HD only or standard recording out put-? for purchase

CAPTKIRK
Member

I am interested in purchasing my first high end video camcorder. I will be using it for short hosted segments of places to see that will be uploaded to a website weely and they will be downloaded. It will also be used for corporate business video updates. The Canon XH A1 looks solid but I am worried about how to get the film from the camera to my computer since it only puts out HD. I have been using Ulead for smaller projects but will be using Adobe cs3. Does anyone know if either the Adobe or Ulead will be able to down load from the camera via the IEEE plug?

Should I stick to standard format for now or is there a camcorder that is in $3000-4000 range that puts out HD and Standard?

Thank you,

Posted 4 years ago #
cprybicki
Member

Capturing HD via firewire is the same process as capturing SD, it will just be a much larger file. Premiere pro CS3 will alow you to capture and edit HD footage via firewire (IEEE). My concern is that since you will be showing most of your work on the web, are you sure you want to upload HD files? They are very large and can take awhile to download even when they are compressed WMV HD files or H.264 HD files. Most stuff on the internet is SD even if it was shot on HD because it is much faster and easier to view the files.

I don't want to discourage you from buying an HD camera, I just think you'd be wasting your money if all you intend to do is show SD on the web. Also, you may want to make sure that you have the equipment capable of utilizing the HD footage when you show your corporate updates, if not you'd be wasting your money on HD quality that will not be seen.

I think HD is great and if you aren't really concerned with price, by all means get an HD camera. It is very easy to convert any HD footage to SD if need be. Just set your NLE's export settings to whatever you want. You can even capture SD footage via firewire (IEEE) directly from sony's HVR-V1U HD camera on the fly with a flip of a switch. I hopes this helps you... If you have anymore questions, concerns or need more information, I'd be happy to help.

Best Regards,

Corey

Posted 4 years ago #
Kevin Shaw
Member

CAPTKIRK Wrote:
Should I stick to standard format for now or is there a camcorder that is in $3000-4000 range that puts out HD and Standard?

If you're going to spend that kind of money I wouldn't recommend anything less than an HDV camera, even if your primary intended output is web delivery. Capture via firewire is just like working with DV and the file sizes are the same unless you convert to an intermediate editing codec for improved efficiency. Or with some HDV cameras (e.g. Sony) you could opt to convert from HDV source to widescreen DV during capture if you want even more editing efficiency, but then you lose some of the quality advantage of shooting HDV in the first place. After editing, render your finished project to WMV, Quicktime or Flash at a resolution of 960x540 with a bit rate ~500-750 Kbps for broadband viewers, or 480x270 at a lower bit rate for viewers with slower internet connections. Also render an HDV copy for archival purposes and store that on a hard drive or DVDs.

There's not much point in buying a DV-only camera any more unless your camera budget is below $750.

Posted 4 years ago #
CAPTKIRK
Member

After reviewing the responses and speaking with a Canon rep I will go with the HD. I would rather down convert to SD and preserve the original in HD. You never know when it will be broadcast on TV.

Thanks,
Kirk

Posted 4 years ago #
RScottyL
Member

You should definately not have to spend $3000-$4000 for what you want to do, as they are great HD camcorders for under $1000.

I would recommend getting an HD camcorder, as you can shoot in HD, then convert to SD if you want to use SD footage.

Where are the files going to be hosted? On your company's website or elsewhere?

You might look into getting a camcorder that can shoot in progressive format especially if you are wanting to post videos on the web. It will be alot easy to edit them and they will look better than the videos shot in interlaced.

The new Canon HV30 is capable of shooting 30p and footage looks great on the web:

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Get the Video Plugin

Â Â Â Canon HV30 shot in 30p

Posted 4 years ago #