Finally getting into the HD world

[LSchafroth]

I've been using a Standard SD camera forever and now I am getting a true HD camera that does 1080p.

I've done everything via Virtualdub for editing and DVDLab Pro 2 for DVD authoring. I use encore templates in DVDLab pro and edit them as needed.

Should I continue to use Virtualdub or should I force myself to learn the better linear editors? A lot of the good color tool filters no longer work in Virtualdub and Windows7/8 64 bit. I figured it might be time to rethink the editing process to get better control over cleanup of video noise and color correction.

Is this too broad of a question that will lead to 10,000 opinions?

Lannie

PS Is a Sony HDR-CX260 a decent buy?

[_Al_]

Yes, lots of solutions, some recommend to skip all that burning disc business (and might be called douchebag here by some unfortunately) , it is all up to you , preferences you make. You get some videoeditor, better PC for editing of AVCHD or whatever mpeg4-avc camcorder you get, if you get some older Canon HV30 or HV40, you still are going to be all right what you have.

Then you have to decide what you prefer to get, discs playable on your BD player or PS3 station, whatever, or just some media player that loads videos over LAN or from hardisks, thumbdrives or both discs and media files for media player.

Depends how far you are with home network, you might shove all your videos on NAS (if you have or will decide to have) , back it up and make it available over household. If you have DVD players only, then you just back up HD files and make DVD's as well like you used to.

Making BD's can make your head dizzy too. Some prefer to render AVCHD and burn it on BD disc , some authore those "weird" BDAV files with multiavchd, your BD player can play those but the other might not. The only thing to be sure that your BD is most likely to be played is proper BD encoding and authoring.

Maybe you manage just to stitch your HD clips together, depends what format you will get (Corel X5, Magix, Power Director, Avidemux) and get some media player to play them back, originals. It is a pain right now to find what software can join videos together with good result without rendering them again. For some videoformats perhaps you might not find a solutions. Software that comes with camcorder might provide that so check before buying whats going on here.

Other prefer some more robust videoeditor like Vegas, Premiere (well Magix or Corel might be enough for example also) that cannot simply just export joined originals without rendering again, but if you are into color processing and fixing your video you do not need that anyway ...

Realy, there is not one solution lots of solutions and possibilities what you can do ...

Choosing your camcorder is a personal decision also, depends always on how much you can spend, there is always somebody that will tell you, if you can give $100 more you get something better , Sony makes solid, rigid camcorders ...

[aedipuss]

PS Is a Sony HDR-CX260 a decent buy?

check places like camcorderinfo.com for reviews

[Hoser Rob]

I totally second Al's statement about not bothering with disc burning. It's just a pain in the ass, and a wee bit time consuming.

I haven't burned to dvd for a while, and I only personally know one person who still does it, and he only does it to impress older non computer literate people with his computer skills ...

[LSchafroth]

The machine I use:
2 quad core Core 2 Duo
16Gb Ram DDR3
3 7200rpm 1Tb drives SATA3

Should I get SSD?

Love the comcorder info site! Very nice. I was considering a NAS setup so I might look into that as a storage solution. I have no need to put anything to disc yet. The only things I put to DVD are VHS/Betamax conversions. I use a Canopus ADVC 100 for that.

I did mess around with Vegas once and really liked it. I might look into that again. I have Premiere CS6 and it is BUGGY as hell so I avoid it. I have discovered Encore CS6 is quite buggy as well.

Thanks for the all the input!

Lannie

[aedipuss]

we use a couple nas boxes here and dlna enabled blu-ray players. that way the TV's can play all the movies/music/photos off the network. haven't burned a disc for personal use in a couple years.

ssd is nice as a boot disc but for video work unnecessary and they wear out quickly with constant reads/writes.

vegas is my editor of choice.

[LSchafroth]

I'm trying Vegas and found a tutorial DVD on using Vegas 10. I will get started and see how I like it. Looks good so far.

[2Bdecided]

I figured it might be time to rethink the editing process to get better control over cleanup of video noise and color correction.

Don't buy a new camera that generates noisy video or gets the colours wrong

Vegas HD is great and very cheap.

Cheers,
David.

[LSchafroth]

I've read reviews on cameras at camdcorderinfo.com and cnet and they both contradict each other on most reviews. Which one is the one to belive and/or trust?

[smrpix]

Trust neither completely -- but be aware CNET is aimed at a general consumer and camcorderinfo is aimed at folks who care more about specs. If you find a model you like you can look up the model at BHPhotovideo.com and read useful reviews there too.

As with anything, look for reviewers who seem to have the same concerns/objectives you do.

[2Bdecided]

The thing is, the picture quality of whatever you buy is going to be so much better than what you're used to.

However, depending on your current SD camcorder, you may find low light performance, or ergonomics, or audio, or stabilization, or... are worse on the HD camcorder you buy - of you may find that everything is so much better than you don't know why you ever worried.

My pet hates are microphones on the top (they should be on the front), optics that won't go "wide angle" enough, poor or weird image stabilization, blown out highlights, hopeless white balance indoors, and motor noise. You may have completely different pet hates. Sadly the perfect camcorder does not exist.

Cheers,
David.

[sanlyn]

I haven't burned to dvd for a while, and I only personally know one person who still does it, and he only does it to impress older non computer literate people with his computer skills ...

Is that another ay of saying he doesn't know how to compile and burn DVD's?

[sanlyn]

I haven't burned to dvd for a while, and I only personally know one person who still does it, and he only does it to impress older non computer literate people with his computer skills ...

Let's hope he spends less time burning DVD's and more time impressing others with his his storage drive and network recovery skills.

[LSchafroth]

I'm still confused as to the different ways I can burn footage for family and others to watch. If they have a blueray player, what format can I do with DVD-DL media? I dont have a blueray burner. What kind of DVD format can I for people who dont have a blueray player, just a DVD player?

I have Vegas and will start using it for all my editing. I use DVD Lab Pro 2 for making DVD's. I found Encore and Premiere to be too buggy to use.

Lannie

[sanlyn]

BluRay players play both BD and DVD.

[LSchafroth]

I'm aware of that. I've heard that a DVD wont eject the dvd if you put the high def content on it. I want to know what will work in a DVD and what wont.

Lannie

[sanlyn]

"DVD" is standard definition video. HD is BluRay. I don't understand what you mean by "won't eject the dvd". If you insert an HD disc into a standard DVD player, the player won't know what to do with it. You make SD DVD or HD BluRay, one or the other; the encoders and file structure for each format are different. There are various hybrids, but video encoded and burned according to established standards shouldn't be a problem for BluRay players.

If the recipients of your video don't have BluRay players, they can't do anything with your BluRay videos.

[LSchafroth]

I read that you can put high def video on a dvd media and it will play high def in the blue ray but if you put that disc in a DVD player sometimes the player will never kick it back out again.

[_Al_]

If your folks have DVD, send them DVD, if they have BD give them flashdrive with HD video on it. Those things are like $5 or something now.