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Brian Chen's Lab testing duties have taken him into the realm of tapeless camcorders -- hardware with a spotty history of Mac support. But his experiment uncovers some good news for Mac video auteurs -- as well as plenty of bad news. [more]
Editors' Notes Weblog: Tapeless camcorders and the Mac
#1
Macworld.com 
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Posted 18 June 2007 - 10:20 AM
MultiQuote
#4
montgomery_burns
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Posted 18 June 2007 - 01:39 PM
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After speaking to some camcorder makers, I learned that high-definition HDD camcorders utilize a recording format called Advanced Video Codec High Definition (AVCHD)which neither Final Cut nor iMovie support.
After speaking to some camcorder makers, I learned that high-definition HDD camcorders utilize a recording format called Advanced Video Codec High Definition (AVCHD)which neither Final Cut nor iMovie support.
I thought AVC was just another name for H.264.
#5
g3jedi
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Posted 18 June 2007 - 01:46 PM
Another downside to using Hard Disk Camcorder is compression. The video on an HD based camcorder is much more compressed than on a mini-DV. Then when you go to make a DVD it is compressed even more and you will end up with a much lower quality video on the DVD. These cameras are a bad idea if you want to make DVDs. And the DVD based camcorders have the same problem. You simply lose too much video information in the compression. For this reason, mini-DV will be around for quite awhile.
#6
MilSF1
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Posted 18 June 2007 - 01:48 PM
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I thought AVC was just another name for H.264.
I thought AVC was just another name for H.264.
Kinda. AVCHD uses H.264, but in a propriatary container that Quicktime can't read. The ONLY software out that that can read and edit it is what comes bundled with the camcorder (WinXP only).
#7
MilSF1
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Posted 18 June 2007 - 01:57 PM
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Another downside to using Hard Disk Camcorder is compression. The video on an HD based camcorder is much more compressed than on a mini-DV. Then when you go to make a DVD it is compressed even more and you will end up with a much lower quality video on the DVD. These cameras are a bad idea if you want to make DVDs. And the DVD based camcorders have the same problem. You simply lose too much video information in the compression. For this reason, mini-DV will be around for quite awhile.
Another downside to using Hard Disk Camcorder is compression. The video on an HD based camcorder is much more compressed than on a mini-DV. Then when you go to make a DVD it is compressed even more and you will end up with a much lower quality video on the DVD. These cameras are a bad idea if you want to make DVDs. And the DVD based camcorders have the same problem. You simply lose too much video information in the compression. For this reason, mini-DV will be around for quite awhile.
Very true. AVCHD has the capability of having a higher bitrate (35Mb/s?) than HDV (24Mb/s), but all current ones I've seen are capped 15MB/s. And before anyonce points out that MPEG4 (AVCHD) is better than MPEG2 (HDV), it appears that the lower bitrate DOES have an appreciable affect on the quality according to every review I've ever seen of AVCHD camcorders (CNET, camcorderinfo.com, etc).
-MilSF
#8
MilSF1
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Posted 18 June 2007 - 02:03 PM
I'm in no way affiliated with these guys, but it looks like they have a good review process:
CamcorderInfo HD Camera Shootout
It compares all the latest consumer HD cameras as of late April.
-MilSF
CamcorderInfo HD Camera Shootout
It compares all the latest consumer HD cameras as of late April.
-MilSF
#9
BrianChen
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Posted 18 June 2007 - 02:25 PM
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JVC's Web site came up with this:
It's a Quicktime Component.
JVC's Web site came up with this:
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For Macintosh users, the GZ-HD7 also includes plug-in software that works with Apple iMovie and Final Cut Pro.
For Macintosh users, the GZ-HD7 also includes plug-in software that works with Apple iMovie and Final Cut Pro.
It's a Quicktime Component.
JVC recommended me two methods that I tested diligently. Neither of them worked.
#10
Muzicianx
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Posted 18 June 2007 - 02:28 PM
I bought the Sony DCR-SR82 last week, and ran into all the problems with HDD camcorders. I did find that Toast Titanium and read the files for the movies, but once you've exported it to a format iMovie can read, it degrades the picture. Then, after you edit and transfer for DVD burn, the picture degrades tremendously. It is almost unwatchable. If they were to offer a 'RAW' feature on the HDD camcorders, which recorded MiniDV quality (5 minutes a gig), then maybe it would be worth it. But for my eyes, it just isn't there yet. The folks at Best Buy took it back for me, and I just spent the extra $$$ and got the Canon HV20 HDV camera. The high-def transfer is awesome.
#11
wiretrip
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Posted 18 June 2007 - 02:42 PM
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Apple is ready for HD??? Not until iMovie supports mpeg 4 without conversion. I would also like to see mpeg 2 support without conversion too but digital video standards must not be that important.
Apple is ready for HD??? Not until iMovie supports mpeg 4 without conversion. I would also like to see mpeg 2 support without conversion too but digital video standards must not be that important.
It does take a lot more processing power to be able to directly edit compressed movie files on the fly. Perhaps Apple is in the process of trying to come out with something that will support editing these files without decompression (converting to .dv or .mov) and without overburdening the CPU.
#12
hillstones
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Posted 18 June 2007 - 02:51 PM
That is why I stuck with MiniDV. The Hard Drive and DVD cams were too complicated in converting the video, and too time consuming. I got an inexpensive Canon Elura 100 Widescreen MiniDV camera that works just fine for shooting everyday and vacation video.
Once the HD-DVD and BluRay war is over and a single format prevails, then I am sure the High Def cams will be more popular for editing and creating High Def DVD's. Not exactly convenient to shoot High-Def video and only be limited to playing back unedited footage from the camera itself. But I guess you could import the high-def video, edit it with iMovie, and then send it back to tape. Then save the tapes to eventually convert to High Def DVD.
Once the HD-DVD and BluRay war is over and a single format prevails, then I am sure the High Def cams will be more popular for editing and creating High Def DVD's. Not exactly convenient to shoot High-Def video and only be limited to playing back unedited footage from the camera itself. But I guess you could import the high-def video, edit it with iMovie, and then send it back to tape. Then save the tapes to eventually convert to High Def DVD.
#14
hammer32
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Posted 18 June 2007 - 03:42 PM
Quote:
JVC recommended me two methods that I tested diligently. Neither of them worked.
Quote:
JVC's Web site came up with this:
It's a Quicktime Component.
JVC's Web site came up with this:
Quote:
For Macintosh users, the GZ-HD7 also includes plug-in software that works with Apple iMovie and Final Cut Pro.
For Macintosh users, the GZ-HD7 also includes plug-in software that works with Apple iMovie and Final Cut Pro.
It's a Quicktime Component.
JVC recommended me two methods that I tested diligently. Neither of them worked.
I really wanted to buy this camera, but I couldn't find anyone on Apple's forums that had any luck using it with iLife.
