Re: Camer/mount for video? (bwhip)
Studio 9 is a good package, and it's under $100. Works great for basic and intermediate editing. If you get a DIGITAL camcorder you won't need a capture card on the PC because the information will already be in digital form on the camera. If you're feeding an ANALOG signal to the PC then you'll need a card to capture that analog signal and digitize it. Go with a digital camcorder.
Anyway, buy the digital camcorder and an editing package like Studio 9... and you're all set.
But you still need to transfer the digital data to the PC.
The DVD on that camcorder is just a different way to store the raw footage you're shooting with the camcorder. Some cameras use a cassette tape called MiniDV, some use a smaller or larger tape, and there's many other ways to store the digital signal including the little DVD.
The DVD in the digital camera would make it easier to transfer the captured digital footage to the PC, but it's not necessary. I remember reading that the DVD storage media makes the camera a bit bigger, but that was 2 years ago. It would make it easy because all you'd have to do is take the DVD out of the camera and stick it in the DVD reader in the PC. Take a look at that model and see how large it is.
The beauty of the PC editing software is that you can just shoot footage with the camcorder; just shoot away with little thought because you'll be transferring it all to the PC for editing and you can cut out, move around, and throw away all the bad footage. Without editing software you have to shoot the movie one scene at a time, and in the right order. FORGET IT... you can't do it that way AND make a good movie. When you edit the raw footage on a PC you can throw away all the crappy footage and not bore your friends.
For the transfer you'll need a high-speed connection such as Firewire. USB is way too slow. If you have a Creative Audigy soundcard then you already have Firewire. Just buy the cable and away you go. If you need a Firewire port on the PC then buy a Firewire card for probably $50. Or buy a new soundcard and get great sound and a free Firewire hub. A new Audigy card can't be more than $75.
Whatever digital camera you end up buying, you'll need to transfer the information from the camera to the PC. My camera is 2 years old and I've been out of the market for that long. There may be better ways to transfer but I see that Firewire is still on the latest Sony camcorders.
I can transfer an hour's digital footage in, well an hour. And remember, you'll need 13 gig of hard drive space for every 60 minutes of digital footage.
Point is, you don't need a capture card with a digital camera. You DO need a way to transfer from the camera to the PC.
See if you have a Creative Audigy soundcard. You can also go to Device Manager on your PC and see if an IEEE 1394 hub is installed. If it is then you have a Firewire port.
Hopefully someone who's really into digital will correct my post if my dated information is incorrect.
BTW: digital camcorders have really dropped in price. For well under $500 you can get something pretty good these days.
http://www.pcworld.com/reviews...0.asp
Modified by DanST4 at 7:11 PM 3/12/2005
