Can you recommend an alternative to a deck for capturing HDV footage?
I'm looking to set myself up as a videographer for a junior sports association this summer. I've been looking into purchasing a decent camcorder because prosumer equipment, as much as I would like to own it, is out of my price range. I've researched up and down through the HDD flash and hard drive camcorders, and found just too many issues be it battery life or editing compatibility with Final Cut Pro. So after days of research, I've ended up where I started, looking at the Canon HV30 as my best option.
The issue for me is that my budget for a full package is in the range of 00 CDN. A HV30 package will run me around 0. A mini jack mic or XLR adapter pushes me up to 00 or so (+ a mic if I go the XLR adapter route.) Then I need something to capture the DV tapes with, and a deck is not an option due to the price.
If I'm capturing HD footage shot on the HV30, do I need a camera equivalent to the HV30 to capture on? Or can I use a cheap standard def camcorder to capture with? (i.e. http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?sku_id=0665000FS10103916&catid=10545&logon=&langid=EN) Will I lose resolution? Do I have other options?
(If not, can you recommend an HD camcorder with decent compatibility with Final Cut Pro?)
Thanks for your help.
Cheers,
Daniel
I would prefer not to use the HV30 to capture with for fear of wearing out the heads.
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As you are using Mini-dv tapes your camera will have a Firewire port, all you need to do as long as you have a firewire card in your computer is to connect camera and computer via a Firewire cable. Final cut will import the video as 99% of all video editing software will allow video from this type of connection. you do not need any thing else to get your video onto your computer.
Have a look here for some more information an capturing video
http://www.videohelp.com It a good site for video related questions.
Good luck
RR
Email me if ywant anymore help
rugratzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz is correct. While there is some additional wear on the camcorder head when used for capture AND importing, you really don’t need a deck for the importing. I’ve been using my Sony HDR-HC1 for over three years at this point and I have had to use a miniDV tape based cleaner only 2x. I have over 200 hours of recording on this camera and it is still running like a top. As well, I have used the HC1 as a playback deck so I can watch high definition versions of the final projects on my HDTV for at least 20 hours total.
To answer your question directly, If you record standard definition video using the HV30, then you can use a any DV camcorder to playback. If you record HDV on that HV30, you need to use a camcorder that can deal with HDV – a DV-only camcorder will not be able to deal with the HDV data stream on that tape.
Use the manual shutter and increase the shutter speed – in daylight, 1/500 should work great. Faster is better. You will be able to edit slow motion into the video and maybe even grab some decent still frames. The default shutter speed is 1/60. A lot of motion happens in 1/60 of a second so slow-motion playback can be blurred… stills will be blurred, too.
Be sure to use a steadying device. For a consumer tripod, the SunPak 7500 Pro or 7500TM are decent. If you have to move around the field (or whatever venue) a lot, you can use them as a monopod – though not recommended. You can also make a shoulder mount (like a SpiderBrace) – I used PVC pipe, connectors, and a piece of 1/4" aluminum… and use an extra tripod head to mount the camera… You will probably want one or two high capacity rechargeable batteries.
You did not tell us which version of FinalCutPro. I use Version 5.1.4 and iMovieHD06 (also called iMovieHD version 5) and I needed to custom installation of the Apple Intermediate Codec from the OSX system discs for HDV to be recognized.