tnx a lot for your help and sorry for bothering.

Marco

[galactica]

I cant speak personally, my camera is still mini-dv, but a friend of mine got a HD camera and had the same problem. She got so frustrated dealing with the mpeg2 videos it recorded that she eventually got rid of the camera!

Sorry i cant be more of a help, but I do know that my friend had the same problem you are having.

hopefully someone else here has an HD camera and can lend you a hand. until then...

[terryj]

Go Here: iMovie and Sony DCR-SR200

your running into a standard problem of these HD
cameras. That is that the files recorded are mpeg-2,
and not traditional standard .dv, which iMovie is used to
dealing with. iMovie is converting the footage over to
it's natural state to allow you to edit them in iMovie,
but with as you noticed, some major quality loss.

And on top of having no FW I/O port, you have found the
only option to get footage in to your Mac. If you had FW I/O ports,
I could reccomend you getting a Canopus ADVC-100, and
down converting direct from camera to Analog via FW, but
then you'd run the risk of having even worse quality loss
going into your mac.

Apple used to maintain a iMovie Compatible Camcorder listing, but it is outdated.
Best bet is to always
ask around in the Apple Forums, and see what others are using.
But here is the best advice I can give you:
if you edit on a mac, FW is your only option.
Make sure the camera has a FW I/O port.

[carbonem]

Hi there,

thank you for your reply. I see that I must use Streamclip and convert to .dv therefore losing some video quality (the mpeg2 original looks definitely sharper).

Unless there are other options, I would like to discuss my other option. What are the possibilities with Windows XP/Vista and mpeg2 editing? I can always install Windows on my Mac and then try Windows Movie Maker but I might have a similar problem (i guess movie maker is also not mpeg2 friendly).

And another idea: Sony provides some SW with the camera that allows to do crop and merge but no other features (fading, etc.) and then make a DVD (windows only). As a consequence, I was actually thinking, do I lose quality if I make a DVD on Windows with the Sony tool and then import the DVD for editing in Mac OS X -> iMovie???

Sorry if the questions now goes a bit towards Windows. If it is inappropriate let me know and I repost in the right section.

Marco